2004 ds650 conversion ?

[skiski350x]

Having had alot of trikes in my life I'm in the market for a conversion any ideas on a ds650? I got my hands on a tweaked one was wondering if anybody ever heard of one of these being converted or an engine being used. I think it might be possible not alot of stuff in the front of a ds650 and it really is a beast of a machine more power then anybody could ever need.just an idea

[skiski350x]

The part I am having trouble with is the degree to set the steering stem in relation to the trees how much angle to put in the frame and the trees. maybe I could get tpc to sell me some trees to save me some machine shop time

[vonsmacken]

what's up skiski350x? yeah the steering stem angle must be a tricky thing to figure out. i too have a ds650 and have thought about the same thing. bill from tpc and i swapped emails awhile back as i was gathering some info on a tpc build. i mentioned that i had a ds650 and i would like my tpc trike to ride like "my couch on wheels" ds650. bill must have thought i was asking about a ds650 conversion because he replied "The ds is a tall machine and would take a lot of work to convert." that was all bill had to say on the subject.

this got me thinking that the steering stem angle would have to be pretty steep unless we could come up with some longer front forks or lowered the steering stem on the build somehow. i dunno. the rake angle on the steering stem could be corrected with the rear shock placement too you know. seems i read where jason hall advised us to adjust the rear shock placement first and this will effect the rake angle of the steering stem. something to think about anyway.

there are gs650 forums on the web where they have done fork swaps on gs650's using yamaha front forks from a yz250 two stroke. basically the same showa models we see around here with 12" travel.

this leads us into another option of using a bmw gs650 or gs650 dakar frame with the above mentioned fork conversion with wider triple clamps. probably have to gusset up the frame a bit too. the bmw gs650's use the same rotax 650 motor as the ds650's, but the bmw version is fuel injected. also the gs650's have a less beefy clutch and perhaps other different internals. i believe the stator on the gs650's is a 410 watt version compared to our miserly 240 watt stator on our de's. more juice to power those heated grips, lighter adapter, heated seats, etc… (that'll give the big four folks around here a bit of stator envy, no? hahahahahahaha!

not sure if the motor mounts are the same on the gs as the ds. i have an 06 gs650 dakar also, so i'll take a look and see what the motor mounts look like in comparison to the ds if you'd like. just let me know. i've thought about a dakar trike conversion. it would be quite heavy in comparison to the conversions we are used to seeing around here of honda's and yamaha's… but it's a rotax baby!!!!! and i know you get that.

as you probably also know, the nickname for the ds is the sand pig. i have learned through the gs650 forums that a nickname for the gs650's is the flying pig. perhaps some day we'll see a three legged pig

[skiski350x]

Mine is all ron wood racing and it is a pig for sure but bent front frame says it's gonna be a trike. I also have access to a junkyard of Ds450 parts my buddy races em and has like 5 I thought that might work but the modular frame just seems like a bad idea one way or the other I'm building one. Even if it is a pig and doesn't handle well I would probably have the only one

[skiski350x]

I hope someone who is engineering savey can chime in on the Ds450 if you could build a modular bolt on setup conversions would be amazingly simple to accomplish I have most the parts so that is also another really good possibility. I own a miller diversion tig and a mig but I am terrible at welding aluminum so it would have to be steel

[vonsmacken]

i just looked on ebay and you can pick up a bmw gs650 frame for $200.00 + another $40.00 for frame mount bracket. the frame mount bracket runs under the bottom of the engine and connects to the frame just below the radiator and in front of the swing arm bolt. if you look at a picture of the frame, then the frame mount bracket is self explanatory.

i still don't know if the engine mounts are the same but you've really got me thinking more seriously about this now. i'll do a comparison tomorrow between the two and post up what i find out. if they are the same mounts, this would be a pretty straight forward swap. probably a custom swing arm build, but then again… you could weld up a steel one yourself perhaps.

i think you could even use the subframe of the gs650 as the seat is pretty wide-more like an atv than a dirt bike. on my dakar, there is a 5 gallon gas tank that is located under the seat. battery and air breather are located under what looks like a gas tank.

i'll be curious to see which direction you go. i agree that you'd probably have a one-off-three-legged-pig. said another way, i think you'd have a three wheeled cadilac trike. you shouldn't have started this thread man! hahahaha.

[shortline10]

Their was someone on here that did the ds650 conversion a few years ago . It turned out very nice .

Having had alot of trikes in my life I'm in the market for a conversion any ideas on a ds650? I got my hands on a tweaked one was wondering if anybody ever heard of one of these being converted or an engine being used. I think it might be possible not alot of stuff in the front of a ds650 and it really is a beast of a machine more power then anybody could ever need.just an idea

[vonsmacken]

turns out the frame design on the bmw gs650 relies on the engine for part of it's support where as on the bomb ds650 the engine mounts to an enclosed frame. i still think the gs650 frame is the way to go, and if it were me i'd modify the gs frame to wrap under the engine like a traditional three wheeler. very doable and the gs650 frame is made of steel. ergo the flying pig.

the other thing that stood out to me is the front forks on my 2006 dakar were axle leading. might have to spin the forks around to make the front end fork leading to get a better steering angle. the front fender on the dakar would look good with a 23" wheel/tire combo under it. good luck if you decide to do this either way.

i'll be off line for the next month. looking forward to seeing if you pursue your ds650 trike build. good fortunes to ya!