Speaking of second childhoods...

Downeaster

Everything in XS
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https://maine.craigslist.org/mcy/d/1997-suzuki-dr650/6846484193.html Suzuki DR650

Younger grandson (21) just bought a Kawasaki 2-smoke dirt bike.

Older grandson (28) is in the process of moving back to Maine from North Carolina and will be buying a dirt bike soon.

They have grand plans to build a track (more like a wide path I suspect) on their Mom's 7 acres, plus older one is looking for 5-10 acres of his own and will be riding there as well.

I know I'm too damn old to be doing any serious dirt riding, but I'm thinking this would give me something to donk around on while the boys are out there tearing things up.

Made him an offer, not sure if I want him to take me up on it or not...
 
Ooh....both nice bikes. I was seriously looking at the Suzuki 650, it’s just a nice simple throwback thumper. But that 400 is nice too.
I grew up riding dirt bikes in the Arizona deserts, I tried taking my 650 Suzuki V Strom off road ONCE! It was in some serious dirt bike territory and it just about beat me to death. It was about 200 lbs too heavy!
I would do a little cow trailing again, nothing hairy, but I’d probably invest in some serious armor. I don’t bounce when I fall , the way I did when I was a teenager!
Let us know if you get that 400!
 
Ooh....both nice bikes. I was seriously looking at the Suzuki 650, it’s just a nice simple throwback thumper. But that 400 is nice too.
I grew up riding dirt bikes in the Arizona deserts, I tried taking my 650 Suzuki V Strom off road ONCE! It was in some serious dirt bike territory and it just about beat me to death. It was about 200 lbs too heavy!
I would do a little cow trailing again, nothing hairy, but I’d probably invest in some serious armor. I don’t bounce when I fall , the way I did when I was a teenager!
Let us know if you get that 400!

As mentioned elsewhere, I LOVE to just pick a direction and see what I can find. A little East of here are the biggest blueberry barrens in the State. Thousands and thousands of acres of them. There are hundreds of miles of dirt roads, some gravel, some sand, some damn near bare bedrock. I tried the FJ on one of the gravel ones and it was okay...until it turned to sand. I like to NEVER got turned around and the hell out of there! The Zook with some new trials tires should be just the ticket and expand my opportunities to explore without having to ride a couple of hours first.

And OF COURSE there will be pictures. I've been around long enough to know the rules...:bike:
 
Whilst wandering the cow paths of Arizona in my van talked to a guy on DR650, short version; he regretted having moved up from a DR350.(weight) You have a road bike, smaller is better on a cowtrailer. Specially for those of us whose gross strength is no longer Herculean. Had a 2000 GasGas 380 for a bit last year. A great dirt bike. Realized there just is nowhere to ride it here. After a scant hour I saw what even occasional riding would do to lush Wisconsin pasture. And seriously at 63 serious dirt shenanigans don't seem like such a good idea, a spill easily laughed about 20 years ago could put me out of action for a year these days. JP1 has a Honda CRF250L a good bumper bike. Rode it a couple back road miles, seems nice.
 
Whenever I am thinking of doing an activity I did in my youth, I check that one line on my driver's license.:laugh:
But, of course, if you are still a semi-active off road rider., go for it.
 
Well, I’ve got nice new (and badly swollen at the moment) reason for a more adult outlook and behaviour.

(OK smart@sses - no ribald comments required :rolleyes: ).

There’s nothing like a new knee to give you a new perspective on horsing around - so no dirt-bikin’ for me.

On a happier note, I just went out to loan an XS650 manual to a vintage bike buddy who just got a “new” bike and is having carb issues. Lucille ran superb in the crisp cool air and I was cosy-warm in my assless chaps and heavyweight jacket. Very nice indeed!

I also emailed him the excellent carb guide done by Forum members and a carb ID chart - but I really wanted to send him the photo version of the carb ID chart.

Has anyone got a copy of that they could shoot me? I have seen it, but I can’t find the file at the moment.

Pete
 
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Well, I went ahead and grabbed it. Needs a little more love than I had hoped for, but it's pretty much all the sort of things you would expect on a dual purpose bike. Plastic is a little rough, turn signals need repair, headlight is out, it'll need a set of levers and some new rubber.

On the plus side, suspension is tight, wheels are true, starts and runs well, clutch feels good, shifts well, brakes are good and it already has the case guards on it.

I'll look it over a little closer in the morning and take some pictures.

And I'll even be allowed to sleep in the house tonight!:thumbsup:
 
All right children, here's some (no so...) pretty pictures for ya:

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It's filthy (a dirty dirt bike...the horror!)

So far the main thing is the wiring:

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Headlight and front turn signal wiring completely butchered. Somebody spliced in those stupid little mini-led turn signals that snap off if you look at them crosseyed and did a really shitty job of it. One side completely missing, other side crimped with a bare metal ferrule. Headlight connector installed with "twist 'em and tape it" method, bulb missing.

Rear fender chopped and another set of those toy turn signals and a crappy LED taillight sheet metal screwed to what was left of the fender.

Both ends benefited from about 80 feet of WalMart's Finest Vinyl Electrical Tape.

Battery cover missing, held in with bungee cord. About half the bolts for the plastic and seat missing.

Haven't discovered anything seriously amiss yet, mostly just shoddy work easily fixed. Fortunately, I have a crap-ton of experience fixing other peoples wiring and most of the connectors and tools required.
 
First we need a list of everything that's wrong. I think I have all the parts to reinstall the original rear fender, tail light and turn signals. We'll start there. Looking for a decent service manual (we all know how wonderful Clymer and Haynes are...:cussing: ) and I guess I'll hit boats.net or Babbits for their exploded views and try to figure out what all is missing. Also fee-bay for some plastic.
 
From what I can see in the photo, I think that the upholstery on the the seat may have a tear in it and the wiring on the rear signal lights is a bit floppy. :rolleyes:

Otherwise, good to go DE!
 
fenderext.jpg


Rear wiring repaired, fender extension reinstalled, taillight repaired and remounted, left turn signal mounted.

First $200 parts order for a pair of front turn signals, headlight assembly (further examination of the existing stuff showed it wasn't worth trying to fix) and some bits to mount the turn signals with.

With a little luck, that and some tires and tubes (another $200...:( ) will get it to an inspectable status.

Looking at it, I may bob that rear fender just under the bottom of the license plate an inch or so.
 
fenderext.jpg

Rear wiring repaired, fender extension reinstalled, taillight repaired and remounted, left turn signal mounted.
First $200 parts order for a pair of front turn signals, headlight assembly (further examination of the existing stuff showed it wasn't worth trying to fix) and some bits to mount the turn signals with.
With a little luck, that and some tires and tubes (another $200...:( ) will get it to an inspectable status.
Looking at it, I may bob that rear fender just under the bottom of the license plate an inch or so.

Hi Downeaster,
although you ain't as old and fragile as me for offroad riding I'd advise hanging a lightweight sidecar on your latest acquisition.
Lil' platform thing, see 'em on the Adventure Rider site with enough detail to DIY one. You can take a lightweight dirtbike sidecar rig just about anywhere that's wide enough without much physical risk and you can carry a shitload of blueberries home on it too.
 
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