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a 650 euro dr600 from 1987... bought as a half completed project from Dova Motorcycles in Seville.
what its got
its had the tank stripped,
a nice (but old) yoshimura exhaust albeit with some nasty wrap
kickstart and kill switch
modded front fender
the block has been overhauled
it also came with a box of goodies: (see pic)
what its missing:
front headlight
turn signals
plastics (they're in the box)
some style!
I have no idea if the VAN VAN tank will fit! BUT i am happy to make a fibreglass "seating" for the tank if its got a wide enough tunnel. I shall be going down to the breakers yard to do some dress up!
what i'm after here is a low flat look WITHOUT the usual bulbous GT350 or 550.
so:
hooped rear following the line of the frame
custom seat (my wife trained as a tailor... though I still dress like a skater)
flat sleek tank
oversize front light
rear lights under the loop
licence plate rear fenderrear wheel
new boots
thanks mate... i like what you've done and the "self bending hoop" was a stirling effort! I dig your quote about "craigslist cafe".. i know what you mean.. re-sale!
My bike arrives on monday and i'm getting my mate Suntee from http://www.corbmotorcycles.com/corb-2/ who is gonna be a great help with the tricky bits.
ABEARD TW200 for the colours and stance, I know I have a sit-up style enduro to owrk with but I think I can emulate the top bone geometry with my seat/tank.
thanks mate! I agree the enduro bikes as projects have bags of potential.. there's been a few NX Dominators over here in europe (cafe racer dreams for example) and a few guys doing XT's or XR's.
BUT the humble DR600 is a real sleeper bike... its much lighter and skinnier than the dommie and I reckon once stripped and trackered will drop from around 174kg to around 140kg... a big weight loss.
your also right about the MONKEY BIKE look.... ah the 70's!
here's some more inspiration shots.. banana seats. the longest i can find is 22" i reckon i need more than 30" so if anyone knows of an off the shelf oversize banana seat then hit me up.. it could well turn out way to skinny but the general shape could be a good starting point.
This build is gonna take some time so meanwhile I thoght i'd do a little shout out to some of the outfit that have ofered to help out witb the build.. for skill swaps.
I have lived in spain for years so i've racked up soem favours which I will be calling in,
Paint:
My man Killian at picastudio has some of the best paintwork in europe. A one band band who can play all the tunes.
Engine Overhaul/tune up
Marcos over at Free Kustom Cycles. he's is also the rep for Mooneyes in Spain, so as well as a great engine overhaul there should be some nice little farkles from Mooneyes.
Frame work and hooping
Good friend of mine Xarly at Vinatage Addiction, he was working a lot with his day job on carsbut has set up on his own and has produce some lovely lean looks. check out the variant and xj650
David GG over at Ad Hoc Cafe racers. David is producing some award winning bikes, consistantly featured on bikexif and numerous magazines and websites. It was david who suggested geting a DR.
STOP PRESS
THE BIKE ARRIVED.
IT RUNS LOVELY
BUT
ITS NOT A 650!
ITS RARE DR 600 FROM 1987!
THIS IS A GOOD THING.
it seems like between my terrible spanish and the seller not being sure.. it is infact a 600. The confusion was that the PRICE was 650 EUROS and the bike was a 600. I just heard 650cc.. y'know and in my head i was like 650/650.
cool.
problem: NO MANUAL ANYWHERE not even good old carl slater! he has one in german though.. so maybe with that and google translate I can cobble some kinda guide!
STOP PRESS
THE BIKE ARRIVED.
IT RUNS LOVELY
BUT
ITS NOT A 650!
ITS RARE DR 600 FROM 1987!
THIS IS A GOOD THING.
it seems like between my terrible spanish and the seller not being sure.. it is infact a 600. The confusion was that the PRICE was 650 EUROS and the bike was a 600. I just heard 650cc.. y'know and in my head i was like 650/650.
cool.
problem: NO MANUAL ANYWHERE not even good old carl slater! he has one in german though.. so maybe with that and google translate I can cobble some kinda guide!
My wife is German (from near dusseldorf), so I'm hoping she can helpout a bit.. the copy I have in german is so badly reproduced its near nreadable anyway!
I actually found a supplier of manuals on ebay.. but its gotta come all the way from New Zealand.
It seems there's not many dr600s left anywhere.. this one runs pretty good for a bike nearly 30 years old.
Just wanted to give a shout out to LAB MOTORCYCLES... I dropped them an email asking which tank they has used on their dr600 and they got back staright away!
They used a GN250 which seems to fit with very little modding/fabbing. Its agreat shape not to fat ...
Here is their website.. check out some more of their builds.. including a humble SR125!
cheers... i had a look over there... lots of HUGE africa tanks! but plenty of engine advice and a few more customjonbs... my loyalty lies with DTT though!
yep the second mock up is just kinda "wrong", just geometry out of wack. I'mgoing insane with findng a decent tank... the really short tube on the dr600 is massive pain. I really dont want to have to mod the frame at all. (or it will neevr be road legal in spain!).
there's soemthing not quite right about the GN250 tank.. its just too "round"... I reckon i'm going back to the VAN VAN and mod the tank.
other options may be a tank from an classic spanish MTX... like a BULTACO MECURIO... (first pic)
perhaps even an ALPINO .. this may give me some flat lines too.(second pic)
I'm loath to star working on the bike until I've found the right tank!
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