Winter wrenching....

[PistolPete]

I am contemplating the upgrade of the front and rear springs on the DR650. I would very much like to do the work myself, but do not have Suzuki's "special tool" for the front fork. I would also like to make sure everything is done right the first time. So here I am looking for a "specially tooled" :shock:and willing supervisor. I am more than willing to provide "refreshments".

:hb:

Looking at doing it sometime in the early new year.

Thoughts? Hints?

Thanks...

Pete

 

[tomcycle]

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I have done the front springs on my DR650 and found that no special tool was required. The only tool you need is a impact wrench to remove the allen bolt from the bottom of the fork.

TT

 

[PistolPete]

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Apologies....should have explained a little more. I have the suspicion that the front forks have been lowered the "official" Suzuki method, (I have not popped the fork bolts off to check yet) and would like to rectify this when upgrading the springs. My repair manual makes note of a "special" tool required toremove the damper rod. I am more leary to do the front by myself than the rear because of the "special" tool and the complexity compared to the rear. Anyone have a "special" tool they would be willing to rent out?

Are there any riders out there that have upgraded their springs that are around 225lbs? I do not know what spring rate I should be looking at, but I am sure that Jesse can point me in the right direction. Just looking for feedback on what others ride and if they think they should have gone firmer or softer than what was suggested.

I think this upgrading thing is going to become addictive....already thinking about the FMF Q2 and new jets.:dude:

Thanks...

Pete

 

[joker650]

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I have made the "Tool" for the damper rod. U are welcome to use it, but would have to get it to u some how. Delivery to WAJAX Industries in Langley just off 200th would be free for me to ship it to. I am going ot do my suspension this winter also. Maybe I will start a thread and shou how NOT to do it!.

I think the rear shock spring may be harder to remove.



I e-mailed this guy that supplies DR650 treats. I asked what springs I would need for 200Lb rider and gear loaded on the bike. I also asked about the hi-comp piston.

This was his reply.:tup:

Hi Greg This piston works fine it is 10.5 to 1 compression ratio VS 9.5 stock. I would send you a 7.6 rear and .46 front springs. The headers will be here in mid December. I have not tried a cam yet web cam makes one I guess I will have to check that out.

Jesse




[url]http://www.kientech.com/[/url]

 

[PistolPete]

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Thanks Joker....I will keep your offer of the tool in mind for sure.

What did you make your tool out of? If you need a scanned copy of instructions out of the service manual let me know. Kouba also has a neat way (different from Suzuki manual) to remove and replace the rear spring without removing the shock from the bike. You can find instructions on their webpage. Keep us updated....and if I get to mine before you I will do the same.

Cheers...

Pete

 

[PistolPete]

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Well....Santa came early this year. The wife got me a mc lift from Crappy Tire, so I put it to good use already by upgrading the rear spring. Wasn't too difficult. Koubalink website says that it is possible toslack off the stock spring and drop it and associated junk out the bottom of the bike by simply removing the lower shock mounting bolt. For the life of me I couldn't get the spring out. So I ended up doing it per the Manual....removing the airbox to gain access to the top shock mounting bolt. It all went back together lickety split. What an improvement.

Next up is the front. I will get to that sometime over the holidays. I did some routeing around at work and found what I think will work to remove the damper rod. One of the guys off of TT emailed me the dimensions of the hex head plumbing cap he used to hold the damper rod in place while turning the bottom allan bolt. I found a couple galvanized nuts that I can wrench together on the end of a peice of galvanized reddi-rod. Ifthe rodstarts to spin I'll just clamp a set of vise grips on the rod.

I'll be sure to post once the front is done....

Future mods...

FMF Q2 and re-jet

bash plate

better hand guards

gps and mount

ect ect ect

 

[PistolPete]

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Well....

Finally got around to doing the front springs yesterday. Whoever last had the fork caps off last sure torgued the crap out of them when they put them back on.:shoot: I had loosened off the top triple clamp like the manual says and still couldn't break them loose. Crescent wrench and socket...I felt if I pulled any harder I would round off the bolt head. I ended up finding an old 7/8 6 point socket that I ground the first 1/8" off of. That way there was no taper left at the start of the socket. This was the ticket. There was no slop with the 6 point and no taper.The socket held like crazy. Now I could have acces to the guts of the fork.

As I has suspected the front end had been lowered using the spacer relocation method, so I did have to pull the damper rod and relocate the spacerto raise it back to stock. I had found a couple galvanized nuts that I thought would work to hold the damper rod. I got the first damper rod out after some fussing.With the damper rod in hand I went about grinding down a larger nut to the perfect size to use on the second fork tube and to have in the future.

Put it all back together with the new springs, new oil, and topped off with a 3.5cm spacer as per Jesse's preload instructions.:dr:

All in all it took around 3 hours. Not too bad considering the "modifications" to the tools and such. If a person had all the right tools I am sure that it could be done in under 2 hours. I was a bit hesitant on attempting this myself, but I am glad I did. The more I work on the bike the more confident I am becoming that I can attempt more on my own. The less money spent at a shop means more goodies for the bike.

If anyone in the LML plans on lowering their bike, zip me an email. I would be more than willing to help out. I now know I have all the right tools and tricks to do both the front and rear lowering/de-lowering mods, as well as upgrade the springs. Not to mention a MC lift and access to a dry shop on weekends.

:hb:

Pete