1996 Suzuki DR350

On a jeep trail in the George Washington National Forest (VA)

Shortly after buying the "S" model, I stumbled across a non-running '97 off-road DR350 (Suzuki made both) that the owner was selling as a parts bike. He thought was beyond repair. The compression seemed down a bit which I later learned was due to the automatic compression release that my older bike didn't have and the suspension components, brakes, wheels seat and fenders all appeared to be in good shape. I bought that one really cheap as an organ donor. Within an hour of taking it off the trailer at home I had it running too - good lick! The 5 year newer off-road bike had a better rear shock and much better forks plus a slightly larger plastic tank and a more performance-oriented flat-slide "pumper" carb. All good stuff that has mostly been migrated to the street legal model. So, I ended up with a great street legal DS bike with a spare of nearly everything including a complete running engine. Since then I've bought two other street models which I "fixed up" and sold or traded and several off-road models (without titles) have been parts donors. All in all, I've owned 8 or 9 DR350 bikes in various states of repair (disrepair?) but I currently have only one and my son has one (off-road only).

The original '92 model is now gone and in it's place is a '96 "S" model frame which I rode for a couple of years with a kick-only off-road motor. It has the much improved late-model forks and 3-way adjustable rear shock from the '97 off-road model. I've also replaced the stock tank with a 4.2 gal Clark model and the seat with a custom seat built by a local upholsterer. These were all positive changes that make my DR a better all-day DS ride.

When properly tuned the kick start motors are not hard to start but they can be a bit inconvenient if you stall on a steep grade or in a deep rut. Plus I'm getting a bit lazy in my old age so this past winter I picked up a basket-case e-start motor and built it from the cases up. It's stock except for a Wiseco 10.5 to 1 piston. I've even came full circle and have gone back to the street model CV carb because I will be riding this bike from sea level to 13K feet altitude and I don't want to be bothered (again) with re-jetting every 4K feet or so.

The DR350 is pretty much all I had hoped. It has plenty of power for DS riding (about 30 hp vs the KLR650's 36). I've ridden several 650cc DS bikes and even bought a DR650 and while the power of the bigger motors is nice on pavement it really isn't usable in most off-pavement situations in this part of the country - maybe in the desert... I put this bike on the scale and with the "new" e-start motor and battery it weighs about 300lbs. That's at least a hundred pounds lighter than the porky KLR and maybe 60lbs less than my DR650 plus it feels like it carries its weight lower. Compared to the KLR, the little DR has a better off-road suspension with about 2" more ground clearance. With the wide-ratio six-speed gearbox, it's quite capable of cruising comfortably at 2-lane speeds (~5,800 rpm at 60 mph - redline is 9,500) and it will still chug up everything I've pointed it at so far.

At 13,500 ft (Imogene Pass, CO)

On the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park (UT)  

The primary gearing (crankshaft to clutch basket) was lowered on all DR350s in '94 when the "S" model got electric start. With the new, lower geared motor, I've found the stock 15/41 to work well for the final gearing. That's still considerably taller than the off-road bike's OE gearing (14/49). The off-road model's Mikuni TM33 "pumper" carb provides dramatically improved throttle response over the standard "S" model's constant velocity unit and but does use more fuel. I could never get the fuel consumption much above 50 mpg with it and I did encounter some jetting "issues" when riding daily for a couple of weeks above 10K feet in the Rockies. I had to rejet (leaner, of course) in the hotel parking lot in Silverton, CO in order to not routinely rich foul the plug. In my experience bikes with CV carbs seem to tolerate altitude changes better than those with cable operated slide carbs and that's why I've gone back to the BST33 with my e-start bike.

I never really like the "cyclops" look of the OE headlight on the 350 so I've replaced mine with the light , shroud and fender from a late model DR650. The OE instruments where replaced by a TrailTech Vapor mounted on a custom dash. I added a small digital voltmeter to monitor the condition of the charging system. I've also moved the handlebars forward a bit to put me into a better riding position. The pipe is a "Jesse" modification. The luggage rack /grab handles are custom.. This bike a "SE" model charging system and Dual Star heated grips plus a SAE plug at the front of the seat for powering my electric vest and GPS. When it was kickstart, I ran it without a battery (0.9 farad capacitor) but now, of course, it has an AGM 7 amp-hr battery. The little Wolfman Expedition tank bag tops it off. It's a great DS bike for me!

DR350 S (street legal)
Overall Length: 2,235 mm (88.0 in)
Overall Width: 885 mm (34.8 in)
Overall Height: 1,245 mm (49.0 in)
Seat height: 890 mm (35.0 in)
Wheelbase: 1,440 mm (56.7 in)
Trail: 115 mm (4.6 in)
Ground Clearance: 290 mm (11.4 in)
Front Suspension: 11" travel, 2-way (pre-load, compression) adjustable rod-type forks
Rear Suspension 11" travel 2-way (pre-load, compression) adjustable shock
Claimed Dry Weight: 118 kg (260 lbs)
Engine: Air/oil-cooled 348 cc 1-cylinder SOHC 4-stroke, 4 valves, Dry-sump lubrication
Carburetor: Mikuni BST33 33 mm constant velocity (CV) carb, 30 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Transmission: Wet clutch with 6 speeds.
Generator: Flywheel magneto for spark with a 3 phase AC generator and battery (~225 watts)