Which 650 to buy?

[GaZBur]

One of the downsides of the DR (and there are a few) is that it is the lowest powered of the group. Yes it will cruise at 120 kph and will do (I think) around 145 - 150 flat out. However, 120 is at the top end of its happy cruising range. It is noticeably happier at 110.

You will disagree with these numbers if you take one for a thrash, but the DR speedos are notoriously optimistic. Mine overreads by just on 10%. The numbers I have given are the real values.

I still disagree with those numbers and have electronic timers for proof.
Speedo was not that optimistic. When the GPS recorded 160 Kph it was still indicating under 170. I didn't change from 4th to 5th till i hit an indicated 153kph where it is close to losing spark. Have now geared down coz Nordie worked out standard gearing was good for 186 kph and there is no way it will pull that. I feel confident 173 is realistic with 1 tooth smaller front sproket and will tell you later if it makes it. According to radar I was exiting the standing quarter at 147.3 and the speedo was nearer 155 and it was still picking up pace steadily.
If you want to know about DR650's you must read Nordies thread and the stuff I put in the DR650 thread about the fun I have had racing mine.
Whatever you get - hope you enjoy yourself as much as some of us do.

[Bass]

This is all good and I completely understand/agree. One question though. What if you are a fat/big person like me and you increasing the spring preload to get the ride height back to around (still too low) the intended height i.e. get the ride/dynamic sag to the correct value? Surely for me to ride it should be no harsher (if this is the correct word) than little WW (I'm just jealous ) on a different DR, set at the same ride/dynamic sag? I would guess that the damping (especially the rebound) is too soft in this situation though so it is a bit to "springy"?

Cheers R

Firstly, I make no claims to fame in this area and there are internal complexities in the shock innards which have pro and cons that I know nothing about. However, as I understand it you are essentially correct and the damping shortfall would apply to both compression and rebound damping. This is one of the really irritating things about the DR where the rebound is not adjustable, because to my mind (tiny as it is) the rebound damping is actually more important than the compression.

Also, despite the mathematics, you wind up with a (relatively) soft spring which is deeply compressed where a stiffer spring with less compression would serve you better

[Bass]

I still disagree with those numbers and have electronic timers for proof.

Fair enough.
However, I never said the speedos were all out by the same amount. If yours is out by less than mine, then that's great for you.
If yours is faster than mine with you head down/arse up on a track, wringing its neck and streamlining yourself as much as possible, then cool. It sounds like buckets of fun.
Perhaps I should have been more specific, but I was referring to me, sitting upright, 3 axehandles across the gut and an expedition bag on the back

[tri boy]

Buy Suzi. Whip the forks n shock to RT.
Get the seat/ fuelrange sorted. Bobs ya uncle, marge ya aunty, herman's a German, and I havn't a clue about it really.

[Bass]

Buy Suzi. Whip the forks n shock to RT.
Get the seat/ fuelrange sorted. Bobs ya uncle, marge ya aunty, herman's a German, and I havn't a clue about it really.

That's pretty much what Ducatijim and I are doing as you know. It doesn't come cheap however and the total bill would nigh on get you a KTM.

[warewolf]

What if you are a fat/big person like me and you increasing the spring preload to get the ride height back to around (still too low) the intended height i.e. get the ride/dynamic sag to the correct value? Surely for me to ride it should be no harsher (if this is the correct word) than little WW (I'm just jealous ) on a different DR, set at the same ride/dynamic sag? I would guess that the damping (especially the rebound) is too soft in this situation though so it is a bit to "springy"?

Preload is primarily to tune your weight/ride height within the range covered by the spring. It is not there to make up for the wrong spring. I believe our weights are, ahem, too far apart to use the same spring effectively. The KTM SX/EXC spring charts show each spring covering just 6kg optimally, overlapping the adjacent ones by 2-3kg, ie a different spring every 10kg. Adventure bikes would be less sensitive as the bike's mass is bigger - the rider's mass is smaller relative to the bike's.

The ratio of static (unladen) sag vs rider (laden) sag shows if your spring is correct. I think this test shows where you are sitting in the linkage's curve or range of travel.

Damping is velocity/displacement sensitive; it is reactive. With less rising rate, there is more travel for a given load, so more damping = harsher? And again, spring is the prime factor at work, the damping is secondary to that, just fine tuning.