Hey everyone. I am very new to the DS seen, and bought a 2003 Baja as a reliable bike to have around. It has been apart once to have the trans/engine rebuilt, has a Yoshi pipe, and K&N filter. WHen I bought it, it had the filter clamped on the carb, and the airbox was taped shut. It was also pretty loud. I put the filter back in the box with an outerwear, and bought the yosh quiet core for the muffler. I also took the choke out and oiled the shaft, as it was stuck in when I bought it. When I got it in St. Louis, I ripped it up the street and back through all of the gears, with no problems. It took a while to warm up, but ran great.

Here is the problem. I took it to Silver Lake, and let it warm up for a while, and took off. I didn't even get out of the entry road, and it was backfiring and missing at half throttle. Then it stalled. I made sure the gas was on, took off the cap to ensure it was full, hit the starter, and it fired back up. Ran good for about 100 yards, and the same backfiring, missing, then stalling. It proceeded to repeat this every 4-5 minutes or so, until I made it back to the trailer.

Later in the day, my brother rode it, and it would go longer periods of time, but would still do the same thing periodically. Another time, the temp light came on before it shut down. It never seemed hot to me.

I didn't mess with the jetting, could this be the problem? What should I be jetted at approximately? I live in Detroit. I just took the carb off to dismantle it and have a look at it. I will have it apart tomorrow. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure I said everything.

Anyone else have this problem? Thoughts? Any help is appreciated.

 

A wild guess on my part.
It's a fuel supply problem. Different than a jetting problem.
I would double check the fuel supply hose from the tank to the carb to make sure there are no restrictions. Then I would check the venting system.
It could be many things, but this is where I would go first.

 

unscrew your gas cap half way so it can suck in air through there and see if that changes anything....the ds has the worst setup gas tank vent hose system i have ever seen in my life and i havent had anything but troubles with it....it will act like its outta gas and pop and back fire. If thats the case your vent line hose may be kinked for the vent....

 

Remember the "idiot light " is for temp and oil pressure/level. While the motor is running watch down in the front oil reservoir for flow. If none, don't run it until you solve the problem.

If it was the temp light, check your coolant level, then make sure your fan is coming on.

It could be the breather tube for the fuel tank as was mentioned, also make sure as Dr. T suggested to make sure their are no kinks in the fuel line.

How warm was it outside when this was all happening?

 

My buddy had the same problem and it turned out to be an electrical problem. I think the voltage regulator is what he ended up having to replace. Might want to check into that. Just a thought.

 

I had the same problem! It ended up being a small pebble of sand stuck in the main jet. Must of dropped it in the fuel tank during fueling up or something? Cleaned it out of there and it ran great agian!!

 

Maybe a loose ground. Could have possibly blew out your oil sensor.

 

After we first got the DS we put a full pipe on it we went for a ride and It went great for a couple of miles then all of the sudden it started spitten and sputterin and quite. I would wait a little while and it would start back up and go for a little while longer and die again. Well to make a long story short the pipe had burned the breather hose. It is the one that comes from the gas tank and it ran along side the gas tank and came out to the swing arm. The pipe had closed the hose off.
We cut the hose and it started up and ran great the rest of the trip.

I hope that is your problem. Real easy fix.

 

Alright guys, I will check the gas tank hoses. The guy I bought it from said that the gas cap would get vacuum sealed at times, maybe that is a clue. It wasn't me on the quad when the temp light came on, and I'm not too confident in the information there. It was only like 70 out that day for who ever asked.

I am going to check the carb out, and check the vent hoses. I will post back if and when I get it fixed.

Dave

 

Dont rule out a bad cdi.This is what mine did when it went.Is it after market?