ALWAYS disconnect the black ground wire from the battery first!!! Lesson learned, hopefully. Now get a voltmeter, connect it to the positive (red) terminal, and a ground, and measure the voltage with the bike running. It should not go below 13 volts, and should be in the area of 13.5 or more when you rev the motor. Good luck.
The case of the rectifier is grounded, so when you hit it with 12 volts there was a big spark. I don't see how you could have done any damage, current just goes through the mounting bolts to ground. I bet it works fine but test it as andy says if you are worried.
Is it possible that the speedo cable just needs a little bit of lube? If it's the speedometer itself, I recall it's only about $200. It should be very easy to replace yourself. I had to replace the case on mine; it was easy.
honestly, I've tried both - I'll roll start with the choke on or off...whichever gets her to start firing thanks for the tip on the petcock - but the OEM one started to leak when I got it, so I swapped it for a manual one. Valves - never checked, but it's due in the servicing, and air filter was new about 500 miles ago. so I swapped the starter relay, and it still wouldn't work with the start button. Then I remembered I had some of the wires apart behind the headlight for the "clutch switch jumper mod" we've been talking about, and sure enough, I connected the wrong wires. I got it connected right, and buttoned her back up, and BAM! the starter works again! who knew a starter relay would fail with <1,000 miles on the clock... so it starts with a little extra gas, and runs normally except for the idle - still won't idle strong and smooth. going to find someone with an ultrasonic parts cleaner to get my carb into and see if we can get that sorted out!
How many turns out on the mixture screw? Spark plug color? Spark plug gap?Dirty air filter? air leak at the boot? Premium fuel? Air leak at your unused carb port. Stock PJ? I don't know if these bikes have a cali model but if they do there should be some extra sort of idle ruining parts that I'm not thinking of to check.
I've recently purchased a 2008 DR200 with 1700 miles. It is my first motorcycle. I trolled this thread for a while then made the leap. I now have 992 miles of road experience. Thanks to this thread I've made a few simple mods to my bike to make her look great (to Me). I'm apparently one of the brave souls willing to push the speedometer to the limit on the highway. Every time I find anything off road I attempt it. So far so good. Thinking about performance mods next. Well I just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for all the good info. Here are some before and after pics BEFORE http://i41.tinypic.com/2q0raz5.jpg AFTER Added new Acerbis Supermoto Fender, Fly Handlebars, Mini Stalk rear lights, Pro-taper grips, and added some stickers. http://i39.tinypic.com/5vdqbm.jpg What do you think?
Just took my 99 DR out for a spin. Having a few issues. A little hard to start and then the idle seems to stick on high - it eventually comes down. After riding it for about 10 minutes I stopped and it would not hold an idle. Just sputtered and died. Got it restarted and hit another stop about 5 minutes later and it died again. This time it would not restart until it sat for about 5 minutes. I don't recall these issues before. I just recently rebuilt the carb and cleaned everything out. Put in a new free flowing air filter recently. Too much air? Any ideas?
No - in the carb now. I drilled out the pilot screw plug and got access to the screw. What is base turn out on the pilot screw?
I guessed one turn out. That seemed to work. I adjusted idle with idle screw. Now running and idling.
I went with one and adjusted the idle adjustment on side of carb to get a steady idle. Started up fine even without the choke. Ran fine and kept a steady idle when stopped. I'll try turning it out to 2.5 ish and see what happens. I am guessing I will compensate with the idle adjustment on side of carb.
Tune it until it runs the best, don't go for someone else's number. But I think you were talking one turn out from where it was, he may be talking 2 1/2 turns out from seated. Different ideas, but could be the same screw setting... If it started fine cold without choke you are probably a little rich, unless you are in hot weather.
The adjustment at the bottom front of the carb (in the well which is plugged from the factory) is the idle mixture adjustment. Unless we are talking about another carb than mine, the adjustment on the left side of the carb is the idle speed (curb idle) adjustment which does not adjust the idle mixture. The idle speed adjustment simply stops the throttle from closing. Turning the screw cockwise has the same effect as opening the throttle by turning the bar grip. As tkent02 stated, if your engine starts and idles with no choke while cold, you have a rich mixture. Some engines are more tolerant of mixture variations but a richer mixture is required for a cold engine to run effectively. You should not benefit from a richer than ideal idle adjustment.
I have it one turn out from seated. Yes, it is the throttle stop screw that I adjusted to get it to idle correctly. I live in St. Louis, MO and it is hot - 90+. I'll run it a little longer tonight and then check the plug.
Lean best idle set up. Warm up the bike fully. Shut it off. Turn the screw in until seats. Don,t crank it in ther tight. Turn it out 11/2. Fire up bike. Turn screw out till you get fastest idle. Turn it in till it starts to drop idle speed. Adjust idle speed now. Ideally you want the best idle with the mixture screw then a 1/4 ish turn lean. If your out 4 turns then your pj is too small or maybe partially plugged. Carb and air filter has to be clean before trying to adjust it. Some folks adjust mixture then idle then mixture again then idle. I usually do it once then rally around and see if I like it then adjust second time if it needs it.
My first upgrades were almost the same as well. I got the same year bike(BLue) with the same front fender(Black) with blinkers. Also added Denso IX24 Iridium Spark Plug Renthal Aluminum Handlebar Acerbis Rally Pro X-Strong Handguard Johar Grips It's a great bike, the only thing i'm slightly concern is that it makes a weird sound at certain speeds. It's not knocking or metal to metal contact, but like a rattling sounds. Not sure if that's normal in these bikes.