Just Picked up a new 06 DR 650 the other day. I've been looking for a clean used one for months with no luck so I stopped in the local dealer to see if I could strike a deal on a new one. They gave me a pretty good price on a blue 06 (love that color) then the salesman asks what color I like. Told him I liked the blue and asked "why you got another one?" He says they have one in yellow that a customer had for 2 weeks (put 42 miles on it) and brought back/traded for a little Ninja. I go take a look, start it up, no funny noises (no test rides of course) ask "how much?". Salesman says $3900.00. I say "I'll take it". $4250 OTD T&T included. Heres the advice part. It was raining like a bastard and about 35 F so I load it in the truck and bring it home. After dinner tonight I figure I'll go take a spin around the field behind the house. Bike starts fine, let it warm up and back it out of the shed. When I go to take off I stall it a couple times. Seems funny, like you have to get the RPMs up pretty good before you take off, which kind of surprised me. This is my first single , all I've had is twins, I assumed they'd be similar in that with a torquey motor you don't need too many revs to get it moving. So I putt around for a minute, stop and the bike seems to be idling a little funny. Put it in neutral and twisted the throttle slowly and the motor just kind of bogged like it wanted to stall until I let it return to the idle position. Gave it a few quick revs and it seemed ok, I glanced down at the motor and notice that the exhaust pipe, right where it comes out of the head, looks to be a dull red color. It was almost dark out so it was pretty easy to see. From all the reading I've done here I know that the Dr's are notoriously lean and run hot. Is that whats going on here or is there something else afoot? Maybe the PO dicked with something (though I would think thats unlikely in 2 wks/42 miles), one of the hacks at the dealership set something up wrong? Or maybe I just got FU#*ED. I really hope it ain't the last one and I'd hate to take it back to the dealer if I don't have to, though the factory warranty is still in effect. Any Ideas?
Yep, its lean. With the temp being that cold out, makes it worse. Mine would do the same thing for about 200mi. then, it didn't do it any more. I just made sure it was warmed up pretty good before I would gun it. The DJ kit fixes the lean condition.
How long did it sit from when the PO traded it till you got it. The eethanol in gasoline raises hell with the carbs. Partially plugged pilot circut is starveing you for fuel at low rpm's. Put a Dynojet kit in and be done. Replace the pilot jet if you don't want to do the DJ kit now.
crawdad, that sounds exactly like mine. I'm not too worried, it is just set too lean. I check it out when the weather gets warmer. If needed I'll do the carb/airbox mod.
Thanks guys. The bike couldn't have sat too long. The PO purchased it on March 1st and I bought it on March 17th. I guess I'll call Keintech tomorrow and order a DJ kit and whatever else and hope that fixes it. I saw that red exhaust pipe and thought I had big problems.
Pull the plug from the bottom of the carb to access the idle mixture screw. Back it out 1/2 turn and I think you'll notice a big improvement. You'll probably have to adjust your idle back down after doing this. That's all I did to mine, otherwise it's stock.
+ this is your best advice. for the record, changing the main jet ["just rejet with dyna-whatever"] has nothing to do with this symptom. do the below
You can loosen the carb up in the boots and twist it to access the plug. If I recall you will need to unscrew the plate for the throttle cables. Be careful, the screws are cheap, I replaced mine with some allen heads.
The taper and length of the Dynojet needle is such that it will have a very slight effect on mixture when transitioning from idle. The pilot\fuel screw adjustment will help at idle but as soon as the throttle is cracked and the slide begins to move the contribution from the pilot circuit will no longer compensate for the lean stock jetting provided by the stock needle taper. The bike will still be lean at anything above idle. As you point out though, increasing the main jet size will not help. I currently run the DJ kit and am very happy with mileage (50-52mpg) and performance compared to stock. The DJ kit does require some airbox mods which can increase noise. I have also run the stock needle, shimmed ~0.030", with an extra turn or so out on the fuel screw, stock main, and snorkle pulled from the airbox. The bike ran much better than stock with this set up but still nothing like it runs with the properly set up DJ kit.
Mine runs PERFECT, with my stock needle and jet. All I did was shim up the needle and adjusted idle mixture screw. I can whack my throttle open and it is plenty peppy and responsive....seems adjusted pretty good to me. I have heard of several DR's that don't run right with DJ kits installed, but very few people seem to complain after doing the stock modifications.
before tearing the carb apart...check the easy stuff. Vacuum lines all hooked up and clear. Fresh gas, Choke all the way on or off, and is the plastic part of the choke screwed into the carb right. Are throttle and choke cables adjusted correctly Spark plugs screwed in and boots snug at top Nothing obstructing air box snorkle or air filter Gas tank venting properly (take off cap and see if there are same issues) Things like this usually cause these types of issues. Should only take a few minutes to check the fuel/air system to make sure all is well. With that said, I used a DJ kit on my DR and it rips! Still getiing a hair over 50 MPG. So eventually, I believe it is a worthy mod. Good luck, and keep us posted.
Have you ever ridden a properly set up DJ kitted bike? I've ridden my bike both ways - stock/shimmed needle/no snorkel/fuel screw adjusted richer and stage 2 DJ kitted. On my '06 the DJ setup will run circles around the shimmed stock needle. Granted, the shimmed stocker runs much better than the stocker but the DJ setup is better still. The only complaints I've heard about the DJ kit is poor fuel economy. Most of these complaints result from too large of a main jet being used or not taking the time to properly set up the DJ needle and main. I'm routinely getting 50-52mpg and with the exception of a little more intake noise, from the airbox mods required by the DJ kit, I'm tickled with the way the bike runs. I think it comes down to how far you want to go with the mods. If you absolutely don't want to cut your air box or remove the air box side cover then you'll probably get the best results working with the shimmed stock needle and fuel screw adjustments. If you don't mind opening up the airbox, and the additional noise caused, then you'll get more performance gains with the DJ kit. P.S. I also tried the shimmed stock setup with the airbox side cover off. I could not get the mid range rich enough to eliminate surging at steady throttle cruising no matter how much I shimmed the stock needle. The taper on the stock needle is so flat that shimming produces very small changes in mixture.
Also, remember that your bike is new, with only about 50 miles and the engine isn't even close to being broken in (it will take about 1000 miles to be well broken in). Take some time to break the engine in properly. I am not a "run it like you stole it" break in guy, but you do as you think best. I waited until the 600 mile warranty checkup before I put in the DJ kit in my '05 DR650, but that is your call. The DJ kit is the way to go, if anything, just for the new needle. Remember that the DJ jets have a different size numbering system than Suzuki (or Mikuni) uses, so if someone recommends something and doesn't mention which jet sizing system they are using, ignore them or find out. Just shimming the stock needle is better than nothing, but as mentioned, the results with the DJ kit are much better. The $65 or so for the DJ kit is well worth it. Also, most new DR650s come with the idle set too low. While you are doing this other work, raise the idle speed a little bit beyond where it is now. I'm running the DJ 150 main jet in my '05 (airbox cut, slide drilled, stock exhaust at 7000') and am getting about 44mpg. Our '00 DR650 has the DJ 155 main (same mods) and gets just a little less.
Is the Zuk warranty transfered to you? Remember it is not the age of the bike it's the first day of service. Is a Zuk warranty 12 mo's and xxxx miles? Just my 1.9999992 cents worth.
I wasn't in any hurry to make any modifications but this thing is running bad. I saw that exhaust turning red and it put a scare in me. I'm going to check some of the stuff mentioned above (vacuum lines, choke etc) and see what I find. I did order some stuff from Kientech yesterday and Jesse told me my situation really isn't unusual. Thanks to all for the advice, it's much appreciated.
