I have used a heated jacket for hours at a time on my 93, and that takes more current than grips. Switch out a few lamp bulbs for LED (tail/brake and instrument lights) and you'll free up almost enough to compensate for a set of grip heaters on low. I don't know the current Symtex grips but I chose the Oxford Heaterz for my 1100GS a few years ago after considerable research because they had a combination of robust connector wires and a rubber grip feel (rather than slippery hard plastic like some others.) Planning to put heated grips onto my GTS1000 and will go with Oxford again.
I have just the dirt guard on mine also. recently I thought I would try something new in regards to lubing the chain on long trips and installed a loobman oiler. first thing I found out is you end up pressing the oiler to much because it takes more time than you would expect for the oil to get to the chain. this of course makes a mess. when you get used to it not so much but still more than spray lubes so time to do something about that. I didn't want to spend the money on a new one so looked around the garage and found some scrap aluminum and a little strap metal and made my own. bolted the front to the existing guard and the back to a bolt on the inside of the swingarm. been on there for several hundred miles and seems to be doing the job. after using the oiler for a while, I believe it will work out well for the way I ride, time will tell. what I like about it is the ability to oil the chain after coming off gravel or dirt roads without having to break out the can of lube. just reach down and press the button for a couple of seconds and keep going. plus it's one less thing to carry on a long trip as well as keeping the chain lubed a little better over the course of the day when you're alternating between gravel and pavement. just my thoughts.
Yep, neat idea and I need to whittle down the spare metal in my 5 gallon buckets of "metal too good to throw away" :> Regards, Gregory Bender
To the poster asking for tire recommendation. I still have 2 or 3 extra rear tires that will fit the DR350 for sale. $75 shipped to your door. Bridgestone TW302 in 4.10-18 size. These are brand new with stickers still on them. I have due to an error (overorder) when I bought these.
I have some carb questions regarding my DR. But before that I will contribute a picture of my DR350 to this thread. Next post will be pertaining to the carb on this bike. Making sure i am identifying it correctly and a few other questions.
Now on to my real reason for posting here: I have been working on the bike for a while now and know it pretty well, but I am still a bit confused as to what type of carb this bike has. 1999 Suzuki DR350X ...that sounds easy, but I think its the E33 model (read California only) after looking through the parts fiche and shop manual. Here is what the carb looks like: The number on it "14DB" matched the service manual for the 1998-1999 X model bikes (CA only). So this is the BST33 carb found in the California model X bikes, correct? Now for the next question: Assuming I am correct (Im about 95% sure), is this a pumper or CV carb? Its close resemblance to the BST40 leads to to believe its a CV carb. A few related questions to the one above: Did most of the DR350 dirt model bikes come with pumper carbs? (TM33?) Is this a CV carb because CA regulations and not the TM33 carb that the service manual shows for the other dirt model bikes for that year? Now for the last question: But first a statement, the air box, carb needle and jets, and exhaust are all stock, and I would rather it stay that way. Would it be worth while to get a TM33 carb from a non-California bike and swap it into mine? Or would it be better to do similar mods at the BST40 (spacer under needle, adjust idle screw, slide drilled) to get better throttle response? Pictures below show the BST33 as it is: all stock (the slide here has two holes in it already, like the BST40 mod, so maybe all I need is a spacer under the needle and an extended idle screw?) Any recommendations for the number of turns to start out with on the idle screw? I was thinking two turns out would be a good base point. I hope this is not too confusing and I am not posting something thats already been discussed. I also hope this is a good place for this post Thanks inmates!
Looks like you're right....Cal CV carb in NY ? If it runs to suit you, keep it. My "98SE with stock CV carb and exhaust runs great and gets 60+MPG. Some people have switched to the pumper and said they have good results but most report worse MPGs. In some cases a lot worse. At least one has switched the pumper for a stock CV set up.....Maybe others will reply with their results.
Yes, definitely a CV carb. Looks like the CV carb fit to all of the street models (AFAIK). As to any California connection or set up, your guess is as good as mine. I swapped from a used pumper to a new pumper and was very pleased with the improvement over my worn original pumper. Then, in an attempt to gain more miles range without carrying extra fuel, I swapped to a used (but in good condition) CV carb. Indeed, my miles range went up - satisfying my goal. I've set my CV carb up as stock for my 1993 model year dirt model (including the "turns out" for the mixture screw). While my diaphragm was not torn, it was extremely difficult to seat properly while getting the black plastic cover back on top. I replaced it and found performance to improve slightly (indicating a tiny leak, perhaps?). At any rate, I remain satisfied enough that I sold both pumper carbs and am living quite happily with my CV carb. Regards, Gregory Bender
You got yourself a Gas sipping CV right there my friend. If you want 60+ mpg, thats the carb to have. Is for me anyhow! lol i was half tempted to drop 400 bucks and buy the pumper setup a while back...but instead i didnt, just kept cruising my 60+mpg. With my sprocket combo and weight, along with riding rather sensibly i push REALLY close to 80mpg outta mine. its insane. When i first bought and rode thsi bike i though something was wrong. lol but then i started readin on here and suddenly the facts started coming out and i was Tickled pink! lol
I don't think there are any physical differences between the various IDs of the BST33 - I think they were marked to make it easier to ensure the right carb for a given market was installed at the factory. If my assumption is correct, the only difference is jetting. I did a little looking myself and from what I can tell the jetting you have is probably the leanest of any of the DRs....stock main jets go as high as 132.5 for other markets, and correspondingly richer pilot/air/etc settings. Which is probably why that model is such a gas sipper..... I think some experimentation is in order - you can clearly go richer on the jet and the needle even with everything else stock, but as others have said you might not be happy with the results.....personally, on my canadian DR I went with the airbox mod and richened everything up for better response in the woods, but I wasn't worried about outright mileage. I'm happy, other than with a bit of surging on pavement at steady throttle....that I am told requires a pumper to really correct.
Hi visovm Switching carbs might not be worth the money to you or it could be depending how picky you are. The pumper carb will have better throttle response, might flow a little more, but will be less gas efficient cause its made to squirt raw fuel down the carb when the throttle is opened quickly to prevent a lean condtion. The Constant Velocity carb is controlled by atmospheric conditions and engine vacuum, so when you open the throttle wide open quickly the slide will not open until rpms catch up. The good is that it runs smoother and more efficient cause the slide works with engine and a squirt of raw fuel isnt required. Im surprised that a cv carb is on a dirt model they are better for the street, but if you are happy with it id leave it. As long as your air/fuel ratio is good. Two screws out is pretty much standard for a starting point on most carbs. Then when the bike is warm adjust it, so if the engine idle goes up it likes it and then turn the idle knob down, ajust the a/f screw to best running conditions. Usually CA model carbs have the air/fuel screw blocked off so you cant adjust it, nothing a drill cant fix lol
I bought a 1998 DR350 dirt model because I wanted the good suspension and carb for the extra street legal frame I had. When I got it home and started tearing it down I noticed the same thing as you, it had the CV carb. I figured the same thing as you, the CA market (and even some unlucky folks outside of CA) ended up with the CV instead of the pumper. Suzuki does this on a lot of models, the DRZ400E and the DRZ250 both had pumper carbs initially and the CA market got the CV carb. I swapped out for a pumper carb after a few months.
Thanks a lot DR350 people! To add some comments: I got this bike from a gentleman in PA who was from somewhere in the area of the Rockeys, so I could see how he could have gotten a CA model bike. Now I have it on the opposite side of the USA. The original air box was cut open and the carb bad a 130 something main jet in it (but nothing else different like pilot jets, needle, etc.) I think whoever did the work only did half the job and never got the carb really working well with the air box cut. He gave me all the parts which included about 4 other main jets, one of which was the stock main jet. I have an airbox off a 1999 street model that im changing out. (with the rubber boot from my X model since the carb intake is a different size on the BST33). This way I will have all the stock jets, needles, airbox, filter, exhaust etc. on the bike. I will ride it for a little and make sure its working properly before I decide to do anything. Of course the cap was removed from the idle mixture screw when I got the bike, so i assume it was fiddled with. Thats why i was asking for a base point to start with. It sounds like 2 turns out from seated is a place to start and than mess with it once the bike has warmed up to operating temp. As for modifications. I would rather do some cheap mods to the BST33 that I have now...but try to do it the right way. It sounds like jetting may be the best alternative. I am not too concerned with gas mileage since I only use it in the woods and never go too far from the launch point. I am waiting on come hardware parts and some carb seals to get the thing back together and working properly (the idle needed seal was torn and may have been part of the problem with poor operation) So you all have some time to weigh in and discuss. Thanks again!
Here is the page from the service manual that shows the difference between the two dirt model carbs for 1999 I thought this would be helpful for reference. And notice the idel screw is preset on my carb, thats why i am asking for some settings to start with since I have no idea where it was set from the factory. i have the extended screw so adjustments should not be too hard.
The most proper way to refer to the idle mixture screw (aka pilot screw) on a BST carb is as a fuel screw, as it does not adjust air and fuel simultaneously. There are things called air screws on carbs where you adjust the idle mixture by changing the quantity of air being bled into the pilot circuit. The reason this is important is that a fuel screw makes the idle mixture richer by screwing out and leaner by screwing in, whereas an air screw makes the idle mixture richer by screwing in, and leaner by screwing out. Fuel screws are usually on the downstream side of the slide, and air screws are usually on the upstream side (although I have seen occasional exceptions). Regards, Derek
As shimming the needle clip preloads the slide spring beyond standard, it results in lowering the slide rather than raising the needle (except when the slide is against the stops). I would not shim the needle clip unless the goal is actually to lower the slide for a given intersection of throttle angle and rpm. Note that the additional preload from shimming the needle will also make the slide come off the stop at a later point in terms of rpm and throttle position (i.e. more velocity will be required to get it to come up off of the stop). BST carbs have slide guide, emulsion tube, slide and jet needle wear issues that are exacerbated by the enlargement of slide lift hole area. I'm also not convinced that there is any performance benefit to be had from slide drilling. In fact, dyno testing I did on a BST40 equipped KTM made made the following gains from going from the double lift hole KTM slide to a single lift-hole DR650 slide: WOT from 4K up, with a max gain of 1.3 HP at 7K rpm. Across the entire range at 1/4 opening, with a max gain in torque of 1.4 ft-lbs at 3K rpm. Across the board at 1/8 opening, with a max gain in torque of 2.6 ft-lbs at 2K rpm, along with the usable rev range extended from 3.4K to 5K rpm. Across the board at 1/16 opening, with a max gain in torque of 1.2 ft-lbs at 2.5K rpm, along with the usable rev range extended from 2.5K to 3K rpm. Regards, Derek
Wow, guess I'm really confused. It appears to me there is a small, brass, removable air jet in the throat of the carb on the air cleaner side. It's drilling traces back to a junction with the fuel from the idle fuel jet in the bowl where air and the fuel mix and then their volume is controlled by the air fuel screw. So it looks like there is at least some air fuel mix before the idle air/fuel adjustment screw. Had a friends DRZ run me around in circles for half a day before I found that stopped up idle air jet. He let it set up for a while. Ran really bad. And the tiny (#10 I think) washers that are used to space the needles up are of a small enough outside diameter (same as that little plastic spacer thingy) to not effect the diaphram spring preload. They raise the needle just like moving the clip down on an adjustable needle. At least not the ones that come in those jet kits you can buy. Don't know why anyone would spend $70+ for one of those jet kits for $20 or $30 worth of jets and a couple of washers. As far as drilling the slides and cutting the springs goes, it looks like you might want to be real carefull there. Lots of variables involved there. My FZ1 came with one of those "Jet Kits" when I bought it from the PO. They had it all screwed up. Main jets in the choke/start jet spots, etc. Had to take it all apart and redo everything. When I asked the PO about it he said he took it to the dealer to have the jet kit installed. Hard to believe a real mechanic could mess up like that.
