Setting up a Suzuki DR650

Author: Adventure Motorcycle Equipment  

The Suzuki DR650 has been one of the most popular Adventure/Trail bikes, it has consistently satisfied the needs of riders since 1996. It is learner approved in certain states/territories with a very reasonable price tag. The DR is built to handle it all!

So now you have your DR650, what to kit it up with?

 

While the DR’s have a 13L fuel tank, some Adventure Riders need that bit more fuel capacity. Acerbis offers 2 tanks for the DR650 a 20L and 25L tank, giving you that little bit of extra capacity and a few colour options to choose from. 

 

If you want to go the whole hog, Safari is one of the most well-known tank brands in Adventure Motorcycling. Safari makes a 30L long range tank, depending on your riding and load the Safari tank generally uses 5L/100km. Some have travelled just over 700km before the dreaded “splutter”. Safari tanks are easy to install and all Safari tanks are designed to carry fuel as low as possible ensuring that the weight is balanced evenly for the rider. Safari tanks are owned and made in Australia.

 

Where to put all your riding or camping gear? By far the most popular luggage option for the DR650’s is the installation of Barrett Racks, these racks are Australian made. They are made from steel and then powder coated black, they are designed to suit the standard exhaust. Barrett racks have Rotopax mounts built into them, which allows you to mount the Rotopax water or fuel cells with the appropriate mounts, they suit a large range of soft saddlebags including our own AME saddlebags which have been specifically designed for these racks. The racks are easy to install with the necessary bolts provided, they also work with the B&B rear carry rack! 

 

The B&B rear carry rack is one of our bestsellers for the DR650, it is also made with Rotopax mounts so you even mount extra fuel or water to the rack. It is a super neat looking piece of gear and tough as! You can also purchase a B&B luggage plate to mount on top of it which you can then utilise for a variety of soft tail bags like Kriega or SW-Motech.

Now that we have the fuel range to get us riding and the luggage solution to carry our gear, we need to protect the bike!

B&B Off-Road is one of our main suppliers for hard parts, they are owned, designed and manufactured in Australia.

 

We haven’t come across anyone who has not heard of B&B! 

For the DR650 we want to protect it for the tough Adventure riding, these are the items we would recommend: Case Guard (clutch & ignition), Front Sprocket Case Saver, Oil Cooler Guard, Frame Guards, Chain Guard and of course Bash Plate. B&B also supplies tidy number plate holders. 



Now for the bars, Barkbusters is again a very well known brand that was first manufactured in Australia in 1984. For a Barkbusters set up, you first need to purchase the frame which is easy to install in minutes, then you select your guards, the options we provide are Storm, C

arbon, VPS and Jet. The most popular guards are the VPS which comes with a wind deflector and has the option to add on skid plates and/or end weights to help with vibration. The VPS and Jet come in a variety of colour options to choose from, allowing real

personalization to the bike. They help protect your hands from the elements while still allowing easy maneuvering of the gears and bars. They are a hard piece of kit to kill!

 

Let's keep some wind off your face and those bugs at bay. The DR650 does not come with an OEM screen but our awesome mate Peter manufactures and owns “Screens For Bikes” again in Australia. By far the most popular tint is dark, still allowing a fair amount of vision but with an awesome amount of glare off the cockpit. They come with the necessary screws and bolts to mount them to the bike, simply drill into the required position for your height and bolt in. Everyone who has one of these screens raves about how it has changed their riding! There are a large number of tints to choose from, we supply clear, light and dark tint but can special order many more (see image below).

Now we are about to go on a ride but testing out that seat and it is a little uncomforable for the long trip. We can provide you with a Sargent Seat, these are made in the USA and has been reguarded as one of the most popular and well reguarded brands, starting back in 1935 upholstering automotive seats and started to move onto motorcycles in 1990. We sell many Sargent Seats for the DR650, they add that extra comfort on a long ride. They install straight onto the OEM mounting with no extra hardware needed. We order these in as needed, we do not keep seats in stock.

 

Have a read of this information from Sargent:

“Gel-Free! Superior comfort and suspension without the thermal retention and extra weight of gel. Our Super Cell Atomic Foam suspension is our own unique and proprietary blend of resilience, firmness, and vibration-absorption qualities - making it well suited for maximum long distance comfort. In addition, the seat shape has been enhanced in two important ways:

 

The seating platform is level, front to back (unlike the OEM seat) allowing for more freedom of movement.

It is wider and slightly "dished" (side to side), resulting in much better lateral weight and pressure distribution.

 

The World Sport Performance Seat for the Suzuki DR 650 features our marine-grade, UV-stabilized, upholstery - hand-sewn specifically to maximize the superior suspension qualities of the Super Cell Foam. In addition, with our high performance synthetic materials - combined with our continuous moisture barrier - your seat cover won't suffer from water-penetration and seepage or shrinking and cracking like leather-covered products often do. And best of all, it is virtually maintenance free!”

 

 

Phone, phone, phone, we can’t leave it behind. In Febuary 2019 we got in a new product from GIVI and it has by far been the most popular option for mounting phone and GPS's to handlebars. Everything you need to mount it is included in the price and in the box. The cases have a water resistant zip, heavy duty rain cover, sun shade, easy clip off and is touch screen friendly and even has a port to put your phone charger through to keep it lasting all day. If a case isn’t your thing we also have a spring loaded mount which on most smart phones, does not block your camera so you can record footage of your trip.

*These images are not our own