Articles - Tech Talk

We all know that riding a motorcycle can be risky. However, there are many things we can do to make our riding safer.

Being fatigued can cause us to become less aware of our surroundings and cause us to make mistakes in controlling our motorcycles. So first, don’t over-ride. If you’re feeling tired, take a break and stop riding for a while to recharge. Sometimes, you may not even know that you’re tired. If you have been riding for a long period of time, take some time to stop, relax, and get some refreshments.

We often get asked by customers what size sprockets they should put on their bikes. The answer depends heavily on the type of riding you intend to do. Bike manufacturers typically choose a standard front and rear sprocket ratio that is good for “all around” riding, but depending on whether you ride primarily off-road or for long highway stretches, you may want to change that gearing.

Occasionally when we're riding and come off the throttle, we hear a loud popping. This is particularly noticeable if you've installed a new exhaust system or jet kit. In this month's tech talk, we'll explain what causes decel pop, whether it hurts your bike, and what you can do to reduce it.

We get a lot of questions from customers about how best to set up their suspensions. This can be a tough question to answer, because so many riders are looking for different results. Some riders are just street riding with very little off-road, others are full off-road, and others are somewhere in between. While we have lots of choices for forks and shocks to have your bike perform better for you, you should not forget about tuning the suspension, including setting the sag. An appropriate amount of sag allows the shock enough travel to perform well on compression and rebound.

The Doo Hickey Mod

Motorcycle headlights usually leave a lot to be desired when it comes to actually seeing where you are going in the dark. This is especially true of the DR650. With my eyes no longer working like they did when I was 20 (or even when I was 40) getting more light in front of the bike is more important than ever.