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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 tecnology has negative sioees, for example, the use of a carburator can cause the engine to 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 noticable. 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 the rebound, while the shock decompresses too fast, 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).

Another weakness is the front suspension, the rebound damping is non existent, and that causes a fast rebound that can send you sky high, and ofcourse loosing traction. A partial solution is stronger springs and DDC’s: aluminum valves inserted into the shock that limit the oil passing through, while the shock is compressed, increasing the compression damping and rebound. So, if I just replace the springs and put valves in, I’ll get the best front suspension? NO, cause another drawback, major in my opinion, 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 warp even under moderate stress. It makes the handling a bit shaky, less accurate, you can definitely feel the spaghetti. In my opinion it affects strait line stability as well. How do I know all that? I took a ride on a DR650 with an RMZ (motocross) front suspension, and the difference is so noticeable, it makes the DR a completely different and 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 stay with a modified stock front? Yes, but you’ll work harder to keep things (and you) up.

So, in my opinion the suspension is the major issue with the DR. The engine itself is a bit lazy, and that can be corrected easily. I installed a procycle jet kit. I chose the Procycle kit over Dynojet because the former is supplied with 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, w/ Aluminum Muffler), and opened the air box from the upper side. You can make holes on the side cap (thus not damaging the air box itself) but that can limit water crossing depth, and maybe increase the chance of rain sucking in, so hole at the top is the best option. This change makes the engine come alive, very noticable. The stock BST carb is a vacuum type and is a bit lazy, when you pull the throttle, you only turn the carburettor butterfly, it then creates a vacuum that raises the slide upwards. I took a ride on a DR with a strait slide and acceleration pump (TM40), and the improvement in power and response are super noticeable. The DR raises its front easily just 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.

What more? I think I covered most of the ,major issues. There is another important issue and is the engine case and bottom guards, do not use the bike offroad with no bash plate and side cases protection!

My bike has these protections 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 protection: 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 cuts to allow room for the T-rex lower mount, easily done with a Jigsaw)
• Warp 9 side case guards, left and right.

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 any conditions. I also ride with a 43 tooth rear sprocket which in my opinion is a must at some point. If you go offroad, lose the original sprocket asap. Top speed isn’t much effected, and the torque increase in noticable. Lastly, I also have the Sargent seat, and I like it. Minor changes are led turn signals and 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.

The DR is capable for any type of terrain (Except Enduro) it’s lightweight enough to not get you into trouble, even in sand and thin river beds. 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. It’s pretty reliable, although I have seen some DR with broken rear chassis break and main chassis breaks in the swingarm pivot area, but these are not so common and I guess a result of constant extreme stress.

The clutch of the DR can 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 to fry it. Increasing final ratio will lower the chances it happens. I also had to replace the stock front rim, as it had a crack on it , I bought an Excel rim which is considered a better choice.