so many questions dont know where to begin...

its a 2001 drz400s.

was out riding last weekend all was well until basically it died. not sure when exactly the problem arose, but the bike did get horizontal 3-4 times (still getting used to only 2 wheels). the bike got laid down i was getting frustrated wouldnt start, killed the battery, got going, went down again and kept it running shortly after that it just died couldnt get it started killed the battery spent a good part of an hour trying to pop start it, it would start stay running and just die almost as if it was out of fuel, did that a few times finally got it going and wouldnt let the rpms drop below half throttle and it would stutter when getting on the gas but stay running. at somepoint in the midst of popstarting it we noticed the breather hose connecting the top of the carb to the gas tank (not the line with gas) was disconnected.

the air filters not as clean as it should be so its possible that there is just dirt in the carb?

the carb itself is a mystery to me i'm not sure how it works with the vacuum action from the tank so if there is a good resource out there that i can look up would be appreciated.

what adverse effects are there to having that breather hose disconnected for a short period of time. even with the petcock on prime on or res it would start but not stay running.

finally with everything assembled except for the the gas line to the carb with the petcock on on/res should ruel even be coming out of the tank, because there is though not as much as when its on prime (bike not running obviously).

thanks in advanced,
charlie

update: while it seems to be sputtering at all rpms, it is most noticable and violent in the higher range

In reference to the mysterious carb actions...

Gravity feeds the carburetor bowl through the float needle. Then at a particular level the float shuts the valve and the carb stops filling with fuel from the tank. The vacuum is from the narrowing of the carb throat and the piston sucking mixture into the intake chamber through the carb. The jets (calibrated holes) inside the carb allow the suction to take some fuel from the bowl and meter it out into the engine with the air for proper combustion. Getting these jets right is the hard part.

You seem to already have HAD the bike running with no problems before the dumps. Correct?
When my little battery dies quickly, due to hard starting, I hook up jumper cables to a car battery to the little battery and crank with that. Now that you can crank until the wires fry, try starting it again. Dont fry the wires!!!
Does it sputter at all throttle positions? Throttle position is the important part to pay attention to. Perhaps you aren't getting enough fuel through your petcock or your float is improperly set. -BIG DAN:thumbsup:

it does sputter through the rpms though it is much more apparent and/or violent at higher rpms.

it starts alright, takes a few cranks not sure if its just from being cold. now that i got it home im not worried about the battery that was only a casualty of some fuel issues

Are you saying that one of the two hoses to the petcock is disconected? If so with the hose disconected you have a bad vacum leak and fuel will not flow to the cab in the on posion and if you place the petcock in the prim posision fuel will flow to the crab however the bike will run bad due to the vacum leak created by the line being off.

the line was off for i dont know how long, presumably since it started acting up. upon replacing the line it still runs like crap on prime, on, or res.

Well you say it was running ok till you dumped it, and you found the vacum line off to the petcock! Check the air filter & air box to see if it is saturated with fuel from dropping the bike? Is the air filter dirty? Next disconect the fuel line, place the petcock in the prim position, is it flowing plenty of fuel? In the on position it will only flow fuel when vacum is present, (when running.) Remove the vacum line from the petcock, put your finger over the end of the line & start the bike, you should fell suction. Next plug off the vacum line with a golf tee, some times petcocks fail and well dump fuel in to the vacume line when running. If all is good on to next steps!

what ended up being the culprit ended up being stupidity with a side of ignorance lol. basically connected the wrong missing hose to the petcock. theres a hose that hangs from the top of the carb and just goes no where that i put back to the gas tank. After comparing to a buddies drz we noticed our mistake.

we could have saved alot of calories pushing that bike up and down hills trying to pop it if we would have compared while out in the woods that day... sheesh its always the simple things you overlook