SECOND OPINION - JOCK MCLAUCHLAN
The Suzuki DR 650 is a real jack-of-all trades
machine. A great commuter, a decent trail bike,
not a bad road bike and a proven world-crossing
adventure bike. And it is a bargain, particularly
when Suzuki is running a discount promotions.
I owned one quite a few years ago, using it for
my initial foray into adventure riding. Together
we rode almost very gravel road in the Wairarapa
within 100 km of my farm, not to mention a lap
of the South Island.
The standard bike is a great machine, but I
couldn’t help myself and did a little tinkering.
First up I gave the stock suspension a birthday.
While it was ok on gravel, it was still soft and the
front forks would really dive under brakes. Offroad
it was just too soft as a standard package.
Up front all I did was change the very light fork
oil for Castrol 30/40 engine oil and ran it at the
maximum height in the forks. Honestly I was
astounded at how successful this mod was, and
cheap too. The once soft and mushy fork was
now much firmer, a lot more controlled and
would happily take a modest jump in its stride.
The shock I revalved myself and at least doubled
the number of compression shims to have a valve
stack more in-line with a large Enduro race bike.
The suspension is budget stuff, but with these
simple changes I got a significant improvement
in the action to the point where it was a great
match for all the riding I was doing on the bike.
I also put a more open exhaust pipe on, opened
the air-box up and rejetted the carb in an effort
to get more punch. The standard motor is very
user friendly, but quite mellow. This was all a
complete waste of time. It just made it louder,
use more petrol and go about the same. What
did help was going down one tooth on the front
sprocket. It made it a little more responsive
without really hurting top speed.
I also put on a set of off-road style fat bars
and hand guards along with an old V-strom 650
screen I found in the bin at the local Suzuki shop.
This screen made a huge improvement to road
cruising comfort keeping all the wind off my
chest. I mounted it on top of the standard
headlight cowling with a few rubber grommets
to get the angle right. Surprisingly, it looked quite
good and, as I mentioned before, worked super
well. The only other thing I would recommend
is a larger fuel tank for greater range if you’re
looking at travelling bigger distances.
The DR can easily be lowered for shorter riders.
It has two bolt holes on the shock bottom mount,
the higher one will lower the rear about an inch.
Then if you really want to go low, you just flip the
shock spring collar over as well and also take the
forks apart and put the solid spring spacer under
the damper rod. Simple enough stuff to do for
the home mechanic. These mods lower the whole
bike over 50mm, a massive help for shorties.
Overall this is a great mid-sized bike and very
capable. It is also excellent bang for buck and
with just a few improvements it becomes a world
exploring, reliable, adventure bike.
THIRD OPINION - TODD SUTHERLAND
Big trail bikes have to be the most practical
machines out there. The sit-up riding position, the
ability to go most anywhere you want and the
indifference to the odd knock or fall make them a
low stress companion. Add in the Suzuki DR650’s
low price point and you have a winner.
Zapping down the motorway, and getting across
town two up, in peak hour traffic the DR does it a
doddle. Then in a completely different enviroment
I rode the DR650 on some energy sapping soft
sand tracks and through a bit of mud. Though it
was fairly tough it wasn’t unmanageable.
All this really shows just what a capable machine
the DR is. If you’re purely after a commuter you
might be better served with any of the multitude
of commuter-type bikes available, but how will
those bikes fair when some muppet knocks it
off its sidestand and how much fun are they on
a gravel road?
For taller riders particularly, a big trail bike can
open a whole new world of motorcycling that is
both great fun and excellent for improving your
riding skills. The DR racks up a bunch of points if
you factor cost, weight, power, and practicality
together, especially if you enjoy the occasional
off road excursion.
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32 KIWI RIDER