The day I brought her home to meet my parents (March 2007)
In reality, you could take any motorcycle/scooter/moped on this trip, but some motorcycles are better suited to overland travel than others. After considering the variety of motorcycles on the market, I decided that the Suzuki DR650, with its cinder-block-inspired styling, would meet both my aesthetic needs and more importantly, my budget. While there are MUCH more comfortable street bikes and more capable off-road bikes, the DR is reasonably comfortable on the road, and will carry me much farther off-road than my riding ability can take me and my training wheels will allow. Most importantly though, the motorcycle has a reputation of being very reliable (and it probably was until I said that), with a simple engine and an overall low-tech attitude. I've made a variety of modifications to prepare it for long-distance travel and to accommodate the necessary gear, tools, spare parts, and clothing. Since this is my first bike, I've had to learn a lot about motorcycles in general; in addition to the countless other details that stem from the sheer distance of the trip. Realistically, I only know a fraction of what I probably should know, but when is that not the case with anything we do in life?
Ready to go!- Special thanks to Kevin Boudreau for all his efforts in getting the bike ready for the trip.
Updates from the Road
A couple people have contacted me and would like to know how I prepared the bike for the journey and how it has been holding up on the road. I'll continue to update this page from time to time as the trip progresses. Please keep in mind that I am a newbie, so I don't have much to compare any of my current experiences with.
October 24th (17,223 miles on the bike)
The bike has been treating me great. I change the engine oil every 1,500 to 2,000 miles and use plain old 10w-40 or 20w-50 automobile mineral oil. I change the airfilter every 1,500 miles or more often if needed. I fitted a new rear tire when I was in Xela, Guatemala. It's a no-name Brazilian made tire, but it's held up well and I've been happy with its performance. Since I'm going to be sticking to the pavement in Colombia, I'm hoping I can make it can last until Ecuador, where I'll fit a more offroad oriented front and rear tire. I ended up keeping the stock chain on, that way I could be sure that the spare will last the rest of the way. I'm sure I could squeeze even more miles out of it, but there's no reason not to change it, and I can finally get the 10lb spare out of my panniers, along with the spare rear sprocket. I've also installed bar risers and that makes a world of difference. I'm much more comfortable riding standing, and sitting is more comfortable as well. The panniers have been holding up well. One of the rack's mounting bolts sheared, but I'm pretty sure a crash was the culprit. The right box has bent in a little, and I'm trying to find a jack or something that will fit in it to push the side back out. Since the lid on the Happy trails panniers fits much like a lid on a shoe box, the gasket along the rim of the box still seals against the lid even if the side of the box bends in a little bit. I only have one complaint with the DR. The rear shock has no rebound damping, so I get the uncontrolled "boing" feeling quite a bit. I didn't start to notice it until two months ago, but it's probably been that way the whole trip, and I'm just asking more from the bike now. The heavier spring I installed doesn't make the situation any better, but I'd be worse off with the stock spring. There's also a chance that it was performing better before, and has just degraded over time, but I'm probably demanding more from the bike now than I was at the beginning as well. I had read about getting the shock revalved back when I was making upgrades to the bike, but I thought my newness to riding would make the upgrade a waste of money. In hindsight, it probably would have been worth the money. The bikes still perfectly rideable, and I really don't know any better anyways.
July 27th (12,728 miles on the bike)
Pre-trip Upgrades
Front and Rear Springs from Jesse at Kientech.com - I don't remember the weights of the springs. I told Jesse my weight and the weight of my luggage and he sent me the springs that he thought would work best. This is a must-do upgrade. The stock springs would nearly bottom out with just my weight, and the front forks would basically buckle when turning. As for on and offroad handling, it's like riding a whole new bike. In addition, Jesse is probably the nicest guy I have ever done business with, so give the guy a call.
Corbin Seat - I'm not sure how it compares to other aftermarket seats, but this is also a must-do upgrade. I've done several 10 and 12 hour days on the bike, and although the last couple hours are still miserable, I could barely get around the block with the stock seat before the pain set in.
IMS Fuel Tank - The stock tank was 3.5 gallons (if my memory serves me well) and the IMS is a 4.8 gallon tank. Aside from making the bike look cooler, the extra mileage was nice in Northern Mexico where gas stations were spread thin. I typically refuel around the 100 mile mark anyways, but it's nice to have as much fuel as you can. I also purchased the Pingel Petcock that Jesse has available on his site. I had planned to use the IMS petcock, but after a couple months of use, there seemed to be alot of grinding going on in the valve, and I didn't have confidence it would last a year with daily use.
Inline Fuel Filter- A little tricky to set up at first, but this setup has worked well. I bought the filters from JCWhitney, and the hose is just standard 1/4 fuel line from any autoparts store.
ProTaper Handlebars - I went with the KX High Bend and have enjoyed the extra height over the stock bars. They held up well in two falls that were pretty hard on the bars.
Tusk Handguards - Aside from being the cheapest that I could find, they are solid and easy to install. They have already saved my throttle tube and levers on multiple occassions. If I were a better rider then they may be less valuable, but I'm not, so I see these as a must-have. We all go down eventually though. You can find them at RockyMountainAtv.com
Dynojet Kit, Air-fuel Screw, and Jesse Airbox Modification - For most of the states I was running the 155main, stock pilot jet, and had the Dynojet needle clip fourth from the top. This served me well until right outside of Denver, when the bike ran horribly at 5000ft. I put the stock main jet and needle back in for the rest of my time in Colorado where rides took me above 12,500ft. Of course the bike did not run like it did at sea-level with the DJ kit, but it ran well enough. When I put the DJ needle back in I put the clip at the 3rd notch from the top, and this has given me a wider range of acceptable performance at varying altitudes. I haven't been past 8000ft with this setup, but it runs well enough at 8000ft to not need a rejet. At sea-level it runs a hair lean, but I'm looking more for simplicity, than 110% performance at all times.
Case Guards - Available from Perry, they are more of a prophylatic than anything else. They're really easy to install and cheap insurance in my opinion. I'm pretty sure they have already saved my cases at least once, but I guess I'll never know.
Homemade Tool Box - I got this idea from Mollydog in a forum on HorizonsUnlimited.com. It has worked great so far!
Happy Trails Panniers and Racks - Great luggage and they were the least expensive aluminum boxes I could find. I hemmed and hawed over going with aluminum or soft bags and I am happy that I went with Aluminum. Although nothing is 100% secure, it's nice to know that someone has to do more than un-zip or slash a bag to get my stuff. Although I don't have anything of great value, it would still be a hassle to lose anything in my kit. I also purchased 90 degree padlock brackets that I riveted to the boxes. On top of being stronger and looking stronger, if someone were to mess with the lock or the brackets it wouldn't ruin the boxes functionality. The original setup has the lock attached to the ratcheting latch that seals the lid to the box. If someone were to take a screwdriver to one of the latches, the boxes would no longer seal.
Pelican Case Top Box- Has worked great so far. I attached to the box to the top rack with four unidirectional bolts that come up through the rack from the bottom, and put a couple fender washers and cap nuts on the inside of the box. I locktited it all up, and now I couldn't take off the top box if I wanted to.
14-Tooth Countershaft Sprocket- I used the stock 15-tooth sprocket for the States portion of my trip. I dropped the 14t sprocket in when I was riding the passes in Colorado though. I've used the 14t sprocket for all of Mexico and it has worked perfectly. I think my clutch would already be shot if I were still using the 15t. I loose a little on the top end, but I really don't need to be going that fast on Mexican roads anyways. I assume top end speed will be even less important the further south I go.
Dual-Star Bash Plate - It's a bash plate that provides good protection and it went on easy. Dual Star's service was good with this purchase, but I had to cancel my centerstand order after it was "back-ordered" for 9 months.
The following stuff I lost sleep over but didn't replace
Tire Tubes- I still have the stock Bridgestone tubes in the tires and have not had any punctures yet. I debated over using ultra heavy duty tubes, and actually bought a set, but decided against it when I saw just how HD they actually were. They seemed too heavy in my opinion and I'd hate to have to mess with one on the side of the road somehwere.
Chain - I'm still running the original stock chain at 12,728 miles. I have a DID VM2 525 X-Ring chain with new OEM rear sprocket and 2 new 14t countershaft sprockets in my panniers. I plan on changing out the current chain and sprockets before I cross into Guatemala. Although I'm sure I could get a lot more miles out of it since I don't care if it eats up the current set of sprockets, I don't want to run it until it snaps and either rips my leg off or seizes the engine.
Brakes - I have spare pads but are still running the originals.
I think that just sums up the bike stuff for now. If I've missed something that you would like to know more about, shoot me an email and I'll get the info on here as soon as possible.
