I've just picked up a brand-new dr650 absolutely stock.
And I want to take it for a spin out in the dirt today before starting all the usual mods.
It's very weird being on bitumen again.
I kept sticking out my foot on the corners.
We call the DR650 a 'bush pig' in Australia.
And we call me 'mad' because I want to try a bit of cross training on it today.
And the reason I'm crazy is because a stock DR650 is horrible in the dirt for two reasons.
The stock the Trailwing tires are affectionately known as 'death wings' for a very good reason.
And the stock suspension ridiculously soft with almost no damping.
So 200 meters into the dirt it's time to see if I can still remember how to wheelie a bush pig.
It wheelies as easy as I remember it did.
I've let the death wings down to 18 psi but she's still slipping all over the place.
I'm sure I'm going to be dropping the big girl today somewhere.
The moment she hits a rutted hill climb she's bouncing around like
a pogo stick with that god-awful suspension.
Oh the suspension!
These bush pigs are highly desirable bikes even in stock form.
I make sure my security signs are fitted while I wait for Pete to get his KTM 690 ready.
The stock suspension whoa is as bad as I remember!
Oh God it doesn't handle jumps.
I actually break my foot years ago with the stock suspension because she bounced out of control
over a jump.
This is ridiculous.
It's bad!
I wasn't going to try any cross-training stuff on
the DR650 until at least I had the tyres and suspension done.
But then I thought "What the hell,
over the past year you guys asked me if the pivot turn was possible on a DR650."
I said I didn't know but I'd give it a try one day so here goes!
Well that worked out okay.
Ihought I'd try next one of those sit-down wheelies from a standstill Javis-style.
Okay maybe I better brush on covering the rear brake..
It's crazy, you think you've got it down second nature but you go past the balance point and just
jump off instead of dabbing that rear brake pedal!
Under these leaves the ground is still wet and muddy so both bikes are sliding around a lot.
Even Pete is wheel-spinning everywhere with knobbies.
i completely forgot how heavy these bikes are,
and the DR650 of course is a comparative light weight when it comes to adventure bikes.
God knows how Chris Birch manages to pull those stunts on a KTM 1190.
Anyway you are probably wondering why I bought this... I took a year off froma
adventure riding to focus on the cross training, and figured it was time to get back into it.
A local suspension tuner, Full Force Racing Components, knew I was going to
do a video series about slowly turning the DR650 into a full-blooded adventure bike.
And they asked if they could sponsor the series and do the suspension work.
Wwo of us have used their services, and they
really know what they are doing.
So of course I said yes.
Their suspension tuner at FFRC has spent years not only tuning,
but also designing and manufacturing suspension components for the V8 supercars, rally cars,
and everyone kind of motorbike under the sun.
So it will be interesting to see how he goes with the DR650.
It has the old rod forks that were invented around the time of the dinosaurs.
And you usually need to some fancy tricks to make them behave like modern cartridge forks.
If you feel like following the series, I'll be posting it up on my old adventure
riding channel if you want to see the bush pig get a full makeover.
We'll see if you can put lipstick on a pig!