PREPS FOR LONG HAUL

– This is just collation of members' posts collected into one place, in an ordered way - to make things easier to find

– Specific to DR650, but most things generic for all bikes

| NOTE: || Its a work in progress - || if you've got something to add, or I've made an error, || please comment. I will update as and when. |

• Air filter socks. Slips over standard filter. Replace when dirty. Reduces frequency of filter replacement. [Frank]

• Engrave the inside of the valve covers with the clearence values. [Frank]

• Lower chain guide
- make out of multiple bits of chopping board. Rotate when worn - extends life. swap with outer bits so have built in 'spares' [Frank]

• Replace headlight bulbs for brighter - more here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...741#post146788

– I'm still working on this section, since there is so many options and opinions all over. Perhaps just leave it for the 'Equipment Forum', HOWEVER, Peli Cases seems to be the fashion accessory of choice on the DR forum [Molly Dog, Fat Chance, Lone Rider, mrdnd, Mountainman]

**Dont forget the feather pillows**

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This is a DRAFT - so please add comments, corrections etc.

Its a bit crude, since I can't use HTML --- so much for prettying things up..

ALSO - we're only allowed 15000 characters, and so I had to remove sections...(already 23456 long) :confused1:

WANT to post it in ONE place cos thats the whole point.

ANY IDEAS.. moderators maybe?

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http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/bike

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Dave

Hello Mollydog,
I believe your right; I was kind of hoping that a moderator (maybe Impasto will get such rights?!) would pick up on this and transfer very useful information that does not time expire, into that library over to the left - actually that library is looking sort of "tired" and quite a bit out of date. I must be one of those sad people who look over there occasionally!!

Sorry for that very short post of mine (tired of typing!), but it does seem quite a waste when really useful info disappears into the welter of other threads; stickies would be a part-solution, but if every bit of useful info was made into a sticky then the threads would be full of them and, potentially, negate their value:-
Sticky DR
Sticky DL650
Sticky DL1000
Sticky DRZ etc etc

Another example is your maintenance thread which is of the same ilk, and would be very valuable as a checklist over there on the left (that sounds like a political slogan!!). Even airline pilots know the value of a checklist.

I agree that folk will come to the HUBB first which is why, if the data on the left is up to date and relevant, we/you could refer to there and save a bit of typing ( IIRC a while ago you were getting a bit fed up with answering the same questions over and over?).

The saving grace in all of this is the search function within the HUBB and Grant J has pointed out in the past that no post is ever deleted - excellent!

Yep, from your last paragraph, Impasto should be a moderator - gets my vote!!!

Cheers,

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Dave

Hi Guys and Guyesses. I'm conferring with Grant over this one. It seems to me that, like Walkabout says, it could potentially end with a sticky for every model. But is that a bad thing? I also think it should be pointed out that it is still possible to do some pretty serious traveling on a very standard bike. I would hate to see lots of people turned off getting out there if they think that they will need to spend a whole lot more money. The DR650 is a good bike, off the showroom floor. How many mods to people think are ABSOLUTE must-does?

Regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

GREAT post impasto!

And it is something I've been getting closer to for years - literally - and we're now almost there!

I was hoping to have it fully sorted today, but no such luck.

Take a look at the top of the left menu - you'll see under your name, "Create content" click and you'll get 1 item at the moment "
equipment review Review anything you've used on your travels" There will soon be something else - "bike prep" or some such. It will be to create a page like:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tech/suzuki/dr650prep

NOTE: You MIGHT not be able to access this at the moment - we ran into difficulties with the access and edit rights - but we hope to have it working very soon. Once it's sorted it will enable us to do lots more too.

which is of course the DR page - I just need to sort permissions so Impasto can edit the page. At the bottom you'll see comments - click and it takes you to the HUBB thread already started. So the idea is that the first post in the thread will be a link to the whole page - and the page links to the thread for comments. Almost done, give me a day or two to tweak the details.

Grant

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

That's an important point - there is always more than one way of skinning any cat, usually there are quite a few.

Grant's solution sounds good - A kind of FAQs (frequently asked questions) perhaps is the analogy, in this case for specific bikes.
Perhaps this new content can reflect clear fact and the HUBB can be used for expressions of opinion & asking questions?

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Dave

Hmm, never seen a DR with one of those.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Mine does not have one either! ..
Think that would be for a bmw oilhead...

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My thoughts - genric sould be on a generic FAQ .. not specific .. so 'we' all know it applies to all bikes .. that way anyone with an model not covered would still have a guide.

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On my DR I've about the same weight as a standard bike .. removed some stuff .. added others .. like a bash plate .. with spare F&R brake pads ...

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One of the things about the long haul .. carrying the 'consumables' and servicing .

I carry a spare chain roller - bolt on to the right side where the pillion peg mounts .. hides nicely there. The lower chain guide - make out of kitchen chopping board ... multiple bits so the waring bits can be rotated upside down - extending their life .. and swaped with the outer bits so having built in 'spares'. Not found a good soluition for the swing arm chain protector ..

The sealing crush washers for drain/timing plugs fit nicely behind the frame rubber plugs ..

Servicing of the air filter is too frequent .. I'm using air filter scoks .. go over the standard air filter - pull the dirty one off and put on a clean one .. 3 off these should get me to the next engine oil change where I do all the air filters together, and change the engine oil ... rather get dirty once than 4 times..
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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Lookin forward to it... I'm all excited! I thought RIDING the bike was the funnest part!

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Thanks for your thoughts guys...

About generic vs specific

We could defintely include other suzuki's - it would be no prob to add to the entry which model an entry is specific to. However - a non-suzuki list doesn't get my vote.

As we've already seen -- just by adding one non-suzi related item, I wasted an entire day, trying to find an alternator belt for my DR. (kidding, by the way)

The list was originally inspired by the WEALTH of information supplied by in particular mollydog and added to by other posters - its a shame to lose such model specific info in a mountain of threads. If there are other peeps with other manufacturers who have so much to add - it would be good to collect them too.

A generic list wouldn't fulfil my needs. And I always get my needs fulfilled, damn it.



Lets suck it and see. It may be that the list becomes unwieldly because there is too much - then we split it into different suzuki models.

For now (until I change my mind and decide do transafrica on my KTM Duke II ), you have my undivided attention and I would gladly look after the suzi list.

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Ha .. try making GPS maps for strange places... days of fun... to save hours of being lost ..

Preping the bike is mostly sitting looking at it and thinking about the "what ifs" that too can be 'fun'. Most of the best mods take little money - just thought .. like engraving the inside of the valve covers with the clearence values .. saves looking them up, carring them around .. and they are there for all time. And that would be a generic mod .. fits all bikes/cars...

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

ooh. very clever. definitely going in. and reminded me of reading somewhere that you should find out before departure where your frame/chassis/engine numbers are.

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And also note the main bearing numbers (steering head bearings, wheel bearings, chain idler etc), NOT the spare part number from the manufacture, so you can order generic bearings on the road. My F650 needed new steering head bearings. I rang the dealer who quoted me NZ$130 for a kit, then cleaned up one bearing to take to make sure of a match. On the bearing I found a Niachi bearing number and got a pair from the Niachi agent for NZ$26. I was careful with taking out the dust covers and did the job for 1/5 the price.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

The standard chain idler is a plain bearing - has no numbers. Probably only avalible from Suzi .. the 'better' one does have bearings .. but they are small and may not be as easy as the larger bearings to find.

They should all be noted down .. The ones in the swing arm and suspension linkages too ... if they have numbers .. if not then the suzi part number.. or an alternative..

A link or two to online dr parts fish would be good

Alpha Sports - Suzuki Motorcycle Parts Catalog

Motogrid | Honda OEM Parts | Kawasaki OEM Parts | Suzuki OEM Parts | Yamaha OEM Parts

And may be those after market bits
KienTech Engineering
Chain Gang

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S