DR650

DR650SE, 2012, Grey

Modifications

DR650 Lost City

1 Tyres

• Front: Goldentyre GT216AA 90/100-21 57R, last replaced @ 51,500 km
• Rear: Dunlop D606 130/90-17 68R

Review

I got my 2012 DR650 brand-new from the dealer equipped with D606s (both ends). During hot days (Australia) on the highway, you could almost see the front 90/90-21 tyre melting by the kilometer at high speed (100+ km/h or 65 mph)) and, though balanced, the front D606 turned out to be terrible for wobbles and dangerous. But many don't have that issue, so maybe that was just that particular tyre... However I've been running the rear D606 130/90-17 for years (and still do) and have been pretty happy with it. I just learnt to refrain from opening agressively the throttle when cornering on the road. My second tyre for the front was a TKC80. Good on road, OK on dry trails but not great in the mud. Good longevity too. Probably one of the best 50-50 tyres out there. As I became to use my DR extensively off-road, I went with a Michelin Desert Race. I reckon one of the best front tyres (I had 2 of them). Good everywhere and decent longevity. Now I am on my second GT216AA 90/100-21 (fatty) front. Very good tyre too and not as expensive as the Michelin but it won't last as long.

2 Power Mod

• Replaced stock muffler (5.5kg) with 2001 GSXR-1000 40F1 (2.3kg) + midpipe (0.8kg)
• Air box opened: additional hole (70mm x 35mm) cut on top of air box, below snorkel
• Replaced original short fuel mixture screw with extended one
• 2nd hole drilled in carburetor slide
• Carburetor tuning
  • ProCycle/Dynojet needle set on 2nd position from top (stock needle was 3rd from top)
  • Air/Fuel Ratio screw: 2+3/8 turns out (stock was 1.0 turns out)
  • Replaced stock Mikuni main jet #140 with ProCycle/Mikuni #150

Note

Just removing the airbox snorkel and lifting the carb needle one notch with the air screw adjusted accordingly was the best power mod improvement of all (and still completely reversible). Further enhancement came with a JD jetting kit and a #40 GSXR, but the difference wasn't as noticeable.

3 Sprocket/Gearing

Countershaft Seal Retainer

• Removed upper drive chain roller
• Added 2013-model countershaft seal retainer
• Front sprocket: 14-tooth 525 sprocket (instead of OEM 15-tooth)
• Rear sprocket: 44-tooth 525 sprocket (instead of OEM 41-tooth)
• Chain: EK 525 SRX2

4 Engine/Body Protection

Skid Plate

• Added Suzuki factory skid plate (4-mm thick aluminium)
• Added home-made 2-mm thick aluminium plates protecting
  • Stator case from shift lever intrusion
  • Clutch cover from brake lever intrusion
  • Swing-arm from side stand intrusion

5 Digital Gauge

Trail Tech Voyager (removed stock odometer @ 26,850 km)

• Odometer: magnet sensor on front wheel
• Tachometer: sensor wire around spark plug wire
• Spark plug temperature sensor

6 Safety Switches

Side Stand Switch

• Clutch switch disconnected

The clutch switch can fail after an off, then preventing the engine from being restarted.

Locate the clutch switch green/yellow wires behind the headlight. Disconnect the wire going to the switch; connect the harness wires together, thus bypassing the clutch switch.

• Side stand switch shunted

One day, I experienced an engine cut-off just when I was landing on sandy terrain after a small jump. I was lucky not to go over the bars. The next day, the side stand switch was disabled!

• Two-state kill switch modified to act as push-button kill switch

Kill Switch

Over time, my 2-state kill switch button completely failed, staying permanently in the pushed-in (engine off) position. Cleaning the switch didn't help any more.

The failure was due to the little piece of plastic (2) being worn out. This part is actually a multi-path guide for the pin (1), so that when you push once, the button stays in, while another push will release it.

The fix was to remove the pin (1) before putting the switch back together. Now it is a single-state kill switch and therefore needs to be kept pushed until the engine goes to a complete halt.

7 Seat Replacement

• Genuine Suzuki Gel Seat
• Added extra padding from gym mat foam
• Strike Seats cover

8 Controls

• Handlebar: Renthal Fatbar KTM High
• Short clutch lever: part 57621-28C00 made for old RMs 85/125/250

• Procycle lowered footpegs (1.75 inches lower than stock)

More comfortable on road and make it easier to swap from sitting to standing position when riding off road. However the downside is that your feet got hit more often than necessary by side rocks, roots,...

9 Clutch Plates

• Barnett kit, last replaced @ 51,500 km; (softer) OEM springs kept in for "easier" pull

10 Wheel Bearings

• Front: Nachi 6003-2NSE (x2), replaced @ 42,750 km
• Rear: Nachi 6204-2NSE (x2) & 6205-2NSE (x1), replaced @ 42,500 km

11 Battery

• SSB Power Sport Lithium UltraLite LFP9-BS, 0.7 kg (stock battery is 3.1 kg)
• Replaced stock @ 39,000 km

12 Miscellaneous

• Added Cigarette Lighter Socket, mounted to the handlebar, battery directly-connected with fuse
• ProCycle Simplified Backside: removed original large rear end plastic mount and substituted it with smaller licence plate bracket
• Added Suzuki Factory Rear Rack
• Added 2^nd Horn: Narva Horn Disc Low Tone 72515BL

13 Suspension

• ~160-kg motorcycle with full tank
• 75-kg rider without gears

13.1 Fork

• Replaced dual-rate stock springs with straight rate Race Tech 0.46 kg/mm
• FFRC Plex valves
• Fork oil: Bel-Ray
  • Weight: 5W
  • Amount: 110 mm from top

Fork	Teknik Recommendations	FFRC Setup / Recommendations	Current Setup
Oil	-	10w 110 mm from top	5w 110 mm from top
Static Sag (mm)	30	35	35
Rider Sag (mm)	50	50	50

13.2 Shock

• 6.5-kg/mm OEM KYB Reservoir Shock replaced by Teknik @ 39,000 km with 7.5-kg/mm Yacugar 21.29.154 Separation-Piston shock
• Then replaced Yacugar original 7.5-kg/mm spring by softer 6.5 kg/mm spring

Shock	Teknik Recommendations	Initial 7.5 kg/mm Yacugar Setup	Current 6.5 kg/mm Yacugar Setup
Static Sag (mm)	25	25	?
Rider Sag (mm)	85	60	?
Rebound (clicks)	25	27	?