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Van Islander's DR650
- Thread starter TX650A Van Islander
- Start date
The guy who owns the dealership where I bought my DR650 (Mile Zero Motorsports just south of Nanaimo) has one of those "DR Big" bikes of days gone by. He has a big collection of old Suzukis including a water Buffalo too. I'll try to get a picture and post it.
Re the Japanese singles, I just saw on YouTube that there is now a new version of the DRZ400, and Kawasaki has a new 400 or 450 coming out too?
Definitely it seems the trend as we all get older that riders are preferring lighter "adventure" enduro bikes, at least that seems to be how the marketing is pointing.
Re the Japanese singles, I just saw on YouTube that there is now a new version of the DRZ400, and Kawasaki has a new 400 or 450 coming out too?
Definitely it seems the trend as we all get older that riders are preferring lighter "adventure" enduro bikes, at least that seems to be how the marketing is pointing.
Just spotted this thread. I absolutely love my 09 DR650, I've owned it for years. I got it from a young man that bought it new to commute to and from the Coast Guard base here in Washington State. He decided to stop doing that after he hit a deer with it. I got it for a song because of said damage from that incident. It didnt matter to me as I was going to swap to an Acerbis tank anyway. I have absolutely bonded with this bike over the years and rode many, many fire roads on numerous camping trips with it. Its the perfect exploration tool.
Wow! The perfect bike for beautiful country like that. I would love to have access to riding like that!
We are really lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest area. BC is really pretty but not nearly as many paved roads as in the great State of Washington, and way, way less police in Washington State, should you suddenly lose your mind on a motorcycle and exceed the speed limit, not that I've ever done that.Wow! The perfect bike for beautiful country like that. I would love to have access to riding like that!
This weekend I got the new wheel bearings installed in the rear wheel and the tires installed as well. Holy smokes, those Trailmax Missions with really stiff sidewalls were really difficult with hand tools. I don't have a proper stand so did it on the floor of my shop. I figure I better be able to do a tire change/repair in the bush somewhere so that's why I did it this way. The front took a long time to seat the tire bead properly. The rear bead seated well, that was after I installed the tire the second time after damaging and patching the tube...
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As mentioned, the front tire bead didn't seat easily. I tried this method I had been told about. It didn't help. In the end I just lubricated the tired more with soapy water and it eventually seated.
Also shown, new cushion drive bushings, and I installed new front brake pads. The old ones were not yet fully gone, but new ones are not that much $
Also shown, new cushion drive bushings, and I installed new front brake pads. The old ones were not yet fully gone, but new ones are not that much $
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Like VincentHDfan has, I'm finally installing an Acerbis 20 litre tank. This shows it compared to the stock 13 litre tank, which only took me about 180 to 190 km (about 115 miles I think) before having to quickly change the petcock to reserve. I've put this off long enough. It will be way better for road trips and may even give me a bit better wind protection. I will have to fab up some new front signal lights brackets to relocate those signal lights as the stock setup now collides the signal lights with the Acerbis tank at full lock left or right.
I found for re/re tired, nothing beats the soapy paste tire shops use. I got a small container from my friend the last time I did a tire swap. It worked much better than soap and water.
I should just go and buy some. I'll have to do that soon and pack a bit in my tool kit.
I wonder with a bit of patience, could you squeeze some into an old toothpaste tube? I suppose a heavy zip lock bag would pack well too.
Loving those chunky tires!
I know what you mean about stiff sidewalls on modern tires. I was determined to mount my own tires on my Suzuki V Strom, and it was all I could do to get them on. Then after I finally got em , I noticed the rotation arrow was backward
so I got to do it all over again!
I know what you mean about stiff sidewalls on modern tires. I was determined to mount my own tires on my Suzuki V Strom, and it was all I could do to get them on. Then after I finally got em , I noticed the rotation arrow was backward
so I got to do it all over again!
Fwiw, the cargo strap used to be my method of choice seating the beads. Now I just use liberal amounts of soapy water and repeated airings all the way up to 60-70lbs if needed. 
Air it up, bounce it off the ground, let the air out, add more water and then bounce the tire off the floor repeatedly all the way around to perimeter.... more soap and air it again. Even stubborn tires will succumb to that.
Air it up, bounce it off the ground, let the air out, add more water and then bounce the tire off the floor repeatedly all the way around to perimeter.... more soap and air it again. Even stubborn tires will succumb to that.
Fwiw, the cargo strap used to be my method of choice seating the beads. Now I just use liberal amounts of soapy water and repeated airings all the way up to 60-70lbs if needed.
Air it up, bounce it off the ground, let the air out, add more water and then bounce the tire off the floor repeatedly all the way around to perimeter.... more soap and air it again. Even stubborn tires will succumb to that.
View attachment 339552
During my misspent youth, I worked for a while as tire man for a big lumber company, changing tires on all manner of trucks and forklifts, and that is how we used to seat big truck tires. We would leave the valve core out of the stems and rapidly air the tire up until the beads popped, then let all the air back out, which would let the inner tubes relax and any folds, twists or wrinkles would straighten out. Then reinstall the valve stem cores and air them up.
Well at least you were experienced for the second time aroundLoving those chunky tires!
View attachment 339550
I know what you mean about stiff sidewalls on modern tires. I was determined to mount my own tires on my Suzuki V Strom, and it was all I could do to get them on. Then after I finally got em , I noticed the rotation arrow was backward
Apparently a common practice by many. Iāve seen vids where guys arid on the edge of the tire and were literally launched when the fluid was ignited. Iām too chicken to do this.
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Bit of advice... take your front turn signal mounts and change them from side to side in order to flip them upside down.
This will give you back the clearance you will find that you no longer have full lock to full lock when you turn your bars side to side.
I'm also too chicken to do that method.
