4 Most Effective DR650 Performance Modifications 

Hey man great vid/blog have done all l can to my dr now looking to a KTM 890 love your style on you desert sled WA by the looks of wave rock nice work cheers

Man, do you have some SERIOUS riding skills! I was nervous just watching some of that. I guess it's time for me to step up my game. Thanks for the inspiration. Cheers!

Thanks Kev, plenty of other vids in our back catalogue that may interest ya

That's awesome cheers for stopping in

Glad you enjoyed it

Cheers Ade enjoy the shreds

You bet!

Cheers Al im glad the vids are coming across that way, thanks for dropping in

Cheers!

Thanks for the sub!

Never! It that NEXT mod that really does the trick

@@SKIDSnSTUFF I have screen shot this comment to show my wife. She wont take my word for it

Wait, has someone actually "finished" the DR650? LOL!😁😁😁

@@doc650adventures whoa........ that is some deep philosophy right there 🤯

@@doc650adventures 😄

Suspension makes a huge difference for sure. The DR is so versatile, it is such a great do all bike! Cheers!

Great to hear it's helpful, cheers

Spin those wrenches you chose wisely

I'm confident you will love the tyre, enjoy

Check out my riding hacks videos, like the donut vid and listen to your feet video. Thanks!

Welcome Troy hope it helps ya enjoy the ride

Hell yaaa 🤘🤘🤘

Thanks!

It's a handy dandy bit a kit for sure. Keep shredding Barry

It’s definitely 90% rider. But some people need to compensate for their distinct lack of skill and time on bike. I used to ride with an old devil who was on an old xr250. He would leave guys on KTM500excs in his dust. The guy had been riding for 40 years literally it was his only hobby. He used to have his standard xr250 on the back of his Ute and after our job finishes at 4pm, he’d be off to the local paddock 2-3 times every week. I never met anyone so into dirt bikes before and I had no hope in hell of keeping up with him even on my tt600 with ohlins suspension 😂

Welcome, thanks for watching

Enjoy your feast Archer

Thanks DOC!

@@SKIDSnSTUFF Thank You Skids for everything you do! Great points on mods for the Mighty DR650. I just bought another one and I am looking forward to at a lot of the mods you mentioned. Happy Holidays my Friend! Cheers Mate!

Cheers Scotty!

haha true. KISS!

No worries

Cheers Rob ya bloody legend, Ill convert that into skids and videos, thanks alot!

Cheers John yeh lowered pegs are great for sure, I was trying to keep this vid suspension/engine related

Thanks for checking it out Neil

that sounds like the models to grab it ya hfta go orange for sure

I feel that. But i can't lie, that the T7 is a modern bike that gets alot of my attention.

Very Helpful , thanks buddy !

I would prefer fly by wire, no cables to mess with. Don't need ride modes though.

I'm pretty sure it works like that yeh! Enjoy the shred 😀

Glad it could help!

haha Cheers Jock welcome along

Absolutely

Good idea I will keep it in mind. Thanks for dropping in

Thanks enjoy the shred sled!

That's right yep the stock chain length slams the wheel when ya go to 44T I should have made that more clear. Thanks for the kind words 😀

Yeh the Dr like a bit of the Keep It Simple Stupid treatment

How do you go about revalving the stock rear fork? If I buy the "Gold valve" from procycle does that include everything I need without having to drill anything out? I looked at the instructions included and now I'm honestly more confused than when I started looking into the revalve.

​@@boodasias563 You could make life easier by buying a rebuilt shock with the gold valve already installed. If not, did you buy just the valving part or did you buy the whole racetech shaft and end seal? If you can do fork rebuilds, I think a shock rebuild is only slightly more difficult. it is much more critical that you bleed and get all the air out of the shock. (optional) A vacuum pump. You can just outgas the oil but it makes filling the shock a breeze and produces better results. If filing this way you will need adapters to connect to your shock. *Top tip discovered by me: Where can I get an adapter? Does that clicker thread seem familiar? Have you seen it somewhere before?* Yes, you have. *It's the same threads as the filter screen/nozzle on your bathroom & kitchen sink: 15/16-27 male.* Something like an Ace hardware should have an adapter that converts that to hose or pipe threads (or you can buy a brass one for soldering to). From there, I recommend pushlock/push-to-connect fittings, but use whatever you want for vac lines. The clicker uses seals in the bore. Rather than trying to do that, I opted to seal to the outside face: I put a washer over the faucet fitting, then a thick o-ring, undersized to compress and seal the adapter to the face of the port. I had a rebuilt shock, so the clickers had already been pulled out before. That made things easy (once I figured out what threads that was) Here's the gist: Perhaps you can do it without pulling the clicker: loosen preload spring as much as possible. The ring on the shaft side is recessed (so spring pressure would keep it trapped), so push it toward the spring then slide it off. Off goes the spring. bleed pressure off the bladder (warning: don't just unscrew the stem. 160psi is a lot more than a tire! bleed it off and only remove the stem once it is bled down) (after bladder pressure removed!) remove dust seal and clip holding shaft seal/end cap on. push bladder cap in and remove it's retaining clip. Put a cap on the valve stem and use it to pull the bladder cap (can help by pushing the shock shaft in) With the bladder out, pull the shock shaft to remove it. clean out/de-muck reassembly: Put the shock shaft and end cap with retaining clips back in. Now this is where things diverge: No clicker removal method: fill with oil. pump and pump and pump (15min minimum) to try to get every possible bubble out. Now the next trick needs slight explaining: Ideally, you would have a fill port or the clicker pulled out. Shock fully pulled out/extended, you would put in the bladder and give it a little pressure (setting an air volume, similar to fork oil height). the excess oil would go out the bleeder. seal the bleeder it and pressurize the bladder to full pressure. But if that clicker has never been out and you want to avoid that, then *you must recreate that space for the air bladder to expand,* because the bladder is going to squish down/collapse to too small a volume when it is the plug sealing everything up. Just like an overfilled fork, that will make it harsh. So, you extend the shock, overfill with oil. Then push the shock shaft in a bit. Put the bladder in, with the goal of oil overflow to avoid air bubbles. cap it and retaining ring. Now pressurize the bladder to a low pressure ~5psi. The goal is to recreate a full & extended shock, with ~no pressure built up but ~5psi in the air bladder. Grab the shock shaft, and at full extent, you should just barely feel the pressure as you push it in slightly. Now you can fill to the desired psi (120-160psi), which will affect plushness, bottoming resistance, and rebound (it's air spring after all). Easy version: have bleeder port or the clicker has been out before and you have vacuum adapters & oil chamber in line. Install the shaft and bladder. Put 5-7psi in the bladder. Install vacuum adapters then oil vacuum chamber then vac pump. 1st few seconds will have the oil froth & expand like crazy, so click the vac on/off for a few seconds until it calms down a bit and wont suck oil into your vacuum pump Then vac it for a good while (15+min) until you don't see anymore bubbles coming up through your oil (decide when it's good enough, if you have slight leaks). Turn off the vac (and bleed at vacuum, if yours has a check valve built in). Oil will suck through the tubes into the shock to fill the vacuum currently there. Either apply a small pressure (~2psi) or pull the shock shaft & bladder fully extended by hand. There should be excess oil still in the tube. If it sucked it all up, you used too little oil. Add some more to the chamber and repeat the process (don't need to undo what you've already done) When satisfied, disconnect your adapters. Put the clicker submerged into a container full of the oil. Get close and ready. Transfer quick, to minimize any possible air bubbles. Pressurize air bladder to desired psi. (congrats, you now have a "professional" shock refill) Should you use nitrogen or shop air? short answer: nitrogen is better, but air is fine if you aren't pro MX or supercross. Nitrogen is more temp and long term pressure holding stable. Regular air is mostly nitrogen already, but contains more moisture and more oxidizer (oxygen). Spend money on nitrogen? Or spend money on replacing a bladder slightly more often? Your choice. For testing, I'd go with what's convenient, even if you plan to replace with nitrogen. Don't use CO2, because it's corrosive when combined with water/moisture (except a trailside emergency repair). How to pull the clicker: Since the stock DR shock lacks any bleeding ports, you should need to pull out the valving/clicker insert. From the factory, they peened the metal around the lip to keep it from ever coming out accidentally. You will need to sand that away a little bit (much like shock and fork valving usually needs the nut ground a little to pull off). I recommend an air sander with little sanding disks, but use what you have. Even once ground/sanded, it will be locktighted in there. use leather gloves in a vice and grip the bladder/expansion chamber (don't grip the main shock cylinder).

Thanks Daniel have a good one

The brand matters very little in most cases. I suggest watching the vid again all the info is there

She'll be dancing then!

I was in the same boat... really glad i chose the DR

DR 👍 🎉

With some easy tweaks the stock DR could ride well for someone 5' 7 if you're not too stout. Turn in the rear comp, add some fork preload and I'm pretty happy on a stock DR for most regular riding

I’m 5’8” and rode my DR like a dirt bike. It just takes practice. Get a good seat, fix the fueling and exhaust, tune the suspension, replace the stock bars and armor the whole thing. Then set it up with good knobbies and go wring it out on the dirt roads.

Sounds like a kick ass ride, enjoy

Pretty sure they are the Barrett racks, we're on the bike already when I bought it. Plenty of similar options out there

Can work for taller riders. I've tried risers, installed by previous owner, was a Terrible mod for me, feels so disconnected from the bike

@@SKIDSnSTUFF It's the forward set that matters more than the rise. If u look where the bar clamps are mounted on the triple clamps u can see there is also a rearward angle offset, meaning risers alone will set the bars even closer to the rider making for a cramped position. You need a forward set to compensate for this. For me being 6'2 it is definitely an essential mod and also improved front end feel into the bargain.

@@SKIDSnSTUFF similar conclusion coming from me (an offroad noob) and my skilled MX friend. The raised bars made the stance way too upright. It was more work to get weight forward when needed, and it was causing a lot of arm pump even for my experienced friend. Simply ripping off the riser and going to stock bar height make cornering and taking whoops way easier and less jarring. People should watch Bret Tkacs 2 videos on bar risers for short people and tall rider tips.

Definitely , but not a Performance mod as such.

@@SKIDSnSTUFF fair point! Greetings from NZ, 100,000km DR owner!🤩

stock length chain gives slammed rear with 15/44. but if i was to do it again i would go 14/42 gearing for a slightly longer rear and set-up the bike around that. while i like the responsiveness of the slammed rear end, a longer rear give better action on whoops and sharp hits.

Was suppose to be this video, will be the next!

Cheers legend it def helps 🙂

i believe its the Barrett rack

I would think with those mods and some low pegs could open the cockpit up and have ya feeling pretty comfortable. I'm around 177

I don't notice that at all... if you not yet done tier 2 suspension then you will find what you seek there, it will be a front/rear bike balance issue.

@@SKIDSnSTUFF cool man. I thought that may be the case. Onto the next mod 💪 thanks for the quick reply

@@SKIDSnSTUFF And Merry Christmas ya legend 🎄

Same height as me. My DR originally came with risers and I ditched them for stock mounts... much better for me, feel a lot more connected to the front end now. I do run lowered pegs though which I can highly recommend other than have to be really careful in single trail to not smash my feet. I just run the cheapest handlebars I could find after bending the stock bars.

@@SKIDSnSTUFF thanks mate, yeah risers seem quite topical across the forums, left me pretty confused, I’ll give the pegs a go first. Thanks again and Merry Xmas.

Update- suspension done, 44 tooth sprocket done, feels like a different bike. 🙌

Glad that works for ya. It's all in your head though

@@SKIDSnSTUFF What is?

Stock carby

I like the stock gear lever. Some people like to run lower footpegs, mine are lower, but I've never tried stock. I'd think you would atleast need to remove the stock foot pegs rubber mounting system.

Gonna depend on weather and altitude. i have the screw set at about 2 turns out, in summer the airbox snorkel is out whereas in winter I didnt need it out. I dont experience any off idle stumble this way

Don't need crash bars

On my previous DR the front brake needed servicing so it wasnt so flash but on the current bike it work fine for normal riding.

DR better on road than DRZ

Yep still doing the job just dandy. Definitely the way to go

@@SKIDSnSTUFF thank you 🤜🤛

Kind of, Ihave a couple vids about preload fork caps, the process is described in there

You must have screwed it out way too far. Screw it all the way on first until it just bottoms out. Then come out 1 3/4 or 2 turns

Glad I live in America just bought a new one 2 days ago.

@@eugenebarron692 God bless America. I am thinking about buying one and change the VIN number lol

130/80

Seems fairly obvious. The XR is a taller bike to begin with. At least it was for many years. I have not kept up with recent model changes.

Safari. Holds about 35ltrs

Nar I find it's fine