SUZUKI DR650 MAINTENANCE & MODIFICATIONS (40,000 to 75,000 km MARK)

40,000 - 75,000 km maintenance log for my Suzuki DR650SE (2010).

This entry is going to serve as an extensive maintenance log for my Suzuki DR650 including modifications made before and during the trip. For the report on the first 40,000 km have a look here: http://motoadventurejournal.blogspot.com.ar/2015/08/suzuki-dr650-maintenance-modifications.html

Coating the DR650 in salt, that's good for bikes right?

This entry will cover the 40,000 to 75,000 km mark which I covered end of 2015 until now (May 2016). All of it in South America. The last entry ended like this...

“38000 Km maintenance conducted:

-          New set of chain and sprockets (front and rear, back to standard gearing).

-          Replaced rear wheel and hub bearings (just a precaution).

-          Replaced the front brake line with an original Suzuki line.

-          New spark plugs (just a precaution).

-          New fuel lines and fuel filters (the Safari lines were cracking).

-          Rear rack bent back in place and welded.

-          Carburettor stripped and cleaned (float bowl had gotten stuck twice on the journey).

-          Air filter clean.

-          Lubrication of all cables and moving parts.

-          Valve clearance check (all perfect still).

-          General checks on all working parts.

40000 Km maintenance conducted (prior shipment to South America):

-          New front and rear Heidenau K60 tires

-          Oil & filter change.

-          New front fender (purely for sexiness).

A few things that I will do before shipping if time permits:

-          Rear shock service (re-gas and fresh oil).

-          Re-grease swing-arm and steering head bearings.

-          Cut and weld foot pegs to lower them by 1 inch.”

So the bike was back in mechanical A1 condition. Unfortunately I did not have time to do the last 3 things before shipping. Either way the DR arrived safely in Chile about 8 weeks after departure.

Arrival in Chile, getting back into the swing of things.

Maintenance conducted at 46,000 km (Argentina):

-          Oil change.

-          Air filter clean and re-oil.

And at 47,000 km (Argentina):

-          Welded cracked pannier frame.

-          Fixed GPS contact points (was losing power).

Happy Trail pannier racks, been welded plenty of times... but honestly I think after all those corrugations it would've happened with any brand.

At 49,800 km (Chile) I had my first flat tire with this bike, repaired road side with a replacement tube. And at 50,000 km:

-          New fork seals (they were leaking badly).

-          New rear tire (Heidenau K60 only lasted 10,000 km)

The only flat tire in 75,000 km round the world... couldn't have hoped for much better!

52,000 km (Argentina):

-          Rear brake pads replaced (Kept one of the old ones as it was only half worn).

-          Oil and filter change.

Backyard oil and filter change, basically every couple of weeks.

At 53,000 km (Chile) the rear rack needed more welding. Again hairline fractures had developed from all the corrugations. At 58,000 km (Chile) I changed the oil and cleaned the air filter. The astute observer will notice I stretched all of the last three changes by 1000 km, there was just no opportunity to change it earlier and the riding has been mostly easy highway kilometres.

Welding goggles or glass? Not for this guy!

At the 58,800 km (Peru) mark I had to adjust the chain for the first time since fitting the new one (over 20,000 km ago). I also fitted a new front sprocket.

It wouldn't be a DR post if there wasn't a cheeky dig at a broken down KLR... (just a small short circuit)

59,900 km (Peru): Replaced rear tire (Heidenau K60 this time only lasted 9,900 km and was down to the weave).

I don't know why I wasn't having any luck with Heidenau's... not impressed though.

At 61,000 km (Peru) my starter switch needed cleaning to function before it totally packed it in at 62,000 km (Ecuador). From them on I just manually connected the two wires.

When I replace this next time it's going to be a Chinese rip off for sure.

63,500 km maintenance (Colombia):

-          Oil and filter change.

-          Air filter clean and re-oil.

-          New front brake pads.

At 68,000 km (Ecuador):

-          Oil change.

-          Adjusted chain tension.

-          Thoroughly cleaned the motorcycle, degreased and regreased all external moving parts.

"Major service", looking forward to having my own garage again back home!

In Brazil around 71,000 km:

-          Oil and filter change. Prematurely conducted due to convenience in Brasilia.

-          New rear tire (Pirelli M60 had lasted 11,000 km and had 1mm tread left).

-          Adjusted chain tension.

-          Replaced singular worn brake pad with old one I had kept from 52,000 km replacement in Argentina. Pad on the piston side seems to wear faster.

When the hostel doesn't really have the space...

74,000 km. Chain tension adjusted twice since 71,000 km. Can tell it is nearing the end of its useable life. Get me to Buenos Aires! Well after 76,000 km I did finally arrive in the Capital. Here I cleaned the air filter and prepared a list of things that need to be done once back home. Here it is:

-          Oil change.

-          New starter button.

-          Replace chain and sprockets.

-          Rear shock service (re-gas and fresh oil).

That’s all! But for fun I will likely re-spray some parts where the paint has worn and fit some proper knobby tires for off-road. Overall I am so pleased with this bike for the trip I’ve just done, the best part is being able to ride around the world, drop it a 100 times in the dirt and abuse it daily with relatively few issues. But I am still looking forward to riding a bike with some decent horsepower again, shhh don’t tell the DR.

Amazing memories on this bike, Patagonia!

High up above 4000 m in Argentina!

A few final points I've learnt... the bike's consumption has ranged from 4.5 L/100 km to 6.5 L/100 km. Varying depending on altitude, velocity, etc. She doesn't burn a single drop of oil, ever. Above 3500 m altitude I need to remove the air box side lid (lean it out) otherwise the bike becomes un-rideable. Original engine, gearbox and clutch with zero dramas in that area. I might do another one of these at 100,000 km but since my trip is over for now that might take a little time...

It may cost more than it's worth to send my baby home, but I doubt I'll ever part with her.

THE END OF THIS TRIP

Back on dry land it felt good to push on but the weather was unbearably hot and after a while I grew tired of being sweaty 24/7 so I raced down the 2000 km to Brasilia. It’s an interesting city considering it was “planned” and built from the ground up as a replacement capital to Rio de Janeiro. But besides that it’s mostly just a city.. Let’s move on to Rio!

Long, straight roads. Day dreaming all day!

A few days of this and your will to ride slowly wanes.

Swapped out the rear pads again, know this bike inside out now.

Close to having a break!

Oil and filter change plus a new rear tire. Ready for the final 4000 km.

The 1200 km to Rio was relatively uneventful in that most of it was toll roads, which suck the life out of any road trip. Paying every 50 km. To add to this Brazil is by far the country with the most speed cameras I have ever seen, quite literally riding past 300 per day, basically every single kilometer. I wasn’t sure if they would come back to bite me at the border on exit... (they didn’t!).

I don't like big cities, but Rio de Janeiro has a pretty pimpin' location!

Hiking up to the lookout over the city there were many of this tiny monkeys.

Some a little bigger... and more aggressive!

That famous statue above the city.

First time back in a really touristy area!

Another monkey on the way down.

Rio's coastline is beautiful, unfortunately a cold front had moved in and it was raining a lot now.

After Rio de Janeiro I rode along the coast towards Foz do Iguacu...

Taking the coastal road to avoid the boring highway.

The Iguazu waterfalls are situated at the tri-border between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. On the Brazilian side I found the falls to bea tad underrated, but the bird sanctuary next door was soo good!

Flamingos up close, hilarious fighting ensued.

A type of toucan.

The classic toucan we all know.

Get ready for a lot of butterflies!

So big and pretty!

Another toucan, the photos really don't capture the vibrant colours of their beak!

Almost the size of my head!

More strange birds...

Butterflies at lunchtime.

The falls from Brazil.

A coati comes towards me thinking the camera is food.

More than 275 waterfalls in one heap!

View of the "Devil's Throat".

Yep, this is happening. Selfies.

View back down the gorge...

Alright, final border crossing! Leaving Brazil was easy, no check, straight on through with the stamp. Plain sailing all the way home now. For some reason the paperwork for my motorbike was taking a bit longer than usual on the Argentinean side. My Spanish is still terrible so I wasn’t quite understanding what the problem was, all I knew was they wanted another document from me... one I didn’t seem to have. I had already provided bike papers, insurance, licence and my passport.
¿problema? Turns out my last temporary import wasn’t processed correctly when I left for Chile a few months earlier and in the system my bike had never left the country (that’s illegal). Next course of action, impound the bike. Lucky I’m a charming guy and all was good, viva in Argentina! Seriously though it was quite lucky, I had no proof that I had left the country correctly but somehow the customs lady believed me.

I'm glad they post speed limits for the big cats.

The Argentinean side of the falls was absolutely spectacular! Rainbows. Rainbows everywhere. And you basically stand on top of the falls the whole time. A really worthwhile and immersive experience. Well the bike’s chain had started clunking, hopefully it makes it to Buenos Aires. Also weather forecast is looking shite!

First glance at the "Devil's Throat" from above.

Thought you'd gotten away from butterflies...

Gotta ruin a few nature shots with me in them!

Lots of walkways  along the top.

Not sure if they're bigger than Niagra, but they are even more fun to look at!

It was a cold and rainy ride for the final stint to Buenos Aires. Such a strange gut feeling the final 200 km coming to terms with the trip coming to an end. Well it’s not over entirely yet, still organising the shipment of the bike back to Australia (no this is not a financially wise choice but I have gotten attached) and the cleaning of the bike, getting ready for Aussie customs!

The route covered back into Argentina.

She's so dirty, this is going to take some time to clean!

Flooding has really affected Argentina and Uruguay recently.

I’m now living in Buenos Aires with an awesome biker I met while riding in Peru. Tying up the loose ends before returning home. I will update this section with how the shipment goes in a few weeks time.

- freight -

500 days away from home and on the road. 70,000 odd kilometres on the motorbike, 6,000 or so on ferries and small boats, about 1,000 by bicycle and I never counted the buses and trains. Too many countries to list, even more border crossings, 2 full passports. 1 flat tire. Hundreds of friends, blah blah blah the usual end of trip stuff haha! Here’s some photos to summarize.

Heading North in Australia, naive and without a clue!

Timor-Leste, still no idea what I'm doing. But it's pretty!

Indonesia, I'll be back here. But with a scooter.

Fun times in hospital after getting Dengue.

8 ferries took me and the bike from island to island.

The onion boat that transported the bike from Indonesia to Malaysia!

With Chris in Bagan, Myanmar!

The bike was popular in India...

Traffic was also a thing here...

The Himalayas, another thing I need to re-visit!

Pakistan was a bit of an eye-opener. In retrospect though.

The roads, the heat and the culture was all taxing.

Qeshm, the Southern island in Iran. Adventure paradise!

Camp on one of the mountains in Iran with some great friends!

Turkey was stunning, but I was ready for Europe! 

Couldn't kick the habit of camping, Croatia.

The Alps, winding through many small countries on my way to Germany.

The motorbike was on the ship to Chile, so I thought I'd try some cycling in France and Spain.

The first half, always looks easy on the map!

I made it to South America! Chile.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia... some of the best camping on the trip!

Death road, Bolivia. Had a blast here with Freddy!

I rode together with my dad for 7 weeks through Patagonia!

Torres del Payne, truly amazing.

The best part of the trip was with my dad that's for sure.

So many quality times!

New riding buddies in Peru!

And more for some off-road fun in Colombia!

Down the amazon... not ideal with the bikes!

Almost 40,000 km in this one continent.

But when I lay it out flat I can see Africa just staring at me!

I’ll end it with this. People kept saying to me, why didn’t you do this or detour here or see this thing IT’S A ONCE IN A LIFETIME TRIP YOU SHOULD BE DOING EVERYTHING. All I can say to that is. I’m 23. If I want to go do it again, I will. Also it's impossible to experience everything, so just relax and enjoy.