DR350 Thread

[TinyTim]

Originally Posted by Airvent

Question for the DR gurus out there

In 6th gear only, There is a whirring noise from the gearbox when under load. This has ALWAYS existed on my bike since I can remember, but it has certainly not been getting quieter. This is not a grinding, clunking noise, more of a gear whine.

Have you hear of any 6th gears grenading in our bikes? Is a noisy gear an indicator of a gear failure? My bike has over 30k miles clocked.

I'd be interested to know too. My 350SEX has some kind of noise on 6th too and has been doing that for years. My DR has gone >100k kilometers and still runnng fine.

[Airvent]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

It can't be bearings. Alex never has problems with bearings.



Actually he had to replace his bearings twice on his last trip out here.

Alex, check your chain slack; it should be 1 to 1-1/2". If there is not enough slack it puts excess pressure on the left side rear wheel bearings.

Shortly after you left last year my rear wheel bearings went out also (my bike must have been sympathetic for yours).

I've changed my rear wheel bearings literally 15 times

My chain is adjusted properly also.

Glad to hear of someone else with a high mileage DR350 too!

[mustangwagz]

Hey guys, looking to setup my my spare rim for the 93 DR350S that i own (and love!!!) . new tire, tube, and spoke band (rubba band for protection..) are all on hand, gotta order bearings, a new sprocket, and then those dang little rubber cush drive things... any suggestions on where to get the cush drive rubbers? i have a set here that are extra, however....i would like to make this a COMPLETE rebuild. know what i mean? lol i searched ebay with no real luck other than used stuff. I searched OEM parts sites as well, however i'd like to get them before june..lol (ever notice shipping times are like INSANE!!??! ) i may call local stealer-ship tomorrow to see what kinda price i get..but i'd like to hear yinz's input. Let me know guys/gals! Thanks!

-WagZ-

[tkent02]

Order from an online Suzuki place, Boulevard Suzuki, G&S Suzuki, etc. Parts come in a week or less. Unless you are in Antarctica or Myanmar or someplace?

Edit, that pic does not look like Antarctica.

[.tdc]

i put photos of that dirt model tank up in the flea market if anyone is interested - http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=787094

[jplum1556]

Originally Posted by mustangwagz

Hey guys, looking to setup my my spare rim for the 93 DR350S that i own (and love!!!) . new tire, tube, and spoke band (rubba band for protection..) are all on hand, gotta order bearings, a new sprocket, and then those dang little rubber cush drive things... any suggestions on where to get the cush drive rubbers? i have a set here that are extra, however....i would like to make this a COMPLETE rebuild. know what i mean? lol i searched ebay with no real luck other than used stuff. I searched OEM parts sites as well, however i'd like to get them before june..lol (ever notice shipping times are like INSANE!!??! ) i may call local stealer-ship tomorrow to see what kinda price i get..but i'd like to hear yinz's input. Let me know guys/gals! Thanks!

-WagZ-

I bought those rubber cush things last year from cheapcycleparts.com and it took maybe 2 weeks to get to me. I couldn't find anyone besides OEM parts sites that sold them.

[MrPulldown]

http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/produ...rber-hub-shock

$7.15 each and six are needed. $42.90 Am I reading this right. Wow that is steep.

Well I guess not really for OEM bike parts but still.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Katana-...5d9421&vxp=mtr

These kind of look like the ones for our bike. But you are probably better off with rubber bits that are not 24 years old.

That said I am surprised how well these things wear. Mine look to be in good condition.

[mustangwagz]

Originally Posted by MrPulldown

http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/produ...rber-hub-shock

$7.15 each and six are needed. $42.90 Am I reading this right. Wow that is steep.

Well I guess not really for OEM bike parts but still.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Katana-...5d9421&vxp=mtr

These kind of look like the ones for our bike. But you are probably better off with rubber bits that are not 24 years old.

That said I am surprised how well these things wear. Mine look to be in good condition.

Insane that they are that much, i called dealership too, the said same price as well...45 bucks in getting them here..holy moly! lol probably go with dealership for them since they get them a little quicker.

Also, so theoretically, other bikes used the same rubber cush's? hmmm...wander how i can cross reference thsi and find them elsewhere? lol oh well, just get em new and avoid the headache, i know how this searching crap goes....in the end ya end up getting screwed! lol, Thanks guys for the info!

[DCC!!]

does anyone know where you can get black decals for the side covers?

[mrpopgun]

Just heard from the shop the connecting rod on my 350 is a bit loose. He says it will run, but feels like it will leave me stranded at some point in the future. I'm new to bikes, so I need some advice:

1) Is replacing the rod really an option? I guess they are pressed on and look to be expensive so I'm not sure here.
2) Is the acceptable looseness on this bike different than other 4-strokes that the mechanic would be comparing against?
3) Anything else I should be asking?

[juda5]

Originally Posted by mrpopgun

Just heard from the shop the connecting rod on my 350 is a bit loose. He says it will run, but feels like it will leave me stranded at some point in the future. I'm new to bikes, so I need some advice:

1) Is replacing the rod really an option? I guess they are pressed on and look to be expensive so I'm not sure here.
2) Is the acceptable looseness on this bike different than other 4-strokes that the mechanic would be comparing against?
3) Anything else I should be asking?

1) Replacing the rod is an option, but probably not cheap. They are pressed together, and require alignment after re-assembly.
2) Acceptable looseness should be measure based on manufacturer spec, rather than comparison to another motor. The specs. for the DR350 are:
Conrod Deflection (measured with dial indicator)
Service Limit = 3.0mm (0.12in)
Conrod Big End Side Clearance (measured with feeler guage)
Standard = 0.10-0.55mm (0.004-0.022in)
Service Limit = 1.0mm (0.04in.)
3) I would ask what the measurements were and what tolerances they were compared against. As a former mechanic and service manager, I would not have been afraid to bring a customer into the shop, show them the measuring equipment being used, and show them the specs in the factory manual.

[Teeeeeemu]

My DR was sitting for maybe 2-3 weeks cause I broke the throttle tube housing... Now I got a new one and checked the valves again. Now I dont seem to get the bike running, except with pushstart. It started "fine" before. Sometimes on the first kick and sometimes 5th. When cold. Now couldnt get it running at all (except push). Compression felt pretty low. Could misadjusting the valves cause low compression? Could it cause hard hot starting like I had before?

Hot starting was way harder, sometimes nothing but waiting 5-10min helped. And not only after falling, normal stall and it wouldnt start...

Though when running, it ran perfectly, no bogs or waiting or anything. Full throttle, boom wheelie.

Today after push starting it didnt run that well, coughing and almost stalling whenever I slowed down. Only rode for a couple blocks though. Could it be gas getting old? Maybe clean, check the jets in the carb.. It worked flawlessly before though (except wouldnt idle) Do I screw the idle mixture screw in or out for a higher idle? Or change the pilot jet?

I also checked the spark plug after riding, it was all flat black. Shouldnt it be like brown?
Do DRs always have 18mm plugs? The plug was Denso x27EPR-U9 which I found on the PDF manual.

Heres a pic from today.



TLDR
Before
Pretty easy to start cold, pretty hard hot, no idle, ran fine cold or hot

Now after 2-3weeks sitting
Only push start when cold, still no idle, didnt run very well cold

For higher idle screw in or out?

[MrPulldown]

Your vavle adjsutment deffinatly could be the reason. Go back and do ti again. And make sure to adjsut the crank so that you have the rockers at theior loosest setting before taking a mesuremnt or making an adjustment.

A friend of mines dad use to always ask me, "what did you mess with last before it started running poorly, that is most likey your problem"

[Teeeeeemu]

Originally Posted by MrPulldown

Your vavle adjsutment deffinatly could be the reason. Go back and do ti again. And make sure to adjsut the crank so that you have the rockers at theior loosest setting before taking a mesuremnt or making an adjustment.

A friend of mines dad use to always ask me, "what did you mess with last before it started running poorly, that is most likey your problem"

When the timing mark is visible on the hole, every other time its correct time to adjust right?
The other is exhausts down->up->intakes down->up->T in the hole. I think this is the correct one
The other exhausts down->up->T in the hole
Correct me if im wrong. Thats how ive understood it. Should I adjust them towards the bigger or smaller gap? ie .010mm-.015mm, now i had .013mm. Should I put 10 or 15 or in the middle?

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by Teeeeeemu

When the timing mark is visible on the hole, every other time its correct time to adjust right?
The other is exhausts down->up->intakes down->up->T in the hole. I think this is the correct one

That is correct. Another way to tell is that all four rockers should have a small amount of play.