DR350 Thread

[J$Ridin'Dirty]

When I purchased my 96 dr 350 se the previous owner had it sitting in his garage for awhile. When I test rode it, it hesitated quite a bit on the throttle. I started it the other day and rode around a little and there was no hesitation Then yesterday I started it again and it was hesitating again! damnit! My guess is that either I need to clean the carb or maybe it needs to be rejetted. It does have a newer acerbis gastank (thinking maybe he didnt clean it and maybe theres junk in one of the petcocks) , an aftermarket exhaust (not sure what kind, it doesn't say) and Im not sure if its stock or not but has a mikuni carb, if any of this info helps. Any info would be greatly appreciated-Justin

[J$Ridin'Dirty]

When I purchased my 96 dr 350se in December se the previous owner had it sitting in his garage for awhile. When I test rode it, it hesitated quite a bit on the throttle. I started it the other day and rode around a little and there was no hesitation Then yesterday I started it again and it was hesitating again! damnit! My guess is that either I need to clean the carb or maybe it needs to be rejetted. It does have a newer acerbis gastank (thinking maybe he didnt clean it and maybe theres junk in one of the petcocks) , an aftermarket exhaust (not sure what kind, it doesn't say) and Im not sure if its stock or not but has a mikuni carb, if any of this info helps. Any info would be greatly appreciated-Justin

[EvilClown]

You can't go wrong with cleaning the carbs after it's sat for a long time.

[EvilGenius]

Originally Posted by EvilClown

You can't go wrong with cleaning the carbs after it's sat for a long time.

I'm very slowly figuring this out.

Hopefully this most recent teardown will mean I won't have to do it again for a while.

[nevada72]

Got my 1st chance to put some serious miles on the Dr since I bought it last fall. Fellow ADV'er DNTOUCH and I trailered our bikes down to Arkansas and took advantage of the 65 degree weather and amazing terrain. Two days of morning to night riding.





The bike performed flawlessly and confirmed that it was a great choice. It also drew lots of praise from others on the group ride, riding far more powerful bikes. It really kept up well. No one was waiting on the DR!

[bobnoxious67]

Originally Posted by original mcguiver

It is not unusual for an aluminum bike rim to crack from the spot where it was welded from the factory
Just pull the rear wheel-remove tire & rim band-take it to a "REAL" welding shop and let them weld the crack. Probably 20$ and yes I have done this more than once, without a problem (thousands of miles of use)... Ron

I figured I couldn't make it any worse:

[EvilClown]

Originally Posted by Liza

Honestly, I have an in-house REAL welder (the aforementioned "my guy Bob"). If he's not comfortable with welding it for me and letting me run it, then I'm not going to push the issue, and am going to replace it instead.

If you don't re-use it please let me know if it's for sale.

[RandyM]

Originally Posted by tominboise

So the previous owner of my 95 DR350SE managed to strip the internal teeth out of the plug that goes in the magneto cover, that one removes to do valve adjustment. (the one used to rotate the crankshaft, not the viewing port.) So, I have ordered a new plug and o ring, and a gasket for the magneto cover. I plan to drain the engine oil, pull the magneto cover off, drill a couple of self tapping #10 hex head screws into opposite sides of the plug, put a large prybar (relatively speaking) between the two hex heads and removing the plug. Any tricks I should be aware of in removing and replacing the magneto cover? I was planning on installing the cover with the gasket dry (as opposed to putting perma tex or similar on it). Will I have any leaks?

Tom

I have had the same problem on my 91 Dr250 and my 99 DR350. I suspect that the problem is that owners or mechanics over-tighten them. There is no torque spec in the dr350 manual for the plug. My Vstrom has a similar sized plug and it supposed to be torqued to 7.0 Ft-LB. The plug uses an O-ring and does not need sealant.

Originally Posted by J$Ridin'Dirty

When I purchased my 96 dr 350se in December se the previous owner had it sitting in his garage for awhile. When I test rode it, it hesitated quite a bit on the throttle. I started it the other day and rode around a little and there was no hesitation Then yesterday I started it again and it was hesitating again! damnit! My guess is that either I need to clean the carb or maybe it needs to be rejetted. It does have a newer acerbis gastank (thinking maybe he didnt clean it and maybe theres junk in one of the petcocks) , an aftermarket exhaust (not sure what kind, it doesn't say) and Im not sure if its stock or not but has a mikuni carb, if any of this info helps. Any info would be greatly appreciated-Justin

My 99 DR350SE will hesitate until it warms up. Mine is stock with CV carb, stock jets, no air box or exhaust mods. If it goes away after warm-up then it is probably normal. May be worse if temperature is lower. May also happen if you left the choke on after warm up.

[bobnoxious67]

Originally Posted by EvilClown

If you don't re-use it please let me know if it's for sale.

See my post (I'm "her guy") :

Originally Posted by bobnoxious67

I figured I couldn't make it any worse:

[Mulekick]

Originally Posted by bobnoxious67

See my post (I'm "her guy") :

Welds are stronger than material ...some people like to waste their money...

I'd ride on that ...

[EvilClown]

Originally Posted by bobnoxious67

See my post (I'm "her guy") :

Looks good! I'll take it!






As long as I'm here...is it a cush drive? Yes. I'm taking a poll.

[bobnoxious67]

Originally Posted by EvilClown

Looks good! I'll take it!






As long as I'm here...is it a cush drive? Yes. I'm taking a poll.

Yup, cush drive ('94).

Seems good so far

[Pablo83]

Welds are stronger than material ...

Not always true, particularly with rims. The filler material is supposed to be stronger than the base material. This is easy to accomplish with steel because the overwhelming majority of steel is mild steel and all types of new steel filler rod are stronger than mild steel. And it’s easy to tell if you’re welding stainless instead because you can see it’s stainless, and then you can get the right filler rod for it.

The biggest problem with welding aluminum is you can’t tell what kind of alu it is by looking at it or putting a magnet on it, or trying to grind it, all of which you can do with steel to help identify the alloy. In fact the only ways I know to identify alu is to find out from the product manufacturer or use a very expensive laser gun that welding shops rarely own. On top of these issues, there are many more alloys of alu than there are of steel. The most common is 3003, also common are 1100 and 6063, all of which are commonly welded with 4043 filler rod.

Bike rims are very specialized. The metal needs to be extruded, then bent, then welded. After going through these processes the rim still needs to remain extraordinarily tough. Due to these requirements, most rims are made of 7000 series alu but the manufacturers will not tell you the exact alloy because it’s “proprietary” (and they want you to buy a new rim when your old one breaks). 4043 filler rod is not as tough as 7000 series alloys, but it will join 7000 series. Due to its frequent use, most welding shops stock 4043 filler. So if you bring a rim to most small welding shops they’ll grab their 4043 filler rod and it will make a decent looking repair, but the weld will be weaker than the rim which will give it a very high chance of failure.

So if you are going to have your rim welded, try to find a place that has done rims and ask what filler they are using. Most 7000 series alloys should be welded with 5356, 5183, or 5556 filler. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to find the exact alloy your rim is made of so you won’t know the best filler to use, but at least if you use a 5000 series filler you’ll have a much better chance at a quality repair.

Thanks for reading my novel.

[EvilClown]

Originally Posted by pablo83

Thanks for reading my novel.

You're welcome,...Cliff.





Actually, very helpful information, Paul. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[shearboy2004]

Excellent Pablo even i could understand that !! Great writeup.