DisTech's DR650 rebuild

[LukasM]

Nice work! Did you polish that piston? I had quite a bit of carbon build-up on mine and just cleaned it off with brake cleaner. You engine looks like new, I'll have to get back into mine and do that as well.

I take it this is the stainless bolt from Ebay. Do you like it and is it pretty complete?

Cheers,
Lukas

[DisTech]

Originally Posted by LukasM

Nice work! Did you polish that piston? I had quite a bit of carbon build-up on mine and just cleaned it off with brake cleaner. You engine looks like new, I'll have to get back into mine and do that as well.

The piston did have some carbon on it, but a wire brush on a drill took it off in under a minute. The gasket surfaces are clean and the lighting makes the rest of the engine look good in the pictures, but really I'm going to have to spend some time with tar remover on the front and bottom of the case.

Originally Posted by LukasM

I take it this is the stainless bolt from Ebay. Do you like it and is it pretty complete?

That is the bolt kit form ebay. If you are trying to replace the visible bolts for that polished stainless bling factor then it is pretty complete. There are more bolts included than I had intended to replace so it will work well for me. Also, I like the allen head bolts better so far. Have to see how they are when the frame, tank, forks, etc.. are in the way.
Here's a picture of what they sent (E has my old head bolts in it).

Hope you can see the A - F list that says what's in each bag.

Seattle is still paralyzed by snow and it is affecting attendance at the local Suzuki shop. That makes it hard to buy a new generator cover gasket when no one is at the parts counter! I can't complain though, I'm on a light schedule from the snow too.

[Outwardbound]

I did the SS bolt kit on my KLR. Without a doubt one of the best mods I ever made. No rusting, nasty fasteners, no buggered bolt heads, complete disassembly with 2 tools. For what this would cost when bought in quantity, ya gotta wonder why they don't come standard with this ?

[DisTech]

Originally Posted by Outwardbound

I did the SS bolt kit on my KLR. Without a doubt one of the best mods I ever made. No rusting, nasty fasteners, no buggered bolt heads, complete disassembly with 2 tools. For what this would cost when bought in quantity, ya gotta wonder why they don't come standard with this ?

Agreed, anything that simplifies the toolkit is the way to go.

[DisTech]

I had quite a bit of trouble getting the motor out the left side like the manual says and it looks like there was actually more room on the right because on the right there is a removable motor mount. Taped some newspaper around the frame for protection.

I tried but the engine would not go in from the right. Added some more paper to protect the left side and ready to give the left side install a try.

Strange, it went in much easier than it came out from the left.

Newspaper worked pretty good.

I'm liking the silver frame quite a bit.

[KTMRyder]

I can't wait to get my shock back from Cogent and give it a test ride if the weather ever cooperates.
my buddy has one on his bike and it worked fabulous when I rode it.

Rick and his wife are great folks for sure.

Can't wait to see your finished bike.

[bacon]

Distech,
I don't want to tell you what to do but it looks like you are doing allot of this alone. When installing a motor in a frame sometime it helps to lay the motor down on its side. Then position the frame over it it can be a lot easer than wrestling the heavy motor into the frame.

Tim

[NordieBoy]

Originally Posted by bacon

Distech,
I don't want to tell you what to do but it looks like you are doing allot of this alone. When installing a motor in a frame sometime it helps to lay the motor down on its side. Then position the frame over it it can be a lot easer than wrestling the heave motor into the frame.

Tim

That's one bonus of having a 250. Nice light(ish) engine.

[Watson]

Thumper porn....this is great. Looking forward to the updates!

[Reposado1800]

How could anyone not love the DR650SE. This model should live forever. (fuel injection would be nice though)

[DisTech]

Originally Posted by KTMRyder

I can't wait to get my shock back from Cogent...

Rick said they didn't have a full order this time going to the anodyzer. We need more Cogent shock brothers!

Originally Posted by KTMRyder

...Rick and his wife are great folks for sure.

Yes they are!

Originally Posted by KTMRyder

Can't wait to see your finished bike.

Thanks, me too.

Originally Posted by bacon

...it looks like you are doing allot of this alone. When installing a motor in a frame sometime it helps to lay the motor down on its side. Then position the frame over it it can be a lot easer than wrestling the heavy motor into the frame.

I am doing this alone, so please tell me if there is a better way to do stuff. The idea of lifting the engine must be ingrained from working on cars. Hadn't even thought of laying the bike on it's side, doh! I had to twist the motor quite a bit to get it to come out. Seems like that might be difficult from the side as well, but I wouldn't be fighting the weight. Thanks for the tip Tim.

Originally Posted by Watson

Thumper porn....this is great. Looking forward to the updates!

Thanks, once I get my Cogent order everything should happen pretty quickly.

[DisTech]

The TM40 kit from ProCycle comes with the TM40, a bunch of jets, new cables (not shown), a straightforward single page installation sheet and a printed version of the HS40 tuning manual (same carb but for Harleys).

The installation sheet says the TM40 is delivered with a 150 Main jet, 22.5 Pilot jet, the Needle clip is in the 3rd position from the top and these settings work great for most DR650s with modified airbox, aftermarket air filter and aftermarket muffler.

Sounds good to me! The PO installed a K&N filter. Just need to modify the airbox. I scribed a pattern similar to mx_rob's and Jesse's.

Then let fly with the key hole saw (shown in next picture).

Finished it with a wood file (rounded on one side and flat on the other).

Test fit looks good.

[DisTech]

You can see the powder coated oil cooler guard and rear rack. When I took the rear rack off I saw that the rear mounts were bolted through the plastic fender only and just sat on top of the frame cross member they were supposed to go through. I thought it was odd until I tried to install it properly. What a PITA! The trick is to install the rear two bolts first, this pulls the rack and fender down to the frame and as the rear studs angle slightly forward it also moves the front holes closer toward alignment. Even with that, the front holes are not "aligned" and I had to reef on them pretty good to get the bolts to start.

[brucifer]

[DocAxeYarYar]

What a great project! Thanks for the postings. I just got my 2003 DR650 and am doing some work to it. While I live in Austin TX, most of my family is in Seattle....and suffering under the winter snows too. I guess the upside is plenty of garage time for you!

Thanks
Christian
Austin