Fresh Jailbait buys a bone stock 92 DR 350.

[vdubspeed]

Well this lurker has finally been imprisoned. I've had the off road itch for years and maintained that itch with ATVs. I'm also a car nut but I've been wanting a dual sport for a while. I had my 05 450r for sale to help me finance a dual sport but ended up selling a set of rims that produced enough cash to buy this little gem...a 1992 Suzuki DR 350s!



The plastics are INSANELY 80s/90s and I LOVE IT! Most of the stuff around here is antiquated anyway so she will fit right in.

So anyway...I started my search. I am a Honda/Suzuki for 2, 3 and 4 wheelers. When it comes to water I like Yama's but I digress. I wanted between a 250-450 because I have no current plans to go out of town. I actually wanted sometime a little smaller because I prefer to catch a little air and I can't see the 650s being tossable. I HAD to have disc brakes and preferred kick starts. I know some people love their magic buttons but I love to kick start my off road vehicle. It's the MAIN reason I bought an 05 450r when I was looking for a Honda(05 is the last year of the kick start version)

To craigslist I went where I found this BEAUTIFUL 350. The owner claimed that the bike had 23K when in fact it had 2.3K...guess he didn't learn decimal places in grade school. He was honest that it didn't run and I talked him down to $750 because of that fact. I KNEW the bike had potential though with so few miles( I buy/sell/trade a lot!)

So off to Jax FL I went to pick up the ole girl and once I got home I did half ass rebuild on the carb and then proceeded to destroy my leg, back, and the kick stand trying to start the beast. Well fortunately the holiday pulled me out of town and while I was gone I found this site and that's all I needed. With the information from the dr350 thread(not even close to being done plus the BST40 bible thread...I was equipped to get the old steel horse firing.

When I got home today from holiday I proceeded STRAIGHT to the garage. While the carb was soaking, I rewelded the kick stand that I fubared, changed the oil with Suzuki 10w-40 and an OEM filter plus checked the valve lash(perfect). Of course...like all old Honda's and Suzukis....she fired right up.

I set the idle screw to 2.25 with the throttle completely closed so it ran fine on choke. Once it was warmed I cracked the idle adjustment a hair to get a solid idle while warm and that's it. She runs PERFECT. Here's a little I shot that pretty much says everything I just typed but shows how easy the old kick start DR is to crank!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPXh0D9-Fo&feature=plcp

On a side note...I ran up to Home Depot after all the fun and let the motor get bone cold again...when I got home...she started with 5 kicks of prime, 2 real kicks and choke. The motor ALWAYS likes the primes kicks but when it's hot I just withhold the choke.

Well that about wraps it up for now. Future plans include getting a new helmet, gloves, and grips. I already have nice boots. I want to upgrade the tires but I'm clueless on what to look for. I will ride mostly on tarmac but WANT traction in the dirt and will sacrifice tire life for traction in the dirt. Noise/vibration is not a factor. Any suggestions?

Thanks for sharing inmates.

Respectfully,

Jason from South GA

[dejr2000]

Congrats on snagging that gem of a survivor DR. Sounds like you are going to really enjoy. And welcome to ADV!

[ReferJohn]

Congrats on the nice find, enjoy, keep it looking stock, except maybe the side plate 350 graphics.
Tires---you said you wanted to catch air, get D606's, or more of a street / fire road tire DISTANZAS
Enjoy that bike, ride safe.

[Canuman]

Great little bikes like the DR just keep on giving riders a good time. Cheap, not complex, and soooo much fun to ride. Congrats! It's a score.

[JerryH]

Very nice bike, but if it were mine the graphics would have to go. I have a Yamaha XT225 that I installed a kickstarter on, it was originally made for a TT-R225, but they have the same engine. Once you get used to it it usually starts up in 3 kicks or less. I also got a Clarke 4 gallon plastic tank, a really nice rear rack, and a centerstand. I have tried both the 606s and Distanzas, the 606 is a hardcore off road knobby that is downright scary on pavement, but works great in the dirt. They don't last very long. The Avon Distanza is a mostly street tire that works surprisingly well off road, as long as you stay out of sand. How did you break the sidestand trying to start it? I always put the sidestand up before starting my XT.

[Wolfgang55]

Now get to repacking the steering bearings & the swing arm, w/ the wheel bearings.

[shearboy2004]

Great find !!It will give years of faithful service !

[vdubspeed]

Put 20 miles on the ole girl today. About 10 miles on the street and 10 on trails. Ran like a TOP! Stalled it once on the trails and it took me three SOLID kicks to get it started but it was great after that. Tires are definitely in the future!

I'll definitely crank up the service on the bearings too. I'm a maintenance nut so no worries there.

As for the graphics...they are staying. This is a survivor and I want to keep it that way.

Regards,

Jason

[jkdwings]

Great score on a beautiful example of a 350. I definitely agree with you - keep those graphics!

[rpet]

i'm about to buy a dr6, and would pay good money for graphics like that.

[Canuman]

I agree. The graphics gotta stay! You're only stock once.

[Cobain]

Graphics are sweet! Too many people tear off their flawless graphics to make their bikes more modern looking. I personally love the 90's style graphics.