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I’ll start at the end – With a few modifications, is the DR650 a good offroad/adventure bike? Absolutely yes.

I’ve had the DR650 2016 for almost 3 years now, I bought it exclusively for offroad use. It has about 45,000 km on it. The DR has its advantages and drawbacks, as some motorcycles do, these are highlighted depending on the use. The DR does not come with any active safety features, it lacks ABS and traction control, which makes it less safe on asphalt. These disadvantages mostly disappear offroad, especially for skilled riders, ABS will be a huge disadvantage on extreme conditions, rendering the brakes useless in a sudden stop on gravel. Traction control (when is not very minimal), will only make your engine lose power exactly when you most need it. On the other hand, the lack of technology has negative sides: carburetors can flood, for example, when the bike tips over – then long starters are sometimes needed (can drain the battery on extreme occasions). Flooding the engine is not possible with fuel injection.

This review will address offroad use only. The DR is a fine dual purpose bike, and can be suitable as a first stage bike for inexperienced riders, but as the rider progresses, gets experienced and start to demand more from the bike, the disadvantages start to become noticeable. First and foremost the suspension: the factory suspension, will have a hard time dealing with even small pot holes, The rear suspension will bottom out easily. The original spring is soft, there is inadequate damping, especially rebound causing fast decompression, sending the rear of the bike upwards, losing traction. Some open the oil chamber and refill the shock with a higher viscosity oil and replace the spring. A better solution is an aftermarket shock, like the Mojabe pro (that I installed). There are other options like the Australian made YSS (They also have their own made front fork cartridges).

Another weakness is the front suspension

in my opinion the suspension is one of the first things to take care of. Lacking in both compression and rebound damping, fast rebound can send the front sky high, loosing traction. A partial solution is stronger springs and DDC’s: aluminum valves inserted into the shock that limit the oil passing through, increasing the compression and rebound damping. So, if I just replace the springs and put valves in, I’ll get the best front suspension? NO, cause another drawback, is that the front shocks are conventional (as opposed to an up side down fork like in the KTM 690 or Husky 701) and tend to flex even under moderate stress. It makes the handling and steering less accurate, but it’s not a disaster, just not optimal. In my opinion it affects strait line stability when the going gets tough. How do I know all that? I took a ride on a same DR650 but with an RMZ (motocross) front suspension, and the difference is so noticeable, it makes the DR a much better dirt bike. Replacing to the RMZ front is pretty strait forward job but it will involve modifications to the head mask (light and instruments) and the left-right handlebar stopper. Can you live with a modified stock front? Yes, but you’ll work bit harder.

The engine can be easily modified

The engine is a bit lazy as stock, and that can be corrected easily. I installed a carb Procycle jet kit. I chose the Procycle kit over Dynojet because the former is supplied with float boal Allen screws and a few more bits and instructions.

I also took off the original very heavy exhaust/silencer (Super restricted) and installed a street legal Yoshimura (DR650 96-22 RS-2 Stainless Slip-On Exhaust Aluminum Muffler), and opened a 2″ hole in the air box from the upper side. You can make holes in the side cap (thus avoiding damage to the airbox itself) but that can limit water crossing depth, and maybe increase the chance of rain sucking in, so hole at the top is preferable. Don’t just open the whole airbox cause that will get you a too lean mixture (lean = excessive heat) This change makes the engine lively, very noticeable. The stock BST carb is a vacuum type and is a bit lazy, with no direct connection between the throttle and the carb slide, it rather works on indirect vacuum force. I took a ride on a DR with a straight slide and acceleration pump (TM40), and the improvement in power and response are super noticeable. The DR raises its front easily with a twist of the wrist on second gear. So much fun and comes in handy offroad when you need the raise the front often.

Another important issue is protecting the engine, ⚠️ do not use the bike off-road with no bash plate and side cases protection!

Protecting your DR650: crash bars, skid plates & more

My bike has these guards installed:

• A T-REX 1st generation side guards, are super sturdy, connected with three points on the bike, will not bend. If they are still available to buy, in my opinion they are a better option than the 2nd gen ones.
• Acerbis 0021527 Suzuki, bash plate/engine guard: it’s made from very tough plastic, it can withstand hard abuse with no problem, will not bend or crack, sharp objects will not penetrate it.
  ⚠️ If you install the T-REX gen 1, the bash plate will need a few modifications (small side cuts to allow room for the T-rex lower mount, super easily done with a Jigsaw if you know how to use it)
• Warp 9 side case guards, left and right.

Small modifications offer big improvements

I also replaced the fuel tank for an Acerbis 20L transparent one, that eliminates fuel level guessing. I ride mostly with Pirelli MT21 tires. I like the 21’s cause they are easy to take off when there’s a flat, even on my own, they last fairly long and give great traction in most conditions (except sticky mud which is challenging for any tire). I also ride with a 43 tooth rear sprocket which in my opinion is a must at some point. If you ride offroad, lose the original rear or front sprocket asap for a lower gearing. If you ride slow and technical terrain or slow climbing uphill, 14T front sprocket is a good recommendation. Top speed isn’t much effected with a rear 43T, and the torque increase is noticeable. I also have the Sargent seat, and I like it. Minor changes are led turn signals and a smaller rear light.

I also replaced the atmospheric carb breather and put in a small filter (Resembling K&N) which I apply oil to. The original filter is a small thin sponge with large holes with poor filtering abilities.

Reliable but not unbreakable

The DR is capable for any type of terrain (Except Enduro) it’s lightweight enough to not get you into trouble, can stop and resume even in sand and thin river beds. It really can do it all. It has an excellent motor – An engineering pearl, pulls from very low rpm’s and can perform nicely on highways too. It’s super easy to maintain, no camshaft removal for valve clearances and chasing after shims. Overall it’s pretty reliable, on the other hand I have seen some DRs with broken rear chassis, in the rear turn signals area (the DR does not have a sub frame, a minus) and even witnessed main chassis cracks in the swingarm pivot area, but these are not so common and I guess a result of constant extreme stress and long years of offroad use.

Clutch durability & issues

The clutch of the DR can also give up to abuse (as with any motorcycle), even when new, if excessive clutch slipping is used in technical terrain, along with high rpms, there’s a good chance you’ll fry it. Increasing final ratio will dramatically lower the chances of it happening. I also had to replace the stock front rim, as it had a crack on it, so did my buddy with an even worst case of several cracks. The stock rims are not durable as cracks can show up after a few years of use. I bought an Excel rim which is considered a better choice.
Final thought, the infamous neutral unit bolts, before 2017 they were assembled with no Loctite, so they can come lose and damage the engine, so 2016 model and downwards should inspect the unit’s bolts on the clutch side.

Pros and Cons