Modified DR650 HWY Speed cruising test 60, 70, 80, 90 MPH
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- I did 2 highway speed cruising tests when my DR650 was stock which generated a lot of interest from folks who were curious about what the DR was like at highway speeds. Since then I have modified the bike and this video shows what the bike is like now at highway speeds.
This is the most useful video I've come across for the DR! I have a gen1 Vstrom 650 which it way to big and heavy for anything more aggressive than forest roads and an XR650L, which I love, but is a beatdown on the highway..budget keeps me to the older bikes..I'm looking at the DR to split the difference between the two..I believe/hoping the cush drive on the DR should make it better on the road than the XRL of which does not have cush drive in rear wheel...any comments from any that have seat time on both would be much appreciated.
I don't have any seat time on a XR , but I now have over 10k miles on my DR & it's been great as a Swiss army knife type bike. I don't mind riding hwy miles to get to my riding destinations at all
Mine cruises great, motor all stock, stock gearing, just bigger tank, small shield to keep wind of my chest and luggage. No trouble doing 70-75mph, gps tested, all day. 53 mpg
Awesome bikes for sure my friend 💪💪👍👍
Just picked up my 3rd DR. Talked to Derek @ MotoLab & this time no air box mod. Changing needle to a 6F-19 & mounting a DG RST slip on. Derek has bonafied data on why not to cut your air box.
Its crazy how theyre trying to crank down emissions when this thing gets near prius mpg and requires less components. Only two brake pads. More capable than a prius offroad
Mine gets 70mpg+(4.5L) at 70mph on freeway runs uncorked w/ a pipe, 65mpg uncorked w/ stock pipe , & 60mpg dead stock ..
What jets you using ? Carb mods?
Ulli! You are so spot on! Uncorking the DR650 makes a HUGE difference in power. There are so many additional benefits of a jet kit, slip on exhaust and airbox mod. I actually had my fuel mileage increase when cruising longer distances. During my trip to the coast, on longer stretches, my fuel mileage went up to 52 MPG. The Poli Sport front fender also makes the bike much more stable at higher speeds than the stock fender. Great video illustrating what a freed up DR650 can do! Please keep us posted on what you think about the Shinko 705 also.
Cheers!
DOC !!! - FNA
DOC I've noticed my fuel mileage is about the same but I do keep mine on the very slight rich side so that's probably why I didn't see a improvement on gas mileage. Funny you should ask about the shinko 705s , so far they have been working excellent for 95% of everything I ask of them except today on our ride we did some single track and there were some obstacles that I def wished for more dirt oriented tires.
@@ullithebully Thanks Ulli! That makes a lot of sense considering the tread they have. They do seem to be a good all round performer for a dual sport. I am looking at putting some on my new V-Strom later down the road.
Cheers!
@@doc650adventures bang for buck and how many miles you'll get outta them they def hard to beat , I think they'd be a great choice once you wear out your current ones on the Strom.
@@ullithebully Yes Sir! I really appreciate you recommendation! I still have break in miles on the Strom but later on, the 705s will be going on it.
Cheers!
Finally a real use video! Thank you buddy!!!
My pleasure ,thanks you
Another great video Ulli! Glad to see the mods worked so well
Thanks Jack looking forward to riding again with you bro !
Hey! I’m getting my first bike next year and I’m aiming at the DR650. My fear was the comfort on highway cruising. While I sometime will have to do some 5-ish hours of highway before meeting people to go to trail, I was wondering if it will be a pain to ride it that long on highway. Have you tried some 3-4-5 hours cruising on it?
Anyway, thanks for the great videos, I will surely do some of the same modifications you mention to make it more road-friendly.
Full disclosure it's a true dual sport so just know that going in, there are more comfortable bikes for cruising highways but if you get a comfortable aftermarket seat , lowering footpeg mounts depending on your height and do the jet kit mod so the bike is less restricted then sure. I've done multiple long days on my bike and I've been fine with it but every riders comfort ability is different I guess. Just remember the DR isn't excellent at any 1 category but very good at all of them. It's kinda like a Swiss army knife of bikes
Most get a Concepts Seat , for more confort
Bullshit ! That bike is out right gonna suck . Almost 5 hrs, then what ride the rest of the day on the trails ? Lol, good luck, my friend .
It is not a good choice for the first bike. You will be disappointed in bikes. Go with something more casual, Honda, kawa or Harley. DR650 for those who in half advanced rider and half mechanic. You need to understand why are buying it
Great job Man. If my 2021 T7 were paid off I’d have a DR 650. My Brother is buying a V-Strom 650 and I checked out a new DR 650 at Suzuki in the Dallas Metroplex last weekend and man it’s sweet!
I'm def going to also add a T7 to my stable one of these days I love those bikes 👍👍
@@ullithebully - You won’t regret it!
It's fckn ridiculous that people in cars are passing you at a 40 mph pace when you're doing 75 mph really irresponsible and careless wreckless people!
That hwy has a nickname called the "alpharetta autobahn"
ULLI - DOC said it perfectly. And you are spot the fuck on. "Derestricting" THE MIGHTY SUZUKI DR 650 turns into even more of a BEAST !!! - Carb mod, Airbox mod, and Exhaust mod turn this into the Fire Breather it was meant to be. "Uncorked" - It reminds me of the old Yamaha TT & XT 500's - they were so powerful back in the day !!!
Cheers for another great video Ulli - So cool. Thank you 🙂
Dane you the man , thank you !
@@ullithebully NO - YOU DA MAN !!! LOL - Love you Brother 🙂
I just saw some of your other excellent videos a few days ago, and subscribed. Thanks for the ride-a-longs and GPS comparisons. While watching this video, I was wondering how your mods have affected the fuel mileage, such as how DOC650 mentions below. Cheers - Steve in Indiana.
Thanks Steve really appreciate the kind words and support. I actually just replied to DOC about my fuel mileage, mine has stayed about the same and I think that is because of 2 reasons. One when it's a really hot season like this summer has been I run my bike slightly on the rich side and the second reason is I'm a bit more Rev happy on the throttle cause it's a lot more fun to gas the throttle more when the bike has been un corked
Rev happy is usually worth more than it costs! 👍👍
Just a suggestion on tires. I run the 705 on the rear and a 244 on the front. It works almost as good on the street and a lot better in the dirt than with the 705’s front and rear.
I appreciate the tip Jarrod cause I was thinking of maybe switching to the 700's when these wear out just cause I've been riding a bit more technical offroad stuff
@@ullithebully in tx hill country I like 705/700. sand (MI) 244/mt21. 244/244 would work also for BDRish stuff I think.
@@jf7157 appreciate the recommendation thank you 💪👍
If you think the DR goes well with carb/air box/ pipe mods you should see how it goes with a 790 kit. Chalk and cheese.
I can only imagine!! It def has enough get up and go for me now so I can just imagine what a beast it is with that mod 💪💪👍👍
Espectacular Ulli
Appreciate you!
How big of a difference in acceleration? Thinking of doing it to my dr but only if it’s a big difference in power
Very big difference, feels like a completely different bike , you won't regret it
What State were you in? Iowa? I forget where you moved to when you came to the USA and got your land. At any rate glad to see you getting out and enjoying yourself seeing the sights and so on. It gets to be work and not so much fun, that's why I've lived here most my life and only been out of State for deaths in the family or to New York to visit family there. Hope everything is going well for you! Good luck and be safe!
I'm in Georgia bud
Lol Iowa doesn't have any mountains, it's all corn and corn-fed pigs.
How stable does the steering geometry feel on the highway? I have a stock DR650 and a Gen 3 KLR650 (100lbs heavier, touring windscreen, more rake, longer swingarm). The KLR650 feels much more planted and less twitchy, rickety on the road, especially at highway speed, but I like the lower weight and drivetrain of the DR. I can't tell if the extra weight from a larger tank and a windscreen would help the DR on road, and im cautious to invest money into the DR if it can't overcome those issues. Thoughts?
@mwl5 to me , mine feels stable at hwy cruising speed. Above 80 it starts to get light feeling, so I usually stay at about 75 , only going above 80 for short stints in passing situations etc. I feel very comfortable moving with the flow of the traffic. You bring up an interesting possibility that maybe my larger tank and windshield helped , that I'm not sure though as I didn't really test it on the hwy when it was stock. The windshield def helps in keeping the wind buffering off of you so that def at least gives you the sensation of more stability not having to fight the wind much. The windshield helped so much in eliminating my helmet fatigue from wind buffering
Thank you for describing the power delivery with a jet kit and airbox mod, I’m curious now if there’s a considerable change in rpm since you felt like there was an extra gear since engine feels like it’s not working as hard without the mods, I can only imagine an rpm gauge on your dash. My 96 is all stock engine wise with comfort mods for whole day riding and it does feel like it’s working hard at 80 but can still go to 90 and the front is pretty light at that point that it feels like it will lift off any second 😁
Yeah I totally agree, mine felt similar before I did the jetkit and airbox mod. With the mods the engine is just able to work unrestricted
nice vid but where did you get the gps
I bought it couple years back on a cyber Monday after Thanksgiving
I'm in the market & was looking at the DRz400 but I didn't like the highway issues where going 70-75mph on a 5speed was
causing it to be shaky so I assume any windy conditions w/ the lighter weight of the 400 might be too much? Plus running
at 75mph you'd be in the higher rpm's of 5th gear which I don't think is a good thing if you wanted to be on the highway to
long. I'm starting to really like this DR650 now & I just looked at dealer pricing - the 650 is less price at least at the dealer
I looked at = go figure that one out? What's wrong w/ your speedometer that causes you to use the phone app? Have you
changed any sprockets( teeth ) or am I misunderstanding? I'm liking what I see in the DR650 over the DRz400. But I know
very little & that's exactly why I'm here! peace man
There's about a 10% discrepancy between the speedo and true speed so I used the app just to show true speed for this video. In this video I still have the stock gearing. 70 to 75 for the DR is no issue at all with stock gearing. Bang for buck both bikes are excellent, the DRZ is gonna be more weight forgiving on offroad , the DR a little more forgiving on road. Both are Swiss army knife type bikes , don't excel at one thing but are good at everything
Ahh, thanks for that as I thought that you might've changed the gearing which I might consider for the 400 but I'm way
ahead of myself since I'm still not entirely certain what my intent for use will be? Of course you've answered one major
question by calling them, "Swiss Army Knives" & I'm actually leaning towards the 650 only b/c if I ever needed to jump
on & go down the Interstate, I'd wanna have the 600 over the 400 but again, I've still gotta determine my desired use
before I do anything. I like the bike(s) & it's been virtually unchanged over 20+ years which is a good thing. Either one
I'd do the carb/air Mod's to un-cork them & I'll have cash so I might even give the used market a look since I know how
to properly look at a used bike to buy. And as money is tight someone will part w/ their bike for a decent price, Lord
knows I've dumped cars/boats for great losses just to crawl out from messes I've made. Anyhoo, I thank you for all
the time & the post.... I've reached out to several channels & I sub'd yours. peace
@user-dv7hb2sc9m absolutely agree on looking for a used one that has had the mods done , they super reliable and easy bikes to work on so great peace of mind
I have done the front fender and wind screen on my DR as you have suggested. Stability is good. A little extra wind noise with my particular helmet. I haven't done any modifications to uncork the power. Sounds like I need to consider this. I too have the freeway commute to get to the mountain roads. Thanks for this very good video. It's nice to have the data to make informed decisions about my bike.
You welcome and 100% knowing what I know now the 1st mod I would have done on my DR is a jet kit and airbox mod , it's really unbelievable how much the bike is restricted in stock form , you'll def feel like you gained a extra gear espcially on your freeway commute to your riding areas once you uncork it 👍
Thanks Ulli - I have a DR with a jet kit, airbox mod and full exhaust and you are definitely right about power increase. I don't travel far on my bike and so have gearing of one down on the front and 1 up on the rear - really good gearing for off road - will tractor through or up anything. Tires are TKC80 front and Motoz Adventure Rallz rear - also good for off road and not too bad on road. With gearing changes and tires the bike will cruise OK at 100/110kph with a bit left for overtaking. However, if going longer distances I would opt for just one down on the sprocket and TKC80 front and rear.
Thanks Derek, if my commute to get to the mountains was shorter I too would have opted for your exact set up gearing wise and your tire choice sounds excellent !! Your bike sounds suuper fun offroad, one of these days I'll make that gearing change for sure
My DR-790 with big valves, exhaust, carb and 16/40 gearing cruises comfortably between 85-90 mph
That's a bad ass conversion, you def got a godzilla beast of DR 💪💪👍🏻👍🏻
@@ullithebully Thanks for the kudo's. Yea, it's quite a machine. Right now, it's set-up as a supermoto with a Cogent Mojave Pro shock and fork springs, Warp9 "Switch" mags wearing Conti Attack SM's and a Nova A box wide ratio gear set. There's really not much else I can add to the bike without getting overly stupid although it's too late for that 😁 The low-end is lustfull
@donuthole7236 wow what a awesome beast
Interesting to have something like a Vapor digital tacho, to see how hard the bike is really working.
Eventually, I'll def install one of those, they are great , but I still have the stock gearing so the bike isn't working hard at all at these commuting speeds
Too much water. But overall interesting test
@@hitmax087 🙏👍
WHERE do you live ?thank you from Coral Springs fl .❤️❤️
In Atlanta 👍🏻
OMG ❤️❤️THNK YOU .
Did adding the windscreen help? I feel like my head is getting ripped off when I ride my dr650.
Yes it definitely helped me a lot
It could also be your helmet. I've had a couple that did that to me on different bikes. I finally bought a better quality helmet that was more aerodynamic and the problem went away.
@@ronphillips3204 awesome to hear that. I've noticed the helmet I have now (fc-moto brand) does a better job than my Bell did, but my screen def helped a lot
Ive done 80 with mine. I usuallytry not to run it for too long at that speed, like 45 mins at most. It was 80 mph according to google gps and that said my speedometer was off about 6 mph
Yeah I've realized I get about a 10% discrepancy in my speedo too
What jetting size did you use ?
Awesome video! In terms of horsepower, any idea how many the bike has now after the mods? Thanks!
I actually have no idea , I haven't had it dyno'd but more than anything allowing the bike to run unrestricted really makes such a difference, it really feels like it gained a extra gear it runs so much smoother
Uli, what do you mean it feels like it has a six gear now when you didn't change the gearing? The motor would still be running it exactly the same RPM at 70 80 or 90 mph as it did before the modifications
It doesn't feel like the RPM is too high cruising at 80?
I'd like to know if a dr650 can handle cruising at 80 on the interstate with a passenger without feeling like you're abusing it or it's going to blow up or overheat, especially in southwest desert climate where can easily get over 100 degrees although I would typically go riding during the cooler months
With a jet kit , air box mod and aftermarket exhaust the bike runs so much more free and less restricted. It's hard to imagine just how restricted the DRs are in stock form until you let that motor run the way it was intended. It is a night and day difference and because the engine runs so much smoother because of those mods it literally almost feels like you gained a extra gear.
I've never commuted with a passenger (I don't think your passenger will find the back seat of a DR very comfortable for long) and I probably wouldn't suggest getting a DR if you're planning on doing a bunch of 2 up riding. In Georgia we don't get many 100° days but my DR has zero issues running 80mph in 80° weather if that helps you at all
Been waiting for a vid like this,, 70 is fast enough for me all day, just wanted to know if it could do it
Absolutely, it can handle 70 comfortably all day
mate I've hit 130kmh for at least an hour on my 2020. it didn't sound good but she held her head high . stock gearing
Beast mode 💪💪👍👍
Bro…how did you fit your gps? That’s exactly where I want to fit it but unsure how. Did you build a supporting bracket?
Michael this is how I did it , I figured the cowling was sturdy enough to handle a windscreen it was sturdy enough to hold a gps so I didn't use any supporting bracket and in over 2k miles through some rough areas its holding up great
ruclips.net/video/Q04iozdXX6w/видео.html
The only thing I added to the spacers was 2 small rubber cushions under them which eliminated vibration when riding off road
ruclips.net/video/FGUWA4cqIBg/видео.html
The DR will flat scoot. My wife and I were riding two up, going up a pretty steep highway and got her to 90 mph!
Wow I didn't think it would do that with 2 people on board, good to know 💪👍🏻
@ullithebully yep. Mine was still bone stock!
@demetriuscooksey7147 wow !!
Is there links for mods? Please😊
Which mods John and I'll check if I have any
Did the modifications affect the gas mileage?
The bike accelerates better cause of the mods which makes me ride it a bit more "enthusiastically 😁" which doesn't help gas mileage, but I could not tell if I had a decrease in gas mileage or not under exact riding inputs.
@@ullithebully Thanks! People often forget the "fun mileage" increase.
Simple cuestión can this bike do 80 mph steady on a long trip like going from Texas to california and California to tx wihtout burning oil?
I would totally trust it to yes. The DR650 does not burn a lot of oil at all. Oil changes are only done at 4k miles intervals
@@ullithebully thank you is good to know that. i had a terrible experience with xr 650l i bouthg it brand new motor was waisted at 3800 miles honda repair it i took extra care on brake in period 600 miles no problem and i try it again 400 miles with full sintetic oil it Burned 3/4 of a courter 750 mm not good for highway at all i have another bikes africa twin cb 500x and klx 300sm they are good but i really like the simplicity of the dr 650 if that bike is capable of doing 80 mph on the highway without burning oil is the only bike i need i only need to set it for adventure thank you
@Francisco Avalos there is a guy on youtube who does long distances on his DR , I will try remember his channel and send you the info
ruclips.net/video/sIlAbPWdMwY/видео.html
@@ullithebully thank you for the info
Why do American have to ride a DR so fast? Just because it can’t drive at speed doesn’t mean you need to ride at speed.
Its because of the size of our freeways , it's safer to move with traffic on the freeway than be a sitting duck holding it up
That's the safest way to ride a motorcycle. Slightly above the speed of traffic flow
Ill third what they are saying above. I10 around houston on a motorcycle if your not in the fast lane except getting on an off the interstate your going to get sideswiped, and if your not running 80 plus in the fast lane your going to get rear ended or passed angrily on the sholders or the from the slower lanes by frustrated people weaving in and out of traffic.
@@frederickjeremy I'm in Dallas, and same goes for here! If your bike can't cruise at least 80, then it's best to stay off the freeways. There's lot of hustle and bustle in these big cities and people trying to get things done and get places. But being from Houston you know exactly how it is! Last year I had to drive to Houston to visit some family and I was driving at 80, but everyone was flying past me. So I sped up to see how fast the flow was going, and man, they doing right at 110mph. It only flowed at that speed for a couple of miles, then went back down to about 90 for a long time.
If you don't do 5 to 10 over speed limit in usa, you are putting yourself in danger of getting ran over
How are the vibes?
Not uncomfortable at all , stock gearing is tall so vibration isn't bad at those speeds
@@ullithebully Good to know.
What kind of seat?
I have a procycle seat with a maddog seat cover on it
Why put a cheap cover on an expensive seat-is it to add height?On my 2020 I added some memory foam to the Mad dog lining and then added a Sit and Fly seat cover which makes it sit wide-very comfortable all day riding and all for about $70 canadian.
@@amar4362 the bike came with the Procycle seat , it was a bit firm for all day riding so I put the maddog on with a bit of foam underneath it as a cheap way to add a bit more comfort, so far it's been working well
Keep up the great dr650 videos .
@@4navjit Thank you so much I appreciate that !
I cut my airbox and did the Procycle jet kit with an FMF pipe. It was peppier than stock, but loud.
I now use just an extended idle-mix screw and an adjustable overseas needle, with a snorkelectomy and a quiet stock pipe now. I leave the airbox uncut. I have a GSXR pipe in the shed, but it rips wheelies easily with just the carbing sorted. It has plenty of power for 2up touring with luggage, unless I use 16/42 sprockets or taller. 15/41 to 14/42 generally works fine for local riding, with 15/41 being pretty relaxed on slab, and 14/42 feeling peppier on tight trails.
That's awesome, amazing what a difference it makes when it's able to run unrestricted !💪💪👍👍
I’m not cutting my air box per advice from Derek @ MotoLab. What did you do to snorkel? Just remove it?
@@nelsdude Yeah, I popped it out. When you do that, you allow a bit more airflow though, so if you're close to sea level you will want an extended idle-mix screw and an adjustable needle, to keep the mixture correct. I prefer the OEM overseas needle, or the KTM 640 needle, on a clip setting just richer than stock. You may also want to relocate that little breather filter away from the airbox opening a bit too, to avoid surging.
With a stock exhaust, this seems to work pretty well near sea level. At higher altitudes, you may want to adjust the idle-mix screw leaner, and/or even remove the airbox door. In colder temps, you may want to adjust it richer.
Derek would probably also recommend an aftermarket header pipe, to better evacuate exhaust from the cylinder. A lot of people just grind down the weld in the stock header, but that can weaken it if you're not careful.
@@RKmndo Thanks! I'm putting in a 6F-19 needle from Derek. I'm also mounting my DG RST slip on I had from my last DR. I also already have the mixture screw in. Running stock right now with just the mixture screw and snorkel out the bike runs great. I just didn't want to cut the air box like on my last DR and Derek confirmed that's a good decision. This is a 2023 DR and I also completely removed all the PAIR smog stuff, canisters, plugged the vacuum ports on carb and plugged the hole in the cylinder. When I finally mount my DG and get the new needle in I'll play with the tuning. Happy Trails & Cheers!
Too bad I couldn't hear the motor at 20 30 40 50 60 70 or 80 mph I have no idea if it was revved out or lugging or what.guess I'll have to buy one to find out because nobody has a video where I can hear how much the engine is straining or revving or anything else at any speed.useless.
With stock gearing it does not strain or lug at any of those speeds
@@ullithebully thanks.not trying to be snarky or anything but I really need to HEAR this bike on the freeway before purchasing one and trying to find a good video of it is a little frustrating.said the guy who's too lazy to make ANY helpful videos.we appreciate the vids but had I heard my 400 am whining down the freeway I wouldn't have bought it.but I still love it just looking for something that can handle looooong rides between trails.
@@billbonu1639 totally understand that, what speed do you typically like to cruise at on the freeway?
@@ullithebully more than the drz wants to do.im running 15 38 and I can go 70 or so for a few miles before I start feeling sorry for and slow down.68, which is about 72 on the speedometer, isn't too bad but I can't keep up with traffic at that speed and feel like I'm gonna get ran over or something.around here freeway traffic is usually cruising 80 at least.id like to be able to do that, regardless of what the speedometer says, for miles and miles without being distracted by a wound out motor.reason I say that is I'm kinda planning a multi state trip that will include some trail riding and I just don't think the drz is up to it.I was down to the xr650l and dr650 and saw the drz has an oil cooler and people are having to add them to the xr so I'm leaning towards the Dr650 for a good road/trail bike.this is kinda new to me, I've been riding my drz around here for years but I'm just getting the adventure bike riding vacation bug or whatever and gotta get a bike that'll do it first.that and find out all the legalities of the places I want to ride so I don't get in trouble or run off.
I have the same concerns, and uncorking any bike is not going to add another gear, the RPM remains exactly the same. Big singles like this make plenty of power at lower RPM than what they're geared for so I would think going up one tooth in the front and down three in the back may be able to handle 80 mph for a while. In this video he said it was most comfortable at 70
gps app sat sampling freq is not reliable enough unless you holding top speed for a while...good show!
I've come to realize about a 10% discrepancy in my speedo