Well being a very wet rainy season this year and me not being too happy in getting soaked every weekend, I limited my bike activities to repairing, restoring, converting during my free time.
It was high time to convert the DR650 to Supermoto as mainly used on paved roads in speeds exceeding the abilities of my off-road tyres. Further on did I have the wish to keep them 130/17'' and 90/21" wheels to be able to switch easily between off-road and SM.
Problems started late last year as sourcing is a major pain in the a.., Ebay-Germany, Procycle-US, Suzuki-Austria, EBC-Thai, Pistonshop for PIRELLI were my main sources just to name the major ones.
First was to decide which rims & spokes to use and which hubs. Hubs are sooooo expensive, so I started sourcing from Germany from a 94 model, fit my 95, got both front and rear wheel and had my dad strip, clean and paint the hubs. He even fitted new SKF bearings and sealrings. Next were the EXCEL rims and the dimensions. I decided for 120/17 and 150/17 as a 160 on the rear would have forced me to make some major changes to chain cover and other stuff that would touch a 160. Spokes and rims were sourced at PROCYCLE and got here thanks to the help of Nikster !!!
What tyres for a SM ? Well as I trust in PIRELLI, asked Nat to get me the Diablo Rosso II as they got perfect reviews in all major European motorcycle publications. Easy as also all dimensions needed were on Sale; 150'th are not so easy to get here.......
A major bump we hit when I saw that the rear Buchanan spokes did not fit my setup, so I asked dad to send over them dirty old spokes from the Ebay wheels, cleaned them and sent them to Nat for rechroming and nice they came out both spokes and nipples.
Another pompemm was the decision if I would be willing to change both brake rotors every time I changed wheels but on inspecting the current ones I decided to fit new ones, so got buddy Craig EBC send me both front and rear rotor plus new pads.
Another problem is the speedo hub, as changing from a 21 to a 17" front will give you wrong readings, so PROCYCLE gave me the perfect excuse for another order, got also a short sidestand which isn't in use as turned out toooooo short and the bike leans at a dangerous angle.......
So tonight got myself once more into the workshop and shortened the original one by 1.7 cms which gives me the save parking angle of the bike.
Today was the day, Nat brought me the long awaited assembled rear wheel and here she is:
and from the other side:
Yesterday I also fitted again the holders for the small GIVI sidecases as they already came in handy before, more important they protected the bike during 3 crashes..........5555555
Right now I think I am done with the DR as I changed loads of stuff on her, fitted DYNOJET 2, K&N filter with airbox cut open and snorkel removed, LASER exhaust, WILBERS progressive front springs which improved the handling significantly compared to the mushy original setup, fitted some BOSCH horns & relais, a better front H4 lamp. Further on a better handlebar with PROGRIP rubbers, HEL braided front brake line, SUPERBRACE fork brace, ACERBIS SM-front fender, GIVI 32 lts. topbox, sharper front sprocket. Also got rid of the ugly rear and plate holder and fitted a small LED light for the plate. Another improvement was to dump the shytty original petcoke and change to Yamaha's Raptor one which is a simple on-off-res one.
Had to adjust the valves, check the torque on the 4 main bolts of the 'head' and put some silicone on the headcover but only in very small amounts as this one also holds the bearings for the cam.
The only job still to be done during the week is the stupid re-tensioning of the balancer chain.
Clutch was also properly done as I found out the the pressure hub was wharped already, also dumped the original metal plates and got me new ones from Craig-EBC, changed also the small bearing that engages the clutch.
Front sprocket is now a 14 teeth one which should give me the edge on other 650's, but then again maybe not as this one has to haul my 100+a little kgs. 55555
What all this cost me ?? Well, consider a Versys to be the equivalent. Why put so much money into this bike ?
Well, it has one cylinder, is aircooled but has a small oilcooler, is built without any gadgets or all that new electronic crap, is easily repaired on the road, with all the mods should now weigh around 150 kgs dry, asks for not much, just a little oil from time to time, did never fail me when starting and with the LASER, sounds simply too good to be dumped for another bike........
Time for a ride !! Cheers, Franz
It was high time to convert the DR650 to Supermoto as mainly used on paved roads in speeds exceeding the abilities of my off-road tyres. Further on did I have the wish to keep them 130/17'' and 90/21" wheels to be able to switch easily between off-road and SM.
Problems started late last year as sourcing is a major pain in the a.., Ebay-Germany, Procycle-US, Suzuki-Austria, EBC-Thai, Pistonshop for PIRELLI were my main sources just to name the major ones.
First was to decide which rims & spokes to use and which hubs. Hubs are sooooo expensive, so I started sourcing from Germany from a 94 model, fit my 95, got both front and rear wheel and had my dad strip, clean and paint the hubs. He even fitted new SKF bearings and sealrings. Next were the EXCEL rims and the dimensions. I decided for 120/17 and 150/17 as a 160 on the rear would have forced me to make some major changes to chain cover and other stuff that would touch a 160. Spokes and rims were sourced at PROCYCLE and got here thanks to the help of Nikster !!!
What tyres for a SM ? Well as I trust in PIRELLI, asked Nat to get me the Diablo Rosso II as they got perfect reviews in all major European motorcycle publications. Easy as also all dimensions needed were on Sale; 150'th are not so easy to get here.......
A major bump we hit when I saw that the rear Buchanan spokes did not fit my setup, so I asked dad to send over them dirty old spokes from the Ebay wheels, cleaned them and sent them to Nat for rechroming and nice they came out both spokes and nipples.
Another pompemm was the decision if I would be willing to change both brake rotors every time I changed wheels but on inspecting the current ones I decided to fit new ones, so got buddy Craig EBC send me both front and rear rotor plus new pads.
Another problem is the speedo hub, as changing from a 21 to a 17" front will give you wrong readings, so PROCYCLE gave me the perfect excuse for another order, got also a short sidestand which isn't in use as turned out toooooo short and the bike leans at a dangerous angle.......
So tonight got myself once more into the workshop and shortened the original one by 1.7 cms which gives me the save parking angle of the bike.
Today was the day, Nat brought me the long awaited assembled rear wheel and here she is:
and from the other side:
Yesterday I also fitted again the holders for the small GIVI sidecases as they already came in handy before, more important they protected the bike during 3 crashes..........5555555
Right now I think I am done with the DR as I changed loads of stuff on her, fitted DYNOJET 2, K&N filter with airbox cut open and snorkel removed, LASER exhaust, WILBERS progressive front springs which improved the handling significantly compared to the mushy original setup, fitted some BOSCH horns & relais, a better front H4 lamp. Further on a better handlebar with PROGRIP rubbers, HEL braided front brake line, SUPERBRACE fork brace, ACERBIS SM-front fender, GIVI 32 lts. topbox, sharper front sprocket. Also got rid of the ugly rear and plate holder and fitted a small LED light for the plate. Another improvement was to dump the shytty original petcoke and change to Yamaha's Raptor one which is a simple on-off-res one.
Had to adjust the valves, check the torque on the 4 main bolts of the 'head' and put some silicone on the headcover but only in very small amounts as this one also holds the bearings for the cam.
The only job still to be done during the week is the stupid re-tensioning of the balancer chain.
Clutch was also properly done as I found out the the pressure hub was wharped already, also dumped the original metal plates and got me new ones from Craig-EBC, changed also the small bearing that engages the clutch.
Front sprocket is now a 14 teeth one which should give me the edge on other 650's, but then again maybe not as this one has to haul my 100+a little kgs. 55555
What all this cost me ?? Well, consider a Versys to be the equivalent. Why put so much money into this bike ?
Well, it has one cylinder, is aircooled but has a small oilcooler, is built without any gadgets or all that new electronic crap, is easily repaired on the road, with all the mods should now weigh around 150 kgs dry, asks for not much, just a little oil from time to time, did never fail me when starting and with the LASER, sounds simply too good to be dumped for another bike........
Time for a ride !! Cheers, Franz
