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DR650 vs XR650L longevity

^ Seriously. I want to meet that Feyala chick sometime. To my knowledge she is the only person ever to do a DR650 ride report to a furry convention...among many, many other places.
 
Got myself an XR650L under budget from a fellow Barfer this week. Thanks ScottNelson! Now the prep for baja begins.

Feyala's story was a great read! Take a greyhound from OR to OK to buy a bike? wow. She knows how to look over the edge and blindly jump. I love her sense of adventure!
 
Congrats on the bike purchase. I look forward to reading your Baja Report.

I still owe you a beer for finding that guy's bike, btw, so come stop in at Bender's some day. :cool
 
Congrats!
If you are looking for something closely for a shakedown ride, let me know.

I am still kinda kicking myself for not jumping on that ktm640 recently in the classifieds.
 
Sharky said:
Congrats!
If you are looking for something closely for a shakedown ride, let me know.

I am still kinda kicking myself for not jumping on that ktm640 recently in the classifieds.
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Yeh, I definately will. May be a few weeks. You have a NX650 now right?
 
sfcootz said:
Congrats on the bike purchase. I look forward to reading your Baja Report.

I still owe you a beer for finding that guy's bike, btw, so come stop in at Bender's some day. :cool
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Ahhh..... Benders! A shot in and a beer... and priced right :thumbup Will definately have to make it over there soon. I'm in various leagues Weds/Thursdays so I can never make the social nights there.
 
Congrats on the new bike!

I'm celebrating myself, I finally figured out how to kick start my new (to me) DR350S. :p
 
OaklandF4i said:
Yeh, I definately will. May be a few weeks. You have a NX650 now right?
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Yep, my current DS ride is the NX. You'll see it takes a while to get your dirt legs with the extra weight and poor suspension (compared to that of a real dirtbike). If I were you, I'd also see what you can do with sprocket changes. The gearing on the NX let me down a little on the Sheetiron in the 1-2 gear sections. I'm not sure how that will translate to your XRL as I think the NX ratios are slightly different. I was told by some old timers (you almost have to be an old timer to know anything about NX's anyhow) the 2nd gear from the NX is a popular mod for the XRL, but have no way to confirm or recommend this.

Also, ADVrider has some dude that makes oil coolers for NX/XRLs that is quite nice and seemly stout.
 
Well, havent had much time yet to dig into the XR650L to prep it. Have the tune up parts, just need to find the time get it done. Would be really easy to spend a lot of money adding a lot of parts to this bike trying to build it into something it isnt.. going to try and focus on making sure its mechanically sound and everything is fresh for the trip etc. Need to make sure to appreciate it for what it is, and not try to turn it into a Husky or KTM (which it never will be).

In the interim, picked up a clean low mileage DR650 last night for my riding budding who is joining me on the Jan trip. :party Will be similarly prepping it over the next couple of months too.

So I will be able to truly give an in depth comparison of the two bikes after the trip! Rode the DR650 up from San Jose to the city on 280. Very different from the XR650L. From my initial impression, the XR has a more sofisticated suspention (I know, I said XR650L and sophisticated suspension... but thats relative). The XR is definately taller. The seat seemed more comfortable and the cockpit more roomy (ie foot peg to top of seat to the bars). While I'm 5'11" no matter what Ironbutt says :twofinger, I have no problem to with XR's very tall seat height and prefer the XR's stance of riding more dirtbike like on top of. The peg to seat on the DR felt a little cramped. Should be good for my riding partner as he is a few inches shorter.

The DR is a bit smoother, quieter (a PO removed the baffle of the stock pipe on my XR and I need to find a used one), a bit more stable and smoother at fwy speeds. Some of that could be attributed to the worn dot knobbies on the XR vs the newer Distanzias on the DR. Will be mounting TBD matching tires before the trip. The smogged DR felt nearly as strong at speed as my desmogged and jetted XR - but definately not as sharp at lower speeds. The DR will get the same treatment as the XR before the trip.

This is going to be fun! :thumbup
 
OaklandF4i said:
In the interim, picked up a clean low mileage DR650 last night for my riding budding who is joining me on the Jan trip. :party Will be similarly prepping it over the next couple of months too.

So I will be able to truly give an in depth comparison of the two bikes after the trip! This is going to be fun! :thumbup
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Subscribed to this thread. Looking forward to hearing about the trip and the comparison....pics of both bikes? :thumbup

Love to hear your thoughts on DS tires for on and off road....
 
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OaklandF4i said:
The DR is a bit smoother, quieter (a PO removed the baffle of the stock pipe on my XR and I need to find a used one), a bit more stable and smoother at fwy speeds. Some of that could be attributed to the worn dot knobbies on the XR vs the newer Distanzias on the DR.
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My XR is significantly smoother too. The worn Pirelli MT21 tires and rim locks with no attempt to balance the wheels make that bike un-smooth at all speeds on pavement.

The bike will feel very different with new tires on it.
 
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