Hi Mollydog,

Thanks for the info!

I must have misunderstood Spencer, I thought he said in some USA states the law is the indicators must always be on (and I assumed start blinking when you indicate left or right). Which I thought was a bit daft when he mentioned it. I must have misheard...

I am all for the main headlight being 'on' all the time. Sweden was the first country to require widespread daytime running lights in 1977. Its a great thing to have, all the better for being seen.

I am now reasonably comfortable I can get the DR to pass the test here in the UK, so am going to contact a few dealers on the west coast USA to see if we can swing a deal. Preferably a new bike or one with less than a 1000 miles on the clock. If I can find one which has had some of the mods already done then all the better.

Had a look at which state is the best to buy in and it looks like Oregon suits me best as there is no sales tax, and Procycle is also in Oregon. And its on the west coast, which is where I want to start from.

So my loose plan is to buy one going into this winter, when I am hoping the dealer will be keen to offer a good deal for old stock.

As I'm no mechanic I would like to get the bigger mods done by a bike shop some where near wherever I buy before picking the bike up in spring next year.

Then spend the summer wandering across the USA to New York before shipping the bike to the UK.

It will be a good way to run the bike in, and test all systems.

Going forward i see a couple of issues :

- I will need a USA address to register the bike to when buying it. Any way around this?

- Any suggestions for a competent mechanic, preferably someone who knows the DR650 to do the mechanical installs and alterations? I'm OK on the simple stuff but don't want to spend more than a day or two spannering when I get there to pick the bike up.

Any suggestions as to where to buy the bike (as always there are good dealers and there are bad dealers..), what to do (or not do!) would be great. When is the 'best' time to buy to secure a good deal? I would imagine somewhere between October and January?

I am slowly but surely reading through all the different mods people are doing and am making a list.

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated.