This is my DR650 Bug Out War Bike project.

[Sniperinhisname]

Hello everyone, I am an engaged guy with his fiance down in north carolina from new jersey, then i would need to bug out across the state to western NC with her on the back. all in all i would ve bugging out about 800 miles i needed something that could carry enough gear, be reliable, and be able to go offroad to go around traffic. so i settled on something i have always wanted even before i got into prepping. a dual sport motorcycle. i know there are a lot of downsides to having a motorcycle as a primary bug out vehicle but i think the benefits outweigh the negatives. its more maneuverable around abandoned cars, its quicker and by the time you hear me i'm gone. Any way on to the pics. I don't have too many but i will try to cover what i did.

here it is when i first started, a brand hammerin new 2011 dr650 bone stock with 500 miles.



here it is about half way disassembled


here it is neked (motorcycle porn )



And here it is in the painting stage, i used krylon fusion for plastic their camo brand, its OD TAN

funny story is that i was going to go with OD Green but i couldn't find any when i was buying the paint at walmart

And here it is halfway put back together, i want to join the ZS fleet and put the ZS symbol on the tank and the number on the side panels


I am waiting on the parts i ordered from Procycle to get here and i will take a few pictures and put them up here for you, I am getting a better carb for it to smooth it out (stock one is a vacuum operated piece of shit.) i opened the airbox up on it and put a high performace triple stage filter on it. I am putting on a non vacuum operated petcock, the suspension is getting reworked and last but not least i am getting full FMF exhaust. sooner or later i am going to put some more off road oriented knobbies on it and get a hard bad rack so i can mount my 20mm ammo cans i painted to match.

More to come soon folks

[AnonEmous]

I do not have a bike, but they seem to offer many advantages.... (gas mileage, manoeuvrability, all terrain performance).

How much gas can you carry with all your other gear? (for example, enough to make it the 800 mile trip with another person riding?) A quick online search reveals MPG can be 75-80 MPG and the stock tank carries about 3.4 gallons, but not sure how additional weight would cut into that performance.

Are you considering hard saddle bags?

[Dutch253]

I'm very interested to see what you end up with here! Its just hard to me to envision getting all I want/need to bug out with on that bike especially carrying two people! I guess the only way around it would if your BOL is nicely stocked. Keep us posted!!!

[Sniperinhisname]

Yeah i love it so far and it sucks not riding it in this nice weather, yeah i was planning to get a bigger plastic tank, probably the IMS 4.9 tank and i been getting about 45-50 so that'll get me about 250 miles down the road if i'm lucky and easy on the throttle. I could carry two of those one gallon cans pretty easy. And to answer another question I am using 20mm metal ammo cans for hard bags. they are painted to color and if i say they are going to be pretty bad ass once i buy the mount. i could mount the gallon gas cans on the outside of the ammo cans. and worse comes to worse i could siphon gas out of abandoned vehicles. heck i would only need 5 gallons to fill it up lol

[triumph2]

It is best to run tires geared toward the primary surface you will be riding on , off road biased tires will give poor performance on damp or wet pavement and it won't get better with another person on back and your gear.
Just my experience on a klr 650.

The DR 650 is supposedly a pretty much bullet proof design and as reliable as a rock from what I've heard so it sounds like you have made a good choice.

[majorhavoc]

Yeah i love it so far and it sucks not riding it in this nice weather, yeah i was planning to get a bigger plastic tank, probably the IMS 4.9 tank and i been getting about 45-50 so that'll get me about 250 miles down the road if i'm lucky and easy on the throttle. I could carry two of those one gallon cans pretty easy. And to answer another question I am using 20mm metal ammo cans for hard bags. they are painted to color and if i say they are going to be pretty bad ass once i buy the mount. i could mount the gallon gas cans on the outside of the ammo cans. and worse comes to worse i could siphon gas out of abandoned vehicles. heck i would only need 5 gallons to fill it up lol

Don't get me wrong because I absolutely love these kinds of projects and will also watch with interest. A tricked out enduro set up like you're working on will be a mighty fine addition to your preps. I'm serious about that and I hope you continue this project.

But I'm just not seeing this as a practical bug out vehicle for you and your fiance. You say you have to get the 2 of you 800 miles, and your bike has a 250 mile cruising range? Even if your 45 to 50 mpg is based on riding with two people and gear (I'm guessing not), I'm counting at least 2 fill-ups assuming no major detours. How is that going to work? And 800 miles in a single day is ambitious even on a large, comfortable highway cruiser like a Goldwing, so I'm seeing at least one overnight on this trip. Can you really carry overnight gear for two on that bike (in addition to the two of you)?

Lastly, this "worse comes to worse" plan of siphoning gas out of abandoned vehicles is a highly questionable practice. Not to put too fine a point on it, but It doesn't sound so much like planning as, well, looting during a disaster.

We're here to help you spot the fatal flaws in your preps, but right from the get go, you might want to rethink this one.

[TacAir]

There is a bike just right for that!


Mit anhynge! Ya?




But if you run out of gas on your BO....



Ural - 2 wheel drive for more - fun.

[Sniperinhisname]

being trapped in the awful state of new jersey i would need something that could easily get around traffic. if i came up to one of the rivers i would have to cross over if the bridges were out i could possibly find a shallow enough place to turn the bike off and wade it across. then just drain the airbox and carb and be on my way. and i would only be 2 up about 300 miles out of the trip. and if it was bad enough i could just rig up two 5 gallon gas cans and that would get me home. then just to be sure i could take the gas out of the fiance's car and head to my well stocked BOL with my family in the safe backwoods haha. as for camping overnight i have a couple waterproof hammocks that weigh 2.5 pounds each. and as for riding long distances, i am a firm believer in that the human body can do extraordinary things if the situation arises. and over on advrider there are people that ride this bike all around the world. all you need on it is a better seat (which i have ) and a windshield. But you are right good sir, there are many downsides to a motorcycle, but i just believe that the upsides outweigh the downsides. But thank you for your advice.

[ZombieSoldier01]

Regardless of whether or not is an optimal vehicle it's what you have. Make it work. Seems like you have thought this through. My recommendation is over a 4 day weekend pack it up with what you need, do a blast run to pick up the fiancé and head to the bug out location and see how it does, see what works and what doesn't. That's the only way you will know if it works or not!

[Vanniek71]

like Greg said, you always cant have your "optimal vehicle" a bike makes a great bug out vehicle for the reasons you stated, it can go anywhere a larger vehicle can go, and a lot more places.

I really want a bike here soon to add to my available tools.


Plus how badass would it be pulling a wheelie and popping a few ZEDS as you zoom by?

[lilgunz83]

I have an 07 dr650 that i'm fixing up. Not sure if you were aware but there is a 7.9 gallon safari tank available for the DR. kinda pricey but great range. I have done a lot of reading on advrider and www.drriders.com great places for info regarding the dr650 and others. These bikes are amazing. I read a ride report of a guy the rode his DR all over the world for over 6 years. Incredible. They definately have my vote as one of the Best bikes for use as a BoV.

[JoeTosco]

That bike already look good, I'll follow the project...

[Visionz]

My mother will tell you that when I was 4yrs old I wanted a truck and a dirtbike I could strap down in the back.
My theory as a kid was, I could drive my truck and if it broke I could unstrap my bike and keep on.
In theory, I think now it would also a great solution if the SHTF.
I have a truck, I want a bike like this.
I am jelly

[MikeN]

Nice... I had a DRZ for years. Last 2 years while I had it, it went into Supermoto mode

[Dutch253]

Not sure if anyone asked this already but, why not a quad instead? Couldn't you carry more weight and be more stable? Hmm...might have to do that!

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[Tater Raider]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

[Visionz]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

True, but if it is BOV only I don't think legal will be a problem when the SHTF. However, if it will be used for regular transportation as well, then yeah I agree.

[nateted4]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

True, but if it is BOV only I don't think legal will be a problem when the SHTF. However, if it will be used for regular transportation as well, then yeah I agree.

Why does everyone go straight to the fricking apocalypse when they imagine disasters? Did they not need to try to drive away from Katrina?

[congochris]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

True, but if it is BOV only I don't think legal will be a problem when the SHTF. However, if it will be used for regular transportation as well, then yeah I agree.

Why does everyone go straight to the fricking apocalypse when they imagine disasters? Did they not need to try to drive away from Katrina?

No Clue. I think the best BOV is one you use and maintain regularly, not something hugely impressive covered with a tarp with the tires rotting off in the backyard. Drive it a lot, know it well.

[Tater Raider]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

True, but if it is BOV only I don't think legal will be a problem when the SHTF. However, if it will be used for regular transportation as well, then yeah I agree.

Why does everyone go straight to the fricking apocalypse when they imagine disasters? Did they not need to try to drive away from Katrina?

No Clue. I think the best BOV is one you use and maintain regularly, not something hugely impressive covered with a tarp with the tires rotting off in the backyard. Drive it a lot, know it well.

Know what it excells at and what it's shortcomings are as well, and practice a lot. For me that's driving my jeep down gravel/dirt/muddy roads often and the occasional trip to an off road park. This year it amounted to 5,700 miles for a worst-case mock bug-out/vacation and after owning it for a year and a half I still learned much.

Same scenario, just me, a dual purpose bike could work but an quad runner wouldn't, not by a long shot.

As always, YMMV.

[Dutch253]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

There are plenty of road legal quads!

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[Tater Raider]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

There are plenty of road legal quads!

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Depends on jurisdiction, but a dual sport bike doesn't.

[Dutch253]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

There are plenty of road legal quads!

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Depends on jurisdiction, but a dual sport bike doesn't.

I think it depends on what state you live in. If you plan on riding a quad out of state in an emergency situation you have bigger problems than the legality of your mode of transportation!

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[congochris]

DR 650 is road legal, a quad ain't.

There are plenty of road legal quads!

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Yeah, they're called 4x4 trucks.