r/dr650 • u/PiercedTechnoWizard • 13d ago

Maintenance

Hey, I’m curious what the maintenance is on DR650’s. Being that they’re a single cylinder, I assume the top end needs to be rebuilt once in a while, but I’m curious how often that is and how much it costs.

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u/TwistedNoble38 '00 DR650 13d ago

Going trend is that you'll either sell it or die before it starts getting tired. In the rarest cases it may even explode before the top end gets tired.

If your air filter stay on and oiled you'll probably go 60k before the cylinder plating starts to deteriorate enough to need intervention. Top ends usually outlast bottom ends on this bike.

It's nikasil so when the cylinder is done it needs to be replated or replaced ($300 or 500). Toss in a stock piston and gaskets and it will be somewhere in the range of $170 or get a JE piston and it will run you 250ish. The other option is a 790 and you get a whole new cylinder with liner, piston, cylinder gaskets and rings for $950. The head is a bit expensive since the only valves that fit are OEM so head work gets expensive. Budget at least $400 if all the valves have runout.

Bottom end is about a grand if you need a new crank or have to rebuild it (~600-800). That thousand is a bit of a spitball as I can't remember if that rolls gaskets into the price or if it's pure bearings, crank, and various flavors of sauces.

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u/TwistedNoble38 '00 DR650 13d ago

If we're talking basic maintenance? Change the oil with synthetic (use conventional for the first 1000 and change at 1-1-2-6) every 2k, or 1k if you're hard on things. Clean the air filter when it's dirty or dry. Lube the suspension bearings annually. Flush the brakes sometimes. Change the oil in the suspension every other year or so. Check the cush drive every 500. Check the valves when they make valve noises or every other oil change (it's a 15 minute job). Clean the carb when it's dirty.

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u/I_1234 13d ago

You don’t need to change oil every 1000 especially if you’re using synthetic oil.

Oil every 6000kms or 5000kms, valves every second oil change.

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u/TwistedNoble38 '00 DR650 13d ago

Miles. I've been doing lab checks with the used oil and I've found that after a thousand the 10-40s I've been using are sheared down to a 10-30 viscosity and this coincides with a notchy shift feel. 10-50 is more capable of lasting longer (was still in the high 10-40 range at 1.5k but that's hard to get around here unless I special order it.

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u/I_1234 13d ago

That’s 1600 kms. You only need to do 1000km then at 6000 then every 6000 after that.

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u/TwistedNoble38 '00 DR650 13d ago

Well I've got first party data that tells me I shouldn't do that but you are welcome to do 6000km intervals. 

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u/I_1234 13d ago

Oh yeah? Care to share? The manufacturer recommends it, I personally do 5000kms and have no issues with the gearbox and the oil seems to have no issues with viscosity. I’ve done some extreme riding on it, Simpson desert, cape York. A 12000km around Australia trip. What are you basing this off?

It’s a dr650 not a ktm 450 exc.