Here are some pictures of my 36T being attached. I bolted the two sprockets together, then scratched the 156mm inner circle with a razor. I then spent almost two hours with a hacksaw cutting the 4 inner parts off. Then I filed on the hacksaw line until it fit snugly on the sprocket. If only I had some cool power tools..... The sprocket is great but it was a LOT of work. I bought 6 sprocket bolts for 9$ shipped. The bolts flare out from 8mm to a 16mm head. I drilled 12.7mm(.5 inch) holes in the sprocket because my only V-bit was a .5 inch so I ground the bolt heads back to 12.7mm. The 16mm would have barely touched the chain. (15.97mm or less wouldn't touch.) The sprocket is not very tall, but it is still stronger and thicker then the chain is, so the chain will still break off before the sprocket if I ever overtighten the chain and go off a jump or something. This is as few teeth as you can go. All 6 bolts are spaced between chain links like this. The hub is 16mm as well, so the chain will wear .02mm away to 15.98mm or I can do some light filing for a few min where they meet. This worked out great! I think I will ride around with 14/36 gearing, and use 15/36 for long highway trips. I might JB weld the 6 sprocket bolt heads so they all pull equal weight just in case my drilling was off a bit. I will have all 6 bolts and nuts tight as it hardens so that they are all straight. It is probably unnecessary, but it can't hurt. I will slip a bit of tin foil over the sprocket hub so the sprocket doesn't get stuck on the hub.
I used to shift into 6th gear around 45mph, but now it is a bit before 55mph. I was worried the 36T would wear on the chain slider or run on the white guide but it doesn't do either. Keep up the chain maintain and all's good. I have 11T-15T so I can raise my RPM by 27% when I get to the trails/forests/ect. It's a cruising gear so it doesn't accel well, but I bet I can cruise at 70+ for hours with my 15/36 if I need to keep up with someone. Synthetic oil, slightly rich gas mixture, lower rpm, larger header and a 650 muffler will keep it from getting hot. If I need more power I will get a big bore 440 and an oil cooler.
I has having wobble problems when I went on the highway and I thought that the window was throwing off the balance due to air pressure. Then I checked the tire pressures today and the front tire was only 7psi. I aired the tire to match the rear at 20psi and it rides smoothly now(or as smooth as D601's can be). I really should have checked this sooner but it looked like it was really tight when I braked while watching the front tire.
I'm happy my installation guide helped =] It sure would have made things less confusing for me! Not adding the decompression lever was something I was worried about as people said it might crack the case, but SE have auto-decompression so that won't happen. The decomp lever is only useful for quickly clearing a flooded engine and quickly finding exactly the right spot to kick from. Ask me if you have any Q's I got the black box and the 15 mountain house dried meals inside it at a garage sale for 10$. They "expired" a year ago but I bet they are still good in a hundred years so I don't care. I attached the box to the rack with enough room for a passenger. It is now very stable when riding fast or hitting wind gusts. I think this is like how arrows have feathers on the back end to be stabilized with drag. I am thinking of adding some kind of padding to the handlebar ends so if I drop the bike on pavement it doesn't tweak the handlebars or shock the bike as much.
I am running 16/36 gearing now. (yes, really!) 6th is TALL so it doesn't add speed quickly, but it makes cruising at 60+ super smooth. At 5000RPM I go almost 65MPH (it was 60/61 with the 15T), so my DR350 is very happy on the highway and downhill. I now have the full set of 11T-16T sprockets. I usually add or remove teeth in 2's and swap links of chain, as I run with 2 master links and carry 1, 3, and 5 link chain bits. I don't know why I do that instead of adjusting the axle, but it feels right to me for some reason... For my last tank of gas I was trying to get good gas mileage, just to see how high I could get it. It was mostly running errands with a bit of highway, and I actually got a bit over 65mpg, but I was going faster then 55 for less than a quarter of that. 65mpg is so high I had to check my spark plug just to make sure it wasn't running lean! I also took the window off, and I like the way the bike feels without it now. Winner creek, Monarch gold mine
I rode on the highway at 70 mph for half an hour each way to Eagle River nature center. It ran great at 40 degrees, and I warmed my hands and thin gloves (I always forget something) on the engine block a few times. First pic with no snow is at the top of mile high road. I got my hands nice and toasty there and they didn't get cold at all on the way back for some reason. The pic with the snow was the end of September so I thought the riding season was over up here, but the weather has been great so I pulled it out of storage!
Giving my spare carburetor some TLC, spare parts, ect. I have been getting even more spare parts. I got a lightly used DRZ400 piston for 20$. I have a cylinder already - I might make a big bore, but I don't feel the need for more power yet. I run a 16T front sprocket which makes the little case saver a bit thinner. I bought a 20$ side case for backup if I throw a chain at high speed and the case saver doesn't save the case (very unlikely, but it was cheap). Lastly, a used carburetor and air box for 35$ or so, amazing ebay auction deal. I sold an air box boot part for 25$ already. The carb = 140 jet, covered in dirt+oil, missing the idle screw and fuel screw, and has 2 chips taken out of the throttle part where the throttle cables connect at the flap... Needs some TLC. It will be easy to fill the missing chips with JB weld and a file. I took the top and bottom off and cleaned it - it has seen a good bit of use, but it still works well and I think all the little passages are still clear. No damage and the rubber part is perfect so no leaks. I washed the whole carb in soapy water, then water, then gasoline and dried it. I traded with a user on here (bbbent) a 42T cush sprocket, bulbs and a wiring harness for a carb kit he had and some cash. He's a really cool guy. The last part I need is an idle screw, which is a rare fine threaded size I can't find or buy anywhere. I think the mikuni idle screw off of a GS400/425 from the early 80's is probably the same size thread tho. I could always tap out the carb body, but this part is 12$ on ebay so I will try this first. I might test the carb out this winter - I will carry this as a spare on 200+ mile trips. It's not very big, I'm surprised other people don't carry one too. I also got a spare 7$ dip stick.
> but it still works well and I think all the little passages are still clear. The tricky thing with the old BSTs is the throttle valve wears into the carb body after so many thousands of miles. So even if you spend $80 on a new throttle valve, the wear on the body isn't fixable. I eventually gave in and bought a new pumper.
I think this wear is caused when letting go of the throttle and having the valve snap down against the idle adjustment screw. It has to stop spinning instantly when this happens, so the force on the carb body must be really high. This probably causes almost all of the wear. Maybe on my spare carb I will just attach a stiff spring instead of a screw. Even if it only compresses 1/50th of an inch it won't shock the carb. I will put a tiny tab of duct tape or a rubber tab on my main carb too... Maybe a shoelace? I will think of something, I'm really good at this kind of thing. I never change the idle on mine, so once I get it where I want it to be, I won't need to change it. I noticed that my horn only sometimes works. Must be a bad connection, should be an easy fix
A warm storm hit yesterday so the snow melted. I went for a ride yesterday and the wind was gusting to 80mph so I only rode 10 miles. It was throwing me all over the highway going 60mph. I could barely stay in a lane, almost no traffic or I wouldn't have tried. A few gusts did throw me a foot over the line.... The 350 is not good with wind because it is tall and light (like me!). The engine starts at 38 degrees in 1-2 seconds with no choke. I think this means my main jet and/or needle is too rich. I have almost no popping when decelerating from speed too. I don't need every little bit of power and don't want my cylinder to get black buildup and a stuck oil ring which happens to a lot of richly jetted DR350s. I will drop the main jet 2.5 or 5 and raise the needle clip 1 slot and see if that helps. I will order some jets and try only the needle clip for now.
I took a clutch actuator lever, sawed it in half, then extended it using a metal plate and a lot of JB weld. Actuation length went from 1.75 inches to 2.25 inches, so it should be 28% easier to pull the lever in. I'll have to bend and file the black thing that holds the clutch cable end but I have a spare one. Hopefully it is not so long that it hits the engine case, I didn't measure first or try it yet. I probably should have done that...
I took the back end off to adjust and rewire the bike. I also had to remove all the bolts and clean them because I could barely get 2 out, one twisted one of my hex things before it came free. Put it all back together and sealed the rear light wires so water doesn't corrode it
I tried extending a spare clutch lever actuator from 1.75 to 2.25 inches but it bumps an oil line. 2.25 inches is too long, 2 inches would work tho. I should have measured first, oh well. Make sure the black metal thing holding the end of the clutch cable points straight at the actuator, or else will be stiff and you will wear your clutch cable out. Here is my skid plate fix, sorry for the dirt. I filled that giant hole with one of those metal plates you find at the back of electrical sockets. I put 2 bolts at the bottom and JB welded where it meets, then ground it flat so it does not snag anything. The top part is held down by the washer that bolts the plate to the frame. This is a really good way to fill the gap IMO. It only took half an hour and is much cheaper than a 100$ skid plate. I have the larger diameter stainless header on mine, and the only part missing when I bought mine was the header heat shield. Just as well, because I had to make something that holds the kick start lever so it doesn't buzz or flop sideways. I melted some spots on my pants, so I made an extra heat shield that does further back. I am thinking of adding heat wrap after one foot back to my DR650 exhaust. It is stainless so I don't have to worry about rust, and after the first foot the exhaust temperature has cooled down a lot so I won't have heat damage. I'm doing this because the exhaust is so cool that I can ride hard then grab the FMF2 exhaust with my bare hand for 5 seconds. Hot exhaust should give more power, is this worth a try?
I rode to the top of Canyon road in Anchorage a few days ago, met some cool guys who were about to hike up to the top of the ridge above my seat and ski the valley down to where my box is. This road has a few sections of deep washboarding on a steep downhill that is covered in gravel and water. Yay! I also climbed a landslide and a tree to get a perfect picture of this guy! Or girl? I dropped my phone from the tree, and had to climb the whole slope again to get it! Pretty hard while wearing motorcycle boots. Good swan and moose pictures too. Summerrrr!
My DR has never had it's valves checked/adjusted, the bolts had that 2-decade-snap to them, 6500 miles, never checked! The intake valves, .05mm-.1mm per manual, were at .12mm and .14mm. Not bad. The exhaust valves, .08mm-.13mm per manual, were at .24mm and .26mm!!! Have to adjust! I set the intake to .07-.08mm and the exhaust to .1mm. Took a short ride, and I can hear a small difference at idle. Seems to have a little bit more power, but that is probably wishful thinking. Took like 2 hours because I had to triple check everything, you don't get second chances with valves! My piston head looks totally black thru the spark plug hole. Too black is not good, I want to see very dark brown. I think I will drop down from 140MJ to a 135MJ, and maybe even go back to a stock needle if I have an aftermarket one in there. I think I have one in a parts box, not sure where it came from tho
