the DR650 thread

No regrets this end, biggest difference for me is in colour recognition. Totally forgot what WHITE looked like untill after.

I cant make it 5 minutes in the hardware store with the mask and my glasses start the fogging if I forget to use the Scott No Fog cloth first.

Masks are mandatory in any public building in the state of michigan now, no way this will be changing anytime soon. The virus is on the increase and the mask up rule is the only hope to control the growth to any degree.

I have a Covid store kit in each vehical. It consists of a home made cloth mask with moldable metal strip nose piece, a canister of Lysol type disposable wipes, and the Scott No Fog cloth.

The drill is this. Pull up to store, use Scott cloth on both sides of glasses. Pull out one lysol sheet and lay it in the crotch of the drivers door before going in. Put mask on.

When back, put stuff on ground, open door, grab lysol wipe. Wipe outside car door handle, load stuff in car. Stand alongside car and wipe hands real extra good with lysol cloth, remove mask, throw lysol wipe on car floor and done.

Easy peasy. Nobody swapped fatal virus, could see everything just fine, mission accomplished. No the mask isnt pleasant, but remember wearing respirator masks when installing fiberglass insulation ? What about spray painting ? Ever sand drywall mud indoors ? How about sanding wood ?

Seems we all lived through that with masks on, right ?

Agreed.

Sadly, there is no reset button. The only option is to stay as safe as possible, hunker down and ride it out. This wont be pretty, and the next several months will possibly prove much worse than these last few.

The year 2020 will not be known as a happy one in the history books, thats for certain.

Got me beat by 2. Got a corneal transplant in 1998. New skin "from a dead guy" as my son says. 32 stitches, removed a few each year for 12 straight to manage final vision. Another surgery at the 12 year notch to redo one side & get 12 more stitches. Same slow removal until I was ready for cataract surgery & a total new outlook on my colouring book. 7 years later for the second eye, finally, my brain finally stopped juggling the whites & browns.

Gotta get your feds online for proper universal med insurance. Only cost on our Canadian system for my 5 surgeries is continuous eye drops at about $12/year after added benefits (pharmacy, physio, massage, Chiro, orthotics) package.

Edit; forgot the dental & optical care.

Make it an election issue down there.

I do a similar routine as well.

Honestly, (and sorry if I sound a bit harsh here) but I don't get the big deal about wearing a mask. The gripes behind not wearing one is senseless and not founded in logic. People complaining about wearing a mask IMO need to just toughen up. If that's the worst of what you have to go through during this then count yourself lucky. You don't want to wear a mask then stay home. Wearing a mask is for the betterment of humanity. In the long run, this will be a drop in the bucket of your existence, wearing a mask may keep it from being the last part of your existence and more importantly someone else's.

IIRC the usual version of drilling the extra slide hole also says to snip a few coils off the spring and stretch it out. This has the effect of stiffening the spring, so combined with the extra hole, I interpret a more or less net no change.

Interestingly, and previously mentioned, when I fitted the Kawasaki 300 kit to my wife's KLX250 it included a carb needle and instructions to bog up the stock second hole in the slide.

waiting for the Trailmax missions to arrive over here to try on my GSA
But may not be here in time as I need tyres now.

hope the knee sorts itself.
Makes my boo boo from yesterday seem not so bad
Was one of those moments where I was glad I listened to my brain.

I was about to cut the subframe off and thought this would be quick and easy with the 1mm blade I had in my angle grinder.
The angle grinder was already out and on the ground.
Then my brain thought nah, it’s snug in there, if it kicks back it will all go bad.
Take the time and use the hack saw with a new blade..

So that’s what I did, but doing the inside part, trying to keep it even, it kicked back.
It hurt, but this could have been so much worse with a power tool.
Luckily the new blade made it a super clean cut.
Wasn’t too bad until later when I spilt petrol on it, when I was flushing a tank out.

Yep, sometimes I’m best without power tools.
Generally I try to ignore the voices in my head, but yesterday I’m glad I listened.
Still have both my thumbs.

Masks are a reality for now. I was actually discussing Respect more than I was discussing masks. If this bothers you that much, I really cannot think of anything positive to say. None of us are happy with the world right now but there is no villain, no tyrant. There is only a mindless virus. We must all do the best we can to Be Nice and Be Respectful. It makes things a lot easier.

I just scroll past 99 percent of that stuff and don't pay it any attention. I get so much Good out of this thread and I actually post so little actual DR650 content that I cannot criticize when the thread drifts off into another topic. I also find that since so many folks are restricted in how they socialize in person, they get very verbose on their internet forums. I am okay with that too. It seems like about once every four pages or so, someone will pop up with a Real DR650 Question and then you and @BergDonk along with a couple others will answer it. I always pay attention when that happens.

That is an absolute fact. Here in Louisiana masks are mandatory anytime you are in a public place. My local grocery stores have signs on the doors stating this Fact. I tried to watch the folks that did not want to wear their masks and see if it was possible to profile them, was it any particular...group. I was surprised that the Mask Rebels were a perfect cross section of society.


Now, I am gonna Get Grouchy. I work in a refinery, have been there for 13 years. I am not allowed to grow a beard, not even a goatee because I may have to wear a respirator at any time. Before that I worked almost 10 years in a Hydrofluoric Acid Plant. I wore a full Acid Suit and a full face respirator almost every damned day. Trying to work on measurement instrumentation, trying to terminate wires, trying to do anything while the respirator fogged up and the hood fogged up and the thick rubber gauntlets impaired my ability to feel and work on things was a major pain in the a$$. So when I hear someone whining about how uncomfortable their mask is and they don't want to wear it because F*** Everyone Else... I have Zero Sympathy. I will say it again. I wear a mask when I am in public to Give Respect to the people around me. Not because of a Government Mandate. Not because of some fake news recommendation. I do it because it is The Right Thing. It just isn't that hard to Do Right.

Today a young lady made a left turn at a red light and drove into the side of my Truck. This is the best and nicest truck I have ever had and I have had it exactly one year. I am Upset and Angry and Unhappy. A thin cloth mask is the least of my problems right now.

Y'all have a Nice Day.

it’ll be a Plain Jane build.
Nothing to see.
I’ll put a pic up when it’s all back together.

Lots of thread drift lately. My occasional Ural photos, etc. implicate me in such matters.

Being a Live & Let Live fellow, it's not my habit to comment on posts that depart from the arithmetic mean. That said, the deviations are beginning to stray outside the wire a bit. Scrolling past all of it is one thing, but when doing so begins to require page jumps, well...

Lest we forget:

Oh NO! That DR has those Awful Bridgestone Trail Wings! It isn't safe!

Of course my DR still has those awful Trail Wings on it...

DR specific. I gave ElRoy a bath yesterday. Rode a HOT 90 miles today.

Had an order going at Revzilla and decided to spring the extra $22 for a Cycra YZ450 front fender. Liking the look over the duckbill. Simple re-drill of holes and two flat washers to rear to clear the cooler and pipe.
https://www.revzilla.com/dirt-bike/...er-yamaha-yz125-yz250-yz250f-yz450f-2010-2019

It's only 95* and 16% humidity here. I'm going for a quick spin through the wheat fields to see if I can catch a dust devil.Y'all be nice while I'm gone and maybe I'll drag back a twisted tale.

Very well put !


Once again.........NONE of us are happy about todays situation........N O B O D Y .

Its what it is. Things are not going well in the USA right now. 70,000 new cases PER DAY. Meanwhile Germany had 400 for the same day, as did other countrys, or even less in others that had issues a few months back.

We all love our DR 650's. We all want to live to ride them. Its a simple thing to put a mask on when needed or required compared to dieing on a ventilator after 2 weeks of induced coma.

Yes, I know people who have tested positive and either no real symptoms, or had a short hospitalization and recovered. I also know people that have died a very painfull death.........alone, with no relatives allowed. Only the nursing home nurse to hold her hand as she passed.

I have worn a full haz suit and respirator driving a hot diesel tractor, pulling a pesticide sprayer for 2 hour stints till the tank ran out. It was central Florida in June. 98 degrees, full sun, about 95% humidity in the shade at the golf course. I could feel the sweat run down my back and fill the seat as you were near delirious trying to keep a straight line and not space out to time the shut off not to overlap. When headed upwind, I would cheat a little and lift the safety goggles a bit to scoop a little air in. Still, it was half fogged up downwind every pass.

So, this little fabric mask thing is a cakewalk by comparison. I personally will just do it out of respect for others if nothing else. And, after watching innocent old seniors die alone in their final hours with no family there to hold their hand and say a final goodbye, I think its the least I can do to prevent that fate to others.


Real sorry to hear about your truck Redfish ! But, your OK and trucks can be replaced.

Since I rode my DR for class this weekend it meant I got to use my favorite shortcut on the way home. This particular shortcut shortens my 162mile trip by 28 miles at the expense of 30 miles of gravel road which usually makes it a wash time wise, at least in my truck. On the DR it’s a great trade off as the gravel roads are easily ridden at 80+ mph. Today I got a top speed of 91.7mph on the gravel. The only problem is that you had better not crash because it may be a day or two before someone drives by to see what’s left of you.

Thats nasty! Im glad the thumb is still attached. Where can you get Keratin filler rod for the Tig welder?

I know I am in the minority (not an unusual place for me) but I like the look of the stock DR fender.

Great looking DR! I have to ask... how do you fit the rear stand? lift with one hand and insert pins with the other?