dr650 tires, seat, CS sprocket

[Farp]

Hi all, I've been out of biking for quite a few years and I'm just getting back into it. I just bought a brand new 2009 DR650SE. I've put about 500km on it and there are a few things I'd like to find about.

The Trailwing 31/41 tires on it are marginally adequate for pavement and unacceptable for off road. What have you guys found that works well for both? One thing to keep in mind is that if the tires are gonna let me down I'd far rather that it happened off road than on.

The seat is ridiculous. I've owned close to 2 dozen motorcycles (both street and dirt) and this seat is by far the worst I've ever sat on. Suzuki should be embarrassed by putting something like that on a dual sport bike. What have you guys found that works.

I found that the bike was geared a little high for gnarly, single track riding. Has anyone gone down a tooth or more on the countershaft sprocket? If so what was your experience with the lower ratio?

Last, but not least. Is there anybody out there who remembers the hermits trail that used to be near the Westwood track back in the 70's?

 

[Buck]

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Welcome to the site and congrats on buying a DR650. You have lots to look forward to! I've owned three DR650's so have formed a few opinions, others will vary. Almost 40 K on the current '03.

Conti TKC 80 for tires, long life, great on road and off. Corbin seat with or without an IMS 19L tank... or have your stock seat modified. 14T front sprocket and/or larger on the back. I use a combo of 14/15/16 and 44 rear depending on the ride ahead. I remember Westwood well but not the trail.

ADV rider DR650 thread.... 1,500 pages and counting! http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135295

Also, join the DR650 Yahoo discussion group for tons more info about your new bike. http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DR650/

See you on a ride someday. Check out the upcoming Dead Zonerally:tup:

 

[Phoenix]

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DR650 info here http://dr650.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. Yes the seat is marginally more comfortable than a 2X6 piece of wood, some use a seat pad and Corbin makes a gel seat that others seem to like. I still have the stocker after 4 years of riding but generally don't do more than 300km rides in one day. Tires are like oil everbodys got a differing opinion, the tires I loved on my DR are no longer being manufactured, so I'm in test mode.

Dropping down to a 14 tooth countersprocket is the easiest way to improve the DR offroad, no need to change chain etc. Will have to grind down sprocket retainer though or use a couple of 22mm circlips on shaft instead.

Only remember the nasty dogs at the gravel pit while riding my bicycle around Westwood area as a young lad.

 

[tobster]

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Hi, I too bought a DR650 3 weeks ago, just hit 1700k on it. At first I thought the seat was terrible and I had to get off every 100k and clench my cheeks and hop around the roadside, now the seat seems fine, so maybe it just needs breaking in. Theres lots of upgrades I would like to do, more power and better suspension will be the first changes. I dont understand why everyone moans about the trail wings, I came back from Powell river yesterday, lots of twisty bits and I was flat out, bike would not go any faster, tires never skipped or jumped or felt weak at any stage. Off road the tires are useless, no where near enough bite to tackle even gravel. What are you planning on doing for tires?

 

[old trials guy]

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Farp wrote:

The seat is ridiculous. I've owned close to 2 dozen motorcycles (both street and dirt) and this seat is by far the worst I've ever sat on. Suzuki should be embarrassed by putting something like that on a dual sport bike. What have you guys found that works.

OTG....I like my Roho air seat pad. Works great on the road and I take it off in the dirt so I get better seat control. I highly recommend the Roadhawk air pads.

Last, but not least. Is there anybody out there who remembers the hermits trail that used to be near the Westwood track back in the 70's?

OTG....I sure do. I rode that trail so many times I could do it in my sleep. I remember the smoke coming out of the old tin chimney in the middle of winter. It now is likely part of the golf course. You can get up Eagle Ridge but the old road up is pretty much a rock crawler course and would be quite a challenge on a DR.

otg

 

[Farp]

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Hi, thanks for the info and links, much appreciated.

Buck, thanks for the input re tires. I was thinking of Dunlop 606's or Metzler Saharas but I will check out the Conti's and, respecting your opinion, they will probably be my choice. I also like your suggestion re sprockets. I think I'll do the same - go up a tooth or two on the rear sprocket and keep a selection of countershaft sprockets to be used depending on where I'm going. Here is a link to a really usefull site that allows you input gear and sprocket ratios and tells you what RPMs and road speeds will be developed.

http://www.it-ideas.net/bike/calc.htm

Phoenix, thanks for the Wiki link. Lots of useful info and I'd never have thought to look for DR650 info there.

Tobster, I agree with what you said re the Trailwings. I had mine let go just a little on the pavement but that was probably due to them not being sufficiently scrubbed; off road I found them to be so bad that I'd be embarrassed to go out with an experienced rider - they just have to be upgraded.

Old Trials Guy, thanks for the seat info. I will check out the Roho Air seat, is there a local distributor or do you have to order them online from the US?

I actually went up Eagle Ridge yesterday. It was pretty much paved road all the way to the sub-station. I cut around a gate before getting to the sub-station and followed the transmission tower road to the end where it overlooks Lake Buntzen.

That route hasn't changed much in the last 30 years. I remember it well because I broke my right leg in three places on it and had to drape my leg over the seat and ride all the way back to the truck on one leg. Coming down that long pipeline hill on the front brake wasn't a hell of a lot of fun but I made it. The next day I was hobbling around the bike checking out damage and when I pulled the front brake lever the cable snapped so I must have come down that hill on one or two strands of wire.

Man, Eagle Ridge was such a great riding area, what a shame that most of it's been lost. Do you know if you can still get through to Cypress Lake? Also, there used to be some really good technical trails around the Burrard Thermal plant. Do you know if they're still there? Although most of them would probably be too much for the 650 it might be fun to gear it way down and explore its limits on some of the more technical trails.

I'd like to meet up with you guys and do some riding. Right now all my off-road riding is done solo. I have one riding partner but he's on a full dress Kawasaki so going off the pavement is out of the question.

 

[old trials guy]

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Old Trials Guy, thanks for the seat info. I will check out the Roho Air seat, is there a local distributor or do you have to order them online from the US?

OTG-Try Rob at Daytona for local supply or if local prices are too high their are several Ebay stores that sell them. I paid 120 locally for the "small cruiser" model which works okay for me.

Do you know if you can still get through to Cypress Lake?

OTG- you can find the road up to Cypress Lake past the golf course maintenance facility at the top of Plateau Blvd. The road is now a boulder strewn creek bed which is really tough work on my big Sherco. It would be a breeze on a trials bike.

Also, there used to be some really good technical trails around the Burrard Thermal plant. Do you know if they're still there? Although most of them would probably be too much for the 650 it might be fun to gear it way down and explore its limits on some of the more technical trails.

OTG-this area has been the home of the Canada Pacific Trials Association since the early 70's. They have a formal land use agreement with Hydro and GV Parks to manage the trails for trials bikes only. Most of the area does not lend itself to anything but a trials bike. Watch for a DS training day at the trials club parking area coming up this summer.

I'd like to meet up with you guys and do some riding. Right now all my off-road riding is done solo.

OTG-keep an eye on the forum and hook up with one of the weekend groups or join in one of the organized rides. The group riding out of Bruces Market is a great casual bunch who welcome everyone to join in for Sunday rides. Just check Phoenix' posts for Bruces Market. Welcome to DSBC.

 

[Farp]

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I bought a brand new DR650 a few weeks ago. This is a great bike with a lousy seat. I found that after 3 or 4 hrs riding there was serious discomfort and I still felt sore the next day.

I took the seat to Brighouse Upholstering. Their address is 5755 #3 Rd. Richmond, Tel 604-278-9331. They replaced the stock foam and re-used the stock seat cover. The seat is much softer now and is a great deal more comfortable to ride. I just got back from a 3 hr ride with no signs of numb butt at all. I'm extremely happy with the result and would recommend the conversion to anybody who is not happy with the stock seat. In addition to the softer foam I also had them make the seat about 1" wider - man! what an improvement - well worth the approximate $130 price.

I also replaced the tires with Conti TKC 80s front and rear. I went with a 130 on the rear and stayed with the 90 on the front. These tires are much better than the stock Trailwings when it comes to dirt riding, but I think on the pavement the Trailwings might have a slight edge. The Contis are so much better in the dirt, though, that it makes the pavement disadvantage trivial.

I also installed a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket - down one tooth from the stock. This has made a noticeable improvement to the bike's performance in the more technical sections and is a mod I definitely recommend. There is a circular disc shaped retainer that locks the sprocket to the countershaft. When you drop down to the 14 tooth sprocket this retainer interferes with the chain so it's circumference has to be ground down about a sixteenth of an inch. I ground mine by inserting a 12" bastard file tightly through the spline clearance slots and then ground it by holding the file while I rotated it against an angle/flash grinder. This worked very well and only took a few minutes.