From where I’m writing, in rural New Zealand, the Suzuki DR650 is a common sight. The bulletproof thumper has been one of the country’s bestselling bikes for many years, because it’s easy to maintain and cheap to buy. And yes, it’s still on sale down under, despite being carbureted, air-cooled and devoid of ABS. I…
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Since the scrambler is the style du jour, street bikes are being reconfigured as dirt-bikes on a daily basis. So it’s a rare treat to see a builder going in the opposite direction. Suzuki’s DR650 is true to the original scrambler spirit: it’s tall, robust and utilitarian. But to the boys at Munich-based Diamond Atelier,…
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One of the fastest-growing custom workshops in Italy is Extemporae, based in the Varese region that’s also home to MV Agusta and Husqvarna. The company’s first two builds, a Yamaha TT600 and a XT550, were published in the influential Italian magazine Riders in 2011—and from that point on, there was no looking back. This is…
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Motorcycles can be capricious creatures. But there are a handful that are essentially bulletproof—simple machines that are simple to fix, and cheap to run. One of those is Suzuki’s venerable DR650, which has been around for at least twenty years. The stock bike is as ugly as a toad, but it’s not hard to see…
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