DR650’s BUILD FOR RTW – PART 7

Electrical, everybody’s favorite!!!

The initial challenge was to remove all none stock wiring from the bikes, and there was a lot, in that original photo of all the stuff that came off have a look again at the wires

once that’s done then its time to look at the stock wiring to see if along the way there had been issues and fixes to get riding (maybe) but were never looked at again because they kept working. The only problem with ‘temp fixes’ they are exactly what they say they are and will eventually fail, so now is a good time to check with all the correct parts at hand.

Around the taillights, wires had been connected unnecessarily with cheap bullet connectors so I removed them and cleaned up the connections

Then covered the group of wires with more heat shrink for their whole length and then plastic casing over that, I changed the routing from the down the middle of the rear fender to the side for more protection

Rear turn signals were replaced with flexible LED’s and again the wiring protected and routed away from possible harm

Up front it wasn’t much better, potential issues could happen so more protection was added and smoother routing with minimal bends

In the middle of the bike before doing more electrics I did a quick welding fix around the battery box issue area, adding additional strengthening and welding to the alleged weak point.

I’ll cover the lower strengthening later…

In the middle of the bike I changed my mind on the EB set up and went for the Fuzeblock instead as it looked like a much cleaner install and it was. This opens up the opportunity to add additional circuits at a later date if we need them

Right now as we are heading into summer, no heated grips just power to the front and rear, I use SAE type plugs from Optimate as everything else fails eventually on the outside of the bike, I have used standard 12 volt cig lighter, USB, Hella but the only one that lasts is the SAE.

So with connectors front and rear its simple to add an extension to go either into the tank bag or luggage and then use a USB or cig. adaptor where it’s away from the elements

in the rear attached to the rear rack for stability and protection

Up front, I used one of the old turn signal mounts drilled out and reversed

Working thru the stock connectors once I check them that everything is good and clean I add some dielectric grease

I also check the reusable zip ties as I go along and if any are brittle I replace them, I found a pack of 100 reusables on Amazon for about $6

While I was in Europe I found a guy who makes a replacement top security screw for the Garmin Montana so you no longer need to have that little security torx on your keys to punch a hole in your pants pocket when you loose the cap!! LINK If you use a Garmin you’ll know what I mean, if not skip this part

Getting quickly bored with electrics, there is still more to come later, I did a change of pace and thought a valve adjustment would be an easy job….wrong!

The last person in this motor decided to put the cover in with every ounce of strength they had and round out the Allen hole. The only way I managed to get it off was by taking off the side case to be able to get at the backside after trying a few options on the front side first

I do like how easy the valves are to do on the DR

to stop second guessing myself if in the future if I don’t have a manual beside me and can’t remember which is which I mark the gauges as a reminder

Not surprisingly the plugs are fouled from that .50 jet at a guess, so they need to be changed