DRZ400 Safari & Across Australia build

Hey Gadget,

How is everything going? Have you got any timelines sorted? How about your route? The bike is looking really good, have you had much of a chance to give it a run?

Phil

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

I was taking to Jim last week- not looking good on that front.... So it looks like we may have to catch up after Easter & make some plans.
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Then again, how about you just load everyone up and come to Mildura for Easter, we can talk about it there????

Now I remembered why I fabricated my own fairing.... I don't have to wait for me. The bike is still with the engineer getting the new racks made up. (it's been there almost 1.5 months) I need it back in the next few days so that I can change the tyres to go to Mildura on friday....... as well as paint and assemble Liams KX.

Apparently Wild0 is really enjoying his time in the U.S.

Hi Gadget,

trolling thru your thread, just like an update of what spring size/weight you used in the bike when you were setting up with all the gear onboard and how it went. Am converting my dr 650 with drz front end and rear shocka so an idea on what was ideal would be a great help
cheers andy9004

I am waiting to get the new racks, then I'll get the shock re-done. When I find out what spring will be used, I'll post it in my thread.

15.2 hours running time &

654km since the full rebuild.

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And it died.

I was riding around with my son on a private enduro track, 450km from home. Max speed for the day: 88km. Average speed of 35km.

My initial thought was that it dropped a valve. More to follow soon.

Oh. No good. Hope it is as simple as a blown fuse!

I wish.

I would have figured that one out fairly quickly. (At least I hope I'd be able to figure that out)

The rattle in the motor just before it stopped gave me an indication that it was the end of my ride for the day.... So I just loaded it up in the trailer- to review when I got home.

When I got it home the rocker cover came off.... nothing obvious.
I thought that I'd check the timing was right (process of elimination, right?). When the crank hole plug came off, there was debris in it....

So off came the magneto cover & Hey presto (apologies for the crap pic, but I had my phone with me, so that's what I used.):



SO: A few of the starter clutch bolts came loose, worked their way out until they hit the stator. Bolts snapped, stator chewed, bike stopped.

I'm sure there's probably a locktite 'must do' for this in thumpertalk...... At least I didn't build this motor. When the replacement parts arrive, I can guarantee that the bolts will be locktited in. And the mechanic that built it will be getting a call too.

Now that sucks!

New stator is on the way. Not cheap, but I want to stick with the high output. (Still a lot cheaper than genuine though)



As for the trip: Jim's out. His knee just isn't holding up to riding... so the coast-to-coast epic is off.

PLAN B is being hatched with Mudlovingfool. While we won't be doing the epic ride that I'd initially wanted, we'll still be covering several thousand km.. A part of the plan at this stage is to still ride the French line. We'll be getting together in the next few weeks to make the rest up.

We must live in a parallel universe. Had exactly the same situation word for word 2 mths ago. Snapped bolts and all. Got the snapped threads out , loctite new ones in. 1 mashed stator that copped a bit of soldering and what not and fark me the old yellow terror fired straight up and is putting out amps at factory spec according to work shop manual.

Yep there is a section of Loctite Use on those bolts on Thumper Talk.

Started looking at this thread on the DRZ 400 forum, and like a good book I couldn't leave it.
Awesome.

More than a parallel universe The exact same thing happened to me

Stator arrived yesterday. Stuff the renovations, worked on the bike. I fired it up then did a precautionary oil & filter change (twice): It all came out clean. The good oil goes in today.

Hi Daz, have you done the HCR before?

I'm now planning on getting there some time Thursday evening/night (depends on when I can escape from work), then probably going for a ride to Craig's Hut on the Friday. I haven't been in the hills for a few years now, so I'm really keen to get back into it.

Apparently our ride numbers aren't being allocated until we get there, so finding you might be a little difficult. Is there anything distinctive about you or your bike that may stand out to me?

Anyway, as mentioned previously, I usually stay on the road side of the toilet/shower block... I shouldn't be too hard to find; just look for this bike .

G'day Gadget, I won't be heading up until Friday arvo . My drz is 02 has a Barrett exhaust and white cycra hand guards . Yours will easy to spot, it looking like a cracker of a weekend.

Speaking of oil changes, did you check the screen at the bottom of the front frame tube?
I'm sure you have but it is sometimes overlooked in our haste to ride again

The main filter came out clean, so left it alone.

I would say that they are overlooked more often than not.

I finally got out for the weekend. The bike ran sweet. It got pretty cold (there was some snow at Craig's Hut).

I ran the E-09 rear on the Friday to see how it went: it felt weird. Not bad, just weird. I changed over to the Kenda rear for Saturday & the bike was a completely different beast. BUT I killed both front and rear tyres on the rocks.



Lunch was supplied on the ride; stopped by a creek somewhere (I really should pay more attention sometimes, but I only had to follow the arrows )... they even had a coffee machine dragged out for the riders.



Matt set up camp beside me & rode with me for the weekend. He got a flat about 15km from the end of Saturdays ride.

Have a look at this thread......

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=827432