[Another] DR350 - The Story So Far

[Thedktor]

A quick mention first of my 1993 kicker DR which is still running strong and some stuff on it here:
https://adventurebikerider.com/forum/vi ... 6&start=40


But this is all about another one, brought home on the back seat of my car after being stripped down. It's the 5th DR350 I've owned, the how's and why's repeated from another post below.

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"So this happened year ago, December 2023. How and why is a good question, but it started while casually browsing the motorcycle section of FB Marketplace. Just for fun I occasionally send an enquiry on stuff that has been sitting there a while, but it is rare to get a reply. However, a seller with an interesting DR350 did actually reply, and unexpectedly accepted my casual offer, pending viewing.
Ah, this caught me off-guard as the bike was over 100 miles away and I wasn't prepared to travel that far to find the usual pile of sh!te that most old second-hand bikes seem to be.

By pure chance a work trip took me part of the way and gave me a good excuse to go and have a look at the bike. It was a 1999 electric start DR, the newest you can get, and turned out to be in really nice condition for a 24 year old machine, and a deal was done.

Now, I could have gone home and returned with a van but, bearing in mind the distance, this would have involved another 5 or so hours of my time, plus fuel of course. So plan B it was: strip the bike down and put it in the car, a very unsuitable VW Passat saloon.

Now, I have done this before, and it is not recommended, but... it can be done. First protect the car carefully with lots of cardboard and old sheets, and after an hour or so with the spanners this big lump fitted on the back seat.

Fortunately there was 3 of us to put it in the car, and once home, with the aid of more sheets and card, I carefully dragged it out and plonked it on the skateboard for easy movement.

75kg as you ask - yes of course I weighed it! �� I can lift it but it's not very good for the ol back.
Anyway, job done, and not a mark on the car, very important."
----

OK, back to the story, and I was going to strip the bike anyway so taking everything apart was not really a wasted effort. It was nice to find greased bolts and no nasty surprises.....

First thing to check and re-grease, the steering head bearings. Due to the oil-in-the-frame design the bearings get hot and can dry up after several years use. Fortunately these had received some attention at some point and just needed some fresh grease.

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Steering head, and forks back on, but not the originals.....

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What.... ? Yes, this is where the project takes a slightly unconventional direction. Instead of putting all the original parts back on the bike I'm trawling through my pile of old DR bits, refurbishing anything worth saving and testing it on this DR.

There is a hidden agenda to all this - I have another DR project buried in the garage, and all the refurbished parts will be used for that, at some point!

[Thedktor]

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Yes it's a wheel! To save time I stole it off the other DR in the background, which was hibernating over winter.


The pic below is just a selection of nuts n bolts from the bike, about half-way through the reassembly process. I knew where most bits went, the rest, well, I'm sure it would all work out.....

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Time to get the back end sorted, so I dragged out a pair of old swinging arms from behind the lawnmower and made one good one from the two, perfect

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[johnnyboxer]

Keep it coming

[Thedktor]

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The DR350 has one little quirk which is this section of the rear subframe. It sits under the mudguard rather than on top, and not surprisingly rusts after a number of years (along with the battery box arrowed). So it got treated to some rustproofer and paint. No after picture so you will have to imagine this all shiny.

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Another little DR350 quirk is this above - the two bolts holding on the clutch cable clamp. They screw into an oil gallery behind the clutch cover and have special sealing washers to prevent oil seepage. Once disturbed they tend to leak, so either require replacing, or do what I did and put a bit of gasket sealant on the washers and job's a good 'un.

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Older DRs tend to have tapping tappets and ticking cam chains, but this one didn't. Which made me a little suspicious that the valve gaps, and maybe even the cam chain, where a bit tight.

But I was pleased to find the valve gaps bang on spec, and the cam chain we will return to in a bit....

[Thedktor]

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Above is the correct way to turn the engine to get top-dead-centre to check the valves, spark plug out. You can do it by turning the rear wheels while top gear is engaged, but.... it lacks finesse.

Oh, did you notice the front sprocket? Yep, straight in the bin....

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A few things to do here, tighten up the loose gear change lever, check and grease the lower chain roller, and swap out that worn sprocket.

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Yes, exciting - a new sprocket!

OK, that's enough about the ****-ing sprocket Steve! Let's move on, the next pic will be more interesting, or at least compared to the SPROCKET.

Damn I said it again.

Oh, as an aside, I usually change the front sprocket 2 or 3 times per chain, the rear sprocket is changed with the chain....

[johnnyboxer]

You cannot beat a Christmas bike rebuild/restoration thread

[Thedktor]

Ah, thanks johnnyboxer

I suppose I should show the bike as it was before it was stripped down to put in the car. Looked pretty smart, though someone had done a neat cosmetic job with a spray can in places so not all original by any means.

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Stripped the carb to check the internals. Why? well it's a 25-year old bike and there could be all manner of horrors in there. But all was good as can be seen below and the jetting was standard - perfect.

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When I first looked at this bike it appeared to be remarkably "un-butchered" for a 24 year old bike. It was essentially all standard, even having fresh-looking Suzuki cables fitted. Of course, once I started looking a bit deeper there was some right bodges and this particular bodge was a new one to me.

The new-looking Suzuki throttle cable fitted was not quite as smooth as I would have expected. It felt really smooth off the bike but once fitted not so good, odd. It took a few minutes to figure out the problem, but on closer examination I worked out it was not the right cable at all and had been clumsily bent to try and fit the throttle housing. Hmm.

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If you look closely at the pic the cable doesn't fit straight into the housing and the curve doesn't match. Basically there was some unwanted friction, so the cable was swapped for the proper one and all was good.

Now, a genuine Suzuki cable is very expensive, I think 60 or 70 quid back in the day and upwards of 100-pounds in recent times! And then I look today and they are now discontinued!

I have never had much joy with after-market cables, and have up to now found old stock OEM ones for more sensible money on eBay. But I guess my choices will be more limited now...

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Avoid the 'stinkyglide' ones sold by a well-known on-line retailer.

IME Venhill are the best of the aftermarket offerings: not sure if they do them for the Suzuki though.

And this just popped up!

https://www.motorcycleproducts.co.uk/th ... paEALw_wcB

[Thedktor]

Avoid the 'stinkyglide' ones sold by a well-known on-line retailer.

Ha, yes, I have mentioned them in the past and returned the ones I bought...

From my experience the cheaper ones are not stainless inner cables, or are unlined giving a rough "un-smooth" feel. Ironically the Slinky ones did have a lining but not the whole length of the outer cable, so there was metal on metal action at the end, hmm.

I have checked and Venhill fortunately still do DR cables so that will be the first option when needed.

[Thedktor]

.
The Suzuki workshop manual is excellent, so much detail including all cables and hose routing, fantastic:

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The DR350 is a dry sump, meaning that most of the oil is held in the frame under the fuel tank. This filter on the down-tube is where it drains down into the oil pump and should be checked occasionally. There shouldn’t be anything on it normally, and I have only ever found anything of note on one [parts] DR I picked up that had a completely destroyed engine..... from running low on oil….

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Below is the throttle pivot, and from experiments in the past I found that by moving the spring attaching point you can benefit from a lighter, more snappy feeling throttle. The bolt and nut are added after drilling a hole, and become the new spring peg.

My DRZ400 uses a larger model of the same carb, but has a lighter throttle, so why not have the same.

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