2011 DRZ400s won't stay running!

Hey guys..... Yeah, sadly enough it won't stay running. I'm almost positive it's not a fuel issue. I'm kind of leaning towards the LAME kickstand sensor. Has anyone heard of this being an issue?

This morning I warmed it up for about 4 minutes, got about a mile down the road, and in mid throttle on a turn, it just died. I got it to start a few minutes later, and it died about a quarter mile down the road. It's just really odd, that a bike with 200 miles on it, won't stay running. I have a hard time thinking that it's already developed a fuel issue. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance fellas!

-Denny

Fuel petcock obstruction, Gas turned all the way on, float adjustment, new bike and new carb,,,,, little piece of mystery material in float needle and seat. Sounds like its running out of gas.

Thanks again Enduroguy! I was really hoping this wasn't the case. Ha ha, I've never been a good carb guy. Looks like I have some learning to do!

The other day, I was adjusting the sag, ant it took me an hour to get the freaking air box out! Compared to the RMZ250 I just sold, (about ten mins to remove) they make it a pain in the ass to disassemble! I'm sure I'll get faster with experience

Check that the fuel is even getting to the carb first. Pull off the fuel line and see if its flowing in on position and Res position. Im not really familiar with the DRZ but KTM has a flaw in the tank vent in the filler cap where a check ball wasn't letting air in and causing a vapor lock. Might be as simple as a fuel tank vent. Being street legal I'm sure they vent it to some kind of canister or something.

Here's a DRZ specific thread that may be a good place to find out.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227340

Thanks guys! I haven't gotten the chance to really do any tests yet. I parked it at my girlfriends house, and the home owners association doesn't f-ing allow any mechanical work to be done even in your own garage! I spilled a little gas (a few OZ) and the neighbor complained.....We almost got an $800 fine. I was able to talk them out of it, but it was a pain. I'll have to take it to work, or my house, to do any fuel related tests. What a bunch of SH*@, eh?

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and thoughts. I'll keep yall posted.

My two cents is before tearing anything apart. Try running on the reserve position, then run with the gas cap off/loose to make sure the tank is venting. If either of these two do not work disconnect the fuel line from the tank and make sure fuel is comming out of the tank. There could easlly be something in there moving around and blocking the screen. If it is not any of these then you are going to have to start breaking out the tools.

Um, didnt you just buy it. It should be coverd by warranty. Just make sure it isnt something you did and then haul it in !

Shane wrote:

Um, didnt you just buy it. It should be coverd by warranty. Just make sure it isnt something you did and then haul it in !

+1 on that one! By the way, you might want to permanently bypass that kick-stand sensor thingy, because they can cause problems when riding off-road. The kick-stand can bounce downward on large bumps or jumps, temporarily killing the motor. I think the fuel valve on that bike is vacuum operated. (No "Off" position)

Inconceivable wrote:

My two cents is before tearing anything apart. Try running on the reserve position, then run with the gas cap off/loose to make sure the tank is venting. If either of these two do not work disconnect the fuel line from the tank and make sure fuel is comming out of the tank. There could easlly be something in there moving around and blocking the screen. If it is not any of these then you are going to have to start breaking out the tools.

Yeah, I tried running it on reserve. It was actually the first thing I tried. Running it with the gas cap loose however, I did not. I'll give that a shot after work. Thanks

Shane wrote:

Um, didnt you just buy it. It should be coverd by warranty. Just make sure it isnt something you did and then haul it in !

Yup, just bought it! It's definitely covered under warranty, and it's definitely going in to the shop. Even if it's just the gas cap, it's going in. I shouldn't be having this problem, nor do I want to deal with it right now. Ha ha!

Relaytech wrote:

Shane wrote:

Um, didnt you just buy it. It should be coverd by warranty. Just make sure it isnt something you did and then haul it in !

+1 on that one! By the way, you might want to permanently bypass that kick-stand sensor thingy, because they can cause problems when riding off-road. The kick-stand can bounce downward on large bumps or jumps, temporarily killing the motor. I think the fuel valve on that bike is vacuum operated. (No "Off" position)

You would be correct, there is no off position on the petcock, (on, prime, and reserve). After reading a few threads on the DRZ trying to figure out what it was, the kickstand sensor seemed like a likely culprit (possible failure/intermittent operation) so I fixed that problem on my lunch break. Glad it's done, but didn't fix the problem however.

Thanks for your insight!

-Regards

Since we are on the topic of saftey switches, I know on the DR650 the clutch switch also is a problem. I have disconected both kickstand and clutch switch. Just my

Shane wrote:

Since we are on the topic of saftey switches, I know on the DR650 the clutch switch also is a problem. I have disconected both kickstand and clutch switch. Just my

This is definitely something that's on my list. Do you just do the same thing as you do with the kickstand switch (cut, and connect the two ends)?

Thanks

Um, I think, if it the same as my 650, behind the headlight number plate is were the clutch switch wires conect. All i had to do was unplug the bullet conectors then plug them into each other to creat the loop. beats cutting and splicing, and in the future, if you ever wanted to reconect them you just switch them back.

Sweet! I love simple Thanks for the heads up bud!

I took it to RMC (Renton Motorcycle Company) the place I bought it, and told them "It's a brand new bike, I don't care what it is.... FIX IT!" They gave me the run around, asking me if it had gas, and when I said "it has about a gallon and a half in it" they said "go top it off, and see what happens".....!!!! Are you fuc#ing kidding me? I'm a mechanic! I might be young (27) but I'm not an idiot. It should run with 3oz of gas. Topping it off should have no bearing on weather or not it'll run, if it already has gas!

The BAD part is, if they have to order a part, it could take 10-14 business days to get, and a day to repair.....Ummmm, I have my endorsement test on the 17th! That doesn't work for me at all.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. I should have just fixed it myself. Lessons learned..Right?

End rant...

WOW, It should be something simple. I wish you luck. Hopefully they dont back burner it ! make sure you stay on top of them and bug the SH*@ out of them so it gets done quick. Even if you have to pay a little extra for over night shiping, Would be better then being without for 2 weeks.

Agreed. I'll be all over them till it's done. Paying $30 for some overnight shipping doesn't cost as much as the fuel for my truck! Ha ha. At 10 MPG, it gets VERY spendy! I think my gas bill was $600 last month Not to mention the fun factor of being on the bike that I paid 7k for.

I won't let them jack me around. I'm great with words, and when it comes to somthing like this, I won't feel bad being a dick (if I feel they're screwing me). All you have to do is throw out the BBB statement, bad online reviews, and let me talk to your manager......all of a sudden things get done!

Other than the one douche bag, everyone there has been pretty good to me. I can't bad mouth them too much. Sometimes SH*@ happenes, and there is really nothing they can do to prevent that.

I have had bikes with vacuum operated petcocks, that dont have an OFF position. First make sure the little vacuum line is actually attached properly to the cock. If memory serves me, turning the lever to PRIME just lets graivty work and gas free flows. Pop the gas line off the carb and turn the cock to PRIME....gas should come gushing out..oh yeah catch the gas in something clean and return to the tank. If this happens and it still wont start, Id say its carb disassembly time to look for crap in there. HINT, before you try to remove the carb, put some duct tape all over the frame around the carb or you WILL scratch the hell out of the frame removing the carb. Guess how I know!!? As long as you are this far, might as well 3x3 and rejet it. Good luck, you can do it

Well I got it back from RMC last friday, and they said it was good to go......... No I wasn't! I couldn't keep it running for more than 30 seconds. Ha ha. I called the service guy Larry from RMC, and he again asked me to check if the gas was on!!!!! If it was possible to punch a guy through the phone, I would have done it at that point. He had been talking to me like I'm an idiot for three days at that point. I really don't think he listened to a single thing I had said.

Long story short, I took it to Enumclaw Suzuki, because I heard they do great work. They knew what the problem was right away. It was a couple things actually.

1. RMC uses the shittiest gas in the world, and after sitting on the show room floor for so long, the gas started to kind of jell up, and clogged the pilot jets.

2. The vacuum line got pinched/cut, somehow during installation, therefore causing a starvation of fuel.

RMC also: Installed the speedometer cable facing the wrong way, so it was getting smashed by the fork. Because it was getting smashed by the fork, they didn't tighten up my front axle all the way. (So they knew it was being smashed)

All and all, I couldn't be more dissatisfied with RMC. From now on, when I have work to be done, or buy a new Zook (because I'm a total sucker for them) I know where I'm not going! At least I have my bike back, and I can go have fun now

End rant....... Thanks for listening.

Sorry you experience has been so sucky. I honestly haven't heard one good thing about RMC.

May not be to late for the dirtyface run ! glad to hear you got it back. My zook dealer sucks too, i have been useing a diffrent shop for my purchases .
The problem with my dealer is there also a Harley dealer. So unless I go out and buy a bunch o crome, I am second rate !

Shane wrote:

May not be to late for the dirtyface run ! glad to hear you got it back.

Thanks Shane!. I'm really hoping to make it, that would be a sweet little run. My fiance has tentative plans for us........I'm, kind of hoping they fall through.... Shhhhh

Shane wrote:

My zook dealer sucks too, i have been useing a diffrent shop for my purchases. The problem with my dealer is there also a Harley dealer. So unless I go out and buy a bunch o crome, I am second rate !

RMC is the same way. Half Harley, and a little bit of everything else really. Suzuki is only one of many brands in their warehouse. One of the major downsides to that is, they can't keep parts on the shelf for every bike they sell, so, they basically never have parts for anything. It's total BS.

Not to mention the SH*@ ton of horror stories I've been hearing about the service department, now that I've brought mine up. Many disappointing RMC costomers out there!

At least you have a good shop that you can rely on! That's awesome!

Inspector wrote:

Sorry you experience has been so sucky. I honestly haven't heard one good thing about RMC.

They have a bar?! ;)

PeteN95 wrote:

Inspector wrote:

Sorry you experience has been so sucky. I honestly haven't heard one good thing about RMC.

They have a bar?! ;)

Ha ha, this is true! They do have a bar, and it really helps take the edge off, when spending three hours signing for a bike! It always takes for ever. Ha ha

So did you get it to keep running or are you changing your screen name to C Denny Stall?!?