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my new street ride

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So... I think it looks a little weird... the long forks, and small fender (along with the smooth tire) all conspire to make it look like a chopper front end... considering dropping the fork tubes, until I can get the sumo wheel laced up

It came with: desert tank and UFO tailight...

I added- Hi bend pro-tapers, pillow top grips, baja designs headlight and the fender... replaced one of the bent levers, and will replace the other... ordered trailwings front and back, but the front is STILL on backorder... the front tire in the picture is a tubeless tire, that I put a tube in... grips pretty good

I have a new air filter, but it isn't in yet... I'll probably open up the pipe some, and grind the header welds.

opinions on the look (NOT the choice of bike) of the fender/wheel set-up?

everybody notice the 4 different "reds"? Oh well... it's my commuter, and it does a good job at that... took the twisty roads through Alpine and Crest to get to work today (the short cut... only took me 45 minutes... normally it takes 25 :huh: )

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Guest Hammerin Hammon

post-122-1220126073_thumb.jpg

So... I think it looks a little wierd... the long forks, and small fender (along with the smooth tire) all conspire to make it look like a chopper front end... considering dropping the fork tubes, until I can get the sumo wheel laced up

It came with: desert tank and UFO tailight...

I added- Hi bend pro-tapers, pillow top grips, baja designs headlight and the fender... replaced one of the bent levers, and will replace the other... ordered trailwings front and back, but the front is STILL on backorder... the front tire in the picture is a tubeless tire, that I put a tube in... grips pretty good

I have a new air filter, but it isn't in yet... I'll probably open up the pipe some, and grind the header welds.

opinions on the look (NOT the choice of bike) of the fender/wheel set-up?

everybody notice the 4 different "reds"? Oh well... it's my commuter, and it does a good job at that... took the twisty roads through Alpine and Crest to get to work today (the short cut... only took me 45 minutes... normally it takes 25 :lol: )

When are you going to get the Billet rack for the back fender. I have an extra box and will buy another surf rack you could use, so you can ride with us on a short Baja surf trip. You have a great start. :huh: BRO>

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OK... back to "it's all about me"

how do you think it looks?

I think it looks weird, but it doesn't flop around in the wind like the old one did... I have to imagine it lets the head cool off better as well

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Looks? I dunno. Not very junior-executive professional :ph34r:

How will it do in a downpour or with tiny bits of road debris? Will it deflect stuff?

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all my counterparts drive BMWs, etc.

(the cars, not the GS's)

I kept the old fender... IF the new one is a problem in the wet, I can switch it out...

I try to NOT ride in the rain, because I feel like a a pachinko ball... between brain dead car drivers, semis pushing me around with their wakes, wet bots dots, etc.

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It looks very..... stock. Not that looks should matter but maybe you just need some obnoxious stickers that show off your favorite energy drink. Fender looks funny but Im sure it doesnt flop in the wind so I would keep it. Its hard to look cool with stock looking tires but those are definately the way to go for street riding. By "open up the pipe" are you saying you will get a new silencer? As long as you are not trail riding it a loud pipe would be nice to have and look 10x better.

On the other hand I have been having thoughts about picking up an XR but I would use it as my dualsport because it is lighter and the stock suspension fells better setup for dirt. Also you dont have radiators to jam sticks through. I could then motard the DRZ. I feel the DRZ was desigined with the street in mind more than the XR.

On a related note the guy who works the parts counter at Quincy keeps asking me if I know anyone who wants to buy a set of motard wheel and tires for a DRZ.

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Sa-Weeeeeet!!! :D I wouldn't test those new meats on a gravel road though :unsure:

I'll suit-up the 570 with the supermoto kit and we'll go hit the twisties... soon... I hope...

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It looks very..... stock. Not that looks should matter but maybe you just need some obnoxious stickers that show off your favorite energy drink. Fender looks funny but Im sure it doesnt flop in the wind so I would keep it. Its hard to look cool with stock looking tires but those are definately the way to go for street riding. By "open up the pipe" are you saying you will get a new silencer? As long as you are not trail riding it a loud pipe would be nice to have and look 10x better.

On the other hand I have been having thoughts about picking up an XR but I would use it as my dualsport because it is lighter and the stock suspension fells better setup for dirt. Also you dont have radiators to jam sticks through. I could then motard the DRZ. I feel the DRZ was desigined with the street in mind more than the XR.

On a related note the guy who works the parts counter at Quincy keeps asking me if I know anyone who wants to buy a set of motard wheel and tires for a DRZ.

mine is the L... it is heavier than the drz, and being air cooled, I see some benefits to using it as the dirt ride; butt...

the drz seat and the sdg replacement both feel like a thong in comparison to the xr seat... I mean " what I imagine a thong would fee like"

don't say another word about sumo wheels... verboten at this time...

you need to post a ride, Tom...I'll take an extra day to ride with you...

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Sa-Weeeeeet!!! ;) I wouldn't test those new meats on a gravel road though ;)

I'll suit-up the 570 with the supermoto kit and we'll go hit the twisties... soon... I hope...

Those tires won't do bad in the gravel, just let it slide a bit. Looking forward to some supermoto riding soon.

I suggest losing the fork gaitors and going with some Seal Savers. It will make it look a lot better.

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thanks, Tom!

that makes sense.. anybody ever lace up an 18" front wheel?

I am going for freeway speed here, so want to keep the stock rear...also; if I'm running a 130 rear, how wide would I go for the front? 110?

why do yards have a 17" spec? acceleration?

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If you are going to be doing any amount of freeway I would look into one of the MRA Windscreens. I rode around over to a BBQ yesterday when we got bike from the ride without reinstalling mine. Such a huge difference at speeds over 50mph. IMHO riding freeway speed without any wind protection in the upright position sucks bad. I love it, only thing I don't love about it is maybe I could have gone with a smaller one and not had to remove it for offroad but on an overnight DS ride I could just take it off at camp. The mounting kit uses clamps to the handlebars so its easy to remove and reinstall and can be moved to other bikes.

I got mine from over on twistedthrottle.com as they import from Germany

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Oh and I vote for Dirtbagz for storage love mine also. Only need one set of the bags then can just swap em if you buy the brackets.

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thanks, Tom!

that makes sense.. anybody ever lace up an 18" front wheel?

I am going for freeway speed here, so want to keep the stock rear...also; if I'm running a 130 rear, how wide would I go for the front? 110?

why do yards have a 17" spec? acceleration?

I've seen plenty of people do the 18" front, I have a set of older Suzuki GSXR 18" rims that I was working on converting for my DR350. For commuting and realistic street riding 18" wheels will be fine.

The main reason people run 17" wheels is because of the vast selection of sticky rubber available, there's not as many modern/good sport tires for 18" rims. Since you aren't planning on racing (are you?) an 18" front rim would be a decent choice.

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Besides tire selection how does wheel size matter?

Wheel size matters because a smaller wheel will turn in and steer faster than a larger one. That's why all the sport bikes have 17 inch rims up front. Some of the older ones had 16 inch rims, but I guess they found that the 17 was the optimum size. Likewise a 21 inch works really well on a dirt bike because it is more stable and doesn't fall into holes and glance off of obstacles like a littler one. Probably has more gyroscopic effect too. Back in the late 70s, Honda tried a 23 inch front wheel on some of their mx and trail bikes, but 21 has been the best size so far for dirt.

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Besides tire selection how does wheel size matter?

dame is, of course, right.

If I went with an 18" sumo, I would also get a fatter tire with more footprint... to slide the back end around on pavement, that front tire better grip!

You'll see more and more mountain bikes with 29" tires (don't put a 26" bicycle tire next to a 21" motorcycle tire... you'll just get confused)

For mountain bikes, they smooth out the ride and ride over obstacles better... at the expense of acceleration...

re: the windshield

If I was going to put REAL miles on my bike (at one sitting) I would get a shield... I'm only running 30 miles each way, and if the windblast starts to wear me out, I can just pull off the freeway, and take different streets to work... cutting through Crest is a great option for me, as I live right at the end of Harbison Canyon

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hmm well I do 30 miles each way or so and could not live without the shield unless I wanted to take an hour to get to work vs 30-40 minutes :rolleyes:

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When I bought my XR the forks were dropped 1" in the clamps. It changed the steering geometry enough so that I got a really scarey shake in the bars during engine braking at higway speeds. Seeing as you ride it to work I'd keep the forks where they are unless you plan to lower the back too. Removing the fork boots might make it look better, not that it looks bad now but that new fender is WAY to shiney for the rest of the bike. :lol:

Thanks for the MTB books, I'll email/post pics soon.

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When I bought my XR the forks were dropped 1" in the clamps. It changed the steering geometry enough so that I got a really scarey shake in the bars during engine braking at higway speeds. Seeing as you ride it to work I'd keep the forks where they are unless you plan to lower the back too. Removing the fork boots might make it look better, not that it looks bad now but that new fender is WAY to shiney for the rest of the bike. :lol:

Thanks for the MTB books, I'll email/post pics soon.

you better... was it everything you hoped for?

I love that area... we have to get a moto trip together for Spring... we'll bring bikes, too

You wanna borrow the XR for the next ride? You can make the fender match the rest of the bike :D

The place isn't the same without you Jon... go buy your Husky

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