Plastic Fantastic Spaceship Stuff...

No crash bars?

Borrow a more suitable bike for the ride.

richlandrick said:

Borrow a more suitable bike for the ride.

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😂 👍

Wee van Cleef said:

No crash bars?

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mmmm Crash bars .. designed to bend your frame or deform into your body work to render it broken .... but what would i know after 50 years of motorcycling ...😂😂😂

Exhaust pipe will get dinged in rocks. AMHIK

D.T. said:

Exhaust pipe will get dinged in rocks. AMHIK

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Leave your bike intact. Take it slow, avoid treacherous areas. Be smart, don’t ride above your ability. Give it a shot…go have fun.

Ride easy and not like a YouTube influencer.
Sand is not your friend.
Mud is not your friend.
Regular dirt roads are fine.
If the riding gets too difficult, turn around and find a good paved road.
Maybe a dual sport bike instead if you have the option.

Remember that a dry trail becomes a muddy trail where it gets no direct sun. Long winding dry trails can have a slimy corner every other turn due to shade. And some sections of the trail may require you to proceed because it may be impossible to turn the bike around. So you may get to a point where you don't want to go any further and can't turn around. Of course, you will have a story to tell and will be able to speak from experience. So it will all have been worth it.

I've got my story. No more for me thank you.

richlandrick said:

Remember that a dry trail becomes a muddy trail where it gets no direct sun. Long winding dry trails can have a slimy corner every other turn due to shade. And some sections of the trail may require you to proceed because it may be impossible to turn the bike around. So you may get to a point where you don't want to go any further and can't turn around. Of course, you will have a story to tell and will be able to speak from experience. So it will all have been worth it.

I've got my story. No more for me thank you.

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Ditto,but on a KLR.

They don't necessarily lie down. If you can't be bothered putting a decent set of knobs on, it probably will lie down.

Wales is wet, also avoid the fallen logs. Me and my DL have a deal where I don't try to ride over logs and it doesn't jump up and down on me. That's weight, clearance and power. On a light low power bike you can generally finesse it, DL has clearance issue and is heavy and powerful enough that the rear wheel will usually kick out sideways.

I've taken my bike places that I'd have considered impossible on a dirt bike. Being on a DL isn't always a lose, but yeah, don't show off, keep a leash on your pride and it's generally doable.

If everyone else is on small dirt bikes, enjoy the ride home

The front turn signals are very vulnerable, at least they were on my 2011. But that's the only thing I actually broke. I do have some basic engine guards from the PO, but I am thinking about making them much much better.

Landsurfer74 said:

mmmm Crash bars .. designed to bend your frame or deform into your body work to render it broken .... but what would i know after 50 years of motorcycling ...😂😂😂

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Wouldn't it depend on the crash bars and the severity of the "crash"? The damn thing falls over when parked and I would expect the bars to do their job. Leave the road at 60+ and the bent crash bars will be a secondary concern.

I'm very happy with crash bars. I was taken out by a car recently, turned in front of me on my crash bar equipped DL650, I managed to turn and brake so the impact was a glancing side blow. Those bars gave their all but may have saved me from losing a leg.

I always wondered why Givi bars used crimped not welded joints near the frame, now I know - nice design, the crimps gave way, not the frame of the bike.

I didn't have bars on my 1000 before that incident because I don't take that off road and generally ride pretty conservatively and any crash I thought I was likely to have (at speed, on seal) crash bars seemed unlikely to help.
That wasn't an accident I was expecting, off road fun yes but that stupidity no. My 1000 now has crash bars.

The DL 650 is capable of light to med off pavement at prudent speed. Caution is your friend. If a low speed layover happens pick it up and continue. I have been down once and still off pavement solo all the time.

Anyone have any any pictures of the DL650 with the plastics removed but the headlight in place .... it's for a cad/cam/design thing i'm doing ...

While not the exact model that you maybe are look for, perhaps the pix in the imgur link posted in #3 of Removing Upper Cowling (around the headlights) may contain a sample of the pix that you are seaching for?
Another thread that may have a pix or two, Strom back up