Sooo, I forgot I had an account here, and I can see why because I hadn't signed in since '05. My old posts remind me of any typical young kids' posts you see on ATV and car forums hahaha.

Anywho, I bought myself an '02 DS650 Baja last week for a good price. I knew from the beginning it needed a little TLC. I'll skip the beginning and go to what's going on now.

I changed the oil to Bel Ray 10W40 synthetic and a new filter. I drained the gas tank, checked the petcock screens, replaced the gas tank vent line and the fuel supply line from valve to carb and filled it with fresh premium fuel. I cleaned the carb, the jets are 40, 45 and 425.
The carb boot from carb to intake was cracked, I wanted it running for the time being so I used gasket maker and siliconed the hell out of it and sprayed for leaks after I put it back on the bike. I need to order a new one.
The bike is all stock except for a K&N installed before I got the bike.
I also moved the needle clip down one notch to try, which is now on the bottom. I had also checked the rubber "bellows" for any tears, etc. and it checked out well. Put in two new NGK Iridium plugs (all they had in stock).

So, the bike used to start and idle better with the choke on. Now, it seems to start better without it. The bike idles great now, throttle response in neutral is pretty good now too.
Waaay better than it ran when I got it.
The problem:
0-1/4 throttle is not bad but 1/4-3/4 or full throttle and it just starts coughing and sputtering until you play with the throttle and kind of take it easy to the upper mid range, then it picks up and pulls from there. I checked the plugs and they're greyish again like the old ones. (The old ones were more brown, except the ground electrode). So it seems like a lean condition to me, not only because of this, but another problem which I will explain. If you get to the smoother part of 1st gear and give it full throttle and go through the gears, it won't do this. BUT:
(copied and pasted from my post on another forum)
I paid some attention to the line from the petcock to carb, and when I turned the gas on, the line wouldn't fill, I shook the bike a bit and it started to come, but still wouldn't fill the line. Even when it was running it wouldn't fill. Not until I took it for a ride, anyway.

Could this be related to my problems? Starving for fuel?
The petcock seems to work fine, and the screens are not plugged or anything.

Riding again, same story, but I can't figure this out... Cruising along in 4th or 5th at 3/4 throttle, after a while it starts to bog down and almost impossible to keep running, pull in the clutch and it dies instantly. It did this twice again. I tried twice to restart it, no go, so I put it on reserve, it fired up. While riding back to the house, I put it to "on" and tried it again, well, cruising along again, it died.

I don't see how putting it on reserve would make it any different. It runs the same, but it started. Plus the only difference is that on reserve it uses the fuel level that is too low for the "on" screen. Just a shorter screen is all.



Wtf is going on... Seems like it's starving of fuel somehow.

Can anyone hear pleeeeease help me out? I'd like to be out riding when I can without fear of burning or blowing the bitch up lol!

 

Are you sure your tank vent hose is not pinched somewhere along the way? It is long and has alot of area to get crimped in there amoungst the tank cover and some of the other stuff it wraps around.
Of course none of that would explain why your symproms go away on reserve but it may be just enough time to run some fuel into the line while you're tinkering with the petcock.

 

I'm almost positive it's not pinched off or plugged, I was careful when I put the new one on and routed it.
And as said, on reserve, it still runs the same, but it started for some reason and not when in the "on" position.

Whoever routed the old one (which was cracked and broken, etc.), wrapped it around the tank a couple times and then left it.
The new line I put on I ran over the front of the tank and down near the lights.

Besides, I tried unscrewing the gas cap and even tried it without it on, same problem.

 

Have you got a buddy nearby with a DS that you can try swapping out the regulator/rectifer with? And then the CDI? Those two items are easy to plug in to eleminate or verify them. Gotta be fuel, air, or spark!

 

No, unfortunately I don't know anyone else with a DS. I'm pretty sure this is fuel related, but not sure exactly what the cause is... I've seen weirder things be the cause of a problem before , though. Lol

 

I know this might sound weird, But I had the exact same problem with the DS650 I bought from someone. Turned out the battery was weak. Eventually it died on me, leaving me stranded on a trail.

I later found out the DS will not run without a well charged battery.

I thought it was starving for fuel too, I checked everything as you explained and had the exact same thoughts.

Once I put in the new battery, I was riding!

May not be the same problem, But it can't hurt to check your battery juice.

 

Battery is brand new, fully charged... I wish that was the problem! It'd be a simple and quick fix rather than trial and error and throwing parts at it! lol

 

I know what you mean about throwing parts at a problem. $$$$$

I was thinking it might have something to do with floats in the carb. I had mine apart last week (because the float valve got stuck open and fuel started pouring out of the overflows). I wonder if you might have the opposite problem. Not enough fuel is getting in the bowl, or through the float valve. Once you get on the throttle it uses the fuel faster than it can replenish. Maybe?

 

It doesn't sound like fuel starvation due to the floats. If so I would expect the top end to suffer the most where it needs the most fuel. What you are describing is in the mid range correct?

Have you tried different needle clip settings which control your midrange fuel delivery.

 

Mainly midrange, correct. If you just snap the throttle from 0-1/4 it just sputters and such as described.

And I had moved the needle clip down one position as I had stated in the original post... It was the 2nd from the bottom, and now it's at the bottom notch... Didn't make much of a difference if any.