the DR650 thread

[anaud14]

Originally Posted by anaud14

Hey guys, I've got a dead DR in my garage and I'm not sure where to begin to revive it.

Two weeks ago I stopped for a break while trail riding, and when I started the bike to head out again, it turned over very weakly. A little while later I stopped for another break, and the bike wouldn't turn over at all, just clicking. Luckily for me I had a ditch between me and the freeway, so I rolled down the hill and was able to bump start and head toward home on the road. I got about 4kms down the road and she started to choke and pop then finally die completely.

My guess was that my battery had finally croaked. Original battery, 26000kms and 4 years old. I bought a new battery and put it in, and she ran great...for 50kms. After the 50 kms I got the exact same problem as before with the popping and dying.

I'm no expert at all with electrical, my best guess is that my battery isn't receiving any sort of a charge. Can anyone point me in the right direction to getting this thing running again?

Alex

I THINK I may have found my problem, but as I said, I'm no electrical guru by any means.

I started with the terminals like you guys suggested, then worked my way to all the wire connections. I found the red wire going into the regulator/rectifier to be extremely corroded, so much that when I lightly touched it, it came apart.

Could this be my issue?

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by anaud14

Could this be my issue?

[poppawheelie]

I bought one of these gas cap vents and could not get it to stay on.

The nipple on the cap is tappered, and the hose pops off. I put it on, walked away, and came back to find it on the floor. I tried roughing up the sufaces (even inside the hose) with sand paper, pinching the hose with safety wire... even silicone glue wouldn't hold it on! Problem solved with Super Glue, but I wonder how others may have solved this problem, other than buying the locking cap.

[notarat]

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

I bought one of these gas cap vents and could not get it to stay on.

The nipple on the cap is tappered, and the hose pops off. I put it on, walked away, and came back to find it on the floor. I tried roughing up the sufaces (even inside the hose) with sand paper, pinching the hose with safety wire... even silicone glue wouldn't hold it on! Problem solved with Super Glue, but I wonder how others may have solved this problem, other than buying the locking cap.

When I owned a KLX250S I bought the Clark oversized tank. Specifically, I purchased a second. (meaning it was a bit discolored and not offered through normal channels.)

It was a leaky POS so I called them back and they sent another one, a production unit, that was also a friggin colander, rather than a tank. Point is, the clark tank had one of those tubes on it and I just yanked it off the clark and installed it onto the Acerbis and it works great. It was the only good thing to come out of that whole debacle.

If anyone needs to strain some pasta I have a clear and black colander for sale that holds over two gallons, at least temporarily...

[BadDogMax]

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

In that vein, look at the top of your chain by the front sprocket when the vibes are happening.

NordieBoy, you are on to something! I am working from home today so I thought I'd grab the video camera and run up the road and back. Most of the time the chain was smooth, but during the vibration it was... well... watch the video:

Check out the slo mo of the chain at the end!

[dljocky]

I had to use super glue on mine also. I didn't really want to go back to this cap, but after having three of the locking gas caps fail(rubber washer thingy) I've decided to go back to the original cap like this. I'm hoping Procycle can get me some of those rubber washer's for caps that have failed, as I really do like them. Also, on my last trip when the cap started leaking when I fueled up, gas got all over my new enduro tank bag, anyone have ideas as to how to get the smell out of the bag? I've washed it several times, and currently, letting it air out in the sun.

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

I bought one of these gas cap vents and could not get it to stay on.

The nipple on the cap is tappered, and the hose pops off. I put it on, walked away, and came back to find it on the floor. I tried roughing up the sufaces (even inside the hose) with sand paper, pinching the hose with safety wire... even silicone glue wouldn't hold it on! Problem solved with Super Glue, but I wonder how others may have solved this problem, other than buying the locking cap.

[ScottDill]

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

I bought one of these gas cap vents and could not get it to stay on.

The nipple on the cap is tappered, and the hose pops off. I put it on, walked away, and came back to find it on the floor. I tried roughing up the sufaces (even inside the hose) with sand paper, pinching the hose with safety wire... even silicone glue wouldn't hold it on! Problem solved with Super Glue, but I wonder how others may have solved this problem, other than buying the locking cap.

Mine did the same thing so I used a piece of rubber fuel line in place of the PU tube it came with. The rubber is much grippier and keeps it all attached without use of glue.

[truck6driver]

Might be looking at a 1999 DR650SE this week. Other than the usual stuff is there anything specific to the DR that I should look for?

Ray

[silverwolf]

Originally Posted by anaud14

I THINK I may have found my problem, but as I said, I'm no electrical guru by any means.

I started with the terminals like you guys suggested, then worked my way to all the wire connections. I found the red wire going into the regulator/rectifier to be extremely corroded, so much that when I lightly touched it, it came apart.

Could this be my issue?

Sounds exactly like what happened to my drz. Those connectors are trouble. The best way to check is to put a multimeter on the battery and start the bike and then poke at the connectors to see if you see a difference. Definately good to check all those before digging into regulator rectifier issues.

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by truck6driver

Might be looking at a 1999 DR650SE this week. Other than the usual stuff is there anything specific to the DR that I should look for?

Ray

Here's the DR's dark side. The most important to you is reading post #21 and all of both links. The two case halves are machined as a pair and must be replaced as a pair. If it happens, it will be less expensive to find a complete replacement motor and they're becoming hard to find.
Other than that.............................................. 31,781 miles and counting.
Oops, guess you'll need the link.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636395

[LexTalionis]

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

Feel free to post those anywhere they'd help. Thanks for the kind words. Don't forget o-rings to help seal the pedal shaft, for between the outside of the frame and the pedal. I didn't think of the idea until after the project was done so I don't know what diameter the shaft is nor what thickness o-ring might fit best. I have 36 pages of DR notes and posts in a word.doc, not like I can find anything though, indexing something that random has escaped me.

Happy to be of assistance to you!

In a Word document, separate each note / post by a hard horizontal line (hold down Shift and press "_" three times); add a reference word peculiar to the topic at the top or bottom of the note / post so you can use the Find feature, then scroll through all the found reference words. Alternatively you could devise an alpha-numeric sequence peculiar to each topic for the search function, but a sequence not otherwise used in the Word file, as in AA1 = motor topic, AA2 = suspension topic.

Or do like I do (pic of a portion of my harddrive tree):






Lex

[poppawheelie]

Originally Posted by dljocky

I had to use super glue on mine also. I didn't really want to go back to this cap, but after having three of the locking gas caps fail(rubber washer thingy) I've decided to go back to the original cap like this. I'm hoping Procycle can get me some of those rubber washer's for caps that have failed, as I really do like them. Also, on my last trip when the cap started leaking when I fueled up, gas got all over my new enduro tank bag, anyone have ideas as to how to get the smell out of the bag? I've washed it several times, and currently, letting it air out in the sun.

Dawn detergent seems to work better than others for getting out the gas smell. I haven't seen one of those locking caps, but I'd suggest cutting a new gasket from rubber inner tube. It won't deteriorate in gas. I soaked several gasket materials and a bit of rubber inner tube in a jar of gas (with ethanol) for over a year as a test, and it stayed solid.
Back to the smell. Hey, I love the sweet smell of gas! Doesn't bother me a bit, on my clothes or anywhere. Wifie doesn't like it though.

[poppawheelie]

Originally Posted by scodill

Mine did the same thing so I used a piece of rubber fuel line in place of the PU tube it came with. The rubber is much grippier and keeps it all attached without use of glue.

Ah, good idea! I'll remember that. I knew there had to be a better way than Super Glue (can't remove).

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

I bought one of these gas cap vents and could not get it to stay on.

The nipple on the cap is tappered, and the hose pops off. I put it on, walked away, and came back to find it on the floor. I tried roughing up the sufaces (even inside the hose) with sand paper, pinching the hose with safety wire... even silicone glue wouldn't hold it on! Problem solved with Super Glue, but I wonder how others may have solved this problem, other than buying the locking cap.

205'd by scodill. Just drill two holes and carry zip ties.

A tapered nipple on super slippery plastic. I'd carry a short piece of hose (long enough to go down the steering head. The hose in the pic is 1/2" O.D. and fits) and 3 zip ties, in case the Super Glue lets loose on a ride. Everybody carries zip ties, right?

Drill holes in opposing knobs on the cap (blue arrow), large enough for zip ties (ignore the red notes on this pic that I stole on the internet). Drill 'em before ya need 'em. My zip ties are 3/16". The little one on top didn't feel very secure: 1/10"



Crude mock-up. However, it would get you home without a gas bath. Safety wire would be less 'rednek', but shorter lived.

Originally Posted by LexTalionis

Happy to be of assistance to you!

In a Word document, separate each note / post by a hard horizontal line (hold down Shift and press "_" three times); add a reference word peculiar to the topic at the top or bottom of the note / post so you can use the Find feature, then scroll through all the found reference words. Alternatively you could devise an alpha-numeric sequence peculiar to each topic for the search function, but a sequence not otherwise used in the Word file, as in AA1 = motor topic, AA2 = suspension topic.

Or do like I do (pic of a portion of my harddrive tree):





Lex

Thanks Lex, the learning never stops. The screen shot is a great help.

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

I'd suggest cutting a new gasket from rubber inner tube. It won't deteriorate in gas. I soaked several gasket materials and a bit of rubber inner tube in a jar of gas (with ethanol) for over a year as a test, and it stayed solid.

Damn, I would have lost a lot of money on that bet, ethanol or not.