any kind of info would be appreciated

http://www.dr-650.de

Edi

Great running bike;I did a 500 mile day back in 99 from Sturgis to Steamboat CO. after the Sturgis Rally.Needless to say,not many dualsports at Sturgis!! I think the DR is too light for series road work and is easily pushed around by trucks and even SUVs. I now own a 00 Tger and a 01 BMW 650 Dakar. In my humble opinion the Tiger is the sweetest road bike I have ever owned (my first bike was a 62 Norton Atlas that I bought in 1964.I have been riding for a while,and have owned a few.) The Dakar is an excellent all around bike and far more stable than the DR. on the road and as good or better off road.I think what I am trying to say is I found the DR to be a nice but not really good at anything bike.By the way,I did put 6700 miles on it in one year before selling it so I gave it a fair test.If you need a road bike with very light and limited off road abilities the Tiger is my first love bar none!Yes,I have owned and put many miles on a GS and when I am sober I cannot look at a KLR,and I usually rid sober!!!! The Dakar is my first choice if in your future you see a fair ammount of off road (fire road type riding,not single track)riding mixed in with the road. Good luck in your quest for that not to be made yet;perfet bike.I really hope it is never made,because I would have nothing to look foward to!

I have been using a DR650 RSE for the last seven months and have covered some 10k miles on it. It gets it's oil, filters and balancer chain changed/adjusted every 3k miles and it has not missed a beat in all that time. The exhaust has been changed for a Laser Produro and the difference has been very noticable, smoother idling, better acceleration and a much beefier sound. It mainly sees regular road use but has spent manys an evening on logging tracks and fire roads and has always been a joy to use. It has made two fully loaded camping trips with the better half with out any problems. Although the seating was a little bit cramped. The RSE model is the faired "Dakar" replica with a low mounted front mudguard, this model does not suffer from the dreaded DR death weave which afflicts high mudguard models at speed. The larger tank gives a possible 200 mile range before getting to the 4 litre reserve (a damn sight more useful than the 100 mile range of my Magna). Headwinds on motorways however can take a hefty toll on fuel economy, but then I don't spend too much time there. Great machine, easy to maintain....Go for it.

Hello the world!

In my toadish opinion, the Suzuki DR650 is the superior motorbike when compared to the newest F650GS.

It is far less costly to purchase and maintain.

The fuel tank is in the correct place, and therefore, easy to replace with a larger unit, or repair in the event of a (small) leak.

It has an easily adjustable shock mount to lower the bike 1.5 inches (34 mm?).

It is air cooled, and not prone to radiator punctures (no radiator! LOL!).

It has a carb, and not BMW's notoriously finicky fuel injection. And sorry, but that is the truth as countless owners have stated on various web sites throughout the internet.

It is more than fast enough, returns excellent fuel economy, and did I mention it costs much, much less that the F650GS? Use the money saved to ride around the world, eh?

No, this does not mean that the Toad abhors the Beemer, but rather I think it over priced and under spec'd.

And yes, the Toad doth consider the F650GS to be the prettier of these two bikes. But I would sooner have an R1150GS Adventure, a Capo Nord, or a Tiger over the little GS.

"Sigh"...Or the stunning AfricaTwin. And truth be told, I am not very good at off road riding yet, but I am working on that (ever the poseur am I, LOL!).

Take care, and have fun with what ever you want to get. That is perhaps the most important part of the plan. That you be happy with your purchase.

But the Toad chose a DR650.

The Lord keep you all safe for His return.

The Toad

One thing to consider about Suzukis and Kawasakis: they're quite uncommon in some parts of the world, whereas Hondas and Yamahas, from what I've seen in Nicaragua and East Africa, are popular worldwide. If you're looking for a bike to take around the world, it may be more difficult to find parts for a DR than say, an XR or XT.

Anyone here have any commentary on this issue? I'm quite curious.

Wright

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Wright Bagwell
http://www.geocities.com/wwbagwell/

My experience in East and Southern Africa (the more developed parts) is that you're pretty much screwed if you need a part for ANY bike over 250cc. Almost all the bikes on the road are Honda CB or Yamaha DT or TW type bikes - or manky scooters.

Larger bikes are generally only ridden by travellers/rich expats, so parts stores and dealers seldom stock parts for them.

The only advantage in having a Honda, Susuki or Yamaha is that you have a better chance of finding a dealer in a larger city with a parts manual that can order for you (assuming they don't botch the order).

I recon it's a hell of a lot easier to try nick a copy of your bike's parts manual to take on the way with you. That way you can order the part from your dealer back home and FedEx it in. It'll possibly even be cheaper and faster! And you have 100% better chance of the right part arriving!

Dr650 is a great bike. Have a 96 that I bought new. Now has 17,000 miles. Mostly back roads and roads with lots of curves.
Bike is bullet proof. Only problem has been broken clutch cable at 12,000 miles. Thats it. Lower suspension option puts even 30" inseam feet flat on ground. Airheart seat cushion solves hard seat. Rejet carb makes big improvement. Yoshurimira exhaust sounds much better and still is very quiet. Put on dyno at Vintage Days and got 43HP. At $4995 new you can"t go wrong.

Hello Dino and other DRiders,
I posted an extensive reply about our DR650SE's on http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000004.html

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Iris and Trui
2 belgian women, usually travelling on bikes (now on DR650SE's)

i have a dr 650set which i bought 18 months ago,i've put 7000 miles on it.the only things you need to do are to fit a bash plate,drop the gearing front sprocket 1 tooth,fit decent higher handlebars and choose tyres carefully.it's exellent off road and even more exellent on road hence tyre choice.if you're going to carry luggage some kind of rack,suzuki do one also bashplate.