This is my 1979 Suzuki DR370, which I picked up sometime around 2017 or 2018. I found it on Kijiji and noticed right away that the seller had already gone through the effort of making it street legal. That alone made it interesting enough that I decided to jump on it. A couple years later a funny coincidence happened. My sister called me from BC and asked, “Hey, did you buy a yellow bike from someone in Medicine Hat?” Apparently my brother-in-law’s childhood friend was visiting, and somehow the conversation turned to this yellow DR370. As it turns out, that childhood friend was the very same guy I bought the bike from. Small world. While researching the DR370 online I came across an old post about someone converting one to street legal use (https://steemit.com/motorcycle/@oldschoolrepair/dr370 ). The article caught my eye, and after reading through it I realized something pretty funny—it was the exact same bike. Seeing the bike’s earlier life documented online was a cool surprise and added a bit of history to it.
I've had the Yellow Bomber for a number of years now, and I figured it was finally time to get to work on this bike. The goal is to improve reliability, update the electrical system, and add a few modern conveniences while keeping all the rugged character that makes these old DR370s so much fun. What I didn't expect was how difficult it would be to start modifying a bike that already ran so well. After all, why work on it if you can rip it? Fortunately, the bike eventually gave me an excuse. The idle wasn't quite where I wanted it, so onto the bench it went. The carburetor came apart first and, other than a light cleaning, there wasn't really anything exciting going on inside. One thing that did catch my attention was that this carb uses both an air screw and a mixture screw, making tuning a little different than most of the bikes I'm used to. After a bit of tweaking around the factory settings, it settled into a much happier idle. Next up were the valves. Everything measured right where it should, so they were left alone. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Then came the timing. It's always a timing issue with me, I swear. The timing was considerably over-advanced, which probably explains why the kickstarter occasionally tried to launch me into low Earth orbit. The points and gap were already in good shape, so a quick adjustment with a timing light brought everything back where it belonged. The difference was immediate. The bike now kicks over without threatening to rearrange your knee, and the test ride afterward was a pleasant surprise. It pulls noticeably harder than it did before—which is saying something because it already ripped. With the tune-up complete, I moved on to the electrical system. The lighting coil has now been isolated while leaving the ignition coil completely independent, meaning the engine can still run without a battery if needed. This gives the bike a modern full-wave charging system while preserving the simplicity and reliability of the original ignition. The next phase is already underway. A full LED lighting conversion is on the way along with a Trail Tech Vapor digital speedometer and tachometer, as well as a neutral switch and indicator. Since the DR370 was originally built as a dirt bike, it never came with any of those features, making them a welcome addition and giving the bike a much more modern feel. There's still plenty left to do, including cleaning up the wiring, experimenting with a custom exhaust, and eventually giving the tank some proper Yellow Bomber branding. So far, the project has been a very entertaining modernization, all while keeping the retro spirit that made the bike so appealing in the first place. More progress to come.
Tho this bike was already converted to 12v, I'd say it was done so partially. Isolating the lighting coil to I will be able to use a full wave rectifier and have an have a better …
Browse the project-level images in one place.
Status: In Progress
Slug: yellow-bomber
Created: March 14, 2026
Last updated: July 15, 2026
