That's 5 extended on top of the 1 factory?

I like my translucent 4.9 IMS. Fits well and I can see how fast I'm sucking the fuel, do mental calculations if needed, and slow down or keep shoveling the coal to her. Finally, I have a real fuel gauge.

A stock 49 State tank is 3.4 (CA is 3.2). So, a 4 gal would give you an additional 20-30 miles - not that much more.
Hell, if San Fran and El Arco were out, you're gonna be doing some praying between Bay of LA and Vizcaino.

I figure the 4.9 gives me a solid 200+ miles unless I'm romping on it. That Aqualine is dear, but I'd like to have one.

I'd also like to try some larger foot pegs.

I still haven't solved my hand guard problem. I just hate buying stuff until I'm fairly certain that it's the ticket for me.

Am I typing 'I' enough?

I bought the AeroStich wrap-on heated grip thingies. They take a couple of minutes to put on...and really work. No problems losing heat thru bars and grips. But they are another thing to store when not being used....

Lots of guys are going the Spitfire and Nat'l Cycle wind screen route. My Prabellum is huge compared to those - a barn door.

Also wired (w/fuse) a cheap marine 12v outlet to the battery and mounted it under the BBQ. The inexpensive Airman plugs in quick, and I can recharge batts for cams while on the road.

Personally, I think the CO2 route makes no sense for touring as they have to be replenished - 1 time use. Donde es el paintball gun llanta? Did you ever use one and then later realise that you left the valve core out? I must have aired up other guys tires 6 or 7 times when in CC a few weeks ago using the cheap Airman, with a gauge (mine is accurate). A backup bike pump makes survival sense, but that's a lot of work and won't seat a tire bead. Also, the air pumps weigh next to nothing. A better survival pump might be a spare air pump with the guts removed from the housing... There's 12v on any '68 Ford passing by.

I like your search-for-storage, and I need to find my own system. :thumb
Those are gonna be hot tar arns.
Personalizing a new bike isn't always a quicky, but is kinda fun.

Patrick ,
This is an interesting project , I have always thought that the DR was the most promising of the 650 thumpers . [It appeals to my tastes anyway ]

When you are done with the mods and have some serious miles on this bike, a head to head comparison with the V Strom would make great reading .

All the Best
Dodger

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Really good point. I ran out of gas TWICE on our DR test bike, and
that was in civilization!! No guarantees about fuel availability down south....then you've got things like wrong currency difficulties, stations closed and who knows what.

I think in moderate touring mode you'll go further than 200 miles if your jetting is right. In my testing over the weekend I did 175 mi. till reserve and this includes spilling some gas a few times, hammering it to red line and doing stretches at 100mph indicated (all in the interest of testing of course)

Once on reserve I kept going, climbed Mt.Tam (sea level to 3K ft.) "at speed" mostly full throttle for 30 miles, then back into town where it ran dry at 38 miles. I carried an Acerbis 1 gallon backup "Jug" on the bike, but as it turns out when it died I just wiggled the bike a bit and rode a couple miles to a station. There was still gas in the tank!! (maybe a quart or so? Hard to see) I'm quite sure in more moderate use I could make 50 miles on reserve.

I figure the main tank with moderate to fast riding will go 220 to reserve no
problem, maybe more. Then add an easy 40 to that number for reserve.

BTW....when (or if) your ever run your IMS dry you'll find it actually takes
5.3 gallons of gas!

BTW, I pulled the air box snorkel off for last 100 miles of this test, the other 100 the bike was running richer. Now the bike now runs like a raped ape. Straight up and down wheelies through first and 2nd gear all on the throttle.

So this is what I've got:
Main: 140 (stock, I believe)
Pilot: 45 (stock is 42.5)
Air Screw : about 1.5 turns out
Needle: Stock needle with two shim washers.
Air Box: Snorkel removed, no other mods. Stock air filter.
FMF Q2 pipe.

I can't express strongly enough HOW MUCH MORE FUN THIS BIKE IS TO RIDE
NOW!! Huge improvement to my earlier test rides and driveability is
still perfect everywhere.

I will do another economy test next week. I now officially hate the Tripmeter.
All you have to do is bump it and you've LOST your reading, its not a pop out
type stem as it should be. Crap. This could screw you on a trip in the middle
of no where, no? Go ahead, bump your trip meter! Sigma BC800 on order.
(bicycle computer)

Wide pegs are very nice. Not a total necessity but on long tours I think you'll
like 'em. Of course the prices are highway robbery.

Hand Guards are a personal thing. Go to a dirt bike riding area and see what
guys are using. There are MANY and some won't fit well on the DR. They will
really save your HANDS, levers and brake resevoir in a fall.

I don't like those things. I totally lose feel with the bike. The Symtec ones
are $30 or $35 and will COOK your hands and only draw 30 watts.

I like something small, mimimal coverage.

Good thing to have.

Its hard and the only real way to know for sure is to take it on the road.
Every bike is different. I'm learning the DR too. I've never taken a single
on the road for more than a six weeks. So I'm not sure on some stuff.
The Corbin seat actually works pretty well but it ain't no Vstrom seat.
Still, I can see 300 mile days after some Butt-ditioning. (500 on the Vstrom)

Patrick


Tire Iron stash spot!

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

I'll be very! interested in your future fuel economy tests...and the controls you use. :thumb

The Fastway pegs on my GS are like freaking 'steps', very comfy.

I've done several 450 miles days on her so far, but that's stopping every 100 miles or each hour for a short water/cig break, letting the butt get a break. It's no long haul machine, but short breaks make me ready to ride again. Going from nut-hugging the tank to sliding back...and repeat, gets me more miles.

The bar ends mounting is wimpy, easy to push them out. Maybe after you settle on the right bars, just spray glue them in...dunno.

I'm not using a tank bag. The simple Dirt Bagz take it's place...even better.

This is fun. Ride on, guy....

I'm using the Happy Trails bags on my DR 650.

The soft bags are OK but will not keep out prying fingers in when the bike is not being watched !!

__________________
LUNATIC

I agree for security, totally, but I won't use hard bags/boxes off road.

I've done a bit of this in my longish Vstrom rants on the Suzuki tech forums
and such. Remember, we had an '05 DR650 test bike last year for about 4 months. I had it to myself for about 6 weeks. We put 3500 miles on it.

My current bike has quite a few good mods from the stock bike. The seat is a big improvement and jetting changes have perked up the bike as well.

I'll let you know how it goes. I plan to more off road stuff, Utah, Baja and
maybe a venture into Mexico and Central America. Ultimately, if you don't need to do super rough roads or dirt....the Vstrom is the better bike.

More room, smoother, for comfy, faster, almost zero maintenance, better two
up.

But as soon as things turn muddy, sandy, rocky or rutted you'll want the
DR650. Its a great bike....Hell....they're BOTH great bikes! That's why I"ve got one of each

Patrick

More to follow.....

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Loose the stock chain for a quality DID X - ring as long as the sprockets are new. I had the stock chain on one of my DR's snapping after some 12000 km and way from wear limits. The chain broke a side plate through the hole, the link then disintegrated and the chain dropped out onto the street without getting entangled.
I was lucky to get a dirt cheap combined harvester type 525 roller chain which did 2000 km back to Cape Town with no problems although it needed adjusting on a daily basis. On the same trip I had a second DR of similar mileage and we also replaced the chain after the other bike had snapped its chain. (DR #3 was on a brand new X - Ring and doing fine. The stock chains were wearing quite unevenly after only a few thousand km and the uneven slack and cheap quality seem to take their tribute as I heard from other bikes with snapped low mileage stock drive chains. The DID X-ring easily do 30000km+ mostly on dirt roads with Castrol Chain Wax.

Like comparing apples and tomatoes. They have nothing in common beyond the Suzuki name. The VS is a road bike with high bars, high exhaust and enduro tyres. Reminds me of the scrambler fad in the 70's.

The VS engine is more powerfull, even at low revs, smoother. The bike is heavier and the suspension rock hard by comparison.

I just got to test ride the VS of my friend here in Adana and I've got a DR myself.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Thanks mate , no offence but I am aware that the bikes are not alike .
Patrick is a very knowledgeable guy and is doing some very interseting mods to his new bike .My point was that when he is done with the mods and has a chance to test out the bike ,what would be his impressions of the modified bike [and I stress "modified "] as compared to a VStrom .
I quite fancy a DR myself and would snatch one up if I could find one locally for the right price .
A very good South America touring bike ,I would think !

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

While not really "Apples and Tomatoes" the two bikes are substantially different. But some are surprised where a decent off road rider can manage to
take a Vstrom to.




I've always thought of stripping a crashed DL650 down and trying to make
a semi-dirt worthy bike out of it. In the meantime I've got both bikes and you just have to choose your weapon.


The DR will never match the Vstrom on the highway no matter what you do.
The easy grace, smooth power and exceptional comfort put the STrom ahead
of even the most modded out DR650.




But get into deep sand, mud or rocks the things can quickly get ugly on
the big bike. The 150 lbs. weight difference quickly becomes apparent
in these circumstances.

Patrick

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

The DR is slowly getting a few things. I'm doing research but so far its like
pulling teeth. There really is just not that much support for the poor red headed step child DR. A few things I've done.

The rear section has been modified to give a smaller, cleaner look. It needed a
light on the plate.

Tiny LED Light for license plate



I've burnt up bags before on another DR650...and melted that very expensive
plastic side cover as well. I carry Wine and other heavy items so the bags
really press down hard. The bags shown are EMPTY, when loaded they
hang straight.

Home made stand offs for bags



The Pro Tapers I got free. They look nice and reduce vibes maybe a bit.
Very strong, won't bend. Hand guards next...maybe.

Pro Taper Bars



With weight in and heavy boucning they don't seem to touch the pipe.
on the left I have a securing standoff to keep the bag swinging into the tire.

Also, I added small turn signals. These ones are cheapo and one burned it bulb (23 watts!!!) on the first day. But the main prob with them is they do not have flexible stems. So they are temporary.

Tour master bags (empty, not secured)



Cheers,

Patrick

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

I just got back from a 6000 mile 5 week tour of Mexico on a DR. Perfect bike for it. MEFO tires went the entire way with some serious dirt and rock sections; I recommend them. They don't hook up quite as well as TKC80's but they are a smoother ride on pavement and last much, much longer. I bought the Happy Trails rack and put Pellican side cases on the bike. I crashed on the dirt 4 times and one was at 35-40 mph I'm guessing. My friend hit a horse at 50. The Pellican cases did not have any side effects from these crashes except for minor causmetic damage. I was extremely impressed. On the other hand, the next bags I get are going to be top loading. Period. What else can I tell you? Hmmm. My friend had a DR650 with the FMFQ2 and used a 160 jet with a K and H. It worked well. We drove several times up to 11,000 from sea level and used the fuel screw and idle adjustments to deal with the altitude. No problems. I used a collapsable camp chair in addition to my corbin which made long days easy. That and a throttle lock. The only thing I would do different is to sort out some sort of windshield. I don't mind wind but I think I damaged my hearing. I used the MRA streetshield which wasn't enough to get the wind up over my helmet (which I am used to on my dl1000). Oh well, it is a dirtbike. Anyway, congrats on your purchase and I love my dr. It is the perfect dualsport bike for me.

Thanks for the tip on the Mefo's. I was curious how long they would last.
How are they on wet pavement in the twisties ridden hard?

What was your route through Mexico? Baja too? Did you find much dirt riding
in Mainland Mexico?

I agree about top loading cases. This is one reason I like my
GIVI E41's on my Vstrom. They have a top compartment you can open without opening the main clam shell door up. Nice.

El Davo just posted some pics of some nice Nelson-Rig soft bags. Nicer than my Tourmasters. The overall quality is much better on the N-R's and the ones
shown are quite roomy!

On a long mostly road trip a good shield is imperative IMO. Man, I hope you
were wearing EAR PLUGS!! If not, then yes, you HAVE damaged your hearing) I'm a sound mixer so I know about such things.

YOU MUST WEAR EARPLUGS ON YOUR BIKE OR YOU WILL GO DEAF AT A VERY EARLY AGE. Simple as that. You may recover some of it but six weeks
is a lot of exposure.

How did the DR's do mechanically? Any issues at all?
Thanks for the report.

I'm slowly piddling away on my DR. I've solved theTok Tok sound from the chain guide (white plastic thing below chain) I've carved out a gruve and glued in heavy rubber to silence it. So far, its dead silent. Ah, what a relief. I hear everything.

I'm deciding on a shield too.

Let us know if you have a ride report with pics anywhere.

Cheers,

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!