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Thread: '98 Suzuki FX 650 Freewind.

  1. #1
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    '98 Suzuki FX 650 Freewind.

    What would one pay for a '98 Suzuki FX650 Freewind that is in general good shape with a few minor scrapes on the right front cowling with say for argument sake 60,000s up. Rego/wof up top scratch and good multi purpose tyres fitted. How easy are they to get parts for? Say a center stand for example.

    And has anyone on kb acrtually own or has owned one in the past? I know the name is halerious and it's not the nicest looking machine out there.If fact I'm already looking at mods. From what I can gather it is a DR650 dressed up. So I figure the engine is susceptible to a few small nigles as the DR. I see they are 100lbs lighter than the CB550 and a damn sight more fuel efficient. I should imagine it would be a bit more vibey than the CB.

    Thanks for any advice in advance..

  2. #2
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    24th November 2015 - 11:20
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    I owned one back in the day - Enjoyed it too and from memory the gearing and engine/transmission are pretty much identical to the DR650 I own now. Good on fuel as you say but if the one you're looking at is tidy enough then I would be looking to pay $2000-2500, no more.

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the feed back.

  4. #4
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    24th September 2004 - 06:46
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    Went and had a better look at it today. It's done 80.000kms and the motor sounds sweet. Not a rattle and sounds better then the ones on youtube. And that was in the garage too which tends to amplify noise, The seller wants $2800 firm. He's let me have a look at the OEM service manual for a few days and will let me take it on an extended test ride. I'll leave the CB550 at his place. It looks like someone has put handle bar risers on it as they are taller then the ones in the manual and the handle bars themsevles are higher then I would like but that is an easy fix.


    I see they have a 19 inch front and 17inch rear tyre. A bigger front wheel would have been better for rougher stuff but in saying that I'm use to 18inch tyres so really no biggy there either. Can always go slightly norrower. It'll brobably end up with road tyres if I do get it. Headlight looks hopeless and has LED running lights on it fitted by the current owner. Brakes feel fine. He has fitted a lowering kit on the rear but the orig stuff will come with the bike. Front forks dropped nearly two inches. A bit of minor plastic damage but fixable with about 2hrs work, so no biggy. Tire pressures are lower than I'm use to. 25psi front and 29psi rear. But it is a lighter bike being 100lbs lighter than the CB with nearly the same performance and a lot more economical. Willl come with Givi top box and rack. Rego for three months.


    Asked about the nuetral light problem. Nuetral light OK. Sprockets good, chain good. Even with lowering kit the bike is peice of piss to get on the centre stand. Centre stand is a big plus for me. Advantage of owning heavier bikes I guess. No botten end gasket weep these are prone too either.

    Can't wait to go for a ride on it.

  5. #5
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    24th September 2004 - 06:46
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    Ride booked for 5pm this afternoon. I found a great AdvRider thread on the bike https://advrider.com/f/threads/looki...riders.706519/

    It looks ideal for my purposes. Plenty of room options to customise to suite my taste.

  6. #6
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    9th January 2005 - 22:12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bonez View Post
    Ride booked for 5pm this afternoon. I found a great AdvRider thread on the bike https://advrider.com/f/threads/looki...riders.706519/

    It looks ideal for my purposes. Plenty of room options to customise to suite my taste.
    Just be aware that if the forks are 50mm down through the clamps and the rear is lower probably the sidestand has been shortened. No biggy (esp with a centrestand) but if you put it back to stock height you will have to source another.
    I thought elections were decided by angry posts on social media. - F5 Dave

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by HenryDorsetCase View Post
    Just be aware that if the forks are 50mm down through the clamps and the rear is lower probably the sidestand has been shortened. No biggy (esp with a centrestand) but if you put it back to stock height you will have to source another.
    Thanks. Side stand is still the original. The owner said it would need a smaller one but I see no problem with it whatsoever. No different than the CB. He's still got the original linkage. He also said it is harder to put on the main stand because of the lowering kit. I had no problem. I guess being use too road bikes heavier than 500lbs helped in this regard. Just push down on the stand lever with your left foot, push down and using you right hand pull slightly up and back. Done.

  8. #8
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    24th September 2004 - 06:46
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    Went for a 50km run of some back roads and was pretty damn happy with the bikes performane/handling/comfort. Very light and nimble. Low speed riding was a doodle. Pegs, stand access perfect. Just the higher bar risers and bars need changing to suite me. That is about it, I'll make him an offer and see how we go from there.
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  9. #9
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    Offer accepted. It's goping in for a wof tomorrow and I will pick it up. Rego changed and I'm off to the bank to make the transfer this arvo. Service manual, Givi top box and old linkage are in my shed. Another change from stock was the exhaust can. Gives a nice rumble at city speeds but quiet out on the back roads. The first owner did 50,000kms and owned it for 8 years. Usualy a good sign. So I'd imagine he/she/it sorted out all the wee niggles.

    This will be my last ever bike purchase.

  10. #10
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    It's interesting the reading AdvRider thread on these. A German firm http://www.hepco-becker.de/ makes racks and protection bars but the quality is crap. So much for German engineering. Right up there there with the crap Italian chrome rims on the original new series of Triumph twins. I'll see if Givi make stuff for these now or fabricate my own. Similar to what I did to the CB. Could go soft luggage but I like the security of the hard stuff.

  11. #11
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    24th September 2004 - 06:46
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    Got the bike and rode it home. First order of bussiness is change the bars. I had a chrome set I used on the CB that are lower and norrower. Just the tick and fit perfectly. Just had to file the locating lugs the switch blocks. While doing that I there were some odd sixed bolts here and so I'll just raid my stash to tidy those up. Then pop down to para rubber and get some plastic end cpps for the new bars to prevent water getting in. It has a Givi screen which is a bit higher than stock. I'll make a list of all the mods that have been done to it over the years in another post. For those interested I paid $2600 for it.

    Edit-The new bars put me in almost the perfect road riding position with a slight forward lean and being narrower pull my hands towards more to the centrer of the bike providing better fairing coverage. Far better for slow around town riding now as well. Also better control in these high winds we are having.Got a quote for some graphics work. $150 isn't bad at all. The pungs for the bars a few $.

    Edit-Pulled the stupid exhaust wrap off the header and painted the lower heat sheild gloss black to match the bash plate and rear exhaust heat shield. Put some C-5A anti seize grease on the sheild mounting bolts Next mod will be stone guard for the oil cooler. Got a peice of ali mesh off an old stock car.
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  12. #12
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    Bar ends fitted. Front heat shield painted and fitted. Oil cooler stone guard fitted.
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  13. #13
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    Took her for a 300km round trip today and all I can say it was fun with a capital F. I can understand why the motad crowd love their machines.
    Had the back sliding around corners with complete control. The bike is as comfortable as my old 750 Integra and 4th/5th gear ratios are very similar to my CB550F. It luvs revs so threat it like a small four instead of a Brit thumper and you are away lauhging. I'd recomend this bike to any rider new or experianced. Two bars on the dash fuel guage match perfectly with the tanks reserve. Givi screen puts the wind pressure just above the forhead. I forgot to put my kidney belt on but didn't need it the ride was that plush. No butt hurt either.

    Lots of bikes on the road today and came across a couple of herds of Harley Furgisons.

    I scraped the centre stand a few times so I'll jack the back up a cm or two. I'll also grind back the side stand stop 5mm so it leans over a bit further.

    Edit-I let my brother go for a ride. When he hopped on it he couldn't believe is feet were flat on the pavement. He has a newish KLR650 and the XF650 rims are quite a bit wider than the KLR and he is tippy toe when sitting on it at a standstill. His belly pan is plastic the XF one is ali and is somewhere like 50lds lighter. No dought to the KLR being liquid cooled. The crash bars on his bike are the type I want for the XF.Come up to knee hieght to protect the top side panels. Anyone know a good source?

    Side stand stop altered and rear suspension adjusted. Used a whiteout pen to draw where I wanted the stop to be and attack it with angle grinder with 1.6mm cutting disk. Used calibrated Mk 1 eye ball for the rear suspension adjustment.

    Checked the chain and it seemed to have tightened up a bit so sorted that out.
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  14. #14
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    24th November 2015 - 11:20
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    Interesting stuff Bonez and thanks for sharing that. It's good to see a Freewind in action again. IMHO they were an underrated machine - They weren't that popular in the Sportsbike-obsessed UK but I suspect that here people took a bit more notice of them. One thing I do recall is that the saddle was significantly better than the one fitted to the DR. That's not too difficult I know but they are a comfy machine from what I can remember.

    Do you have any more mods planned for it?

  15. #15
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    Thanks NB. Yes I nave more alterations in mind. Most are purely cosmetic though with the bike. Main one is replacing the handle bar risers for the originals. This will give me a bit further fwd lean. As you can see by my posts I'm very pleased. If knew they were this good I would have bought one a lot sooner. Previous owners have done all the major mods that needed doing. Wiith the original owner having it so long and clocking up 50.000kms was a good indacation the bike was't a dud. DaveNev from AKL has two of these and mentioned on AdvRider said only 40 were bought in to NZ. Being based around the DR650.apart from the head/airbox there is no issies with motor parts. AdvRider is more active than KB so created an account their. It's kinda like what KB use to be like with a more international flavour.

    It'll most likely be my last ever bike purchase so it's a keeper like the '76 CB550 which I got back in '86.

    Edit-Did some oil filter pricing today. The cheapest were OEM ones from Courasy Susuki. While I was there I asked swhat I sould pay for the bike. after telling s small fib. There valuation was $3k -$2.5 so right on the money.

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