Adding the 2009 DR650 to my insurance policy actually lowered my premium $44. I thought it was strange when I added the 2006 Ducati S2R 1000 to my policy (that already had my 2009 Ducati 848 and my 2000 Ducati 748) and the premium dropped $88, but Progressive said that’s how they roll. The lesson here is, buy more bikes and save money!
Tag Archives: dr650es
A Good Welder is Hard to Find
25 FebI mentioned Bob at Elco Welding. You would never guess that right there on Abbot Kinney and Venice Blvd is a welding shop two full generations old. A gear head/fabricator’s delight. I asked around at the bike shops for a good welder and no one could help me. One shop even said they were about to add that to their services. Then I saw Eldo while riding home. Heaven.
Exhaust Pipe Replaced
25 FebAs previously mentioned, I replaced the stock pipe with a DG, saving weight, improving performance and safety. The safety was from the louder pipe – people often hear motorcycles when they can’t see them, especially louder bikes. So here’s a before and after look at the pipe replacement, using video with sound. As it turns out, it’s not that much louder with the DG, but it’s a deeper, throatier sound. It is louder, but I didn’t want to rev it like I did in the stock pipe video and bother the neighbors (any more than usual). Bottom line: A good mod.
Here’s the “before” of the stock pipe.
Here’s the video of the DG pipe. Now it sounds like the thumper it’s supposed to be.
Keeping Her Up
25 FebOne of the well-known problems with the DR650 is that it stands so upright that it’s easily tipped over on its right side. And with a load, like a surfboard (which will be on the right side) and luggage it’s guaranteed to fall over when parking on level ground. Stiffer fork and shock springs help, as that makes the bike taller pushing the center of gravity up causing it to lean more over on the kickstand, so I’ll get the springs. But I’m getting the springs primarily for handling/performance reasons. Instead, I increased the lean by cutting 1/2″ out of the kickstand, a $25 mod by Bob at Elco Welding in Venice. Perfect! The pics below are: The kickstand awaiting the operation at Elco Welding, post-op (Bob smoothed out the weld on the visible side – nice work), and the new lean angle.
In pre-op at Elco Welding.
The cut and welded side stand. Bob smoothed out the welds on the outside, the visible side. I don’t think I’ll paint it black. I like the “worked on” look.
Nice lean angle; no longer standing nearly straight up. (That, or she just wants to get close to my beautiful Ducati 848. Heck, who wouldn’t?)
Big Day – Rack Arrived
23 Feb
Tail rack from Manracks. The foundation for attaching the surfboard racks, as well as a place for luggage, probably the largest bag (the DBz Flat Top Duffle).
Big day, because the tail rack is the key component needed to getting this SurfMoto thing going. The surf racks bolt to it, and once the surf racks are on I need to make sure the DBz side luggage racks fit along with the new pipe. All good stuff; it’ll work out. This is the ManRacks rack. It weights 1.5#, so with the savings from the DG pipe With everything installed I’m currently at a net weight savings of 6#. BUT, I haven’t installed the surf rack, and that weighs 7#, so that puts it at a 1# gain…until the hand guards and luggage arrives. I can remove the foot pegs, for maybe a pound or so, but there’s not many more places to cut weight. Except from my own body.
DG Pipe – Weight Savings, More Power and Safety
23 FebThe DG replacement exhaust pipe arrived today. It was advertised as weight 5.5#, but it really weighs only 4.5#; I weighed it on two different scales. That’s about a 9# weight saving over stock (14.5#).
New pipe to save weight, add power and noise.
. It also adds more power. And since it’s a performance pipe, the sound level goes up – everything says to 96-98 decibels, which is pretty loud. That’s a safety device. Cars and others will hear you, which helps because they always say they can’t see you. The downside is pulling in and out of home, restaurants and hotels, where you’re a big annoyance. Nonetheless, it sounds pretty cool.
Sound-proofed Skid Plate?
22 FebA skid plate is an essential mod for any serious off-roading. Crack your case on an unsuspecting rock and you’re stopping right there, no matter where there is. So no biggie, my first mod is the skid plate. But I read that on the DR650, the skid plate somehow echoes engine noise up to the rider. So I’m sound-proofing mine with spray-on rubber coating. I was going to use neoprene – glue it inside the whole plate – but it will gain weight after getting wet and rot over time. So the rubber coating seems better, but it’s also kind of thin. Anyhow, we’ll see. I still have lots of earplugs. And the 96db DG pipe that’s coming might drown everything else out anyhow.
Got her. It’s on.
28 Jan
I found a 2009 DR650se with only 744 miles on the odometer, but dings – dented tank (left side), bent levers, cracked rear signals, scratched cases, bent shifter, broken hand guards, etc. – from the two falls that convinced the owner to sell the bike. There are thousands of nearly new bikes for sale, most without the dings, but all with nearly the same story. The owner kept telling me how fast the bike was, which sold me even more, not for the speed – although that’s a good reason – but the clear sign that he never really got into it, wasn’t a Ricky Racer, and probably babied the thing. Another dalliance with motorcycling that ends with a castaway.
So she has a few scars and not the prettiest teeth. I’m OK with that. I’m gonna get her all dolled up for Baja surf travel. No cosmetic surgery. Just all the right bits for a good time. While this isn’t a great photo of her – just a quick iPhone shot taken outside the welder’s shop – I wanted to get a “before” shot taken prior getting ready to go out.
Feeling the Shift
14 Jan
I’m feeling the shift from what seems like an interesting idea to taking action.
Today I stopped by LA Cyclesports to price a Suzuki DR650SE. Nine years ago I bought a GSXR750 there, which got me back into motorcycles after a bit of a layoff. It’s fitting that I went there to look at my first off-road bike since I was a kid. After much research I’m pretty sure this is the one, the DR650, the one to take me to the hardest-to-reach surf spots in Baja, and get me down the highway. But first I need to catch you up.
I’ve gone beyond fantasizing to planning and declaring to all my moto-surf trip to Baja and maybe beyond. The idea is simple. Strap a surfboard to a dirt bike and head off. Right.
Which bike? I eliminated the BMW, KTM and other adventure-tourers as too heavy for the really rough stuff and deep sand, and too complicated (having too many parts). My buddies Will and Q have been riding the BMW 1200 Adventure bikes. They ride for fun and train in the woods of New Jersey. I went with them on a Rawhyde weekend training camp for BMW 1200’s, but I rented the 650, which is more of a traditional motocross-style endure bike. A bike that weighs nearly 600 pounds just isn’t my thing. Besides, they’re 6′-plus guys and I’m a scrawny 5’9″. They went on to do another Rawhyde ride, this time in South America where they followed the Dakar race – a grueling ride. I was one part jealous and one part happy not to be dealing with those monstrous bikes. As it turns out, it was a memorable adventure, but the Rawhyde crew mismanaged the thing badly, so they won’t be back. But I’m still jealous and really wish I had gone.
Anyhow, I want a light, simple bike as I’ll be on my own and will need to do everything myself, from picking it up out of a ditch to repairing it after. No water-cooled, multi-cylinder, feature-laden, see-the-world touring rig. No special electronics for everything from heating my butt to adjusting the ride height. Just a plain, simple, big thumper (that’s a single-cylinder bike, typically over 500cc’s), with lots of clearance for the rough stuff.
BA Belton’s “The Alexander Project” trip (http://the-alexander-project.blogspot.com) from Canada to Panama showed how to do it on the Kawasaki KLR 650, a well-respected bike for it’s workhorse-like reliability. A good story and background for my trip. Less surf and more highway than I would like, but it narrowed the search to the so-called “dual sports” – or what we used to call enduro bikes. That narrowed it to the KLR (out), the Honda XR650L (well respected in Baja) and the Suzuki DR650SE. The XR has a 37″ seat height and is great for off-road. But it’s not as good on the highway, and the tall seat makes for difficult slow-going, i.e., can’t put my feet down easily – it’s unstable at slow speeds. The DR has a 34.8″ seat height, is faster on the highway, but the suspension is a bit soft, so it’s not as good for fast off-road travel. And the DR runs about a grand or more less. (That thousand dollars will go a long way toward stiffening the suspension.)
I decided on the DR, with a list of modifications I’ll need to get to. But for today, I found the dealer I will buy from if I buy new. And I can get it out the door for the MSRP, meaning no tax, freight or dealer prep. Awesome. That’s the bike pictured. But I think I’ll look for a slightly used one.
SurfMoto 