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Went for a short ride from Santee to Ramona via Wildcat Canyon. Headed up Pamo Road to Pamo Valley. Saw the biggest flock (rafter) of turkey I've ever seen in San Diego County meandering across Pamo Rd west to east. Was somewhere in the high 20s of birds maybe more. I stopped to get a shot (only caught about a third). Wished I would have got them on the road. Continued on to the trailhead for Black Mountain/Santa Ysabel truck trails. Dirt was perfect after the rain we just got. Pamo Valley is awesome. Everytime I ride in Ramona/Alpine/Pine Valley, I always regret having not looked for houses there when I bought in Santee back in 2010. I've been, and probably will remain a Santee lifer. Santa Ysabel Truck Trail was in great shape. Maybe it was graded since the last time I rode it about a year or two ago? Still fun on my, new to me, 2018 Africa Twin DCT. Before getting this bike a few months ago, I'd ride these trails on my plated '96 XR600, which I still have. Obligatory Santa Ysabel Creek and Black Canyon Rd bridge pics. Finished the ride by heading to Lake Sutherland and on to Santa Ysabel for a quick snack before beating the sunset back home on the 78 to the 67. Solid little Saturday afternoon ride. The weather has just been too good for riding lately, the rainy days being the exception. Might have blown a fork seal. Maybe a seal cleaning/scraping and a top off of fork fluid(blasphemy!), or an excuse to get this AT sprung and valved for my weight? We'll see. We are too lucky as riders living here in San Diego County.

Hey! I know this site!!! We (SOS) just had our first guided tour of the SoCal BDR and that was where we camped our first night

I consider with a broken heart, selling my 2006 BMW HP2 during ongoing health issues. I like to find the right person who can enjoy her, for what it is made for. The bike has 21K miles on it, master mechanic maintained, comes with original Wheels and a set WOODY wheels, Hard and Soft Wolfman bags, Tank bag, Markus Tank, NPN tank with all accessory, Acropolis Muffler, USB plugs, RAM Phone mount, LED light, Shiver inserts on the front, spare front fork, Spare rear shock, all OE parts I have, a spare final drive gear set, custom seat, a spare larger screen and more. You have to see it in person. I can arrange shipping worldwide if needed. I am the second OLD man owner. Bike is on “NON OP” for the last year. I start it once a month, to keep it going. I consider a partly trade for a smaller dual sport bike, Husqy701, DR650, Yamaha, must have E-Starter. Located in San Diego North County. California. Asking US$22000.

Thats awesome. I live in Ramona and we have a flock come up our driveway, hang out in the street. We have to stop and wait for them to walk by. If you do a light honk, they all gobble.

Hi, I am interested. I have a DR650 all setup.

I recommend Mark at DMC performance in El Cajon. He rebuilt my 660 Rhino that sucked in an exhaust valve. Did a great job and wasn't crazy expensive. Address: 1948 N Marshall Ave suite 105, El Cajon, CA 92020 Phone: (619) 929-6339 Just my 2 cents.

Hi All, this is why I have to manually check who is trying to join the forums, the automatic approvals just don't work. At least 11 people (fake and/or scammers and spammers) have tried to join the forums in the last week from all over including Russia, China, other countries in Europe and Asia, etc.

Sorry you are having to let it go, what a cool bike. I've ridden with a friend who has one, and tried those out myself, very cool. If I was able to I would, but to whomever does pick this bike up, share regular pics and videos of that thing out on the trails Also @Mr.JAJA if you have a cycletrader listing I can share with some friends not in SD, if you don't I recommend it, I have listed and sold bikes there and it seems to be the most serious buyers.

I'm thinking about doing the CA BDR South Section 1 this spring before it gets too hot. This would be a quick two day/one night trip with a camp night at Picacho Campground. A few beers and some quick fishing on the Colorado during the camp. Could meet in Yuma late morning, ride to Picacho, camp and hangout, finish section one at Blythe. Have some lunch and it's everyone for themselves on the rides home. Anyone interested, we can coordinate in this thread and pick our days somewhere in early March to early April.

well bring it down Saturday if you want a lot of gear heads to take a look we might even get it out of the frame for you since that is the direction this is going anyways. Group project. Bolt can't fight me if it is liquid.....blue wrench

Hi All, Thanks for the responses. To answer some of the questions... Yeah I dumped the oil and saw part of the bearing cage attached to my magnetic drain plug. I can't recall if I saw anything in the filter but I don't think so. It was the bearing casing that stood out. When the issue originally happened I was riding up in Idyllwild and noticed a loud knocking sound. When I dismounted I saw oil leaking near the base of the engine, near the starter motor. I threw it in a U-Haul and drove back to SD, then had a mechanic take a look at it. He said it was shot and needed a full top/bottom rebuild. Afterwards I did end up riding it about 10 miles to storage. The original issue actually happened July 2023, but I was heading out of the country so I ended up storing the bike until I got back. The video is from last week when I got it running again (new battery, plugs, carb clean). The mechanic who originally took a look at it gave me a parts list. All the parts, bearings, gaskets, etc. (cost ~2100, not including labor)...I believe it was the crankshaft replacement that was the most expensive part. I did check with ProCycle and they do not have a DR 650 kit but told me I could send them the parts list for a quote. It does sound like finding a replacement engine is the most cost effective option. I was a little concerned about how that might work with updating the Title? I sometimes ride outside of the US and need my paperwork to be in order. I like the idea of bringing it to the meetup and getting to meet some of the community. If I can get it in a trailer next week I'll do my best to get up there! Thanks again!

Section 1 was fairly easy. Like Mr.Jaja said, it's more like gravel. We took our time and picked this section off on KTM 1090R's. Section 2 had a long stretch of sand through Skeleton pass but wasn't difficult, just tiring. Section 3 had deep sand uphill leaving the mine toward Primm. Then several miles of riding through softball to bowling ball size rocks uphill leaving Primm.

Will do, hope you get your bike running soon. This dirt should be great

This was a KLIM organisiert ride, we only went up Indian head and back to cam. Beginner and big bike unfriendly, but durable. At one point, 20 bikes had to turn around in a dead-end wash 6-8foot wide.

That's awesome. There seems to be consensus that section 1 is the most challenging due to the gravel/pebbles. Did you complete the whole SoCal BDR or just certain sections? In my mind, I'd knock out section 1 and then come back sometime next fall through spring and do the rest in one shot starting with section 2.

Some motorcycle engines have a "rebuild kit" available that comes with a new crank, bearings, seals, gaskets, etc so it's simple to figure out parts costs but a quick search online didn't show anything like that for the DR650. Without digging through the entire Suzuki parts file, I'd guess it would be around $300 for gaskets, seals, bearings, etc. Probably about the same for a crank, maybe more. If you are looking to replace the piston and cylinder as well, looks like ProCycle has the piston kit for $270, getting the cylinder re-Nikasil'ed is only available at a few places (Millineum Tech is the place I've used in the past) and I can't recall how much but probably over $200? Then if you need machine work, like getting valve seats cut or the cylinder head surfaced that all adds up. Replace the clutch? Cam/rockers all in spec? Transmission gears? You might be looking at upwards of $1500 just in parts and machine work. I've gone through engines like this before, it doesn't take long for it to add up. If you're doing it yourself, then the labor isn't a big deal but if you're paying someone it's a lot of man hours. It's 2-3 hours just to remove/replace the engine, the last time I had someone with a blown up DR650 that's what we did. Found a reasonably priced used engine and swapped them out. My son had a Yamaha R6 sport bike with a bad engine, the main and rod bearings were going out. We found a used engine and swapped it out, then I took apart the old engine and sold individual parts on Ebay for twice what we paid for the used engine. That's an option, although it does take time and some work. If you're free next weekend, try to bring it to the tech day like Udo said. I will take a look at it and we can have a cool drink and discuss options.

Bring it to the techday on a trailer if possible. And we will have a good look.

These ARE dot!

Not really SAND, more like Gravel pebbles. Picacho Camp and up hill Indian head. I did it with a 1150 GSA

Congrats on your new ADV bike, and spinning up some miles on your known trails. You're right, we live in an amazing place and should always be grateful. Cheers!

Thanks for fending them off 🤘

Shoot, I'm not sure but I don't believe so. I'll check when I get back to the Ramona house on Friday.

JaJa, I am pretty sad to see you have to move this iconic unicorn out. The great news is that you were able to acquire and ride one during your lifetime. That’s pretty special. Im also kicking myself as I think I’m missing my own opportunity for the same. Had I not just bought the 901 a couple months ago I would consider it an honor to take over guardianship of this icon and tour it from Cabo San Lucas to Canada. Good luck and hope you find someone who will ride it as intended.

I’ll go with you anytime. I am good whatever pace / level you are comfortable with. Let me know. I’ve ridden Otay the pink gate once with a crew from here. It was clouding with light drizzle. On my way home, it absolutely dumped rain riding up wildcat. It was awesome!! I am not familiar with the trails and would love to get the ones that did it before to get a ride together at Otay

I decided to take out the oldest of the pack today. 01 DRZ400S, all stock bike w/ 5,379 on the clock when I picked her up recently. Still stock, aside the free power mod I did because the battery wouldn't hold a charge. Too bad I got a new battery before doing the mod... She runs flawless after the mod, & servicing the clutch/brake controls. Lights seem brighter. Put about 75 miles on the clock today. Left Poway, to Mesa Grande TT (bit muddy/slippery in some areas), to the Hideout, back down Mesa Grande to 79 & back to Ramona via asphalt. Was so beautiful out there today. All the colors and scents and the rain this morning. Man... Simple and satisfying 2 wheel, sometimes 1 wheel, therapy.