The 650 Dakar Thread

[Kainic]

Originally Posted by kubiak

i have a whole writeup on my dakar putting the 180 on the rear and 4.60x18 front tire in this section under kubiaks tw650 build.

bike looks awesome. How is the paint job holding up?

[dansin]

Originally Posted by kubiak

i have a whole writeup on my dakar putting the 180 on the rear and 4.60x18 front tire in this section under kubiaks tw650 build.

I'm sure you've posted the info before but what's the front fender and the rear fender? Did the rear require much alteration?

[kubiak]

Originally Posted by Kainic

Bike looks awesome. How's the paint job holding up?

thanks for the compliment Kainic! the paint is holding up great but im thinking of another paint job already. maybe repaint next week.

[kubiak]

Originally Posted by dansin

I'm sure you've posted the info before but what's the front fender and the rear fender? Did the rear require much alteration?

the front fender is off a ktm950sm which came black or orange but i painted it white. i just redrilled the fender to go on the yamaha forks. the rear fender is for a 05 honda crf450. i cut half the fender off and just used the last foot of it. i had to drill and make a few mounts to fit it but nothing big. a few pieces of flat metal i bent up to fit it on the dakar.

[dansin]

Originally Posted by kubiak

the front fender is off a ktm950sm which came black or orange but i painted it white. i just redrilled the fender to go on the yamaha forks. the rear fender is for a 05 honda crf450. i cut half the fender off and just used the last foot of it. i had to drill and make a few mounts to fit it but nothing big. a few pieces of flat metal i bent up to fit it on the dakar.

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[Barnman]

Originally Posted by rc mad

Well, now is the time for that story, i have time to kill in this Russian hotel so why not Yes the bike will start without the instruments It will also start after 12 days underwater if you remove all of the water from the oil and the fuel tanks, that i did not expect

Rode the bike to work one Monday morning and got caught up in a flood, i ended up swimming in full bike gear, defiantly not an experience i would recommend to anyone, I'm pretty lucky to have got out of that one

The bike on the other hand did a rather grand impression of a German u boat and spend 12 days sat at the bottom of a ditch covered in water and debris from the flood i swear i heard it shout 'dive, dive, dive' as it went down the road was impassible for 6 days afterwards to give you some idea of the amount of water involved, there was lots and lots of ice cold water

We eventually found and pulled it out, took it home and set about draining the oil, i say oil but what i actually means is brown water Refilled it with oil turned it over by hand a few times and let it sit for a bit. After a couple of days drying the other half's father came round with a tin of 'start ya bastard' a set of jump leads and a car battery It did what it said on the tin The bloody thing fired up, on the button after 12 days underwater, could not believe it

Next job was draining the water / fuel from the tank and filling up with fuel, did that and it started on the button again idled at about 2 - 3 k tho, don't know exactly as the clocks didn't really enjoy their prolonged bath guessing a couple of sensors didn't like the bath either.

It was about this time that the insurance rang and said due to the amount of time underwater the bike would have to be written off, not just written off tho, oh no. I did a proper job on the bike. Cat A write off = has to be crushed

A real shame to loose the dak after putting so much effort into getting it just the way i wanted

Ah well, i will be buying another 650 single, well 660 cc single in the form of a Yamaha mt-03, ought to be fun i think


A word to the wise, the 650 Dakar was the best bike i have ever owned, it's got me through some horrendous stuff, never let me down no matter what and started first time every time, even after 12 days under water.

That should be the bmw marketing campaign if they ever make them again, I'd buy one

Anyone who sells a 650 bmw is completely mad in my opinion.

Bloody hell RC - Swimming in biker gear doesn't sound like fun! Glad your ok.

Sorry to hear that the bike won't survive - yours was one of the well sorted ones - Such a waste to crush it. Presumably you can get some bits and pieces off it like the sump guard etc?

Which flood was it that got you?

[TobyG]

Originally Posted by rc mad

It was about this time that the insurance rang and said due to the amount of time underwater the bike would have to be written off, not just written off tho, oh no. I did a proper job on the bike. Cat A write off = has to be crushed

Why is there such a category? Doesn't make too much sense to me...

Couldn't you just buy it back, I mean, if it's running...

[JoeSport]

Has anyone seen an '05 Dakar that looks like this coming of the showroom floor? I am considering buying it, but I think it might have been dropped and the plastic replaced? Thanks -

[tomatoe333]

Originally Posted by JoeSport

Has anyone seen an '05 Dakar that looks like this coming of the showroom floor? I am considering buying it, but I think it might have been dropped and the plastic replaced? Thanks -

SFAIK, there are no such thing as aftermarket plastics for the F650GS/Dakar. Those plastics do look to be repainted.

I think it's a given, buying a used Dakar, that it's been dropped at least once. So long as there isn't any serious structural damage, and the front fork lowers aren't cracked, you should be okay.

[JoeSport]

Originally Posted by tomatoe333

SFAIK, there are no such thing as aftermarket plastics for the F650GS/Dakar. Those plastics do look to be repainted.

I think it's a given, buying a used Dakar, that it's been dropped at least once. So long as there isn't any serious structural damage, and the front fork lowers aren't cracked, you should be okay.

Thanks, I'll be taking it in for a safety inspection Friday. Maybe I can knock off a few more bucks!

[JoeSport]

Would you buy an '01 Dakar with the reported fork failure issues?
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=393785
http://www.crossroadz.com.au/XRF650/FFList.html
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371650

[kubiak]

Originally Posted by JoeSport

Has anyone seen an '05 Dakar that looks like this coming of the showroom floor? I am considering buying it, but I think it might have been dropped and the plastic replaced? Thanks -

yea it looks like it was just repainted to me too. i would look more at the hard parts to see if there is any deep scratches or gouges from a bigger crash.

[fiep]

the information I am looking for is probably cosealed somewhere in this thread, but 'search' was not very helpful

I am looking for a not only adjustable but also affordable front brake lever
Ducati part number 62610031B fits but does not opperate the brakelight switch

thank you

[JoeSport]

I'm looking at this '03 Dakar with 5,000 miles. It has luggage and looks clean. The guy wants $6,000. Way over blue book, but am I going to get a deal like this again?

[docwyte]

Depends. I recently bought a Dakar and felt that prices were all over the map. Most of the bikes selling for $6000 were significantly modded, had nice luggage, fork swaps, the touratech catalog thrown at them etc. The newer '06 up bikes were also around $6000+. The older, low mileage bikes seemed to be in the $4500-5000 range.

As a data point I bought my Dakar Capt America bike with BMW luggage and highway bars, with 25k miles on it for $4650. It was a 1 owner bike, all maintenance records, always garaged, wiht two seats in perfect condition.

Based on my research, that seemed like a good price to pay for one, I'd looked at an '05 with the same mileage but with slightly more mods that was $6800 and one with twice the mileage that was in poor condition that was $3800. Other bikes listed here on this site that sounded the same were listed with asking prices of $4800-5300.

So if the bike is truly in great shape and it's the color you want (I really wanted a Capt America bike) and you can move him down a little, it's worth it.