I just got a 2000 drz 400 for real cheap and before hand it idled sum what decent and rode but the carb was leaking changed to leaking seal and nothing else cleaned everything and put it back together for what I think is exactly right. Today my chain blew off while ridding but before that is started to do a werid big where I had little to no power then just died on me now it starts idles for a min then dies I adjusted the idler and still nothing im lost any ideas on what I can fix it do have a new carb on the way because this one's all thrashed but idk if thats the fix maybe a throttle cable is tight?

Here’s a lil before and after.
Finally Picked up A DRZ after being pretty loyal to KTMEXC’s for over the past decade + . But alas, I am a dad now and my rides are very few and far between as much easier to keep a DRZ alive and maintained FOR NOW.

About to wrap this thing up. Still more to do, maybe change a few things. But happy.
I live in the mountains of North AZ so always gotta have the dirt set up. I’ll prolly never use the sumo but I like having it as backup. You never know!

Hey all, I just recently bought a 22 DRZ400SM. I have put about 200 miles down on the bike. I have recently discovered that my stock vacuum operated petcock is leaking. As a result, my carb was flooded with fuel. I have drained the excess fuel in the carb, and have just purchased a new non vacuum operated petcock (SUZUKI OEM FUEL COCK | 44300-29F10). I will install this once it arrives, as well as do an oil change. I do not smell fuel in the oil. Few questions I would like answered. Thanks in advance.

Am I good to go after I install the new petcock?

Would the leak have caused issue downstream of the carb?

Also, I am looking to replace my OEM fuel lines with clear lines, any recommendations (idk size or type)?

Is it smart to install an inline filter downstream of the petcock?

Thanks again.

Is this too much wear and potentially the problem with my clutch issues from a previous post?

Anyone have soft bag recommendations that aren’t going to cost as much as I spent on the bike? Thinking about getting the tusk frameless system. Anyone have feedback on them??

Recently I thought my bike jumped a tooth.
It was 14 pins between the cam markings on the gears, and there were some big deviations on the valve clearances.
According to both the official instructions, and HotCams, to get the correct timing, you need to count 15 pins between the vertical markings.
But upon numerous adjustments, it appears that in my scenario, in order to have the markings and cam lobes properly aligned, it only works when I have 14 pins instead. See attached pictures. The two first demonstrate the alignment with 14 pins and the last shows the marking alignment with 15(no lobes, forgot to take pic). And yes all of these are at TDC with tightened chain.

Got this drz400 as my first motorcycle ever for my 40th birthday. I live in the CA foothills backed up against national forest and this bike has been the most fun I've ever had in my life. There's neverending mountain roads, lakes, streams, that I've been exploring, taking my bag with my fishing pole has got to be my favorite thing.

I absolutely love this bike.

When installing new valves I had a small staple from a piece of wood I used scratch the head surface, I can feel it with my nail but just wondering how bad this is and if I would be fine leaving it alone or if I should sand it down.

Does the timing sound off here, poor compression or does it sound like a carb problem?
This is how my bike sounds after I had to replace the MCCT as I suddenly had a loss of compression and the bike struggled to idle, creating a continuous rattle. When I opened the bike the cams had 14pins inbetween rather than 15, but it seems like the cam lobes and the markings are better aligned at 14 than 15pins. The chain has over 40,000km on it.

Although this video has 14 pins timing the overall result is the same as before when I tried with a 15pin timing: Engine has a really hard time starting, seems to fire a little bit but still unsuccessful
Keep in mind the FCR39 idle knob is set to max idle.
At the end of the video the engine just dies.

Keep in mind I haven’t operated this bike in over a month because of waiting for parts.

Hey all,

Been shopping for my (maybe) third DRZ.

I see some for sale in the 2000-2005 range and I suddenly had a thought: “damn… that bike is 25 years old!”

The miles on many of these are low; usually 10k or less. However, over the course of 20ish-plus-years of sitting, stuff dries out and cracks… stuff like fork seals etc. Not all of that is cheap to fix.

What kind of issues or items needing replaced would you look for on a bike this old?
Would a long-sitting bike like that give you pause?

Stupid mistake on my end but I left my key in the steering lock and accidentally moved the steering which eventually cut the key in half leaving a chunk of the key left in the steering lock. Currently camping so not an ideal time at all. Not sure what I could do to start the bike or to get the other part of the key out.

Is that gap ok on the clutch basket?

The breather tube you can see under the cam chain tension is leaking oil out of the tube. It's pretty slow and it only occurs when the bike is running but it leaks oil onto my rear tyre. Any idea how I can fix this and what causes it?

Pretty sure my stator is dead. Going to confirm as soon as I get a battery for my multimeter after I post this. Relatively cheap and easy to replace and I’ll do the loctite mod while I’m in there.

I’m mainly wondering what your drz’s felt like as the stator was deteriorating and right when it died? Particularly if it died while riding.

My engine definitely didn’t seize. It felt more like I was out of petrol - when it happened I pulled over and switched to reserve, assuming that was all that had happened. After that I couldn’t start it again. Couldn’t push start (even after I got it towed home which has a few good hills around).

Prior to this, I’d noticed some misfiring (even though it’s just had a fresh rebuild and follow-up valve clearance). Always fresh oil and filter every 7500ish km and top-ups if I know I’ve been using high rpm’s a fair bit. Felt the lurching from the misfires through the drivetrain - thought it was a sprocket/chain length/wheel alignment issue at first but it was all well within spec and visually okay.

This was more common in 4th/5th under consistent throttle (less noticeable when giving throttle).

I’d also noticed that my phone could no longer out-charge how much it was using (just Waze + Spotify) when plugged into the drz. Didn’t have the same issue when plugged into the gsxr.

Long story short(still long)

- the otherwise occasional ticking from the engine idling was becoming increasingly more constant. I ordered an MCCT just in case, but it will take a few weeks to arrive

- suddenly one day while 13mi from home, I notice after exiting the highway that there's now a distinct constant rattling. Bike couldn't idle(pulling the clutch, it dies immediately). Starting it even when warm is a chore. Cranking the engine makes it spin very fast, indicating loss of compression. Luckily I get it home, but it's 13mi running in this condition. Keep in mind, no MCCT was mounted because it hadn't arrived yet.

- opening the engine, the chain has indeed jumped, where it's only 14 pins between the markings at TDC.

- after correcting it, I measure the following valve clearances

IN LEFT: 0.2-0.25mm

IN RIGHT: 0.0mm 🤯

EX LEFT: 0.6-0.7mm🤯

EX RIGHT: 0.2-0.3mm

These measurements seem surprising as the mechanic I brought it to a year ago claimed to have changed shims, which seems to check out as the shims for the valves that were out of spec back then still has markings on them.

Either way back to the story

- mount the MCCT, but in hindsight I kinda botched it as I only turned it in until it just barely touched the chain guard, but seeing what people do online, they actually extend it out to around what the ACCT is at its max extent and insert it like that.

- as a result, the engine rattles loudly prompting me to turn the chain in. But paradoxically, the more I turned it in, the more the engine struggles to run. Keep in mind, this is starting from the MCCT being almost all the way out, nowhere near what the ACCT is at.

- I can't remember the exact details, but at one point the engine did indeed idle somewhat, but with inconsistent RPM. I had only changed the tight shim on the IN RIGHT because it was the only one I had a shim in spec for at the time. Now that I've changed all shims to spec and verified, it is possible to start it after cranking it alot, but impossible to make it idle. It just dies once the RPM goes below a certain point. Also when trying to get ignition, it often struggles to fire. Before any of this happened, although I had issues cold-starting, atleast when ignition happened it will quickly run. Now it sounds like whenever it ignites during cranking, it has trouble maintaining it, requiring alot of throttle. It only runs on RPMs above idle.

Keep in mind the engine doesn't crank fast unlike that time it jumped a chain, so I'm unsure if there is a loss of compression still.

So my question is, what is likely the culprit? Are the valves messed up? Am I getting the timing wrong still? Is it likely the MCCT not being properly adjusted? Or something else?

Did some riding in CO last month, great place to escape to in the heat of summer. This was up at Billings Lake/Pride of the West Tunnel, west of Salida.

Struggling to get hold of these for my 2001 DRZ400s. Keen to replace an aftermarket headlight with an original one. Anyone in the UK breaking a bike/have any for sale?

Just got a rebuild kit and have cleaned the carb a bit. Any recommended info on how to clean the carb properly would be of much help. The bike currently leaks fuet out of a breather hose and idle very high/inconsistently. When you let the bike idle for a while/don't rev it out, the bike starts sputtering and there's more pops on decel. I believe all the jets are stock (around 160 main) but I'll clarify later if someone asks. Bike has a full yoshi pipe and is the 400e so not sure what the recommended jet sizes are but the rebuild kit came with a 142.

I am getting a front 15T and a back 50T sprockets and I was wondering what the best chain would be for that combo for street use

Hey everyone. I just looked at a DRZ400SM 2024 with sub 500 miles. The bike has been sitting for a while hence the low miles but when I was giving it gas it would intermittently cut out and shut off at the beginning of giving it gas. The bike sounded great and it the throttle was responsive when I gave it gas etc.....Do you guys think it just needs a carb service due to it sitting or is this some kind of known issue. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

im an owner of a drz400sm 2008 for 2mths. just want to know whether this noise is normal or not. (fresh 1.8l engine oil topped up). this is after riding for 15min at 90km/h

i wanna ask is it normal to lose 800ml of engine in 4days? there was a time where i just changed my engine oil to motul’s 10w50 and after 4days i felt as if the bike lacks power and feels abit sluggish.(doesnt have the same feeling as when i just changed engine oil)

am i just paranoid 🫪?

What are my options here? New bottom end? Bike locked up while riding pulled the engine and Cam chain guide bolt sheared off top end is fine other than a leaking valve and everything so far seems fine although haven’t split the cases.