The DR650 finally gets its first stage suspension mods... a budget job on the front forks and a revalve on the rear shock - much better now. Our local crew will do the DR650 suspension in various stages so we can look at the improvements each time. As we mentioned in the first vid, the DR650 is a brilliant budget bike to transform into the sort of beast you want, once you work on a few major design issues. This is James, a suspension guru with more than a decades experience in designing, manufacturing and tuning custom suspension components for V8 racing cars, rally cars and all facets of motorbike suspension - motocross, enduro, speedway, flat track, and of course adventure bikes. He'll be modifying the DR650's suspension in various stages, this vid looks at his first steps in making that suspension work properly. The big one is suspension. If you are a featherweight and riding nothing harder than smooth dirt roads, you will find the stock setup okay, but the problem of course is the moment you are in trouble it won't be doing you any favours. The front end dives badly under panic braking, and if you run off the road it will bounce you like a trampoline in the rough stuff. The major problems? The springs are way too soft for most riders unless you are 75kg or less (165lb). The forks are the ancient rod design, have no damping adjustment, and virtually no damping either. And the dual rate fork springs are far too soft for too far into stroke before the stiffer part of the spring comes into action. Soft spring rate is a wimpy 0.38kg/mm spring rate. After seven inches it transfers to the stiffer 0.53kg/mm rate - this should occur at only three inches.
If you use heavier oil to get damping, you can't get good performance on both fast and slow fork movements, unlike a modern cartridge fork. Just pause to read more. There is nothing like a huge lump of metal between your legs to make you focus, pick good lines, use your body positioning and get your technique right. And the buzz of getting a big bike through some tough terrain is awesome. It also reinforces the fact that we usually put way too much emphasis on bling, or tyres, or suspension or the type of bike we are riding. Yes those things can make a difference, but in the long run it's far more important to learn the skills.
The rear spring does have adjustment for the compression damping, which barely makes any difference anyway. It is underdamped, and the ratio of compression to rebound damping is way out of sync too. First gear on the DR650 is the equivalent of third gear on many dirt bikes so there's plenty of clutch slipping to get the big bushpig over obstacles. Those of you familiar with Chris Birch will know he's been racing a KTM 1190 in enduros. Crazy? Yes but I can see why he's enjoying it. Having said that, the DR650 modifications we've made to the DR650 have transformed the beast into a much better bike. But it was often the other way around too. So there you have it. Many of you asked to see the DR650 on some of our tracks, and the big girl will probably feature a few more times too. Long live heavy metal. Oh and remember if you become a supporter you can access four extra ride vids each month. All for the cost of a cup of coffee. Or any caffeinated beverage. And far cheaper than a cocktail. If you are interested, watch our DR650 project bike series over on our adventure riding channel. It was very interesting to even see the dirt bikes occasionally make mistakes when the DR was having no problems.
Let us know if we used your music in other vids but forgot to credit you. Many thanks to the following artists for their copyright free music in various vids:
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