DR350 No.3. 2016 - Present

[Thedktor]

A year ago I sold DR350 no.2 which had served me very well for a couple of years, and I would still have it if I hadn't resurrected the subject of this post, another DR of course!

DR no.2 has been covered in some detail here

The first DR, no.1 is still in my possession and recently back on the road again after some engine surgery, pics to come....

So.... I may have already shared some of these but here it is in full - I bought the bike a few years ago after the young owner had not kept an eye on the oil and run it dry, on the motorway!

a 20150715_165108.jpg (107.78 KiB) Viewed 3140 times

b 20150715_165054.jpg (104.52 KiB) Viewed 3140 times

The engine was just not worth repairing as, apart from the obvious, the cam bearing surfaces on the head had suffered, and who knows what other damage had occurred, but I did have a spare engine, saved for this exact scenario!

Mind you, I had no idea if it was ok! So it had a partial strip down and all was very good

c 20150624_175613 red.jpg (109.31 KiB) Viewed 3140 times

[Thedktor]

Good news, and so the replacement engine was plonked in:

d 20150624_175636red.jpg (127.69 KiB) Viewed 3136 times

.... and then the rest of the bike needed quite a bit of work as most moving parts were in a poor state. I didn't take any photos of note, and in fact I robbed wheels, forks, suspension parts, chain, brakes, all sorts, off of DR no.1 !!

Which saved time but then to get DR No.1 back on the road again recently I had to repair/make up another set of wheels, , fit new chain and sprockets, rebuild both brake calipers, overhaul the suspension .... etc

Back to this project and there was a slight hiccup once the bike was up and running. All seemed fine and it started easily, but wouldn't run properly under load and felt like the ignition was breaking down. Swapped the stator over from the original engine but no difference!

Here's the innards showing the flywheel and electric start gears:

f 20160804_203120red.jpg (132.44 KiB) Viewed 3136 times

Hmmm. I had done a small amount of pre-planning for this the project and set up a carb ready using DR no.2 as a test platform, so assumed it wasn't fuel related.

But it was! For some strange reason this otherwise identical DR350, even fitted with the same exhaust which I had kept, needed a significantly richer mixture.

Raising the needle a couple of notches did the trick, but its still runs quite lean until thoroughly warmed up. Very odd considering the other DR ran absolutely fine using the this exact carb.

Ah well, all good fun, and a little over a year ago, November 2016, DR no.3 flew through its MoT after being off the road for several years and has been used nearly every weekend since.

g DR 2016 a.jpg (105.64 KiB) Viewed 3136 times

[Thedktor]

Zoom in:

h DR 2016 b.jpg (114.93 KiB) Viewed 3135 times

Not quite as shiny as the picture suggests, but my bikes are for riding not polishing... They do get used properly, in all weathers and this DR has, like the others, been totally dependable.

Well, there was one "incident" which I will cover in Part II, but not a fault of the bike as such!

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Please stop putting these pictures up...every time I see one I want to kick myself.

Yes, I am the idiot who sold a DR350S, and purchased....a Husky TE610E.

A decision straight out of the Othello book of decision-making...

[boboneleg]

Wow, I've never seen a DR engine like that before

Anyway, nice work Steve, I still have lots of parts hanging around in my garage so if you want anything just shout.

[Thedktor]

Yes the original engine was certainly mullered!

I have another DR project, an old kick-start model to resurrect next year so may need some parts thanks Bob.

Richard, you have mentioned your TE610E before, shame it was not a good experience. My father had one and did 40-odd thousand miles, with barely an issue, and I nearly bought a new one back in the day!

[PHILinFRANCE]

MULLERD that loked like it'd been chewed up and spat out !!!

What is it about the old DRs ?????? i can't help looking at them on Leboncoin FR and thinking "hell thats cheap" and should i buy one

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Yes the original engine was certainly mullered!

I have another DR project, an old kick-start model to resurrect next year so may need some parts thanks Bob.

Richard, you have mentioned your TE610E before, shame it was not a good experience. My father had one and did 40-odd thousand miles, with barely an issue, and I nearly bought a new one back in the day!

It was one of those bikes that had exactly the right spec on paper...but

1) Stupid air box design...a trail bike that won't go through puddles

2) Poor electrics...blew fuses every time it went out

3) Delivered with wrong jets in carb from factory

4) Leaky carb

5) Petrol tap that would vibrate apart

6) Exhaust pipe routed so close to the carb that it was difficult to adjust screws etc


Sad, because it handled well, had a good headlight, six gears and a lot of other good stuff going for it.

[Thedktor]

Some photos of the bike out and about, a tank on Salisbury Plain:

i 20161211_103847.jpg (55.12 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

And another late afternnon:

j 20161227_150547.jpg (40.6 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

A foggy Hampshire morning, near Soberton:

k 20161230_111757.jpg (44.46 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

[Thedktor]

Heading home near Middle Wallop and the dramatic sunset was matched by an equally dramatic drop in temperature on a late December ride!

l DSC00558.JPG (54.37 KiB) Viewed 2547 times

But if you look very closely you can see a wire poking out the front of the seat which is for my heated jacket - I can not describe how good it is to have warmth on tap, absolutely bloody brilliant.

A couple of engine pics as after a few month's use the usual cam-chain tick showed up so a new one put in:

DSC00567.JPG (59.25 KiB) Viewed 2546 times

It wasn't that badly worn, with some adjustment still left on the cam chain tensioner, but it stops the ticking and I am happy.

e 20150624_175653 red.jpg (115.98 KiB) Viewed 2546 times