DR650 Choke Stuck - How I Found & Fixed the Problem!

[@GreasyBelcher]

Hey Mark, 👋 I have just completed the Great Australian Ride on a DR650. I met Nick McQuilty (who was on the 2014 ride) at the start and he helped drag us out of the clay / rain on a track outside of Texas on day 2. That’s where I damaged the clutch, and where two others destroyed theirs. Three of us had to wait in Moree for repairs. On day five Stuart said to me, “You have just made it past where Mark Victor got to” as I had told him that I watched your videos. The next day they warned us about the cattle grate which claimed another victim on your ride. I thought we had passed it and switched off on approach. It was the most dangerous cattle grate in the whole trip. The road is gravel, which creates a ton of dust, not great if you are following someone. The grate rises and is on a small crest, so you don’t see the other side, which is an immediate bend to the right. I was lucky enough to be standing on the legs on approach and slowed down just enough to stay on the track. Although I was on the very edge before the road straightened out. I had to nurse my bike all the way to Birdsville without going over 100kph as the clutch was slipping. At Birdsville our mechanic Tex O’Grady pulled my clutch apart and Frankenstein’d it together with the parts salvaged from another DR650 repair. That got me all the way across. I won’t bore you with every detail, other highlights include the bolts holding my handlebar raiser together snapping off on a bumpy track and myself having to zip tie the handlebars on to complete 200k ride to Alice Springs, where I got the bike repaired. The worst road of all was the Gunbarrell Highway. That’s were the guy on your trip got the cork screw fracture. We were reminded of that on the approach. One of our guys came off there and his foot was facing sideways as his knee dislocated. Amazingly when writhing on the ground in agony, his knee popped back into place and he was able to continue after two days in the back of the Ute resting. It was a great trip, but I’m happy to have survived and be home safe. Also… Every DR650 made it across. There were 6 of us on those. We had a guy on a KTM790 and his bike had issues 1 day from the end. Nobody could fix it as the bike was too advanced for bush mechanics on the side of the road.

[@paulelberfeld8525]

Nice to see you working on bikes again Mark.

[@billerker]

Love the mystery story format. Your ability to record video while you work in such cramped space is what first attracted me to your site some years ago. Thank you for all the fine work and for the great variety of interesting, entertaining, helpful, and even inspiring videos!

[@stevep9999]

What you didn’t mention was the mental health benefits of tinkering on bikes! Priceless.

[@andrewneale3266]

I’m the first to view the video And I’m from Australia but living in Canada, good on you mate Bloody love watching your videos.

[@BikerBits]

Good Onya Andrew! 👍

[@sector299]

Found this on a search for stuck choke lever on a DR650. Thanks for your great video. You solved my problem, exactly!

[@randomOAS7]

Put mine away for the winter -- out in the garage to install a couple things today and noticed that choke cable was stuck! Bah. Don't know how it got sticky just sitting there, but here we are. I'll probably have to take it apart and clean it up just like you did. Thanks for the demonstration!

[@NinoKuchhauser]

Thanks for this Video! Bought a DR 650 R from 91 and had a problem with the choke too. In my case, the plastic screw was broken. So the DR wont start when warm and while driving I had 2500 rpm…. Yesterday I got the new screw and now I‘m going to fix it. Whish me well 😅 Best regards from Germany 🍀

[@peterdawson7775]

Excellent job, choke sticking common on the dr650, I tried replacing the choke cable with a choke knob , not worth the hassle , went back to.the cable choke, just look after it with regular cable lubes etc, cheers Mark.

[@soothingmeow22]

You guys love the bushpig so much down there and such a community it sucks its no longer sold in Australia

[@toby7504]

A video with the soul of biker bits. 😊 Loved it Mark. 🇳🇴🍺

[@samiam247]

I just lubricated the choke cable on my DR650, you can use a 12mm open end wrench on the plastic nut if you just pop the cables off the butterfly

[@cranerigging3604]

Thank you for the presentation ! 👍 My 2002 DR650 is running rich with black smoke and I'm suspecting possibly my choke is partly open ?

[@bobklincke4671]

Get yourself a cable lubricator. It will allow the inner cable to slide smoothly in the outer cable and prolong the life of the cable.

[@wobblysauce]

Yep... if you took it apart enough to get it out of the carb... it would have been perfect time to do maintenance on the cable also.

[@energizme100]

I love your videos. Seems like using a cable lube tool would solve much of the lever smoothness. Normal yearly cable lubing makes a huge difference on throttle & clutch ease and preventing cable break due to dirt & water in the cable sleeve. Also, using a proper open end wrench to connect the plastic choke to the carb allowing for disassembly again next time you remove. Just because you claim "no mechanic here" doesn't mean not using proper tools to connect parts. Again, I love your videos. I really love your fun attitude and NICE DR.

[@jonathantrexel4299]

Thanks. I’ve not had to do mine yet, appreciate the process video. Cheers from Nebraska.

[@davidcauchi2837]

Greetings Mark, another Home Mechanic fun fixer upper! Job well done, bloody ripper! David...Adelaide...Tiger 900Gt & Street Scrambler...

[@adventuristtv]

“Just the amount of shit you’ve gotta pull off to get to something simple” says the guy who just removed side covers, a seat, disconnected fuel lines, took a safari tank off and spilled petrol everywhere to get to the choke. ;)

[@WestCoastADV]

use some brasso and an earbud in a drill once its all clean, this helps "polish" the bushing it sits in and will save this from happening to you again for a few years, this is a trick you can also use for the needle / seat part internally so it can slide better, brasso is a brass polish here locally in South Africa but im pretty sure its all over :) if not autosol would have a similar brass specific polish,

[@wobblysauce]

It is the same in Aus.

[@Peteslife]

It takes me a day (one of my days work which is a few hours) to do what A mechanic would do in an hour.. What I make in a month (My latest motorcycle lift) I reckon a qualified welder would do in a full day with the right tools and knowledge. And my welder breaking down, so had to replace it.. Thats why you saw me at the lookout cos I had just been to Mansfield looking at new welders..

[@BrewCityRider]

Looks like a crowsfoot wrench with extension would have worked perfect on that choke fitting at the carby. Also cable lube would have helped. Enjoyed the vid👍

[@blacksheep6888]

It's not a choke it's an enricher

[@jason-oh6qr]

Honda atvs use that choke setup and seems they get froze in the carb quite often. Good job getting it squared away.

[@capoa666]

I got same problem in mine never teu to fix it because its runing good. Gonna fix that This weekend 👍

[@billcotton1551]

Well done Mark! Problem solved.

[@northerntoyota7584]

My couple month old dr650 had this happen, definitely hasn’t seen hard use off road. I was able to free it up pushing on choke lever but thought this is ridiculous for a basically new bike!

[@Sum4Seb]

Good job fixing the good ole DR. Miss how simple and easy it is to work on. The pull knob choke is a PITA if you have an oversized tank because it makes it impossible to reach. The handlebar mounted choke is much easier and convenient to use. Those plastic nuts are very easy to strip when putting the choke assembly back in. You'll probably be doing a carb cleaning video in the near future 😂 Great video *T4S* Cheers 🍻

[@BikerBits]

Thanks for the heads up... I wondered about how it would be with the Safari Tank! 👍

[@cliff1551]

Bloody rippa mark 👍🍻👍🍻 always wondered how they work on those models 👍🤞👍🍻too roo

[@andrewheadland9341]

My ktm 640 adventure is the same a earlier dr has the choke button on the side of the carby. My old dr 600 had it easier to use, you should have used a bit of carby cleaner & WD the cable before re installing, it make the cable last longer 👍

[@loucee569]

Hi Mark, great vid. Maybe you can do a vid on how to lube the choke, brake and clutch cables.

[@smrangers22]

Here in DORSET ENGLAND they charge £40 to £50 per hour for me thats ok but some garages are ripping of bikers and charging £75.00 per hour and dragging their heels on the job , its a joke and a rip off . uk bikers beware !!!! p.s.... 2 garages i know who were charging £70 to £75 per hour have now gone bust due to bikers not going there !! well done bikers . Ride safe .

[@michaelpowsey]

Hi mate, UK myself, totally agree with you, some garages charge way over the top, this is why we need Mark to do more how to videos on motorcycle maintenance and servicing.

[@keepyourdatatoolsafe]

Mark your missing the O-ring

[@garywinkworth3380]

good camera work

[@marvinbostrom6991]

I switched to the manual knob best decision no more problems.

[@DarJakBar]

great video, i think this will fix my issue. - Cheers

[@henryhartley9993]

Nice one Mark..

[@someasianguy3793]

My choke cable's elbow (the one that goes up into the handlebars headlight/ choke box) is rattling loose, I tried re-tightening the screw that holds it in, but I still got almost 1mm of play for the cable flopping about.under the choke switch. I really don't know what to do or why it's so uselessly loose. I feel the choke works only at 70% capacity.

[@wixee123]

Love watching Bikerbits 30000+ ft ✈️ not far from HQ TBH .. 😆

[@garywinkworth3380]

kero the best thing to clean your chain. wont damage orings.

[@jaystrock613]

Should of lubed the cable also. I had a drz 400 and loved it.

[@johnmckay5711]

Do the carbs also not need a clean great video

[@BikerBits]

Yeah I wondered that too!

[@johnmckay5711]

@@BikerBits you could tap them off and see what there be out come ?

[@Broozer59]

I had a go at mine and I swore a lot more than you did...

[@garywinkworth3380]

BERGER PAINTS "' KEEP ON KEEPING ON''. REMEMBER THE ADD FOR BERGER PAINTS? easy fix .🤙

[@justgjt]

Has your tank swollen out to 36 ltrs ?

[@BikerBits]

Sure has! 👍

[@jresch10]

You kept talking abut using Karo to clean the port and I'm like, why is he using corn syrup? Then I'm like, oh, he means kerosene, 'kero'. Sometimes I have to translate from AUS to US. 😁

[@BikerBits]

LOL 🤣

[@blacksheep6888]

It's not a choke, it's an enricher. A choke restricts air flow through the carburettor.

[@wobblysauce]

Yes, but that is what it is labeled.

[@blacksheep6888]

@@wobblysauce only because there is no symbol for enricher so they use a choke symbol so morons no where to find it

[@samiam247]

Choking and enriching are one in the same, restricting the air flow enriches the mixture, the enricher just relies on the throttle being closed while starting

[@aspydes]

same problem, but some more, fear to pull it harder :S ksajhkjsa i hope no brake it

[@Peteslife]

Vacuum the crud out..

[@traviswoodworth7416]

These videos would be more enjoyable if you wouldn’t hate on KTMs. Mine comes apart just like yours. People like what they like.

[@BikerBits]

You must be new to the channel! Long running time of picking on KTM's 😃 I love all bikes and I always say buy the bike that spins your wheels and don't worry about what others say! 👍 Thanks for say this as I forget about new viewers!

[@aussiewantok]

Ok, an old KLR is an option dude