The Ultimate DR650 Weight Reduction Checklist
Why reduce DR650 weight?
When we decided to buy two Suzuki DR650s for our journey around Australia, we knew that weight reduction would be an important consideration, in addition to other necessary modifications.
Weighting about 147 kg/324 lbs dry and 162kg/357 lbs wet, DR650 doesn’t fall into the category of super-heavy motorcycles, particularly when compared to the current adventure bike standards. But we believe that the lighter the motorcycle the better, as it makes bike handling easier, giving you more agility and responsiveness, especially off-road. Not to mention saving your back and knees when you need to pick up the beast.
Two weight reduction options
DR650 is affectionally called “the bush pig”, at least here in Australia, and we’re actually not surprised. Honestly the bike could use a little diet. Luckily, shedding a few kilograms from the DR can be quite easy, as some design choices are just based on old tech and easily modifiable.
Combining our own experience with tons of information available online, we came up with 2 options for slimming down the bush pig – the easy one, and the extreme (down to a gram) way.
Before doing any modifications consider carefully your usage, safety, and legality of some of the parts you will be removing or adding. Remember that stripping some of the parts will most likely make your bike not street-legal, and several aftermarket parts are not accepted in some countries.
Option 1: The Easy Trim Down
These are things that will save you the most weight and that you can easily do by yourself. These modifications can shed about 9.7 kg (21.3lbs) off the DR, with variations depending on which aftermarket parts you choose.
Easy Trim Down Checklist
- Install aftermarket exhaust (- 3.1 kg /6.8lbs)
- Swap the original battery for a lithium battery (- 2.2 kg / 5 lbs)
- Replace the original tank with a plastic one like IMS tank (- 1.1 kg / 2.4 lbs)
- Remove the tool box (- 0.9kg / 2.1 lbs)
- Remove passenger pegs (- 0.9kg / 2.1 lbs)
- Remove bar ends ( – 0.5kg / 1 lbs)
- Install aftermarket mirrors (approx. -0.4kg/0.8lbs)
- Install aftermarket bar (approx. – 0.2kg/0.4lbs)
- Replace original indicators with LED ones (- 0.4 kg / 0.8 lbs)
Option 2: The Extreme Diet
If you want to put your bush pig onto a more radical diet, then check the below list for all the things that you can remove and/or replace on the DR. With all the items on the list executed, you can save as much as 16.5 kg (36.4 lbs), but the bike won’t be street-legal in most countries.
Extreme Diet Checklist
- Replace original Exhaust with an Aftermarket one: – 3100g (6.8 lbs).
- Replace original battery with a Lithium Battery: – 2268g (5 lbs) (Note: watch out in cold weather! You need to wait for the lithium battery to heat up).
- Replace original tank with IMS Tank Replacement: – 1100g (2.4 lbs).
- Replace original shock Wilbers Shock: A lighter alternative saving 1000g (2.2 lbs).
- Tool Box and Bracket Removal: – 973g (2.1 lbs).
- California Emissions Box and Hoses Removal: – 747g (1.6 lbs).
- Original Lower Plate Holder/Fender: – 719g (1.6 lbs).
- Front Fender Removal: – 557g (1.2 lbs).
- Vapor Speedometer Replacement: – 500g (1.1 lbs).
- Right Passenger Peg Removal: – 489g (1.1 lbs).
- Factory Rear Light Removal: – 488g (1.1 lbs).
- Harness Rewire (Trim Down): – 480g (1.1 lbs).
- Left Mirror Removal: – 444g (0.98 lbs).
- Right Mirror Removal: – 441g (0.97 lbs).
- Bar Ends Removal: – 458g (1 lbs).
- Left Passenger Peg Removal: – 405g (0.89 lbs).
- 520 Chain Replacement with Stealth Sprocket: – 400 grams (0.88 lbs).
- Frame Tabs Cutting: – 300g (0.66 lbs).
- Horn Removal: – 271g (0.6 lbs).
- LED Blinker Replacement: – 400g (0.88 lbs); additional savings if removed completely:
- Left Front Signal: – 191g (0.42 lbs)
- Right Front Signal: – 190g (0.42 lbs)
- Right Rear Handle and Signal: – 433g (0.95 lbs)
- Left Rear Handle and Signal: – 428g (0.94 lbs)
- Front Reflectors Removal: – 183g (0.4 lbs).
- Grab Handle Bolts Removal: – 52g (0.11 lbs).
- Tank Shroud Removal: – 181g (0.4 lbs).
- Chain Guard Removal: – 170g (0.37 lbs).
- Helmet Lock Removal: – 169g (0.37 lbs).
- Factory Rear Light Replacement): – 162g (0.36 lbs).
- Backfire Screen and Airbox Top Removal: – 134g (0.3 lbs).
- Battery Hold Down Removal: – 129g (0.28 lbs).
- Sprocket Cover Removal: – 120g (0.26 lbs).
- Spark Arrestor Removal: – 110g (0.24 lbs).
- Right Handguard Plastic Removal: – 101g (0.22 lbs).
- Sidestand Switch Removal: – 100g (0.22 lbs).
- Left Handguard Plastic Removal: – 93g (0.2 lbs).
- Under Tank Cable Guide Removal: – 115g (0.25 lbs).
- Clutch Safety Removal: – 22g (0.05 lbs)
- Cap Lock Removal: – 33g (0.07 lbs).
- Titanium Bolts Replacement: – 19g (0.04 lbs).
- Alloy Lower Plate Holder/Fender Replacement: – 106g (0.23 lbs).
- Alloy Timing Plugs Replacement: – 5g (0.01 lbs).
- Fin Rubber Removal: – 10g (0.02 lbs).
- Speedo Cable Holder Removal: – 9g (0.02 lbs).
- Rear Brake Reservoir Lock Removal: – 14g (0.03 lbs).
- Throttle Cable Tiedown Removal: – 14g (0.03 lbs).
- Choke Switch Removal: – 11g (0.02 lbs).
- Spare Fuse Holder Removal: – 4g (0.009 lbs).
Common additions
- Bash Plate: The Orignal DR650 comes without it, but to us, it’s an essential protection. For maximum weight savings consider a hard plastic one like the one from Acrebis (only about 700g/1.5lbs)
- Handguards: An absolute must-have for us. UFO or Barkbuster ones will add about 650g/1.4lbs.
- Case Savers: For the left and right side, adds about 100g/0.2lbs each.
Final notes
When considering weight reduction, prioritize the removal of items that have the least impact on safety, functionality and the legality. Always weigh the benefits of weight savings against the potential downsides, especially when riding in challenging conditions. Hopefully, these checklists will help you with tailoring your DR650 to your specific adventure riding needs.
A lot of the information above came from posts below, hopefully the authors don’t mind us synthesizing this information here.
- DR790SM Weight Weenie build by Max on DRRiders Forum
- Ultimate DR650 Adventure build up/rebuild by Lukas on ThumperTalk Forum
- A lighter DR650: weight reduction tips by Doctor Grey on DRRiders Forum
If you want to learn more about our DR650 adventure set-up head to this page. And if you have any other diet options for the DR650, let us know in the comments, we would be happy to add them into this article.