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An unfortunate event had led me here

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  semipermeable7 
#1 ·
Howdy y'all.
I was on my way to my mechanic yesterday for some maintenance work. About 1/2mi away from it, I came to a traffic light on red. Immediately after coming to a complete stop, I was engulfed in white smoke. The oil was leaking badly so I pulled into a gas station. Not knowing what might have gone or still is bad, I rode the rest of the way (after cleaning the lake of oil at gas station and apologizing for the mess, of course).

Then, the mechanic had found --- not only the front sprocket nut missing, but so is the threaded portion of counterpart (same as the case below) which seem to be Drive Shaft. How common is this? I was spending hours on local twisties the day before; I came pretty close from killing myself out there. I see on different forums about this nut coming loose. I had it checked not long ago, but I honestly cannot remember how long ago.
http://main.slackriders.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=67270.html

The mechanic had told me that the complete overhaul would cost give or take $2000 with new parts (gaskets, seals, bearings and all that). I may be able to save a few hundred$ by reusing parts where I could.

I love my DRZ400SM but I was contemplating to get plated 450s. I would like to get some opinions as to what my choices I may have, and what former/current/(future?) DRZ owners might do in a scenario like this... Repair/Rebuild? Engine Swap? Sell as is and get another? I'm little inclined to just repair, at least I know the history of the bike a bit more, I'm pretty happy with the rest of the set up on the bike and with the mechanic... but what do I know... I maybe missing some factor from the equation... Any thoughts? tips? advises? Thanks for your time!
 
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#2 ·
One of the last DRZ's that I rebuilt led to the owner deciding on moving up to a 450 after his DRZ was fixed.

Once his DRZ was back on the road it sold within a couple of weeks. He then bought a 450 and it was like a whole new rider. He went from barely being able to wheelie to intentionally scraping the rear fender.

Basically the lighter more powerful 450 opened up a whole new world of opportunity to him...

Now we get into "450s will blow up in 10 miles if you don't adjust the valves every 5 minutes and change the oil after every time you start it". I have literally rebuilt more DRZ engines with less miles then most of the 450s in our group. The majority of our group is now 450 style bikes and they are in fact quite reliable. Most are 450x's or WR450s but regardless some of them are daily rides and do just fine!

 
#4 ·
Crash279, phrolic, thanks for taking time in replying.

I did a bit more research and stumbled across this thread.
http://dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13435-drz-motor-blown/page-2
Someone had the engine work done at Yoshimura RD, up in Chino, CA.
http://www.yoshimura-rd.com/content/services-drz400.asp
I happen to know someone there, so I'll see if I can get a decent price.
I should also check Eddie Sisnero's place too...

Tapping into the broken shaft!? woa, that's pretty wild for me. I envy the ones who were successful at it...

Thanks again!
 
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