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Looking at A 03 DR 650? anyone have one? need input!
- Thread starter evil69
- Start date
Scottiedogg
New member
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Hey Evil,
I'm not sure you should buy the DR. Have you considered the abuse you are going to receive from the Island guys. From what I read in the forums everyday I'm not so sure I would go through with this purchase. I can hear it now " What was he thinking, Doesn't he know we only ride KLR on the Island !!! "
Sorry I couldn't help myself...
Scottie:f:
Suzuki Rider
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Hey Evil,
I'm not sure you should buy the DR. Have you considered the abuse you are going to receive from the Island guys. From what I read in the forums everyday I'm not so sure I would go through with this purchase. I can hear it now " What was he thinking, Doesn't he know we only ride KLR on the Island !!! "
Sorry I couldn't help myself...
Scottie:f:
Suzuki Rider
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tashunka
Guest
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Actually Scottie, if our New Years ride is an accurate representation, KLRs make up only about 60% of the DS population here on the island.
And because Evil currently owns a Yamaha the board here at the KLR PRESERVATION SOCIETY has agreed to support this non-conformist purchase.
I spent a gret deal of time considering a DR650 when I was buying my bike Joe. I didn't find any reasons out there not to buy one, alot of feedback I got is that they're more oriented to the dirt than the KLR, so a bit more fun off road and can hold their own on long road trips with a few mods.
Good luck with it all, hope the deal goes through for ya today!!
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Actually Scottie, if our New Years ride is an accurate representation, KLRs make up only about 60% of the DS population here on the island.
And because Evil currently owns a Yamaha the board here at the KLR PRESERVATION SOCIETY has agreed to support this non-conformist purchase.
I spent a gret deal of time considering a DR650 when I was buying my bike Joe. I didn't find any reasons out there not to buy one, alot of feedback I got is that they're more oriented to the dirt than the KLR, so a bit more fun off road and can hold their own on long road trips with a few mods.
Good luck with it all, hope the deal goes through for ya today!!
joker650
Active member
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evil69 wrote:
I have a 99 dr650 mostly stock.... modified exhaust, jetted, taper bars on 1.5inch risers ans a spare 14tooth front sproket, heavier fork oil and pre loaded the fork springs. I think aheavier rear spring and new heavier front springs will be installed this year.
It's not the most powerfull 650 out there but with the DR u CAN do it all (kinda). I ride tight single track with my buddies that have woods bikes( READ: Non KLR)and can still hit 100mph+ on the hwy riding to work every day(in the spring, summer and fall).
It has been trouble free and has been riden hard and put to bed wet many times and has never let me down. No worries about overheating and loosing all your collant on the tight stuff, foot pegs falling off, rear sub-frames falling off, doo-hickies that need attention or bulky emmision peices that can get riped off.
The only problem I have had was the lowe base gasket. They develop a leak if they do not have the new metal type. But that was only $70 and 3 hours at home to tare the head and cylinder off and get it back together again.
For the price of a DR you can't go wrong..... just put on good grippers for the bush.
I can't seem to get the kid away from the DR................ he has plans:hf:
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evil69 wrote:
I have a 99 dr650 mostly stock.... modified exhaust, jetted, taper bars on 1.5inch risers ans a spare 14tooth front sproket, heavier fork oil and pre loaded the fork springs. I think aheavier rear spring and new heavier front springs will be installed this year.
It's not the most powerfull 650 out there but with the DR u CAN do it all (kinda). I ride tight single track with my buddies that have woods bikes( READ: Non KLR)and can still hit 100mph+ on the hwy riding to work every day(in the spring, summer and fall).
It has been trouble free and has been riden hard and put to bed wet many times and has never let me down. No worries about overheating and loosing all your collant on the tight stuff, foot pegs falling off, rear sub-frames falling off, doo-hickies that need attention or bulky emmision peices that can get riped off.
The only problem I have had was the lowe base gasket. They develop a leak if they do not have the new metal type. But that was only $70 and 3 hours at home to tare the head and cylinder off and get it back together again.
For the price of a DR you can't go wrong..... just put on good grippers for the bush.
I can't seem to get the kid away from the DR................ he has plans:hf:
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hey Evil69. I had a 2001 dr650 for 2 seasons. It was a great bike that I really enjoyed riding. I did a jetting kit and progressive springs in the front. The suspension is way to soft stock if you want to push at all off road. The bike is a little heavy but is way better off road than a KLR. The motor is fantastic. It makes huge bottom and mid power which is great for dualsport. The motor signs off a little early on top but that isn't a problem given all the torque available on the bottom. The air cooled motor is nearly bullet proof and I never had a single issue with mine. I found the ground clearance a little low but that seems to be normal for 650's. With a good skid plate it got through all the ruff stuff I threw at it. If you can get the bike for a good price I think you will be happy with it . They don't require a ton of mods to be a great dualsport that is fun to ride in almost all situations. Rocke
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hey Evil69. I had a 2001 dr650 for 2 seasons. It was a great bike that I really enjoyed riding. I did a jetting kit and progressive springs in the front. The suspension is way to soft stock if you want to push at all off road. The bike is a little heavy but is way better off road than a KLR. The motor is fantastic. It makes huge bottom and mid power which is great for dualsport. The motor signs off a little early on top but that isn't a problem given all the torque available on the bottom. The air cooled motor is nearly bullet proof and I never had a single issue with mine. I found the ground clearance a little low but that seems to be normal for 650's. With a good skid plate it got through all the ruff stuff I threw at it. If you can get the bike for a good price I think you will be happy with it . They don't require a ton of mods to be a great dualsport that is fun to ride in almost all situations. Rocke
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Pirate
Guest
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How ya doin Joe and aHappy New Year to you and your wife.......I think that a DR650 would almost certainly be the preferable choice of 650's for you. I don't believe that performance stats is an issue here and reliability is certainly nothing to be concerned about either. I feel the most important factor here is off road ridability for a person of your size. The DR is slightly lighter than a KLR according to dry weight specs and more importantlyless added weight with being air/oil cooled and less gas with the smaller tank. Important when picking the bike up or turning around in anarrow trail orriding single track. If my memory serves me correct, I think the DR seat height is about the same or fractioally less than the KLR which is definitlya bonus for you. If you plan on some long distance road trips in the near future the DR won't be as comfy as the KLR by a long shot, some modswould help though( seat and front screen ),but that is an area you may feel ok to sacrafice. Either way good luck and if you finally feel that you made the wrong decision, I'm sure reselling wouldn't be a problem.
PIRATE............:tup:
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How ya doin Joe and aHappy New Year to you and your wife.......I think that a DR650 would almost certainly be the preferable choice of 650's for you. I don't believe that performance stats is an issue here and reliability is certainly nothing to be concerned about either. I feel the most important factor here is off road ridability for a person of your size. The DR is slightly lighter than a KLR according to dry weight specs and more importantlyless added weight with being air/oil cooled and less gas with the smaller tank. Important when picking the bike up or turning around in anarrow trail orriding single track. If my memory serves me correct, I think the DR seat height is about the same or fractioally less than the KLR which is definitlya bonus for you. If you plan on some long distance road trips in the near future the DR won't be as comfy as the KLR by a long shot, some modswould help though( seat and front screen ),but that is an area you may feel ok to sacrafice. Either way good luck and if you finally feel that you made the wrong decision, I'm sure reselling wouldn't be a problem.
PIRATE............:tup:
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Well bad news!
Harbour city motor sports wanted to add about $1300 on there end of the price?
too me them making $1300 (not to mention the $500 too the service manager who owned the DR) to swap bikes is notin my budget! they would notdo better and told me that they would have to makethat much to keep there doors open?
Also the test ride was not good! the bike went into a speed wobble at 110km/h and almost didn't get out of it! thebike also made alot of popping soundswhen you let off the throttle! the scorpion tires didn't look like they would do dirt at all! so for now I will stay with my lil thumper and continue too have fun!
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Well bad news!
Harbour city motor sports wanted to add about $1300 on there end of the price?
too me them making $1300 (not to mention the $500 too the service manager who owned the DR) to swap bikes is notin my budget! they would notdo better and told me that they would have to makethat much to keep there doors open?
Also the test ride was not good! the bike went into a speed wobble at 110km/h and almost didn't get out of it! thebike also made alot of popping soundswhen you let off the throttle! the scorpion tires didn't look like they would do dirt at all! so for now I will stay with my lil thumper and continue too have fun!
joker650
Active member
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Well thats' really too bad that your buying experiance went soo crapy bro.........:mad3:
What was the original price they gave you?
The 'Poping' is either caused by a lean fuel/air mixture or an exhaust leak.
As for the wobble............ I have had mine up to 170kph and there was no wobble, there must have been something wrong with the bike.
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Well thats' really too bad that your buying experiance went soo crapy bro.........:mad3:
What was the original price they gave you?
The 'Poping' is either caused by a lean fuel/air mixture or an exhaust leak.
As for the wobble............ I have had mine up to 170kph and there was no wobble, there must have been something wrong with the bike.
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the owner said that he just had the front tire trued up as they had a problem with it! but at 50 km/h if you wiggled the handle bars the whole bike wobbled?
had the owner down to $4500 but to get out of my bike they wanted $500 on top of that and then wanted to make $1300off of mine? oh well! the bank loan will be paid out next year and will start working on the wife for a new bike for then!
till then my bike does just fine for what I really want to do with it!
I am thinking I will go up mt benson tomorrow if it is not raining too hard!
Thanks for all the advice from everyone!
I will just keep looking!
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the owner said that he just had the front tire trued up as they had a problem with it! but at 50 km/h if you wiggled the handle bars the whole bike wobbled?
had the owner down to $4500 but to get out of my bike they wanted $500 on top of that and then wanted to make $1300off of mine? oh well! the bank loan will be paid out next year and will start working on the wife for a new bike for then!
till then my bike does just fine for what I really want to do with it!
I am thinking I will go up mt benson tomorrow if it is not raining too hard!
Thanks for all the advice from everyone!
I will just keep looking!
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That's too bad things didn't work out. As far as the wobble goes I'm with joker. I had my dDR up to 162km/h on the GPS (read no B.S.) and no wobble. I even had a totally out of balance rear wheel once and all you could feel was a slight buzz through the bars. When I looked down at my shadow the whole rear tire was coming off the ground at 100km/h=.:shock: I thought the DR was very stable at speed so there must have been something wrong with the bike you tried. Better luck next time. Rocke
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That's too bad things didn't work out. As far as the wobble goes I'm with joker. I had my dDR up to 162km/h on the GPS (read no B.S.) and no wobble. I even had a totally out of balance rear wheel once and all you could feel was a slight buzz through the bars. When I looked down at my shadow the whole rear tire was coming off the ground at 100km/h=.:shock: I thought the DR was very stable at speed so there must have been something wrong with the bike you tried. Better luck next time. Rocke
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Pirate
Guest
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Nice story. :ted:Had second thoughts eh. I bet ya crapped yerself on it. :shock
on't worry Joe. Come out on some more of those trails like a few weeks back and we'll soon make a man out of ya.
P I R A T E.....................................:tup:
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Nice story. :ted:Had second thoughts eh. I bet ya crapped yerself on it. :shock
on't worry Joe. Come out on some more of those trails like a few weeks back and we'll soon make a man out of ya.P I R A T E.....................................:tup:
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tashunka
Guest
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evil69 wrote:
Absolutely Joe! In fact you can take over my position. I've decided to sell my KLR. I just can't take the pressure anymore. I'm losing control..... must buy overpriced, highly engineered european.... must resist practicality.... must sell KLR!!!
Nah, but seriously... In all honesty I'd go orange in 2 seconds if a) I could remotely afford it and b) I had a degree in mechanical engineering...
but YES Evil69, we've always got room at the KLR.P.S. for another!!
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evil69 wrote:
Absolutely Joe! In fact you can take over my position. I've decided to sell my KLR. I just can't take the pressure anymore. I'm losing control..... must buy overpriced, highly engineered european.... must resist practicality.... must sell KLR!!!
Nah, but seriously... In all honesty I'd go orange in 2 seconds if a) I could remotely afford it and b) I had a degree in mechanical engineering...
but YES Evil69, we've always got room at the KLR.P.S. for another!!
Scottiedogg
New member
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VIMike wrote:
Be afraid, be very Afraid ! LOL
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VIMike wrote:
Be afraid, be very Afraid ! LOL