Tell me about the DR650

[CosmicCowboy]

So, I have a potential trade offer for my V-Strom in the form of a 2005 DR650. Bike is fairly close to stock with 17500 miles. He had a new piston and rings put in at 16000 miles; is that typical for this bike? Any gotchas or pitfalls with this model? His cash differential is a little low, but if he doesn't mind me removing some of the extras from the Strom we can probably come to an agreement.

[Sport-Touring]

[garry]

Aside being a budget dual sport, they're pretty reliable bikes. A bit heavy for single-track trail riding. The last big issue I'm aware of is the cylinder base gasket leaking and I'm sure the new gasket is on the 2005 model.

[spinalator]

My friend has a 2002 and it is his commute bike. He has not had oil issues, pistons or rings that I know of, but he does not do any offroad at all.

[Gary B.]

I have 34,000 moles on mine, never had the motor apart. Why did it need a piston at such low mileage?

[APEowner]

That's low mileage for piston and rings on any 4 stroke.  I'd want to know a lot more about why that was done before I considered the swap.  If they were in there fixing the base gasket and decided to change them while they had it apart then I wouldn't worry but there's really no other failure mode for rings and pistons that doesn't correlate with excessive wear on the bottom end.

[CosmicCowboy]

I was kind of wondering about the piston. I knew 2 strokes often needed to be freshened up, but wasn't sure about this bike. Thanks for the input.

Edit: and the reason for the piston and rings is low compression. Previous owner, of course. I think I'll pass on this.

[APEowner]

Edit: and the reason for the piston and rings is low compression. Previous owner, of course. I think I'll pass on this.

That's probably a good idea, all things considered.  

[falcofred]

I just picked up a 2005 that looks showroom with 12,000 miles, a skid plate, bark busters, and case savers for $2650.
I added it to my Progressive Insurance Policy with my other bikes, but with just Liability, Fire & Theft and Progressive sent ME a check for $9.00!
The bike is lots of fun, I'm enjoying it.

[expatbrit]

I have 34,000 moles on mine, never had the motor apart. Why did it need a piston at such low mileage?

That's a LOT of moles. You need more whack-a-mole practice.  

[Gary B.]

That's a LOT of moles. You need more whack-a-mole practice.  

Can't believe I missed that...

[Oddball]

They're a hoot to ride.

[CosmicCowboy]

They're a hoot to ride.

Yeah, looking in to a couple of others. Looks like the type of bike to meet my current needs.