xf650 for overlanding
 

Wondered if anyone had used one for overlanding? Comments god or bad? Same engine as DR650? Any recomended mods?

Use "XF 650 Suzuki Freewind" to search. Bike no longer produced but is still used in parts of the world as Police bike ... and Suzuki will support with parts for at least another 10 years or so. Great bike. DO IT! Quite a few 2nd hand ones for sale in Germany. Lots of info in Euro forums.

USA never got the Freewind, so I never rode one. Very interesting bike. Basically same engine as DR650 with a few key differences. I believe it as dual carbs, more power, more elec. output.
Here are some Police bikes in Ecuador:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...0/IMG_4460.jpg

Review here:
Suzuki XF650 Freewind (1997-2002) Motorbike Review | MCN

Yep just bought one- with low miles on it. I read that a lot of people think the dr650 engine is better than the KLR?. In the MCN review somebody says they used one for a 25000 mile trans- Amazon trip- with very little issues - just wondering if anyone else had used one for a big trip, and what mods they may have made, or thought they should have made?
Did a search on here didn't find much. Have joined the Freewind owners facebook page as well.

Good Choice!
 

I've never seen much discussion of the Freewind here on the HUBB. But you may find some threads over on ADV Rider ... the search function there sucks so just try Google. Freewind ADV Rider ... or something like that. I remember it being mentioned a few times on the BIG DR650 thread: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135295
(90,000 posts, 16 million views, biggest thread on ALL of ADV Rider)

But searching it is impossible ... Google tends to work better. Must be some forums in Germany? It was popular there.

If the Freewind is anything like the DR650 then you've got an ideal travel bike. Strong and tough. My DR has over 55,000 miles now. Perfect. No issues. It's been all over Western USA, Mexico, even into Cent. America.

Perhaps some of the after market items that fit the DR650 will work on the Freewind. Be sure to check out this site for DR650 parts:

Parts + Accessories + Performance = ProCycle

It's also a fairly common bike here in New Zealand, so second hand parts are available.
The owners I've talked to like them

Cheers

Nigel in NZ

Freewind, Police Bike
 

Yes, XF650 is still used as a Police Bike, and the ones in the photo are not from Ecuador, are from COLOMBIA.

Those have been used for 10 years as Police bikes in open roads and cities with a very high rate of reliability, is even used for touring with engine protectors, worklights, heat grips and side bags, very reliable bike.

In police department the use them every day, every time, so those are repaired about every 70.000kms with new piston rings, and new cylinders every 150.000kms also DR650 used for special ops groups.

Now they are using Kawasaki KLR650 and Suzuki Vstrom DL650, and DL650ABS-A with great results in Vstrom, some officers say, the Kawa is not lasting as the suzuki ones, but is still great bike.

Anyways, if you are planning go a long way with your XF, that's a great choice.:thumbup1:

Greetings from South America.

PD: I just joined to verify photo info.
:mchappy:

Probably a little late for a reply but however I used a Freewind from south to North Africa in 2009 -2010. The bike was exceptional. Weak point is the rear shock. Blew it out twice in northern Kenya. I had a dr650 seal head, ueed atf oil and used that. It lasted a day, man it was rough. Replaced the seal in addis,re valves it and all was good quite an easy job. It's Just rolled over 95000 kms and pulled the engine apart yesterday to do the base gasket also found the cam and rockers are quite warn. The piston and barrel are still in spec so I will re ring it get the cam and rockers serviced and away we go. All in all a budget bike that can be used For extended travel :thumbup1:

I'm getting more excited about mine all the time. Picked up a very cheap one on ebay last year. (2015) Had to fix a few very minor things - but will do the shock before it goes on a long haul. It seems as though it will go on to the places I can't go with the 650 Vstrom, so looking forward to that. It's a keeper for me for sure. Bigger tank would be good have to look at that.

Take a all balls DR 650 seal head. This can also be taken apart on the road with some basic tools. and a generic seal knocked in. Bearing in mind it was 40 -45 degrees c and it was dam rough when I buggered mine. I would put the Xf in terms of suspension and off road capabilities some where between the dr and Vstrom. I cranked the rear Spring preload up A LOT and from memory put some 10 mm spacers on top of the front springs (under the bolt) to get the front end a little firmer.
On the fuel tank I would not bother to much, the standard from memory is around 18.5 litres. on that trip I vaguely remember getting close to 400 ks once until bone dry. Being very gentle on the throttle though. I had a 10 litre one strapped to the bike as well.
Picture of the bike set up. Was in wadi rum in Jordan