Suzuki DR650 Ride Review.

Watched this. Now I have one. A 2014. I love it.

dr650s or a crf250l

I really like your review of the DR. I grew up riding sport ATV's Yamaha Warrior 350 and Raptor 660R. I sold my Raptor 3 years ago as my friends sold theirs and had nobody to ride with. I decided to get a dual sport so I can hit the highways and get in some off road exploring. I've been having a hard time deciding on the Kawasaki, Honda and the Suzuki. With your review I finally know what I'm looking for. Suzuki seems to be like you said smack right in the middle. You got yourself a sub. I weigh 300 lbs and my wife said if I lose 100 lbs I can get myself a bike. Sounds like a win/win to me.

I've been hearing that a wr250r is another good choice. I've never been on a dual sport but I commute on a cbr250r so I'm fine with the lack of speed

I bought a 2007 late last year, and I LOVE it! The previous owner put knobbies on it that WERE Street Legal, but I felt they were unsafe, particularly at higher speeds or on wet pavement. It also drifted a bit in corners on logging roads which I REALLY did not like. I put a more street friendly dual sport set of tires on it, and now that they are broken in, it is a different world entirely. Since 99% of my riding is on pavement as a commuter, I opted for the more Street Friendly tires. I took it up into the Oregon Coastal Mtns. this afternoon, and it took the logging roads much better.On the street, there is no more uncertainty about the rear wheel sliding out from under me (It nearly DID a few times!), and when I decided to get a bit more aggressive in the S Curves near my home, it was fantastic. I now TRUST this bike!

is it fuel injected??? what mods would you do with a total cost of under 2k?? I will be doing 50/50 on road offroad...are the stock tires any good?? what engine upgrades would you recommend??

Can you tell me how the DR650 does in the twisties on tarmac compared to your SV650? I have a Wee Strom but am thinking about changing to a DR650. for more confidence riding trails. Trouble is I ride my Wee Strom at sportsbike pace in the twisties and wonder if I'd miss the power and torque of the 650 twin engine.

Cheers for your help!

The DR650 is a great bike. I owned one for ten years, and put about 40 thousand miles on it. Sold it and got a DRZ400S, which is also a great bike, but much more off-road oriented, which I wanted for Colorado mountain trails.

first thing you should do is drop those ballast on each end of the handlebars. They are useless and weight a lot and make the handlebars longer. They pull right off.

if you change up the wheels for different applications if you had supermoto wheels for the road.... standard for fields ...and full knobbly for scrambling ...

Great video. So tossed on all three you speak of. DR/KLR/XR and the one I like best changes daily - DR is today's top dog.

Thanks for giving us your time for review.

why not the drz400 is it more comfortable

Nice choice

All my bikes are suzuki easy to service, and get to the point of the bikes design.

How tall are you if you dont mind me asking, i'm 5ft8. I'd have to travel pretty far to go sit on one and was wondering if its worth the drive. Thanks!

Nice offroading...

I just got a retro 1974 Honda XL175, can't wait to get on the road!

LOL You said the XR was too heavy, it has a lighter wet weight then the DR

I wish I had any credit to get one of these

I WANT MONEY, So I can buy a doctor.

Lamo

great review mate. I had a drz 400 about 10 years ago and loved it. moved and sold it. now i'm wanting another dual sport to accompany my ninja zx10r. I've gotten used to the power of my 1000cc ninja so i'm thinking about getting one of these 650's instead of the drz 400 that I loved! I think this video sold me on it :-)

Im thinking about buying a dr650, ive been riding for years on a versys and wr250r. Im only 5ft 7, and 150 pounds. I wanted to upgrade to the drz and give my wife my wr250r. My real question is the 650 too big for my build?

XR L and the XR r, two TOTALLY different frame....

AND Suzuk 366 lbs. Honda 345 lbs..

Have a dr650. Daily driver and lots of mountain offroad driving. Perfect manners. Very nimble. Does 70 all day. Took mine on a close to 400 mile trip. Did great. But its barebones comfort. Take a break and stop whining ur fine. The seat can be changed if u want more comfort. Best split between a true dirt bike and a real world street legal anywhere bike i know of without spending 10 grand. Huskies and ktms have nicer parts on em but end of the day u spent all that money on a bike that doesent do anything much better than this bike. And remember kids real dirt machines are air cooled.

klr doesnt have a fuel gauge does this?

it looks liek your just riding the clutch the entire time

How is the vibration at highway speeds. How is the dr on the highway?

xr more on-road?
really?
fuck no man, aside from the retarded center of gravity (due to it receiving no updates for like 20 years) its entirely an off road bike that happens to be legal to drive on-road
if they updated it with a lower center of gravity and cut 2 inches off the seat height, i wouldnt even consider a dr650, but im short.

Good video .

Question what good off-road tire would you recommend for 60 percent on road 40 percent off road?

Thanks

Off-road? Dude u r just cruising through the grass😕

Scrap the 'death wings' and get yourself some dunlops, 606 rear and 605 front, you'll love them off road

Thanks for the video, now thinking of trading my 2006 Suzuki S50 for a DR650. I’m planning a trip to Alaska in 2019 but needed something that could cruise at 80-85mph on the highway but also can go light off road. I’m no down and dirty dirt bike expert but it’s fun to get off the road and explore a bit.

the stoke muffler makes it slower and if you like going faster the muffler will make it use more petrol.

Great review!! Love my DR650...just got back from Central America put 30k on the bike and it still running like new!

You gotta shred through that shit faster bro! haha

KLR is too heavy. DR650 is the best dualsport for the price.

Does this bike have an AC cdi or DC. In other words will the bike run without a battery if it goes dead. Also does the dr650 have a kick starter in addition to the electric. Thanks man!

Love my DR650, so versatile and goes anywhere. Changed my seat to a more comfortable one and haven't done anything yet with the gas tank but that would be my one complaint if any is the small gas tank.

What makes you say the XR is road biased? The XR has years of baja championships. I've never owned an XR but I would think for more offroad you would want the baja bike. I've owned a KLR and thanks to my background in motocross and hare scrambles I was able to hoon it around offroad despite the weight and even pulled a few podium positions in local hare scrambles but admittedly for my next bike I'm looking at the DR or XR because the DR seems like a true 50/50 and the XR was born from the baja proven platform and I have been known to swing by the local OHV park on my way home from work or dip off into the trails when I pass a cop doing 80 in a 45. Plus I like wheelies and the KLR was a bitch to wheelie

Legend has it that this particular bike has 8 rear wheels!

thats what i want to buy

I owned an '88 KLR-650 for several years and the radiator is what makes it so heavy. Both the Suzuki DR and Honda CR are air cooled, which drops a whopping 100 lbs from their weight. If you had ridden the Honda more you would see that it's just as good off road as the DR. The KLR, um, no. Ha ha.

Oh you can wheelie a klr 👀 mine is super modded and I can wheelie in 3rd and scrape plate lol

Pretty sure the XR is lighter weight by a few pounds, and has more ground clearance and suspension travel than a DR. Pretty much everyone says the XR is better off road.

Get a larger foot for your kick stand GIVI has them under Stand Extensions. I put one on my Versys X 300 and will be putting one on my new DR 650 You can also get a peace of aluminum and cut it 3-14" x 4-1/4" so it fits in your shirt pocket I went with 3/16" thick aluminum step material, works great even for fully loaded bikes. Hear in PEI in the spring and fall the ground gets very soft so a must for any bike that goes off road. Again Great Video

I'm currently awaiting delivery of my first DR650, and I was curious;
Is your suspension stock in this video?

Interesting.. Can't say I've ever heard anybody say the DR is better off road then the XR. The XRL has better suspension, more ground clearance and lighter.