Just a couple tire updates on the DR650.
Some of your may have seen my thread here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...rous+Baja+Tips

Here you see me crying like a girl, bitching about deep sand and my lack of ability to ride it on my lightweight XR250. A nightmare of a ride.

Well, I've just had a bit of a revelation on my last Baja trip .... just returned a couple days ago. This time I was on my DR650 and guess what? I got roped into deep sand again by my "Friends".


But low and behold, the DR (and me) performed really really well ... and in conditions equal to what I went through on the last Baja ride aboard the XR250. So what happened?

I am now convinced my XR (now sold) was bent! A year before I had hit a rock in the Mojave .... actually a really big BOULDER ... which stopped me dead and threw me over the bars .... unhurt. But I did notice after that the bike didn't seem to get along too well in sand. I changed the steering head bearings but to no avail. In Baja the little XR was a nightmare for me. So my thinking is that either the fork tubes were tweaked or triple clamps.
On earlier rides in the Mojave sand didn't present any problems .... but in Baja sand really made for hard work. Why?

I figured the 80 lbs. heavier DR650 would murder me in sand. Not so. It tracked fine and did not require you going flat out to keep going straight. A delight actually and I didn't fall all day! NOTE: no steering damper! (still wish I had one!)

As for tires, I am now a fan of the TKC 80 Continental front tire. On an earlier Baja ride I was not wild about this tire but I've changed my tune.

The TKC was the perfect sand tire and generally good off road. Best of all, it's pretty good on the road as well once it wears down a bit. From new I found a bit of a weave on the DR650. Also, these things seem to last really really well. I'd guess in the area of 10K miles. (16,000 kms.)

On the rear I'm still using a Dunlop D606 knobby that also is a good match for the DR650. Corners safely on tarmac and digs in hard in sand and other off road terrain. But best of all about the D606 is that it seems to last fairly well also when ridden on lots of tarmac miles. The Conti TKC rear would probably go further but is more money.

I am delighted to say the DR650 is very sand capable. A steering damper would certainly help .... as it would any bike .... but I really got along fine without it.

The DR ran like a clock in 100f temps for hours pulling hard through deep sand. No bad sounds, no issues.

Patrick
No Longer Sand-Phobic

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!