You won't be needing them. I'm sure you can simply ride 'round it. If they were fine on your test ride then I guess you're good to go! Sounds like you've got all this suspension stuff under control.

I'm not familiar with a Dromedary bladder. 23L is 6 US gallons. Should be great. Jerry jugs come in handy. How is this 2.5 gal bladder carried? On the bike? On your back? Does it slosh around at all? Leak?

Ah, Sheepskin, of course! Sounds like you've got it all sussed out. What a great solution! Now why didn't I think of that before spending good money on a Corbin! :cool4:

Confidence is good.

No Doubt.

Hey there, got 2 sprockets. Standard gearing for the road and one with fewer teeth for when the going gets tough.

We've got some Kneed-it for holed cases etc. It's a hard epoxy putty, sounds very similar to JB Weld. Can be used on gas tanks and radiators too.

Cheers.

Fuel Filters
 

I like the clear-cased paper filters that are used on lawn equip.
IMO, much better than the little rock element sifting filters.

You guys have thought this out well.

Hi there, the bladder straps onto the top of the left hand pannier case.. You can see it quite clearly in the middle photo.

The main advantages of a bladder is that they don't slosh at all, becasue there's no air in them, provided you tie it down properly, and they pack down small when you're not using them, which is about 2/3s of the time.

Several members of HU seem to be using them... Had a mate who went around Aussie using one and found it to be fantastic. There's a risk of rupture in a big crash, but a plastic jerry can will rupture too if it hits the deck at speed.

Cheers,

Mark.

dr650
 

Hey Batman like the look of your dr. I rode my dominator over here from the UK and just picked up a dr to do the next trip to south america or africa or er can't really decide yet. I have only done a couple of thousand km on my dr so far but can't belive how good it is even loaded down with luggage on rough tracks great choice I think. I down in Timaru if your going for a spin round the country before you leave would be good to catch up cheers richrtw@hotmail.com

Dual-Star email Address
 

It's my understanding that they advertise a centerstand, and have done so for many years, but are not able to actually deliver one. This isn't a recent problem.

DR650 Center stand
 

Beyond the SW Motec one, I don't know any other companies that make a center stand for the DR650. I'm sure the SW one is fine. I don't think the Vstrom
one would work however, quite a different bike. (I'm on my 2nd Vstrom).

Cheers:scooter:

From Soft To Hard...for the long road.
 

DR650 update:

Well I've learned alot in the last 3 or 4 months about the DR. Reading back is funny, as I see all the things that haven't worked out and mistakes I've made.

I've managed to put on about 4000 miles on this bike so far, done a few nice dual sport rides loaded up and am continuing with mods as budget allows.

As the suspension has broken in the soft front end has become a problem. And the static sag on the bike also is a No-Go. So Jesse at Kientech is on my list to get the Eibach springs front and rear. Must have been those nasty rocks sections and whoops out in Death Valley that did it.

I've also decided that for Mexico/Central America that soft bags won't hold everything. So since I have a GIVI rack for a DR650 and GIVI bags sitting in my garage, I'm going to use them. The GIVI bags are from my old Vstrom....and the rack from a friends blown bike. I got all of it free so may as well use it.

I'm also struggling over tires for this upcoming trip....I'll post about this later.

Patrick
Still in Prep mode!




Soft bags too small
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...253022-M-1.jpg
GIVI racks alone
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...80673963-M.jpg
Just bags
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...80674033-M.jpg
With top bag
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...80677018-M.jpg

If you don't need a real knobby style tire, maybe give the IRC GP110 a try. It's an unusual design and works very well on the road. I've gotten 5k each from 2 rears and many miles (I forget) from a front.
Chaparral has them at decent prices. Even the 5.10 will fit, if you want to go fat.

Mollydog,

Won't those boxes scrape in corners? They look pretty low.

Low is good. I leaned the bike way over with the bags on in the garage...seemed like plenty of clearance. I'll let you know if they touch when I do a test ride. This is the first time I've had them on the bike....haven't even put a mile on the bike with bags mounted.

They look low I think because that side stand leans the bike way over.

What I really liked about the way GIVI did this set up is that they put the bags
pretty far foward and low to maximise mass centralzation. Makes a huge difference in handling and stability when you start adding weight and going fast through corners.

Lone, I'll take a look at the GP-1. I used one in Baja on my XL600 in 1992. It lasted well but sucked as a knobbie ....but most 50/50's do I guess. See my other plea for help I just put up.

Patrick

Not the GP1, but the GP"110". They are very different tires.

The GP1 is similar to a K270.

Bags
 

Patrick,

Great looking bike, but it looks to me like the bags look a little out of place on the DR. Dirt orientated DS bike matched with a street orientated luggage system. Not sure if I could resist having a nicely set up bike with offroad capabilities like the DR without getting drawn into some interesting terrain and then when the inevitable fall happens, wishing that I had more dirt orientated bags.

You might want to consider a set of Pelican 1550s, they are only $100 each online, (cheaper even if you wait for them on ebay) one can easily make a home made attachment system, and if one hits the dirt, IMHO they survive crashes better than aluminum boxes at moderate speeds and look even better with a few scratches on them!