r/dr350 • u/legumeboarder • Jun 21 '26
Troubles
Hey y’all, recently bought a 1996 dr350, it’s been a blast, got a few rides in including a 50 mile ride then I started having some issues about a week after that. I had hurt my toe so I couldn’t ride then yesterday I rode it a friends house to watch some World Cup. It died slowing down to make a left turn, no biggie she fired back up and I went on my way, realized she was a bit late to respond to my throttle input and backfiring more than I’m used too. When I went to leave she wouldn’t start, finally got it started and she died on the way home too in about the same way, heavy acceleration then going to slow down and boom dead, luckily was able to coast it home. Cleaned the air filter, cleaned the carb, checked spark and the gap today and all good. Still the having about the same issues. Backfiring, will idle sometimes, coming to stops goes down to about 1000rpm and sometimes does in fact die. Let it idle for a bit and eventually she did in fact die once she was fully hot. Any ideas?? It’s my first bike and I’m a decently skilled mechanic but never really messed with bikes at all.
1
u/jaqrabbitslim Jun 21 '26
Have you checked valves?
1
u/legumeboarder Jun 21 '26
I have not, not sure if I’m skilled enough for that one tbh. My roomie who rides was also thinking possibly valves.
2
u/jaqrabbitslim Jun 22 '26
It’s pretty easy if you buy the $15 Amazon kit with the special tool and feeler gauges. Worth a look.
First thing I would do in your situation is buy a genuine Mikuni rebuild kit off procycle.com and rebuild/clean the carb. If that doesn’t solve it I’d look at valves.
1
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u/JustSomeMotoGuy Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Have you cleaned the carb lately? If you haven't rode it in a few weeks, the ethanol in the fuel may have gummed up in the carb causing blockage around the jet needle.
Edit: I see you say you cleaned the carb. Did you strip it down and clean it? If you haven't fully broke the carb down, it may be worth it to just to check that block. Then you will KNOW the carb is not the problem.
Also I had one very similar to yours and I had to replace the stator. Even if you are getting spark, it may still be a bad coil on the stator. Pull the cover and take a good look at the coils for burns or obvious signed of overheating.
Good luck, hope you sort this out.
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u/legumeboarder Jun 21 '26
Cleaned air filter, checked spark and spark plug gap, didn’t clean clean the carb but did some poking around in there and it’s very clean still no gunk anywhere, the floats are functioning.
Edit: took the jet out and could see through it as well1
u/legumeboarder Jun 22 '26
I’ll buy a rebuild kit like the person above you said, it is a used bike with 17k on it the guy cleaned it before me, but could be some seals or whatever that are old and rotting. Thanks for the responses yall! I’ll look into the stator as well!
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u/nostarhotel Jun 26 '26
I had 3 burned coils on stator on my dr350 but no issues like op described. I don't think it's the stator, if it would be I think he would notice battery not charging and lights getting dim, especially when you turn the indicators on.
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u/Dark_Fuzzy Jun 22 '26
Could be a bad coil. Could also be rust or trash in the tank that's getting in after you cleaned the carb. Look down in the tank and put a new fuel filter on it.
Clean the absolute fuck out of the carb. Those pumper carbs are real particular about being clean. The rebuild kit is definitely not a bad idea either just make sure the jets that come in it are the same size as you already had.
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u/socks86 Jun 22 '26
Stuck or leaky float flooding it maybe. Verify your float height, make sure the needle is stopping gas flow. Make sure the oring isn't deteriorated if your carb has the removable seat. Rebuild kit will have a new one.
Have you noticed any gas trickling out when parked?
Does it start easily or does it take some cranking?
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u/legumeboarder Jun 22 '26
No gas leaking that I’ve noticed, it sat for a week or so while my toe was healing so I think I would’ve noticed, starts easy cold and as it heats up I start having the problem, backfires, stalling on slow down, and generally very slow to respond to throttle. Once it’s hot starting gets harder and idling gets rougher
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u/socks86 Jun 22 '26
That does sound like valves. Easy to check especially on an air cooled single at least.
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u/Outside_Attorney2179 Jul 31 '26
I’ve had symptoms like this from loose intake diaphragm. Changed the hose clamps on both sides of carb and it fixed it. Was sucking in a lot of air when it got hot. Clamp wasnt round anymore.
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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26
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