DR350 Thread

[hajime]

Every since I lowered my DR350, the view of the gauges have been blocked by the brake line. Has anyone ordered custom brake lines? It looks like 2 inches shorter than the stock line will work, but I'm struggling to figure out what fittings are needed. Spiegler performance parts requires a lateral (left or right) fitting. Anyone know what that means?

[jcalis]

Originally Posted by dtp

Thinking about suspension upgrades...

According to RaceTech.com I should have a 0.476 spring in the front (stock is a 0.390) and a 5.6 in the back.

OK that's cool, but the RaceTech website says the stock rear spring is a 5.7 and my ride sag seems way too high. I was reading you want it to be about 1/3 of your total suspension travel so I would need a stiffer spring. That kind of goes against my gut feeling that the stock spring is a 5.7 because that would mean its the ideal spring but the spring length adjustment on the shock is already set to the "stiff" range in the service manual.

So then I went to I went to the Eibach website and they are saying the stock rear spring is only a 4.8 which jibes more with my results and gut.

Anyone know which it is?

Anyone who weighs about 180 do this and what springs did you get?

Will you get noticable/good results with just a spring and without revalving or is it only worth it if you go all the way? I don't want to drop a ton of cash.

They are both "right". The stock rear spring is progressive, starts at about 4.7 rate extended and ramps up to a 5.7 near full compression. Racetech and most others will sell you a straight-rate spring. Most riders can use the stock DR rear spring unless you weigh more than ~230lbs with gear. If you are above that weight, you need a stiffer spring.
The DR rear shock has very little rebound damping to begin with. Adding a stiffer rear spring will make it worse. I would re-valve the rear shock (gold valve) if you end up using a stiffer rear spring. It will be one of the best upgrades (handling-wise) you can do for the bike.

[elroyjetsn]

Originally Posted by robocog

Decided to take the cam cover off to have a sneak peak...

Not looking good in there....lots of signs of the lack of oil
Top end is toast....

Regards
Rob

Seen several DR heads fail that way.

They do show up on EBay from time to time.

[straight cut]

Originally Posted by Jay

So here I am two days before leaving for a week in Death Valley. And the bike won't start. The starter barely turns. I checked voltages and it seemed like the starter relay may be bad, so I ordered one from Suzuki. But it doesn't arrive until at least next Wednesday. The parts guy suggested, as did Straightcut, to clean the starter motor.

But I can't get the motor off the bike! Only 2 bolts and push it out of the drive teeth...how hard can that be. Well it appears that several other pieces need to be removed to make room to push it back and I am getting in over my head.

Anyone have any advice on getting the starter motor off the engine?

The oil feed pipe that goes diagonaly across the engine needs to be undone,the header pipe removed and also the cam chain tensioner removed,then you need to wiggle and pull the starter out

[dtp]

Originally Posted by jcalis

They are both "right". The stock rear spring is progressive, starts at about 4.7 rate extended and ramps up to a 5.7 near full compression. Racetech and most others will sell you a straight-rate spring. Most riders can use the stock DR rear spring unless you weigh more than ~230lbs with gear. If you are above that weight, you need a stiffer spring.
The DR rear shock has very little rebound damping to begin with. Adding a stiffer rear spring will make it worse. I would re-valve the rear shock (gold valve) if you end up using a stiffer rear spring. It will be one of the best upgrades (handling-wise) you can do for the bike.

Gotcha. Would it be better to do the rear or the front? I would have to do it in stages and don't want to spend $600 having someone else do it. Is it possible to do myself? EDIT: Found a great writeup on Thumpertalk for revalving a dr350 rear shock. Looks like a moderately difficult DIY project that I can handle. Haha a second look at it reveals you did the writeup! Great job on that!

And what about front springs being done without revalving? Is that possible or recommended?

[jcalis]

It's a good idea to do the fork springs first. Most will use a .45kg spring and do an oil change while you have it apart. See how you like it.

You can even re-use the stock springs by cutting off the lower four closely spaced coils on the bottom. This will shorten the springs by about 2 inches. Removing these coils will leave only the straight-rate portion of the fork spring, and the effective rate will be close to .44kg. The cut end will need to be heated and pressed flat, and you will need to add a 2" PVC spacer above the spring to make up for the shorter spring. This is a cheap and dirty way to increase the fork spring rate and it does work.

Do the rear spring / revalve when ready. You can do it yourself with basic tools or have a shop install it for you. Racetech has decent instructions and video with the kit. You will need to have a local shop refill the shock bladder with nitrogen when finished. Most will charge about $10-20 for this.

[shearboy2004]

Originally Posted by robocog

I posted a reply with pics of the top end damage so far
(only got as far as the cam cover as I'm awaiting gaskets to arrive still)

Got a message saying it has to be approved by a moderator first ...

Hopefully it'll turn up, but for those that cannot wait to see the carnage that happens when you loose the oil but carry on regardless...
I have put some words and pictures on my website
http://www.robocog.dyndns.org/motorb...250_engine.php

I already took the spring out of the (cam chain) adjuster and removed it ....and sure enough it has no more adjustment on it
Initially I tried to convince myself that if I just replaced the cam chain the noises /may/ go away....but I know for sure now its gone a bit further than that...and I'm going to have to get stripping till I get rid of all the melted broken and wonky bits

Regards
Rob

Mate I don't know how the prick that sold it to you sleeps at night !! What an arsehole!

Keep posting your tale up here and I'm sure there are some here that will help out anyway we can.

[shearboy2004]

Originally Posted by PHILinFRANCE

Just got back from a 75km yomp through the woods round here and half way round had a argument with a ditch and a tree soz no pics .....and no damage to me or DR !!!!did snap a 3in tree in half with my back though Any how after dragging the DR out of the ditch i spent 20 mins kicking her over no good sit down and have a smoke to get my breath back 5 mins later !!!! lets give it another go when i noticed the BLOODY KILL SWITCH popped it out and yes you guessed 1st kick Has anyone done away with the switch??? do i need it???and would it be easy to do ????

Cheers Phil

By the sounds of things Phil you never get off the poor wee thing so you may as well do away with the kill switch!

[dtp]

Originally Posted by jcalis

It's a good idea to do the fork springs first. Most will use a .45kg spring and do an oil change while you have it apart. See how you like it.

You can even re-use the stock springs by cutting off the lower four closely spaced coils on the bottom. This will shorten the springs by about 2 inches. Removing these coils will leave only the straight-rate portion of the fork spring, and the effective rate will be close to .44kg. The cut end will need to be heated and pressed flat, and you will need to add a 2" PVC spacer above the spring to make up for the shorter spring. This is a cheap and dirty way to increase the fork spring rate and it does work.

Do the rear spring / revalve when ready. You can do it yourself with basic tools or have a shop install it for you. Racetech has decent instructions and video with the kit. You will need to have a local shop refill the shock bladder with nitrogen when finished. Most will charge about $10-20 for this.

Thanks for the tips!

I've seen writeups on this spacer trick for my VStrom. It never occured to me to try it on the DR. I might just give that a shot. Worst that can happen is I buy new front springs. Money saved on springs could go to a front or rear revalve.

What weight oil do people use when doing this?

[Lasherman]

Originally Posted by dtp

Gotcha. Would it be better to do the rear or the front? I would have to do it in stages and don't want to spend $600 having someone else do it. Is it possible to do myself? EDIT: Found a great writeup on Thumpertalk for revalving a dr350 rear shock. Looks like a moderately difficult DIY project that I can handle. Haha a second look at it reveals you did the writeup! Great job on that!

And what about front springs being done without revalving? Is that possible or recommended?

Hey man, I have both front and back done, come give my DR441 a wirl....I think your just down the street right?

[blue dog]

I have a few questions

has anyone tested what octane runs the best and gives the most MPG?

and good jet size for a stock DR350 mine seems to run lean has a 128 jet. runs great but backfires alittle when engine breaking

also what brand of motor oil do you guys like best? Im using spectro 10-40

[dtp]

Originally Posted by Lasherman

Hey man, I have both front and back done, come give my DR441 a wirl....I think your just down the street right?

Yeah I may just do that! I think pretty much anything in Turlock is "just down the street."

I'd like to do something before I head down to Spangler for the Prospectors Enduro in two weeks but I don't know if I'll have the time to do it and test the bike out too. Don't want to run it cold-turkey on a new setup.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by straight cut

The oil feed pipe that goes diagonaly across the engine needs to be undone,the header pipe removed and also the cam chain tensioner removed,then you need to wiggle and pull the starter out

Straightcut, thanks for that advice. I knew the tensioner was in the way but was hoping to avoid the other stuff. Oh well....

I put a good charge on the battery and it started up. Maybe an extra volt combined with banging on the starter motor to dislodge some carbon did the trick. Anyway, I am also bringing the DRZ400S to Death Valley as a backup. I'll get into it more when I get back. I am riding with 6 others so should have lots of backup - hope I don't need it.

Maybe I should pick up some refreshments just in case....

[Gage]

I remember seeing a few pages back something about someone making there own custom racks... Are they by any chance now selling them on ebay?

The link to the rack below looks suspiciously a lot like what some of the pictures were. If so is this a good rack? For $60 it cant be beat if its good!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuk...ht_2329wt_1167

[Aussiead]

What was left of my piston..also a photo of my bore. I think its too damaged to reuse with a 79mm piston let me know what yous guys think..

might aswell go a 385cc kit..and change the jetting (I think thats why she blew...lil lean or something)