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The DR/DRZ Thread

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JT said:
The tank can be mounted on an S model by attaching an extra bracket to those mounting holes.
Click to expand...

Doh! :doh:

The tank does have slots molded in for the biscuits.
Makes sense ...

:chug:
 
You know Mitch, if it fits, I would assume you wouldn't care. Hee Hee. I can't help this weekend, rescuing another toy from somewhere with that woman.
 
OldTLSDoug said:
You know Mitch, if it fits, I would assume you wouldn't care. Hee Hee. I can't help this weekend, rescuing another toy from somewhere with that woman.
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In that case I best done all that I can ...
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Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Yet another discovery today ... the rear brake light switch is completely different. E appears to activate via a pressure switch off of the MC itself while the S model uses a mechanical switch activated by brake lever movement.

There is no mount on the E frame for an S switch and couldn't find a resource letting me know if they were compatible.
I've been swapping everything electrical over. I know the S bike runs, so I don;t want to mix in unknown components and then be chasing gremlins.

So, the simplest solution was to weld a blind nut onto the frame ... a little paint ... job done.
 
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mitchntx said:
Yet another discovery today ... the rear brake light switch is completely different. E appears to activate via a pressure switch off of the MC itself while the S model uses a mechanical switch activated by brake lever movement.

There is no mount on the E frame for an S switch and couldn't find a resource letting me know if they were compatible.
I've been swapping everything electrical over. I know the S bike runs, so I don;t want to mix in unknown components and then be chasing gremlins.

So, the simplest solution was to weld a blind nut onto the frame ... a little paint ... job done.
Click to expand...

The DRZ400 E did not come with a rear brake light switch, if you have one, it was added on.

Unless its not a US bike...If you have say a Australia market drz400"E" it will have what we would call an S front and rear brake master and electricals.

The master itself will swap from an S to the E frame, but as noted, the E frame will not have the spring mount or the mount for the switch. Save the hassle and just use the hydraulic brake light switch.
 
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Welding the blind nut seemed a lot less time, work and hassle as opposed to swapping MC.

20 min of prep and prefit got it done.

Rear brake system is buttoned up.
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Removed the rear subframe with everything intact. Pics of the Franken-DRZ and the S donor.

Donor looks a bit naked ... make a great motomule clone.

Wiring retrofit shouldn't be to much of a pain.

I came across two grounds ... back side of the case under the carb and on the coil mount. Is that it?

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Boredom breeds motivation ...

Toy? Pics or ... well, you know.
 
So, I'm really tired of banging my head against the wall here with my DRZ. I'll try to make the story short and see what you guys can recommend.

1. Went to meet the guy for test ride. Fired up and I rode it all over his neighborhood, all good, ran like a DRZ, albeit slower than my previous OldTLSDoug special (Which that one apparently was slower than it should have been) but all good.

2. The next week after getting home, I took it with us and blasted around the trails at Trophy Club with and without the family. No issues.

3. I head up to go get the inspection done on it. About two miles from the house it bogs down like it's out of gas. I stop and get it switched to reserve but no juice to restart. I manage to get it pushed enough to where there's some downhill coming in the back of our subdivision and get her push started but she's running like crap and eventually stalls turning a corner. With a combination of pushing and getting it rolling downhill for rough starts I finally make it home sweaty and tired. It had plenty of gas though.

4. This is when I decide to eliminate fueling issues with plans I'd already made. Swapping to the big Acerbis with dual petcocks required me to re-plumb the entire thing with all new fuel line and a new fuel filter. I also order up a JD Jet Kit and fit that as well.

5. Some things happen money wise, I buy a new street bike and temporarily money gets diverted and anyway.

6. I sort out some other issues with the bike like the completely worn away chain buffer and finally get around to ordering up a new Yuasa last week. I get it charged up overnight and the next day fit it up and man she fires up good. Oh yea, ready to ride!!!

7. So this brings us to today. I spent Sunday working on kiddo's bike, carb rebuild and replace leaking fork seals and all that that implies. He's off from school today and I took off from work so I start loading up the truck. I decide to fire up the DRZ prior to loading. The petcocks have been on since last week when I fire it up but all it wants to do is crank and crank. I pull it back into the garage, send kiddo inside so daddy can say bad words and pull his hair out. I try to start the DRZ again and it fires up for about 1 second and then dies. No stumble, just runs good and then stops. Then it's back to cranking again. I manage to do this three times before throwing a wrench across the garage and loading up kids bike. I get to sit on the sidelines today.

8. We get home and after unloading and putting everything away I walk over to the DRZ and hit the happy button and she fires up and purrs and runs for several minutes like nothing is the matter.

So, I'm not sure what to look at now. I really want this to be the reliable DRZ that it should be but I really don't trust it to run down the road let alone take to somewhere like Big Bend or that type of ride which is exactly what I bought it to do. Any ideas?
 
Jasen, I would try obvious things, like is the gas tank venting. Does your petcock flow enough gas? Is your float set right, damaged needle seat/valve/float? Yours has an FCR as well, I think you said. Is the thing set up right? Will it start choked?
Look at the coil, is it connected right? Is your spark plug good? Is your plug wire/cap, etc. undamaged? Any water in spark plug hole? Is the drain from the plug hole clean? If you bring it by, I am sure we can heal it, but I am way to lazy to come up there, sir.

I cannot think of anything else, you do have an E, so make sure your CDI box is a 72?
Check on TT at Eriks post to see which you should have.

I am now officially out of guesses. Maybe I helped, maybe not, but at least I occupied you for a bit.
 
OldTLSDoug said:
If you bring it by, I am sure we can heal it, but I am way to lazy to come up there, sir.
Click to expand...

Had a feeling this one was coming, very tempting.

OldTLSDoug said:
is the gas tank venting. Does your petcock flow enough gas?
Click to expand...

Gas tank vents well. I inspected that on the first failure. It had no vent tube at the time but the cap was venting. I picked up a shorty vent tube and have tested it and it works fine as well. Both petcocks flow fuel very well. I also popped the cap off and back on when trying to start today with no help.

OldTLSDoug said:
Is your float set right, damaged needle seat/valve/float? Yours has an FCR as well, I think you said. Is the thing set up right? Will it start choked?
Click to expand...

Black magic carb bs. I'm not going to speak on the float. Needle is brand new from the JD kit as the rest of the hardware. When I got home today it fired right up choked and purred like a kitten.

OldTLSDoug said:
Look at the coil, is it connected right? Is your spark plug good? Is your plug wire/cap, etc. undamaged? Any water in spark plug hole? Is the drain from the plug hole clean?
Click to expand...

adding to the list of things to check.

OldTLSDoug said:
I cannot think of anything else, you do have an E, so make sure your CDI box is a 72?
Check on TT at Eriks post to see which you should have.
Click to expand...
Also adding to things to check. Thanks to soccer schedule I won't have time to dig in till maybe Thursday.

OldTLSDoug said:
I am now officially out of guesses. Maybe I helped, maybe not, but at least I occupied you for a bit.
Click to expand...

We will see, and yes, you did occupy me for a bit.
 
gixxerjasen said in part
  1. bogs down like it's out of gas.
  2. started but she's running like crap and eventually stalls turning a corner.
  3. It had plenty of gas though.
  4. a new Yuasa last week. I get it charged up overnight and the next day fit it up and man she fires up good.
  5. The petcocks have been on since last week when I fire it up but all it wants to do is crank and crank.
  6. I try to start the DRZ again and it fires up for about 1 second and then dies. No stumble, just runs good and then stops. Then it's back to cranking again.

1: Maybe it was, but you might have addressed that with new tank.
2: Don't know, but that is then not now.so lets move on
3: OK
4: OK
5: On? well that's not great, Id expect gas in the case now.
6: Well commonly gas in the oil, it will start cold, then die and not restart when hot becuase the gas is vaporizing..

so, Id start with No new parts till running right other than repair parts.
Then
  1. fresh oil and a plug.
  2. test the pick up coil
  3. test the stator
  4. pull the carb and clean it (sitting more than 4 weeks with or with out stabilizer and ethanol gas is a problem for this bike)
  5. check and or bypass clutch safety switch
  6. check and or bypass the side stand safety switch
  7. try starting with a jumpstart battery to eliminate a battery issue
 
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OldTLSDoug said:
I cannot think of anything else, you do have an E, so make sure your CDI box is a 72?
Click to expand...

Swapped CDI E to S or S to E without doing the associated wiring mod it simply will not start.. there is no ignition signal possible with swapped CDI unless you have altered the wiring as well.
 
Thanks Eric, I'll add those to the list. I'm also using gas from the "Special Station" down the highway in Wills Point that sells the Ethanol Free stuff. That's what goes in the lawn equipment and dirt bikes. Oooh, just noticed pure-gas lists one closer in Terrell now, will have to check that out.
 
I knew Erik would come along and straighten us out. I did the best wild guesses I could. By the way, don't you run a fuel filter as well? Is there crud in it? Did you adjust your valves? Did you pull and replace the cams? Did you install a manual cam chain tensioner? If she is timed right (which I would guess she is based on running fine for several minutes) I would definitely change the oil like Erik said. But my experience with these types of issues is that it is something simple affecting air, fuel or spark. Thursday should be fun. I will be home all day Friday, I think.
 
I havent read every line of the thread where gixxerjasen's problem starts, but I had a problem with my DRZSM once where it would run a bit and then just die and hard to start till it sat for a bit. The interesting thing is I happen to check the oil and noticed an odor of fuel in oil. Apparently if the float needle doesnt hold and you get enough fuel in the oil... the bike can start fine but after warming up and the fuel starts to vaporize from the oil it chokes the bike and kills it. Might just check that to rule out any fuel in the oil from a leaky float needle.
I ended up rebuilding my petcock on stock tank which is vacuum activated and bought a new float needle kit for my stock carburetor.
 
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Yea, it's the intermittent issues, at work and at home, that suck. I changed nothing between tries yesterday. Didn't work the first time, then a few hours later, fires up and purrs like a kitten. It sucks when you make time and get all set to go out and troubleshoot something and it works great, but when you are pressed for time trying to get loaded up, the failure rears it's ugly head.
 
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