problem DR350

hi, ive got a dr350 thats givning me nothing but troubles, ok heres the story:

i bought it about 5 months ago and it was running fine i didnt have a problem with anything, the
only thing was a small oil leak on the left hand casing, so i decided to take it off and fix it, i
took out all the electrics and the pulsar coils (2 of) and cleaned it all, put on a fresh gasket and
rebuilt it, no spark, so i take it back down and realise i got the pulsars switched by accident, so
i switch em back to the proper position and i get a spark, so i think all my troubles are fixed til
i decided to go out on it, now the bike takes ages to start up and when it does will bog out when i
touch the throttle if i dont have the choke on, i get backfires and smoke too, so i did a top end
rebuild including 4 new valves and a new spark plug, still same, so i took my stator to be rewound
and the shop say they found a problem so i thought i had finally found the cause of my troubles, not
so, i rebuilt my bike earlier today and its STILL the same after all this work im seriously fed
up with this bike, im gonna try a new CDI next but i wondered if anybody could suggest anything?

thanks!

 

Man, it's really rough when accidentally swap your neutron stars while
yer just trying to fix an oil leak. Oh, did you think your ignition
pickup coils were called "pulsers?" ;-)

when it does will bog out when i touch the throttle if i dont have >
the choke on, i get backfires and smoke too, so i did a top end

my troubles, not so, i rebuilt my bike earlier today and its STILL >
the same after all this work im seriously fed up with

You're sure doing a lot of unnecesary work when you could just clean
your idle jet out and solve the problem. Another hint: when a single
cylinder engine has sat unridden for a few days or a week, the starting
drill is to turn the idle speed screw all the way counterclockwise
before trying to start it...

Just google up and read what I've said umpty-nine
times about cleaning out idle jets...

 

well whatever they are called there were on wrong, and it wasnt left unridden for a few days, i went
on it daily, and it worked fine before i got the coils mixed up, so im sure it aint the carb

 

Well, then it's two against one. I was going to suggest the problem is
your carb, by Krusty did it better and more quickly.

So, if you tear your flight suit right before you jump out of an
airplane and your chute doesn't open, it can't be a chute malfunction,
it has to be related to your torn flight suit?

You've got a carb problem (too).

 

ok i'll check it in the morning, but would the carb cause the backfiring?

 

Tune Up Checks-
First check your spark plug gap, and that the plugs are clean. Make
sure your spark plug wires are hooked up correctly. Ensure your valve
adjustment is correct.Check the engine timing with a timing light.

If it still backfires, it is a carb problem, and would look towards
checking the floats and make sure they are within spec, and clean the
idle jets while there. This should cure the problem unless further
carb problems exist. Also make sure that it is fresh gasoline use 89
octane. If there is a timing chain adjustment make sure that's tight
too.
Tim C.

 

backfiring?

If the idle jet is all gummed up from the bike sitting around without
being ridden for a while, the engine will go fart-BANG! when you roll
the throttle off, and it will stall every time you slow down to go
around a slow corner...

 

Perhaps checking for an air leak at the carbs is another thing to try. Too
much air for the amount of gas you're getting. You didn't happen to buy a
quart of water with your last tank of gas, did you? Been there, done
that.

 

right, i know what im doing with bikes ok, ive stripped and rebuilt many an engine, i have a service
manual, the pick up coils are the exact same shape/color/size only thing different is the color of
the wires coming out of them, and NOWHERE in the manual does it show you which one goes where, and
i've already checked the carb, new plug, all the wiring, thats why i did this work in the 1st place,
i didnt just do it hoping it would fix my problems i checked the obvious first, and narrowed it down
to where i am now.

no i didnt, i got no spark when i had them on the wrong way so i stripped it back down and corrected
my mistake, then rebuilt it and it was ok, it was only when i took it out for a blast that i
discovered problems, and i assumed they were caused when i had tried to start the bike with the
coils switched, because thats the only thing that changed.

 

many an engine, i have a service

thing different is the color of

did this work in the 1st place,

obvious first, and narrowed it down

stripped it back down and corrected

So as someone who already knows what he's doing, it seems like
in the future you might want to take notes or make diagrams or
label the parts when you start to disassemble a motorcycle.
Like for example you could label the two coils "right"
and "left" with a magic marker and some sticky labels.

Also, I still don't understand how an electrical problem
made you want to touch the valves or stator or carbs or
spark plugs. Did it help much ?

If it were me, I think I might stop rebuilding stuff and just
look for stuff I might have screwed up when I put things back
together.

My general order of troubleshooting might be:

Is it getting a good spark at the right time ?

Does it have good compression ?

Does it have good new uncontaminated fuel ?

Is the fuel getting to the carb OK ? (Are the float
bowls full ?)

Are all the cables and return springs working OK
on the carb ?

Is the carb delivering gas OK ?

 

i took the head off just to check and noticed a valve had slight damage to it so decided to replace
them while it was off, and i wasnt sure it was electrical to begin with.

good spark but cant check if its at the right time.

dont know, but seeing as it ran ok before, yes

think so, bit i'll recheck the carb tomorrow

as above

and again

 

Not sure how the DR350 pickup works (though I have a DR250S myself -
just never had to work on the electricals). For all the world, your
description sounds like a motor that's firing on the wrong cycle - 180
degrees out of phase (that is, the spark goes off at the top of the
intake cycle - hence the poor running, backfiring, etc.).

Sounds like you got a couple wires swapped somewhere along the line...

Mark Hickey

 

ok, i took the carb off today and cleaned and checked it all, started it back up, same as ever, it
starts and idles ok but as soon as i touch the throttle i get the mmmmmmmmmmmmm noise of bogging as
soon as i let go its fine, i'll check the timing but i didnt think it could be adjusted on DR's, so
does anybody know if the CDI could cause this kind of troubles? or if it was the CDI at fault would
i get no spark at all?

thanks,



p.s valve timing isnt suspect because it was like this before i even messed with the valves

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmm noise of bogging as

messed with the valves

Take a look at

http://dr350.kenet.co.uk

In any problem, your three basic suspects are compression (pumping),
igntition and fuel delivery.

best of luck.

 

http://www.mufflerbearings.com/

http://www.geocities.com/changeyourblinkerfluid/

 

"Rob Kleinschmidt" <>
wrote in message

Oddly enough that is what honda calls the gaskets
between the muffler and the header on my
GL1000...who'd have thought that Sensei Honda's
engineers have/had a sense of humor?

Judging by the amount of fluid that would
accumulate in my blinkers when the bike was in
Washington...it must have had a blinker fluid
leak. But I've fixed that problem..

 

There must be an acellerator pump inside the carb. Often the o-ring
wear out and small leaks. This also would give you the bog out affect
when opening the throttle.
Tim.C

 

thanks for the tips, but its not the pumper carb version, it has a CV carb

 

Could be the source coil gone bad. Can you swap it out for a new one?