DR650 fork swaps and conversions: are USD forks worth the effort?︱Cross Training Adventure

http://crosstrainingenduro.com DR650 fork conversions? Worth it? What's involved? We look at DR650 RMZ fork swaps. DR650 forks suck. I get plenty of questions about adapting forks from other motorbikes. But alternative forks are always a much bigger job than you think. I always suggest trying the easy stuff first instead of a DR650 KTM fork swap. Ultra budget DR650 suspension mods? Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. Just try 10w fork oil and make longer fork spring spacers out of PVC pipe to compress the way-too-soft part of the dual rate springs more. So simple instead of a DR650 YZ fork conversion. Next? Aftermarket valves which you just drop into your forks and work like proper cartridge forks. In Australia the Plex valves and DXF valves are common. In the US? Cogent DDC valves and Teknik Platinum Fork Valves. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids. Most riders find this is all they need instead of DR650 fork swaps. Next level of suspension mods upgrade instead of DR650 fork swaps? A common conversion uses RMZ250 or RMZ450 forks. Plenty of these available. Some owners have reported the work involved. See our pinned first comment for the relevant links. YZ450F and WR450F fork conversions are fairly popular. The 250 forks work as well. One advantage here is you can find wheel bearings to fit the stock DR650 front axle. If you google around you will find other conversions too. KTM forks. DRZ400 forks. These are very long forks, you will have quite a bit of fork leg sticking above your triple clamps for these DR650 suspension mods. Now the difficult stuff with DR650 fork conversions. Upside down forks. There's a lot of work involved. If you are just an average rider I doubt it's worth the effort. But you may just like the modern look of course. Here are are the potential problem areas with DR650 fork swaps. Do the triple clamps have the same head bearing sizes as the DR650? Which will suit you? Unfortunately I'm not qualified to advise you. Do your research, explore all the options, and decide if you want a major project on your hands.  Find 43mm forks that will just slide into the DR650 triple clamps.These DR650 fork conversions work great! You can use your stock DR650 wheel, front axle, wheel spacers and even your speedo drive. However, you will need to create a caliper adapter plate. You will also need stiffer fork springs, the RM125 springs are only 0.356 and the RM250 springs are 0.44.  If not, can the DR650 head stem fit the other triple clamps? Is the head stem the same length? Most of us buy a YZ or WR450F fender in the right colour which usually looks better and wobbles around less than the stock one. The bike will sit higher at the front end. Good for inline stability but less likely to turn. You may like it or dislike it. You can slide the forks up in the triple clamps to offset this to some degree. And finally, you need to mess around with spring rates, fork oil and revalving to get the most out of those new forks.  Often you will need a spacer. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. On Ebay you can buy brackets that will fit various size fork legs. Search for 'Headlight bracket 37-45mm fork tubes'. Full lock will usually be different and the forks may hit your tank until you somehow build up the steering stops. Front wheel? Two options here. The easiest option is get the front wheel that matches the new forks. It will have a smaller front disc so you'll need to buy a 310 or 320mm motard disc and disc adapter. Expensive, but you'll have slightly better brakes. And of course you lose your speedo. Option two? Create a caliper adapter plate and wheel spacers that will let you adapt the DR650 front wheel. It can take some fancy machining to create wheel spacers that will accept the DR650 front axle. It can be tricky to retain your speedo drive though. You may need to buy an electronic aftermarket speedo. Front fender? You can just drill new holes to use the stock fender. So... still interested in the upside down forks despite so much work needed? Have you done a conversion? How did it go? If you have any good links, let us know and we will post them in the pinned first comment.  This is one of our three channels, there's also a Cross Training Trials channel, and a Cross Training Enduro channel. All three are equally dodgy. We are the 27th most watched dirt channel in Uzbekistan. We have won the polished turd award five years in a row. And we have a world record 25 class action lawsuits for inaccurate information. So the Cross Training Adventure focus is just get out there and have fun on two wheels. So check out Cross Training Adventure.
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