This is a bike that has seen a hard life... It looks a little tired up close & it's showing it's age & abuse by continually having mechanical issues. So far each time we've set out for a weekend of riding, this bike has broken down & had to be recovered or limp home. It cost £1200 from a bike shop near Nuneaton. Not a place I'd go back to after the hassles with this bike & the dodgy sales guy, but hey you live & learn...
That said with some time, effort & a fair bit of expenditure it could be brought back to something resembling a decent bike. It benefits from the pedigree it has come from, another bombproof bike from Suzuki, with a well tried & tested set of kit behind it. Like all good things it needs some love & attention to bring it back to it's former glory!
Mark's riding skills make this bike look small & it suits his riding style coming from a motocross background. Green laning requires multiple skills from many disciplines, with little time to decide which is the best method to use as you approach an obstacle, Mark tends to use the power of the bike to see him through & a fair bit of good balance, it's great to watch him power up a steep uphill section or blast into some deep water. Once the DR is sorted & set up right it'll be a cool tool to use.
Before that however it's all about getting it running consistently, on a steep technical uphill near Hartside Cafe near Alston at the weekend, the clutch decided to give out, so a retreat was in order, turn the bike around, which had now turned into a rather heavy lump, get it running & roll down hill as best as he could. Some adjustment to various bits of the clutch assembly & Mark crept upto the cafe on the tarmac for some tea, before bailing & heading back to mine.
Mark headed back home with a plan to order a new clutch & come back up to fit it, so that'll be a wet weekend in playing with oily bits. The bike has just had its cam chain adjuster replaced after it failed, broke to bits & fell into the bottom of the engine, causing a long recovery session of about 3.5hrs as we were really in the middle of nowhere when it happened... hey ho, the joys of dirt biking...
Lets see what the next phase of the renovation of this bike will bring!!
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| Suzuki DR650 |
Mark's riding skills make this bike look small & it suits his riding style coming from a motocross background. Green laning requires multiple skills from many disciplines, with little time to decide which is the best method to use as you approach an obstacle, Mark tends to use the power of the bike to see him through & a fair bit of good balance, it's great to watch him power up a steep uphill section or blast into some deep water. Once the DR is sorted & set up right it'll be a cool tool to use.
Before that however it's all about getting it running consistently, on a steep technical uphill near Hartside Cafe near Alston at the weekend, the clutch decided to give out, so a retreat was in order, turn the bike around, which had now turned into a rather heavy lump, get it running & roll down hill as best as he could. Some adjustment to various bits of the clutch assembly & Mark crept upto the cafe on the tarmac for some tea, before bailing & heading back to mine.
Mark headed back home with a plan to order a new clutch & come back up to fit it, so that'll be a wet weekend in playing with oily bits. The bike has just had its cam chain adjuster replaced after it failed, broke to bits & fell into the bottom of the engine, causing a long recovery session of about 3.5hrs as we were really in the middle of nowhere when it happened... hey ho, the joys of dirt biking...
Lets see what the next phase of the renovation of this bike will bring!!
