- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I made some wheel & tire upgrades to my DR650 & thought I'd share with those that are interested. I accomplished 3 things; Setting up the rear with a 18" rim vs the stock 17", adding the Neutech Tubliss setup to the front & rear and finally, putting on a set of tires that should last a decent amount of time and be a better match for my riding.
I found a DR350 rim on craigslist from a guy that did a supermoto conversion on his 350 and he was selling his left overs. I picked up his 18" rim & spokes for $20! My plan was to tear down my 17" DR650 rear wheel and lace up the DR350 rim on my DR650 hub. I have never built a wheel before, so it was going to be quite the learning experience. I knew the DR350 and DR650 rear wheels were interchangeable, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to make it work. I was a little wrong... it took a decent amount of effort. I ended up using the spokes from the 18" wheel on one side and the spokes from the 17" wheel on the other side. Weird, but it worked. Truing up the wheel was interesting, not super-fun, but I did it myself and felt good for accomplishing it! It was a good learning experience.
The Tubliss setup isn't available for 17" wheels yet, I've heard it should be available by the end of this Summer, but I wanted to step up to the 18" wheel anyway, so I ordered the Tubliss for the 18" rear. I was concerned about the DR's 1.85" wide front rim, since the instructions say to use them on a 1.60" max width. I contacted Jeff at Neutech and he was kind enough to call and go over the details. Basically, they haven't gone thru the control testing for the wider rim, but plenty of people are running that combo. Sounds good to me... so I went for it. Mounting the Tubliss setup up took some care, I watched the tech video several times, then kept the instructions near by while I mounted them up. It wasn't that bad in the end.
Lastly was the new set of tires. I have been running a Dunlop 606 in the rear and a Pirelli MT21 in the front. They work well offroad, but with where I live, I do a lot of highway riding getting around the area and the tires just weren't lasting too long. I came to the realization that I could get by with a less-knobby set of tires. I decided on a front TKC80 and a rear Mefo Super Explorer. Hopefully I can get 5k miles out of this set.
After the first ride out with the new rim, Tubliss setup and new tires, I had some pretty bad vibes. The Tubliss locks have a pretty large rimlock that locates the tire valve stem and apparently it's heavy enough to throw off the balance quite a bit. It was rideable, but the vibes were quite visible. I unbolted the tires and hauled them down to the local motorcycle shop to balance them. Between the front & rear the rims took 6 ounces!!! Much better now... smooth as could be.
The tires are decent offroad, the rear tire is pretty easy to get to step out under throttle on a packed dirt/gravel road. It's pretty fun to steer with the rear, but you need to be prepared for it! Being able to run lower pressures and not worry about tubes is pretty damn nice too. I added some tire sealant to seal up small holes and tossed on a plug kit, just in case the sealant won't do the job.
Here's some pics from a quick afternoon ride to test the new setup out.-
I found a DR350 rim on craigslist from a guy that did a supermoto conversion on his 350 and he was selling his left overs. I picked up his 18" rim & spokes for $20! My plan was to tear down my 17" DR650 rear wheel and lace up the DR350 rim on my DR650 hub. I have never built a wheel before, so it was going to be quite the learning experience. I knew the DR350 and DR650 rear wheels were interchangeable, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to make it work. I was a little wrong... it took a decent amount of effort. I ended up using the spokes from the 18" wheel on one side and the spokes from the 17" wheel on the other side. Weird, but it worked. Truing up the wheel was interesting, not super-fun, but I did it myself and felt good for accomplishing it! It was a good learning experience.
The Tubliss setup isn't available for 17" wheels yet, I've heard it should be available by the end of this Summer, but I wanted to step up to the 18" wheel anyway, so I ordered the Tubliss for the 18" rear. I was concerned about the DR's 1.85" wide front rim, since the instructions say to use them on a 1.60" max width. I contacted Jeff at Neutech and he was kind enough to call and go over the details. Basically, they haven't gone thru the control testing for the wider rim, but plenty of people are running that combo. Sounds good to me... so I went for it. Mounting the Tubliss setup up took some care, I watched the tech video several times, then kept the instructions near by while I mounted them up. It wasn't that bad in the end.
Lastly was the new set of tires. I have been running a Dunlop 606 in the rear and a Pirelli MT21 in the front. They work well offroad, but with where I live, I do a lot of highway riding getting around the area and the tires just weren't lasting too long. I came to the realization that I could get by with a less-knobby set of tires. I decided on a front TKC80 and a rear Mefo Super Explorer. Hopefully I can get 5k miles out of this set.
After the first ride out with the new rim, Tubliss setup and new tires, I had some pretty bad vibes. The Tubliss locks have a pretty large rimlock that locates the tire valve stem and apparently it's heavy enough to throw off the balance quite a bit. It was rideable, but the vibes were quite visible. I unbolted the tires and hauled them down to the local motorcycle shop to balance them. Between the front & rear the rims took 6 ounces!!! Much better now... smooth as could be.
The tires are decent offroad, the rear tire is pretty easy to get to step out under throttle on a packed dirt/gravel road. It's pretty fun to steer with the rear, but you need to be prepared for it! Being able to run lower pressures and not worry about tubes is pretty damn nice too. I added some tire sealant to seal up small holes and tossed on a plug kit, just in case the sealant won't do the job.
Here's some pics from a quick afternoon ride to test the new setup out.-