[Another] DR350 - The Story So Far

[boboneleg]

Nice work , they're a great bike to work as they are not too complicated. That's a very neat mod on the throttle

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[Thedktor]

Yes, a simple and solid design, a lot to be said for that....

The throttle mod is a bit tricky as you need to remove the throttle butterfly (the disc in the pic), which is held on by two small, soft-headed screws that are very very tightly secured.

You need a perfectly fitting cross-head driver, the carb secured in a vice, and full commitment when cracking the screws! If the driver slips the screw head is mush....

[Thedktor]

During a short test ride I noticed the forks felt harsher than my other DR so it was possible someone had put some thicker oil in. I don’t need hard suspension on this bike so drained the oil out, which was pretty dirty anyway, and put in the standard 10W. A nice plush action resulted, perfect

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Pic below - DR forks are pretty basic with just compression damping and a bit of pre-load adjustable. The damping screws were seized on the spare forks I was testing so after soaking with WD40 for a bit with the forks upside-down I gave them a gentle tap with the impact driver. The screws are quite delicate so had to be done with some care, but they freed up immediately – great!

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Below, this was not as serious as it looks – the wiring was all good but someone had tightly wrapped the original loom with insulation tape and it was really stiff. It needs to flex a little otherwise strain is applied further down the loom when you tun the bars. I used some amalgamating tape which is more flexible when wrapped, but will replace this with proper loom tape at some point…..

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[Thedktor]

Cam Chain. It is relatively simple to check for cam chain wear but you first have to take off the exhaust header and gearbox oil feed to get access. Take the spring out first, and carefully extract the tensioner and you can see how far extended it is.

Then to confirm, pull the tensioner right out to maximum adjustment and push it in the locating hole to see how much adjustment is left. The picture shows it will need doing at some point, but should be fine for a few thousand miles.

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This DR is essentially stock but I was quite surprised how well it went on the first trip up the road, and confirmed in many rides since. The torquey engine pulls strongly through all 6 gears and offers easy cruising at 60-65, which is a decent enough speed when running full knobblies. Work the engine a bit harder and you can buzz along at 70, plenty for non-motorway roads.

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I borrowed the whole front brake assembly off my other DR initially to save time as this DR's brakes were not releasing fully and dragging. It was the usual cause with an old bike, corrosion builds up in the seal grooves which pushes the seal outwards stopping the pistons moving freely. Luckily, and unusually, the seals were all in good condition and reused.

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I wasted a lot of time trying to get the brake bled and kept ending up with a soft lever. There is however a guaranteed way to bleed a front brake which I used at Husky Sport, a vacuum device that you stick on the bleed nipple and it sucks fresh fluid through from the master cylinder.

I haven't got one but remembered I had a large syringe in the garage, so stuck that on with a short bit of hose, and used it in reverse, gently pulling through a m/c full of brake fluid. Instant firm brake! Ah.

[Thedktor]

A new bike has to earn some trust with me before being used on longer rides, so I start off with a few trips round the block, then build up the distance while sorting out any snagging issues. Nothing too serious cropped-up on this machine, apart from an annoying problem with the gear lever, which kept coming loose despite being rock-solid at the start.
That was a puzzle we will return to later…

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The previous pic is from the first full trip, about 100 miles, where the bike performed perfectly, smooth, comfortable, capable, a proper trail bike. This bike’s intended use is mainly for the winter where comfort in poor conditions is more important than having race-capable suspension, and of course, strong electrics for my heated gear. On checking the bike over after the ride I was really now getting quite annoyed to see the soddin gear lever had worked loose again, the [used] front tyre needed changing as deep cracks had suddenly appeared around the knobs, and the back tyre, well, this.

Luckily the nail had not gone through, but it was a reminder that the worn tyre needed changing.

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Below, yes, it's another exciting picture of a tyre, but an unspoilt new Maxxis IT Cross - my tyre of choice. I don’t think there is a better tyre for general trail riding - they wear well for a full knobbly and feel secure on tarmac which is important cos a I like to have a bit of fun on the road too.
Changing tyres is something I have done many, many times, and can do them quite easily, but, there are sooo many other things I would rather do instead. However, on the next ride I was quite glad to be sporting fresh rubber as it had got very very wet and slippy on the ol trails.

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[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Saw a DR350 on the trails while waiting for the Edinburgh Trial to come through a section (I was an Observer)...still a great bike!

[Tramp]

If the gear lever/ selector is std bolt through , just use longer bolt from underneath and a nylon nut on top...but file like 4mm off one flat so when it closes around shaft it's tight..and clean the shaft threads up too..

Common problem on xt660z etc...singles love to vibrate..

[Thedktor]

So, yes, this gear lever. It kept coming loose which was a puzzle as I was doing it up as tight as a tight thing each time. I had of course made sure that the split end had a good gap and there was at at least a mm air gap when it was tight. Also, you can see in the pic that I had put in a bigger bolt, with two nuts - it was TIGHT!

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Bu eventually I realised what was happening. The spline on the shaft is quite worn where the gear lever had obviously been loose for some time, and had basically created a taper *in* towards the engine. I was tightening the lever with it positioned on the outer end of the shaft, but because of the taper, in use it would work its way inwards to the worn narrower section and become loose.

The answer was to tighten the lever further down the shaft on the worn narrower section. The lever required a small tweak to clear the engine case but can't move now, and stays firm!

[Thedktor]

This bike is sporting indicators as a few grammes weight saving is not going to make any noticeable difference and I quite like having them for the road. I also want this DR to be a proper dual-purpose bike suitable for commuting when required. A job still to do (a year on!) is to find some better options to the humongous OEM things which appear to have been designed for a large lorry.

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When I bought the bike there was a rack on the back, but I don't use racks normally as things inevitably rattle loose and get lost. The OEM indicators are long-gone - they would have been the same as the front - huge.
These indicators came with the bike but are rigid, so I mounted them on some flexible plastic, for now....

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[Thedktor]

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Feb 2024 and the bike spent the next few months taking the brunt of the winter and was pretty much always covered in mud....

One small problem became evident: Despite not even a hint of smoke when starting or while running the bike does burn a little more oil than it should and needs topping up every few hundred miles. Not a major problem and several thousand miles have passed without it getting worse. Now, as the cam chain also needs replacing I might as well do a rebore and new piston at the same time.

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The DR350 has quite a purposeful look I think, very different to a modern bike of course, but hey, I like it. Note that as per an earlier post I swapped out a lot of parts that needed testing for another project - the seat, mudguards, swinging arm, and wheels(!) are not the originals