Bike acquisition advice sought....seriously....I'll listen!
KW
outfit the boys with 2-wheeled wonders. Now it may be dad's turn. I have not
been looking very seriously because of budget constraints, however something
hit the radar screen today that is mighty tempting.
Expected riding style/rider specs:
5'9" ~180lbs 40something male
Kids are still learning and 98%+ of our riding will be plinking around
either in our own backyard, nearby forest service roads or the local NF
trails/OHV areas. No MX'ing in the works, but the occasional *spirited* ride
is not out of the question. But overall I'm looking for a solid- dependable
trail rider and the simplicity of an air-cooled bike coupled with the fact
that it is titled and could be street driven to the store and back is a
plus. There is always a possibility that I may drag it out to Jim Cook's
back yard when we visit friends in Russellville, but Scrape probably would
be afraid that this old beast would rub the new off'n that new one of his so
a NC ride might be out of the question <G>.
OK, now for the creature in question:
As advertised- 1991 Suzuki DR 350 S (Sounds kinda like what was suggested to
Mr. Billings time and again).
3,000 miles on the clock (600 total in the last 4 years with the current
owner)
Motor runs strong and cosmetically it's in great shape for her age. All the
electrical components work except for one blown bulb in the RF turn signal
and needs a battery. Rear shock professionally reworked 4 years ago, unknown
when/if forks have been rebuilt. Takes a few kicks to cold start but fires
up with 1 or 2 kicks once warmed up. Chain, tires & sprockets are
good...tires have ~50% life left. Current owner went orange and no longer
rides this bike. Full factory service and parts manuals & extra set of brake
pads available. Asking price is $1,000 (KBB shows $790 Trade-in and $1,265
Retail)
I will probably go take a look within the next day or so and assuming the
bike checks out, rides well, tranny is smooth, etc....i.e no major issues,
it may make it to my stable. I'm open to opinions on this bike in general
and issues to look out for specifically with this model. Assuming I do have
to rebuild the forks, how readily available are the parts for this vintage
and what kind of $ am I looking at ballpark wise?
If I bring her home, that would give me one of each of the big 4 Japs in the
stable....not that that means anything. Pic on a.b.p.m. soon.
KW
scrape
<keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>Ok gang, you guys came through in spades last spring when it was time to
>outfit the boys with 2-wheeled wonders. Now it may be dad's turn. I have not
>been looking very seriously because of budget constraints, however something
>hit the radar screen today that is mighty tempting.
>
>Expected riding style/rider specs:
>
>5'9" ~180lbs 40something male
>
>Kids are still learning and 98%+ of our riding will be plinking around
>either in our own backyard, nearby forest service roads or the local NF
>trails/OHV areas. No MX'ing in the works, but the occasional *spirited* ride
>is not out of the question. But overall I'm looking for a solid- dependable
>trail rider and the simplicity of an air-cooled bike coupled with the fact
>that it is titled and could be street driven to the store and back is a
>plus. There is always a possibility that I may drag it out to Jim Cook's
>back yard when we visit friends in Russellville, but Scrape probably would
>be afraid that this old beast would rub the new off'n that new one of his so
>a NC ride might be out of the question <G>.
Too late.
Bring it on.
Where y'at again?
>OK, now for the creature in question:
>
>As advertised- 1991 Suzuki DR 350 S (Sounds kinda like what was suggested to
>Mr. Billings time and again).
>3,000 miles on the clock (600 total in the last 4 years with the current
>owner)
>Motor runs strong and cosmetically it's in great shape for her age. All the
>electrical components work except for one blown bulb in the RF turn signal
>and needs a battery. Rear shock professionally reworked 4 years ago, unknown
>when/if forks have been rebuilt. Takes a few kicks to cold start but fires
>up with 1 or 2 kicks once warmed up. Chain, tires & sprockets are
>good...tires have ~50% life left. Current owner went orange and no longer
>rides this bike. Full factory service and parts manuals & extra set of brake
>pads available. Asking price is $1,000 (KBB shows $790 Trade-in and $1,265
>Retail)
>
>I will probably go take a look within the next day or so and assuming the
>bike checks out, rides well, tranny is smooth, etc....i.e no major issues,
>it may make it to my stable. I'm open to opinions on this bike in general
>and issues to look out for specifically with this model. Assuming I do have
>to rebuild the forks, how readily available are the parts for this vintage
>and what kind of $ am I looking at ballpark wise?
>
>If I bring her home, that would give me one of each of the big 4 Japs in the
>stable....not that that means anything. Pic on a.b.p.m. soon.
The only thing I'd worry about would be the weight if you were
going to spend much time in the woods with it. And if he's asking
$1000, he'd probably take the $800 anyway.
----
Go fast and aim for where the trees aren't.
----
CrashTestDummy
<keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
> Assuming I do have to rebuild the forks, how readily available are the
>parts for this vintage and what kind of $ am I looking at ballpark wise?
Available parts sampling (Dennis Kirk catalog)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fork Seals - Leak Proof Classic $20.99
Leak Proof Pr-Moly $25.99
Parts Unlimited $8.95
Russell "CycleFlex" stainless brake lines - Fr $52.99, Rr $39.99
Moose swingarm bearing kit - $66.95
Moose suspension linkage kit - $74.95
Moose steering stem bearings - $39.95
Maier side panels - $57.99
Ceet standard seat cover in blue or yellow - $47.99
Moose wheel bearings - Fr $8.95, Rr $20.95
Renthal 7075 aluminum rear sprocket - $61.99
Moose Stainless Steel rear sprocket - $79.95
Parts Unlimited steel rear sprocket - $24.95
Air filters range from $20.95 (PU) to $45.99 (K&N)
EBC clutch kit - standard $58.99, DRC $85.99
Wiseco piston - $111.99, rings $23.99
The balance of the fork components are all available OEM from Bell's
Suzuki: http://www.bellssuzuki.com/default.asp
Including the dust seals - $13.23 ea., slide bushings - $9.57 ea., and
new springs if you needed them - $53.05 ea. But if you're buying more
than $75.00 worth of OEM parts, I'd suggest looking up the part
numbers on Bell's and then going to http://www.cycle-parts.com/
About the only stuff that's not available for this DR, would be the
latest seat covers, graphics, billet clutch baskets, fancy brake
rotors, Acerbis plastic and stuff like that.
A lot of the '91 DR350S parts are shared with other models too, so
it should be pretty easy to find all the items you might ever need.
And keep in mind that the above prices are only Dennis Kirk prices...
you can probably find lower prices at RockyMountainATV and the like.
Fred Bradford - CrashTestDummy
f.j.bradf...@verizon.net
spodely
friend who has one and he actually raced it one year when his main bike
locked up.
John
KW
"scrape" <scrapeN...@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mg65t2tv0v9h0i2d4...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:47:41 -0500, "KW"
> <keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>
> >Ok gang, you guys came through in spades last spring when it was time to
> >outfit the boys with 2-wheeled wonders. Now it may be dad's turn. I have
not
> >been looking very seriously because of budget constraints, however
something
> >hit the radar screen today that is mighty tempting.
> >
> >back yard when we visit friends in Russellville, but Scrape probably
would
> >be afraid that this old beast would rub the new off'n that new one of his
so
> >a NC ride might be out of the question <G>.
>
> Too late.
> Bring it on.
> Where y'at again?
Northeastern corner of GA ~19 miles due south of Murphy, NC in Blairsville,
GA.
>
> >OK, now for the creature in question:
> >
> >As advertised- 1991 Suzuki DR 350 S (Sounds kinda like what was suggested
to
> >Mr. Billings time and again).
> >3,000 miles on the clock (600 total in the last 4 years with the current
> >owner)
> >
> >If I bring her home, that would give me one of each of the big 4 Japs in
the
> >stable....not that that means anything. Pic on a.b.p.m. soon.
>
> The only thing I'd worry about would be the weight if you were
> going to spend much time in the woods with it. And if he's asking
> $1000, he'd probably take the $800 anyway.
>
Good advice, I don't think the weight will be too big of an issue for a
while because (a) the rugrats aren't that fast *yet* and (b)... it's gotta
weigh less than my current woods bike....the big ol green 74 F11 250.
Hopefully by the time the boys pick up their speed, I will be in a position
to add something more current to the stable.
----
> Go fast and aim for where the trees aren't.
> ----
So it's not like in Nascar where ya aim for the wreck and it's gone by the
time ya git there?
Murray
<keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>
>As advertised- 1991 Suzuki DR 350 S (Sounds kinda like what was suggested to
>Mr. Billings time and again).
>3,000 miles on the clock (600 total in the last 4 years with the current
>owner)
>Motor runs strong and cosmetically it's in great shape for her age. All the
>electrical components work except for one blown bulb in the RF turn signal
>and needs a battery. Rear shock professionally reworked 4 years ago, unknown
>when/if forks have been rebuilt. Takes a few kicks to cold start but fires
>up with 1 or 2 kicks once warmed up. Chain, tires & sprockets are
>good...tires have ~50% life left. Current owner went orange and no longer
>rides this bike. Full factory service and parts manuals & extra set of brake
>pads available. Asking price is $1,000 (KBB shows $790 Trade-in and $1,265
>Retail)
Sounds allot like the one I had a year ago, same mileage and such. It
was a fun little bike however I would never buy another one for one
reason, no electric start. Most of the time it wasn't an issue but on
those rare occasions when it was being pissy, you could kick your guts
out with no results. You better have a strong leg, your going to need
it. I changed out every jet, the float bowl, needle and seat and every
o-ring in the carb but it still gave me trouble every now and then. It
was a fun little bike to ride, not much of a dirt bike but it was a
good small sized dual sport. With only 3k miles on it the price sounds
good, that's what mine had on it and I sold mine for $2K.
Murray
>KW
>
scrape
<keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>> Where y'at again?
>
>Northeastern corner of GA ~19 miles due south of Murphy, NC in Blairsville,
>GA.
I'm looking for some place betwixt here and there and all the
normal suspects are ~3.5 hours for each...
KW
> On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:49:48 -0500, "KW"
> <keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>
> >> Where y'at again?
> >
> >Northeastern corner of GA ~19 miles due south of Murphy, NC in
Blairsville,
> >GA.
>
> I'm looking for some place betwixt here and there and all the
> normal suspects are ~3.5 hours for each...
>
I don't recall exactly where in N Cackilacky you reside but was remembering
an old discussion where we settled on Steel Creek in Morganton being ~ the
halfway point.
The seller and I both were out of town late last week so I'll be going to da
ATL for an inspection and test ride tomorrow night.
KW
scrape
<keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
>> >> Where y'at again?
>> >
>> >Northeastern corner of GA ~19 miles due south of Murphy, NC in
>Blairsville,
>> >GA.
>>
>> I'm looking for some place betwixt here and there and all the
>> normal suspects are ~3.5 hours for each...
>>
>
>I don't recall exactly where in N Cackilacky you reside but was remembering
>an old discussion where we settled on Steel Creek in Morganton being ~ the
>halfway point.
That being the case, check out www.bmmspark.com. We're *trying*
to get out there this Friday. And if all the planets align
correctly, we're going to shoot for www.tntmotorsportsinc.com on
Saturday. Those are actually the two spots I was thinking of as
mid-way places. I'm in the Raleigh area.
Brushy Mountain is a little under 3 hours for me and TNT is about
3.5.
The Steele Creek round of the GNCCs will be coming up in about a
month. We'll be going as speck-taters. The weather is pretty
unpredictable around there that time of year.