So, I had a bike. Or more like we owned each other. She'd let me do things, stupid things, and still forgive me in the end. Me? I'd let her go without any attention to her heart. Sure, I'd lube her up, and replace her worn rubber, make sure she could stop but never asked it of her...I violated her. She was my DRZ400sm and I loved her. She was black and aside from her pumper carb and full exhaust and high way sprockets, she was stock.
(This wasn't my bike but let's just say it was.)
She had a snappy attitude about life's little bumps and corners but my love for her was destined to fail. While I longed for more of a commitment from her, she only saw the day to day. The short ride here or there. So, we had to part ways and I was heart broken because while I still loved her, I knew in my heart that she would be better off with someone else. Someone more able to love her the way she needed, not just the way I wanted. It was selfish of me to think that she could be everything I wanted at all times, and yet nothing unnecessary. Impossible.
So, time went on, and I had time to think about life and what I wanted from my next ride. Something that I could have fun in the hills, be able to go places I haven't been before, and yet still pick up the daily commuter/in town bopper... and reliable. What could it be?
I'm eating with my wife somewhere unimportant, when all of the sudden it hits me. DR650
And the idea grows, and get supported with data like interweb pics and video, and forums and subforums and whole sites and distributors, until it festers into "BUILD YOUR SUMO FROM DR650!"
So I did. I started with a 2002 with about 3K miles. Bone stock.
I then realized that I had a pile of parts and no way of lifting the bike. All my front stands and rear stands just would not stand up to me pounding on the bike from all angles.
So.
First thing to do...figure out how to lift this thing to get the wheels off.
...OK. Not too bad.
So I'm looking at my parts pile and wondering... where do I begin? So I started with the bars. I pulled everything off down to the triple.
... and notice the new hardware is bigger than the old hardware. This will make it pretty difficult to use the rubber mounts unless I drill them out.
Fortunately, the old hardware fits well in the protaper risers so I just ended up using the old hardware.
Success! I figured out how it was going to go back together! That's a step in the right direction. It doesn't always go that way for me.
Reeling from my latest success, I really wanted to slap those new tires on there to see how it was going to look. So I pulled the front wheel and transferred the rotor bolts (thankfully I didn't strip any).
I installed the corrected speedo drive which had to be "modified" a bit if using the RAD hubs.
I got the brake caliper situated...
...as well as the fork brace.
And tried to get everything back together. After a few tries and some grinding with my trusty dremel it all fit. However, I had to take off the rotor to get the caliper on. That was kind of a PITA but only a small one. You can see where I "modified" the speedo drive to fit.
Blam.
Now I'm invincible. I can do anything. I start tearing into everything on my list and take the punches as they come. A stripped bolt here, cross threaded bolt there. I've got a compliment of impact drives so eventually everything gives to the ROB.
I installed a shorter kickstand using the dime method.
The rear wheel, chain and sprockets...
SM fender...
I called it for the night and started right up the next day by installing the FMF header, keintech midpipe and 40F0 GSXR. I then rejetted the stock BST carb while I wait for my FCR to arrive. Here's where she sits today. More mods are planned... and up on deck.
Until then...
My DR650SM:
(This wasn't my bike but let's just say it was.)
She had a snappy attitude about life's little bumps and corners but my love for her was destined to fail. While I longed for more of a commitment from her, she only saw the day to day. The short ride here or there. So, we had to part ways and I was heart broken because while I still loved her, I knew in my heart that she would be better off with someone else. Someone more able to love her the way she needed, not just the way I wanted. It was selfish of me to think that she could be everything I wanted at all times, and yet nothing unnecessary. Impossible.
So, time went on, and I had time to think about life and what I wanted from my next ride. Something that I could have fun in the hills, be able to go places I haven't been before, and yet still pick up the daily commuter/in town bopper... and reliable. What could it be?
I'm eating with my wife somewhere unimportant, when all of the sudden it hits me. DR650
And the idea grows, and get supported with data like interweb pics and video, and forums and subforums and whole sites and distributors, until it festers into "BUILD YOUR SUMO FROM DR650!"
So I did. I started with a 2002 with about 3K miles. Bone stock.
I then realized that I had a pile of parts and no way of lifting the bike. All my front stands and rear stands just would not stand up to me pounding on the bike from all angles.
So.
First thing to do...figure out how to lift this thing to get the wheels off.
...OK. Not too bad.
So I'm looking at my parts pile and wondering... where do I begin? So I started with the bars. I pulled everything off down to the triple.
... and notice the new hardware is bigger than the old hardware. This will make it pretty difficult to use the rubber mounts unless I drill them out.
Fortunately, the old hardware fits well in the protaper risers so I just ended up using the old hardware.
Success! I figured out how it was going to go back together! That's a step in the right direction. It doesn't always go that way for me.
Reeling from my latest success, I really wanted to slap those new tires on there to see how it was going to look. So I pulled the front wheel and transferred the rotor bolts (thankfully I didn't strip any).
I installed the corrected speedo drive which had to be "modified" a bit if using the RAD hubs.
I got the brake caliper situated...
...as well as the fork brace.
And tried to get everything back together. After a few tries and some grinding with my trusty dremel it all fit. However, I had to take off the rotor to get the caliper on. That was kind of a PITA but only a small one. You can see where I "modified" the speedo drive to fit.
Blam.
Now I'm invincible. I can do anything. I start tearing into everything on my list and take the punches as they come. A stripped bolt here, cross threaded bolt there. I've got a compliment of impact drives so eventually everything gives to the ROB.
I installed a shorter kickstand using the dime method.
The rear wheel, chain and sprockets...
SM fender...
I called it for the night and started right up the next day by installing the FMF header, keintech midpipe and 40F0 GSXR. I then rejetted the stock BST carb while I wait for my FCR to arrive. Here's where she sits today. More mods are planned... and up on deck.
Until then...
My DR650SM:
