Somebody stole your DR and replaced it with a far inferior bike. A properly set up DR350 will make you kick it over until it feels you're warmed up and stretched enough that you won't injure yourself on it. This appears to be a built-in safety mechanism. They're very considerate in this regard and will frequently let you work up a good sweat on a cold morning. You're a lucky man. Now go ride!
Hey all, Just a question about the amount of oil I need to properly run my 97 dr350se. On the frame is says "1700ml," but does that not include the oil that stays in the engine itself? The reason why I ask is because I put in a quart (.946 ml) ran the bike for about 3 minutes, then checked the oil, and put almost all of the other quart in (because of being a dry sump)... ...It reads low, .946 ml x 2 = 1892 ml It still reads low after I run the engine for 2 minutes and then put the dipstick in (not screwed in). Any ideas? tips?
The bike would turn over, but no spark. Was able to switch out a good cdi and then had a spark, back to the old one no spark Mr P. thanks for the info, I double, triple checked the connections and all are good. But still my paranoia persists, hopefully a few hundred miles with the new cdi will calm me down!
I have never owned a DR350 that started that difficult. I can start my 98 dirt model in flip flops in two kicks, sometimes with my hand thanks to the auto-decompression cam. The 91 DR350S that I sold to my neighbor starts in 3-4 kicks cold. Gotta kick it over like you mean it. Button is way easier than either of them, though!
Yep. Mine sat up for a couple weeks and I started it last night in three kicks. Valves in spec, fresh high-octane, full choke, 10 priming kicks, three real kicks. Vroom!
RE: we're all here for you - waiting to see what the heck was going on..... BTW: if the CDI gets it going, you're going to have to pass on the Husky - I think it has electronic ignition too! (sorry - had to be a smart a$$).
The clutch was easy, just follow the wires back to where they connect to the harness behind the headlight and unplug from the harness. Then plug the two harness wires you just unpluged together. On the side stand, I didn't want to cut the wires in case some one later on wanted to put it back original. Don't know why anyone would want to, but.... followed the wires back to the connector under the tank (right front) and disconnected the plug from the harness. Used a scotch lock connector to "make" the green and black/white wires on the harness side of the connector. Then taped up the plug with some of that rubber tape that bonds to itself. Probably should have used a jumper. If it ever screws up I'll fix it right. Edit: Sorry, I'm really gettin slooooow.:eek1
Switched out the cdi, still popping and sputtering. Tomorrow I'll swapt out the stator to try that, and then the regulator if that doesn't do the trick. I even swapped out the spark plug boot, no dice. I started thinking about what people were saying about the clogged tailpipe so I took the end cap off the Supercrapp muffler. Looking inside it looks normal. No obstructions but black as sin. I left it off and started the bike again to see if that would lean it out a bit. I should post a video of the flames coming out of it... sounds like fireworks its popping so bad. If its not that stator or regulator tomorrow I'm going to lose my mind.
Valve clearances! To me it sounds like your intake valves are just barely not closing all the way. That would explain why in the video it's so easy for you to kick (low compression), the backfiring (back into the intake and carb), and why there is smoke from the intake when you remove the carb/intake boot/whatever it was.
My 1990 dr350s takes just under 2 litres. I know this from accidentally running it completely dry just past toronto, and it took a full 2 litres :eek1 (they sell oil by the litre in canada). So 2 qts or a little over sounds about right to me, And you are correct in not screwing the dipstick in when checking.
It's easy to kick because it has an auto-decompression cam. All 94-99 dirt models have it and don't require use of the lever....even though they have the lever. I removed mine.
Agreed! I hear all the time people lamenting the kick-start problems with their DR350. My 1993 dirt model fit with a CV carb is a dream. Give it a bunch of priming kicks and then generally two real kicks. Done! Takes me longer to type this than to do it. After it is warm, no trouble at all. Regards, Gregory Bender
Someone brought this up a few pages ago, even though I had adjusted them about 750 miles ago. So I checked them again, 0.003" for the intake valves... Guess I could check them again.
Sure you know this but turn the enigne over till you reach the point where the valves jiggle before you adjust the clearance. Mine was off from the TDC mark.
