Spectaitor
Race Dog
So I get my bike and the first thing my friend tells me is that I ideally want a 18" rear coz everyone else has em.
A few months into owning the bike and I come across a thread on the internet about swapping a DR350SE 18" rear wheel with the 650's 17".
It has to be the wheel with the cush drive (I believe the '96 to '99 year models).
Fast forward 18 months of owning the bike and I see an opportunity, sadly, where Nicole was parting out her DR350.
I made contact and a month later I had it all the way from Capetown, shipping was only like R200 bucks. All said this entire thing is unnecessary, I was actually perfectly happy with the 17 rear and life just went on. A score might be that the rear has tubliss although I cannot confirm, It does have two sort of valves in the rear rim.
Basically how it works is both wheels have almost identical hubs, bearings are the same, dust/oil seals are the same. Cush rubbers are the same, everything but one - the dam bolts for the brake rotor are different. The 350 uses a M6 Button Head and the 650 uses a sort of shoulder bolt.
DR350 Bolt
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U4MnTMqIsBQ_m3aJxNupIBcN8ZoEM-rf/view?usp=sharing
DR650 Shoulder bolt
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFbzTjffFOTehG2eR2icWmQNQFRoTNFv/view?usp=sharing
I've never done anything like this before so all of this was very new to me. I took the 350 wheel and just drilled a 10mm counterbore in the thread of the hub, just 2-3mm deep and just like that, they are the same. I then knocked out the old bearings and seals, replaced them with new ones.
Step 1 - Remove 350 brake rotor, c'bore threaded holes.
Step 2 - Remove 650 brake rotor and fix to 350 wheel hub.
Step 3 - Swap 650 sprocket carrier hub thingy to the 350 wheel.
Done.
Pro Tip: Chuck bearings in the freezer for about an hour prior to installation and heat up the wheel hub till it's hot to touch. You can use a hair dryer but I used a heat gun for about 60 seconds. Bearings fell right in since heat makes the hub expand and the cold contracts the bearings, the change is minimal but you can feel it when putting them in. Oh yes, use heat on the rotor bolts too, they are loctited in, the 650 wheel used blue, the 350 used red. A little heat and the felt like butter commin out. I've used blue again when fixing the brake rotor.
C'bored holes
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18MU638MeGxBw2hhKnHPI8i9UDpacR_XO/view?usp=sharing
Some info for anyone interested.
Holes to drill into the 350 hub.
10 - 10.1mm Diameter (Bolt Shoulder is 9.9mm)
2mm deep
Bearings:
Rear Wheel Hub
17 x 35 x 10
6204-2RS 2 off
Sprocket Carrier Hub
20 x 47 x 14
6205-2RS 1 off
Front Wheel Hub
25 x 52 x 15
6003-2RS 2 off
Seals
Rear Hub & Sprocket Carrier
34 x 52 x 6
26 x 47 x 5
Front Wheel and Speedo
25 x 37 x 6
30 x 42 x 7
1 of each
I now have an 18" wheel that I'll prob use for a dirt tire, and a 17" that I'll use for a roadie tire seeing as I also use my bike for commuting.
A few months into owning the bike and I come across a thread on the internet about swapping a DR350SE 18" rear wheel with the 650's 17".
It has to be the wheel with the cush drive (I believe the '96 to '99 year models).
Fast forward 18 months of owning the bike and I see an opportunity, sadly, where Nicole was parting out her DR350.
I made contact and a month later I had it all the way from Capetown, shipping was only like R200 bucks. All said this entire thing is unnecessary, I was actually perfectly happy with the 17 rear and life just went on. A score might be that the rear has tubliss although I cannot confirm, It does have two sort of valves in the rear rim.
Basically how it works is both wheels have almost identical hubs, bearings are the same, dust/oil seals are the same. Cush rubbers are the same, everything but one - the dam bolts for the brake rotor are different. The 350 uses a M6 Button Head and the 650 uses a sort of shoulder bolt.
DR350 Bolt
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U4MnTMqIsBQ_m3aJxNupIBcN8ZoEM-rf/view?usp=sharing
DR650 Shoulder bolt
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFbzTjffFOTehG2eR2icWmQNQFRoTNFv/view?usp=sharing
I've never done anything like this before so all of this was very new to me. I took the 350 wheel and just drilled a 10mm counterbore in the thread of the hub, just 2-3mm deep and just like that, they are the same. I then knocked out the old bearings and seals, replaced them with new ones.
Step 1 - Remove 350 brake rotor, c'bore threaded holes.
Step 2 - Remove 650 brake rotor and fix to 350 wheel hub.
Step 3 - Swap 650 sprocket carrier hub thingy to the 350 wheel.
Done.
Pro Tip: Chuck bearings in the freezer for about an hour prior to installation and heat up the wheel hub till it's hot to touch. You can use a hair dryer but I used a heat gun for about 60 seconds. Bearings fell right in since heat makes the hub expand and the cold contracts the bearings, the change is minimal but you can feel it when putting them in. Oh yes, use heat on the rotor bolts too, they are loctited in, the 650 wheel used blue, the 350 used red. A little heat and the felt like butter commin out. I've used blue again when fixing the brake rotor.
C'bored holes
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18MU638MeGxBw2hhKnHPI8i9UDpacR_XO/view?usp=sharing
Some info for anyone interested.
Holes to drill into the 350 hub.
10 - 10.1mm Diameter (Bolt Shoulder is 9.9mm)
2mm deep
Bearings:
Rear Wheel Hub
17 x 35 x 10
6204-2RS 2 off
Sprocket Carrier Hub
20 x 47 x 14
6205-2RS 1 off
Front Wheel Hub
25 x 52 x 15
6003-2RS 2 off
Seals
Rear Hub & Sprocket Carrier
34 x 52 x 6
26 x 47 x 5
Front Wheel and Speedo
25 x 37 x 6
30 x 42 x 7
1 of each
I now have an 18" wheel that I'll prob use for a dirt tire, and a 17" that I'll use for a roadie tire seeing as I also use my bike for commuting.
