DR650 and lowering

**young1** · 22nd June 2009, 17:46

How low can you drop them for someone with shorter legs?

**NordieBoy** · 22nd June 2009, 17:58

Pages 160-169 in the PDF manual.

Basically reversing the rear shock lower collar, raising the bottom shock bolt to the upper hole and moving the spacer on top of the fork springs to below the damper rod.

**young1** · 22nd June 2009, 18:15

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

Pages 160-169 in the PDF manual.

Basically reversing the rear shock lower collar, raising the bottom shock bolt to the upper hole and moving the spacer on top of the fork springs to below the damper rod.

Does that drop it much, inches?

**cooneyr** · 22nd June 2009, 19:47

In addition to the shock mods you can get some alloy and make some longer dog bones and lower it as much as you like. In theory the more the bike is lower, the worse the rear suspension will work.

The forks also are able to be lowered using factory adjustments but can also be raised through the clamps.

There are two DR650's here in Chch that have been lowered significantly. Talk to Transalper or Helen of Troy.

Cheers R

**Aslan** · 22nd June 2009, 20:27

Originally Posted by young1

How low can you drop them for someone with shorter legs?

you been acquiring a DR for your 'better half' Mike? Good on ya - S

**NordieBoy** · 22nd June 2009, 21:44

Originally Posted by young1

Does that drop it much, inches?

Dunno about inches but 40mm according to the book.

**young1** · 23rd June 2009, 07:47

Originally Posted by Aslan

you been acquiring a DR for your 'better half' Mike? Good on ya - S

Just looking at options, Leanne has her motor bike license from a long time ago but it has been a while since she rode a bike. The plan is (possibly) for her to do the AA motorbike course to get the basics back, then ride my DR400 round in the paddocks here to get her skill levels and confidence up.

Long term is a big trip overseas, possibly on bikes, back packing etc.

But unfortunately most bikes are too tall.

M

**Rosie** · 23rd June 2009, 08:04

You can also 'lower' a DR650 a reasonable amount by reshaping the front of the seat to get rid of excess foam.
A friend has done this to his DR, and in addition to the standard suspension lowering, it's not much taller than the sherpa.

**young1** · 23rd June 2009, 12:24

Originally Posted by Rosie

You can also 'lower' a DR650 a reasonable amount by reshaping the front of the seat to get rid of excess foam.
A friend has done this to his DR, and in addition to the standard suspension lowering, it's not much taller than the sherpa.

Thank you Rosie. When you were looking at options did you ever ride a 650? If so what did you think?

After your Aussie trip, do you have any specific comments re riding a 250 for a long spell?

**Rosie** · 23rd June 2009, 13:10

The DR650 seemed a bit tall and heavy for my riding abilities at the time, and I had no idea how much off-road riding I was going to be doing, so a smaller, lighter bike seemed like a good idea. Now I'm more confident, I should have a go on a DR650 off road and see if the extra weight + power make much difference.

I find the sherpa really good to tour on. You have to be a wee bit patient on highways, as it won't always hit 110+ km/h, and it can take planning and determination to overtake sometimes. But I think these are fairly minor compared to all the cool stuff that the sherpa can do

I'm starting to think about upgrading but I'm up against the elusive dream of wanting more power and suspension travel, without adding any more weight, or increasing the seat height from what I've got now.

**NordieBoy** · 23rd June 2009, 15:23

Originally Posted by Rosie

I'm starting to think about upgrading but I'm up against the elusive dream of wanting more power and suspension travel, without adding any more weight, or increasing the seat height from what I've got now.

Buy my DR + all my nice spare parts and then I'll buy Tenzing off Ryan

Keeping it all in the Kiwibiker family...

**MXNUT** · 23rd June 2009, 17:06

Originally Posted by Rosie

The DR650 seemed a bit tall and heavy for my riding abilities at the time, and I had no idea how much off-road riding I was going to be doing, so a smaller, lighter bike seemed like a good idea.

I'm starting to think about upgrading but I'm up against the elusive dream of wanting more power and suspension travel, without adding any more weight, or increasing the seat height from what I've got now.

Had the same considerations when looking for 1st adventure bike for Faye.
Low seat hight was biggest factor but also low weight so that when the inevitable happened she was able to pick the bike up off her without help ( a big thing for the confidence levels ).

When she outgrows the DR200 i think it will be replaced with a sherpa too, as they are the only bike with low weight & seat height with a 4 valve engine that makes half decent power

**Transalper** · 23rd June 2009, 20:29

We got Js DR650 seat height down to about 820mm by doing all of the above. We on the verge of having the wheels rub on the guards on the big hits now, but that's ok because J don't ride it hard enough to get big hits.
The step from road riding on a GSX600F and adventuring on a DR250 Djebel over to only the DR650 was both good and bad.
She loves what it does for road riding, the feeling of freedom through ease of manouvering and crash damage resastance compared to the weight and plastics of the GSX was a hugh plus....
But the weight and feel has really killed her shingle and dirt riding compared to the DR250.
Also the extra torque has bitten her on down shifts on shingle too.

She/we/I miss that little DR250 Djebel at times as she'd not hesitate to follow me on to downhill stock tracks etc on that. It had a 17 litre tank which was good for the likes of whipping up the Rainbow Road from Christchurch to Nelson too.

**cooneyr** · 23rd June 2009, 21:07

Following on from the Djebel discussion, the DR250 Djebel that TA had was mine first and my bro also had a TTR250 Raid. Both are very similar but the TTR250 had nicer suspension and is taller. The Djebel has better suspension than the DR650 but is also height adjustable using factory built in spacers etc. I'd have the Djebel over a raid as the 1k km service intervals of the TTR were a bit annoying (has a screen where as the Djebel has a paper filter). The Djebel was a good little bike and would get along pretty reasonably for a 250. It would do 120/130 with a bit of a run up. The Djebel has slightly longer gearing that the TTR so is better on the road and not so good off road. If you don't mind working a bike rather than being lazy like the 990 will let do you, they are a lot of fun to ride.

If my wife ever decided she wanted to give adv riding ago herself rather than being a pillion we would be looking very hard at a Djebel and a Sherpa.

Cheers R

**RedKLR650** · 23rd June 2009, 21:19

Originally Posted by young1

How low can you drop them for someone with shorter legs?

Being of the short arsed variety of rider myself, I decided to get some lowering links for the KLR

They sell redily available lowering dog-bones for the KLR from 1/2 inch to 3 inch drop, but beware, I started originally with a set of 2 inch drop links, and after fitting, went for a ride with friends that night

All good until I took the first hairpin going through a local gorge ( on a sealed road ) and I'd only got half way over compared to my normal cornering angle when I was surprised by a very aggressive footpeg scraping episode, aggressive enough that a brief tripoding episode ensued, resulting in the back wheel briefly parting company with the seal. A good deal of luck later, after a bit of overcorrection, all was good in the world again.

Upon getting home that night, I quickly changed the lowering link back to the standard one ( after first changing undies of course )

I've since gone to a slightly less aggressive 1/2 inch lowering link, in conjunction with tweaking the rear shock to give a not-so-soft cornering effect - lowered AND soft suspension - NOT good in corners

At least with the lowering links I can now get the balls of my feet on the ground as opposed to just my tip-toes before

Cheers, Stu