It seems the Barnett kit causes the clutch lever to be too hard to pull:

Regarding the Barnett clutch and the tight lever pull, could you just remove two of the springs?  I've done this on my bike after installing a new set of plates and having all six springs in there prevented the hydraulic pushrod from getting enough clearance between the plates.  Removing two springs took enough pressure off that it worked fine.  Made the lever pull easier, too, and still was strong enough to keep the clutch from slipping.  As the clutch plates wear down, I'll add the other two springs back in.  

Ducatis of the era of my bike are known to have a tight clutch lever pull.

Yea, that's a very good point. What some guys do is they use two of the stock springs and two of the barnett springs. 

Oh, just four springs?  My bike has six, so I just took it down to four.  Good luck.

Barnett Clutch Kit ordered. It should arrive here in Los Alamos on Friday.

I wasn't planning on it, but it looks like I may have to ride the Mighty DR down to Deal's Gap this year as my Beloved Blue Oil Burner is very sick.

So post-haste I'm ordering tires for the DR. The stock sizes are:

Front: 90/90-21 54T TT
Rear: 120/90-17 64T TT

I really liked the Mefo Explorers for everything except deep mud or sand. On pavement and gravel roads they are /fantastic/. 

I think that's a decent replacement tires.

I love them. They seem to work very well in all conditions except deep mud or sand.

"Experience is directly proportional to equipment ruined."

So to adjust the valves on the DR650 there's a cover over the flywheel bolt that needs to be removed. It requires a 10mm allen.

And it was seized hard. The hole is now completely stripped and I'm left having to use the rear wheel to turn the engine over. After doing some searches, it turns out that cover should only be removed when the engine is warm so in other words the night before you check the valves.

Ouch! ouch! So the next question is, what's the fix?

For the moment, I'm not going to try to remove the cover and will instead use the rear wheel to turn the engine over. It's a pain, but it's doable. I don't want to risk breaking something that might involve having to order long lead time parts.
There are a variety of suggestions ranging from dremeling a groove to taking the whole left side crankcase cover off. I figure in 7500 miles when the next valve check is due I can see about it then.

buffalo, I came across this thread:


Because the metal of the cover is so soft one can, apparently, drive a 7/16 'spanner nut' into the rounded out hole to get enough grab to pull the cover off. But he notes it must be done with the engine warm. I wish the Clymer manual had mentioned that. 

I would tbink that trying to find TDC without seeing the marks on the flywheel and by turning the rear wheel would be a bit dicey.

My vote would be a heat gun on the side case and a large bolt extractor bit.  If that doesn't work, cut a channel in the cover with a dremel tool and try an impact wrench after it is warm.

Sorry if i am joining this party late, do you have time to order a replacement cover?

Fortunately, the timing marks are visible behind a separate smaller cover that I was able to remove, so i can in fact see the marks. The cover in question goes over the crank bolt. So it just means turning the motor is awkward but it's doable. i was supposed to be leaving tomorrow but my trip to NC has been pushed by a week due to weather.

Sounds like it is probably doable then.

I've had the same problem with a very similar inspection port cover on the NT650GTs.  Using anti-seize, drilling and safety wiring it after putting it on a tad looser than the factory torque spec has seemed to work well.

Yea, next time when I have more time I'll likely do something similar.

Hate stuck stripped bolts. I've had best luck with a torch and impact driver.

That was my error. I did not use heat. Lesson (re)learned.

If i only had $.10 for every re-learned lesson myself ....

With buffalo's help, we adjusted the valves on the might DR. To my surprise, they were hardly out of adjustment. Even with the plugs out and the transmission in top gear, there is quite a bit of resistance when turning the engine over using the rear wheel. Turning it such that the timing mark shows up in the inspection port is challenging. It's much easier with two people. Also, using a straw as a visual indicator of piston position made things easier.

buffalo, it looks like Revzilla carries the SW Motech Skid Plates:

Talk about rear wheel bearing failure:

Yikes! That's a solid fail ?

So it looks like our beloved Mefo Explorer tires have been discontinued. At least, I am unable to find any available anywhere and they don't seem to be listed on the Mefo site anymore. 

It was suggested we might want to look at this tire:

A friend of mine has done lots of off-road riding on his DR650, including the continental divide, from Arizona to Canada, and lots of bush riding here on Vancouver Island.  I'm not sure how much street riding you do on the DR, so he was guessing a bit, but his first thought was the TKC80.  They come in both tube and tubeless forms and he likes the ones that he has now.  He prefers the tube-type, because they are easier to change and the carcass is less stiff.  

Another model he recommends is the Mitas E-07.That being said, he was on a budget doing the continental divide and did it on cheap Kendas, which lasted him the whole trip.  He recommends these if money is an issue.

What ratio of street to dirt do you ride?