There seems to be alot of fans of this popular bike here. I am interested in hearing from any owners about open road cruising speeds of the suzuki dr 650? open road speed seems to be the biggest disadvantage of any adventure bike? do you agree?
L-Plate Rider
There seems to be alot of fans of this popular bike here. I am interested in hearing from any owners about open road cruising speeds of the suzuki dr 650? open road speed seems to be the biggest disadvantage of any adventure bike? do you agree?
Where's the ride?
Disagree, they have other things which are a bigger disadvantage, eg comfort, acceleration, it's so much fun you'll end up selling your disused road bike...
Pretty much any adventure bike will exceed the open road speed limit, right down to the 200cc ones. All the mid-capacity ones will cruise merrily at the walking home penalty. If excessive speed is important to you, get a litre-class adventure bike. But bear in mind that the greater style with which it cruises on road atspeeds, the less capable it will be in rough off road conditions.
Adventure bikes are about so much more than speed.
Cheers,
Colin
Originally Posted by Steve McQueen
V Twin ..... yum!
What speed to you wanna cruise along at on the open road?
The ride yesterday was the first one since I bought my '09 DR650(mine is stock except for Cycleworks pipe) that I have done long stretches of cruising - Woodville to Lower Hutt with one 15min stop) and I found it totally comfortable. And it is only just getting run in, clicked over 2000kms yesterday. It will happily cruise along at 110-120 all day long and if you want to push it up to 130-140 it can do it no problem at all with the stock 15T front sprocket on. It also has the grunt to pull into the wind and still cruise at 110+ as well. It's not that vibey for a thumper either and WAY less vibey than a KTM for darn sure. It's also very well balanced and is assured on the front end so you can ride it hard thru the twistes flicking it left to right easily and lean over and have some fun!
Cheers, Dave
Scooter boy
My DR sounds its best cruising at 130kph (ind). This is with 14t front sprocket. From this speed it will pull instantly to 160kph (ind) in top gear. Only downfalls I can complain about is the seat and the size of the fuel tank 12l. there are now aftermarket 18l tanks available on trademe. About 400 bucks. 12l gets you about 200kms. No good for adventure riding.
Forum whore
what about overtaking ability?This is the problem for me with adv bikes.I WANT effortless on road cruising ablilty,hence i want a africa twin or xtz 750 or r100 gs..i know they wont be as good a trail bike...
Hardcore Biker
I find it more fun than the TL for overtaking, its too easy on the TL, just twist and go. I like kicking the DR down a gear and making it go "MooooOOWAAAP WAAAP"
Scooter boy
Take one for a test drive, then you'll know. I'm happy with the performance of mine, but I ride like a nana..
Hardcore Biker
Can't say I have ever had difficulties overtaking with my DR650.
Nor have I had any difficulties with the 200km range before reserve. If I'm going further between gas stations I just take a spare fuel container.
Obviously, I'm not the big rough tough fast adventure rider a lot of our friends are.
Cheers
Pete
V Twin ..... yum!
12L ???? It's 13L, 10 + 3 reserve isn't it? On our rides the 13l tank is generally going to be enough with how our stops usually work out, besides we usually have Junkmanjoe with us with his Safari tank so we can always siphon off his tank when he's taking a leak!
I had mine up to 150kph on Saturday and it sounded sweet!
Trust me overtaking is FINE! Drop it down a gear and feeeeel the pull!
I'm still a bit of a n00b to adv riding but even after just 2 adv rides, one on a gnarly offroad track and one with plenty of gravel; I have found the DR has given me lots of confidence and is helping me be less of a nana - my advice is trust your bike and give it a bit of welly coming out of those gravel bends; it pulls thru nicely and will give you a better feel! I'm not giving it anywhere as much welly ast the experienced guys but hey I'm trying and it feels way better on the DR than I ever did on my little KLX250S!
I'm getting the same, right around 200kms before reserve, in case that's of interest.
Cheers, Dave
Armature speller
Completely stock with a screen on it will sit on 120kph (5050rpm) longer than your arse will let you and wind out to.
Stock gearing...
4200rpm @ 100kph
4600rpm @ 110kph
7800rpm @ 186kph (in theory on the limiter)
Max torque not 'till 5000rpm and max power at 6000.
V Twin ..... yum!
Hit that horrible dead feeling of the limiter myself on occasion on the ride yesterday - not in 5th gear yet though!!!!!!
Cheers, Dave
looking for the right road...
HI Biker freind.
my 2c worth.
over all for price, exellant.
my one is a 07, i ride it like a road bike, right on the edge.
ask paladin.
i also ride it like a MX bike, come trail bike come adventure bike.
hence the wording Dual purpose.
im am a little rough with it some times, it has handled everything i thrown at it, it just a great twisty road cruiser, easy to throw around the corners.
great to zip around town and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.......
open road i travel around 110km, it just purrs along, theres enough on the stick for passing, if you wanted more road speed , mybe do the mods, carb, pipe, airbox.
i did get 220 km before reserve, then travel another 35km on vapours...
i do now have a 30L Safari tank on board, i find the extra weight helps keep the bike on the road,
yesterday, as the tank got lower in fuel, bike got lighter, and more dificult to handel on the looser gravel,
two things im looking in to changing.
seat is a little hard on my butt after about 2hrs rideing.
and im not to happy with the rear shock, would like to beaf it up a little. may be heaver spring.
im happy with the bike and the price you can get one for eather brand new, under 10k, or second hand.
worth every dolllar.
I FEEL THE NEED, THE NEED FOR SPEED
my ride picshttp://picasaweb.google.com/sueycarter
other ride pics http://picasaweb.google.com/113645336286831595353
V Twin ..... yum!
Yep, what Joe is saying is right, he rides his DR hard, but steady, offroad and I have never seen him have a serious off, only a light whoopsie on a misjudgement on a steep uphill washout - he knows how to get the best out of it for sure.
my one is a 07, i ride it like a road bike, right on the edge.
ask paladin.
i also ride it like a MX bike, come trail bike come adventure bike.
hence the wording Dual purpose.
worth every dolllar.
On the other hand on the tarmac he rides it steady-as-she-goes, whereas I tend to hoon mine around on bends like a road bike any chance I can get, even sliding my arse off the seat edge when i get a chance, and it never makes me feel out of control - then again I still have the TrailWings on it and not full-on knobbies yet! When you commit on the countersteering it really bites well into corners; very direct!
If you combine both our experiences into one, that should tell you the DR is VERY capable indeed!
And, yes, DEFINITELY worth every dollar, I am SO pleased I went for the DR - 110% thrilled; it's a crackin bike for the money!
Cheers, Dave
looking for the right road...
Mate Paladin forgot to say.
just how tough they are as well, ill say no more....
my ride picshttp://picasaweb.google.com/sueycarter
other ride pics http://picasaweb.google.com/113645336286831595353
V Twin ..... yum!
except the underside of the crankcase - that's complete and utter shite!Mate Paladin forgot to say.
just how tough they are as well, ill say no more....
Cheers, Dave
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