Suzuki DRZ400 SM

[rinomato1]

OP - before considering this bike... ask yourself what you truly want out of it. What are you going to use it for? They are not for everyone. Most people really enjoy them at first but if you find yourself wanting to cruise all day or doing any sort of long stretches of road/HWY you will miss being on a more street oriented bike. These things are best suited for shorter rides, twisty roads, around town where speeds are low, dual sport/gravel travel or parking lot shenanigans..

The gearing has you pretty wound out and buzzy feeling at 110km/h "indicated" - It will run 120 all day but it wont be pleasant - vibes and wind will beat you up. You can gear down the rear sprocket for better highway revs but it kind of makes the bike boring at lower speeds... which is the reason you buy one in the first place!

They are overpriced on kijiji.. and brand new if you consider how old the tech is - I was offered 5k for my 2008 with sub 10,000km earlier this year. Not selling though! Hell, the first one I ever owned way back was only a couple years old at the time - bone stock, mint with 3500km and I got it for $4k. Would be hard to find a similar deal these days for sure.

I am on my 3rd DRZ-sm so feel free to PM me with specific questions.

Well to be completely honest one of my good riding pals has one, and I've kicked around town with it I must say I got my jollies off with her. lol it's got plenty of oomph and It wasn't so overwhelming! I've ben on hiatus from riding for about 5 years now, to start a family, house marriage etc... so I was looking at getting back into motorcycling and this popped into my mind. the DRZ400SM!

most of my riding wont be too long maybe an hour or two no long distance blasts, couple of side roads then home. If I do take the highway probably a very short spurt nothing major iron butt stuff.

 

[eurekapete]

Hey OP,

I am in the same spot as you, been out of the game for a few years and picked this up past November after doing a bunch of research online. Been tinkering with it over last couple of months; oil, coolant, spark, air, geometry, etc and really loving how easy it is to work on. Plus since they've made these things for so long there is tons of information online..

I live downtown so getting around town and occasional highway doesn't seem to be a problem, at all. Full header, exhaust, 3x3, jetted; 5000km @ $5000.. I think it's a bangin value for such an agile, peppy and fun handling bike. Plus I don't need a 150hp animal, not a speed demon, just want to learn how to ride safely and well. You should be able to find a clean one for a similar price..

Now just waiting for the good weather to hit...

Good luck with your purchase mate.

Pete

 

[KWDRZ]

Hey OP,

I am in the same spot as you, been out of the game for a few years and picked this up past November after doing a bunch of research online. Been tinkering with it over last couple of months; oil, coolant, spark, air, geometry, etc and really loving how easy it is to work on. Plus since they've made these things for so long there is tons of information online..

I live downtown so getting around town and occasional highway doesn't seem to be a problem, at all. Full header, exhaust, 3x3, jetted; 5000km @ $5000.. I think it's a bangin value for such an agile, peppy and fun handling bike. Plus I don't need a 150hp animal, not a speed demon, just want to learn how to ride safely and well. You should be able to find a clean one for a similar price..

Now just waiting for the good weather to hit...

Good luck with your purchase mate.

Pete



View attachment 41796

Is this a 2016? Nice deal for $5000. Dreamers ask that for a 2007. Yes its the "same bike" is nearly everyway but thats still 9 years older parts.

 

[eurekapete]

Is this a 2016? Nice deal for $5000. Dreamers ask that for a 2007. Yes its the "same bike" is nearly everyway but thats still 9 years older parts.

Good eye on the 2016, it is so.

Seems age doesn't really knock the price down, just more focus on the wear and tear.

 

[oomis]

I just picked up a 2011 DRZ400SM with about 18k kms for what I thought was a decent price. However, I got it home and so much work has to be done to it to get it to be safetied... the PO was hamfisted with every bolt I've put my hands on. Went to change the rear sprocket back to the 44T stock, and the sprocket mounting bolts were way overtorqued. The allen heads just came apart when I tried to remove them, so new ones on order.

I have no idea what mods were done to the bike. 3x3, I think. Aftermarket air filter that's in bad shape, to be replaced with a K&N.

And this is my first time working with tube type (edit) wheels. Because I'm stupid, I ordered tubeless tires because that's what I know. A TKC80 on the front and a Motoz tractionator on the rear. I wanted knobby tires that also work on the street, and both these tires fit the bill. I think everything works, but next time I'll get tubed (edit) tires. They'll be way easier to work with, because tubeless tires (as I understand it) have sidewalls that are less stiff.

But ugh so much needs to be done for safety. New tires. New front brake pads. New turn signals. Replace the janky fender eliminator with something that has a license plate light.

Dunno that I'll do too much modding to it (I'm sure I'll change my mind) but Oomis jr has expressed an interest in riding, and this would be an appropriate bike for him to ride as well as (with sticky tires) a fun but slow bike on the track and (with a dirt wheel setup) a porky bike for the dirt.

 

[TK4]

"I wanted knobby tires that also work on the street, and both these tires fit the bill. I think everything works, but next time I'll get tubeless tires. They'll be way easier to work with, because tubeless tires (as I understand it) have sidewalls that are less stiff."

With spoked wheels you have to run tubes no matter what tires (tube-type or tubeless).

 

[GreyGhost]

"I wanted knobby tires that also work on the street, and both these tires fit the bill. I think everything works, but next time I'll get tubeless tires. They'll be way easier to work with, because tubeless tires (as I understand it) have sidewalls that are less stiff."

With spoked wheels you have to run tubes no matter what tires (tube-type or tubeless).

Not always. You can get wheels with external spokes (like the big adv bikes) or seal then all on the inside (sucks to be the next person that has to true the wheel).

 

[oomis]

With spoked wheels you have to run tubes no matter what tires (tube-type or tubeless).

Not true. There are plenty of hacks out there to get around this, though none that I'm willing to try right now. Also BMW has a system on their GS1200/1250 that allows tubeless with spoked wheels. I have a GS1200 with both a set of cast and wire wheels on which I have tubeless tires on both.

And also besides the point; my issue was that had I been paying closer attention, I wouldn't have ordered tubeless. If I had to use tubes, then I might as well use tubed (edit) tires that have a carcass that's less stiff and therefore easier to get on (and off) than the tubeless.

 

[Evoex]

I just picked up a 2011 DRZ400SM with about 18k kms for what I thought was a decent price. However, I got it home and so much work has to be done to it to get it to be safetied... the PO was hamfisted with every bolt I've put my hands on. Went to change the rear sprocket back to the 44T stock, and the sprocket mounting bolts were way overtorqued. The allen heads just came apart when I tried to remove them, so new ones on order.

I have no idea what mods were done to the bike. 3x3, I think. Aftermarket air filter that's in bad shape, to be replaced with a K&N.

And this is my first time working with tubed tires. Because I'm stupid, I ordered tubeless tires because that's what I know. A TKC80 on the front and a Motoz tractionator on the rear. I wanted knobby tires that also work on the street, and both these tires fit the bill. I think everything works, but next time I'll get tubeless tires. They'll be way easier to work with, because tubeless tires (as I understand it) have sidewalls that are less stiff.

But ugh so much needs to be done for safety. New tires. New front brake pads. New turn signals. Replace the janky fender eliminator with something that has a license plate light.

Dunno that I'll do too much modding to it (I'm sure I'll change my mind) but Oomis jr has expressed an interest in riding, and this would be an appropriate bike for him to ride as well as (with sticky tires) a fun but slow bike on the track and (with a dirt wheel setup) a porky bike for the dirt.

if rosey toes is still doing mobile/drop in safties give him a shout he's...less picky about certain things and more likely to chat you up.

 

[Evoex]

Hey OP,

I am in the same spot as you, been out of the game for a few years and picked this up past November after doing a bunch of research online. Been tinkering with it over last couple of months; oil, coolant, spark, air, geometry, etc and really loving how easy it is to work on. Plus since they've made these things for so long there is tons of information online..

I live downtown so getting around town and occasional highway doesn't seem to be a problem, at all. Full header, exhaust, 3x3, jetted; 5000km @ $5000.. I think it's a bangin value for such an agile, peppy and fun handling bike. Plus I don't need a 150hp animal, not a speed demon, just want to learn how to ride safely and well. You should be able to find a clean one for a similar price..

Now just waiting for the good weather to hit...

Good luck with your purchase mate.

Pete



View attachment 41796

perfect bike for city riding imo, sit so high you see over almost everything.

 

[oomis]

if rosey toes is still doing mobile/drop in safties give him a shout he's...less picky about certain things and more likely to chat you up.

Well, this bike is up at the cottage, so taking it to RT is not going to work. Also, since Oomis Jr. is riding the bike, I'm being very, very particular. I do all my own work, and I think I'm pretty thorough, but I want a mechanic who is going to be picky, since that's the kind of mechanic who is going to catch anything that I may have missed.

I'll find someone around here when the pandemic settles down; it's all good.

 

[TK4]

Not true. There are plenty of hacks out there to get around this, though none that I'm willing to try right now. Also BMW has a system on their GS1200/1250 that allows tubeless with spoked wheels. I have a GS1200 with both a set of cast and wire wheels on which I have tubeless tires on both.

And also besides the point; my issue was that had I been paying closer attention, I wouldn't have ordered tubeless. If I had to use tubes, then I might as well use tubeless tires that have a carcass that's less stiff and therefore easier to get on (and off) than the tubeless.

BMW's spoke wheels are designed specifically for tubeless application, as is the Yamaha Super Tenere, some Triumphs and others.
The tubeless rims also have a safety hump at the bead area to prevent the tire coming off in event of a flat.
Bicycle guys have been sealing off spoked wheels for years, but that's for a much lower speed application.
You keep saying tubeless and tubeless rather than 'tube-type' - which is it ?
Tire construction varies a lot from one manufacturer to another, try mounting up a set of Heidenaus to your BMW to find out how much fun that is.

 

[xrljoel]

BMW's spoke wheels are designed specifically for tubeless application, as is the Yamaha Super Tenere, some Triumphs and others.
The tubeless rims also have a safety hump at the bead area to prevent the tire coming off in event of a flat.
Bicycle guys have been sealing off spoked wheels for years, but that's for a much lower speed application.
You keep saying tubeless and tubeless rather than 'tube-type' - which is it ?
Tire construction varies a lot from one manufacturer to another, try mounting up a set of Heidenaus to your BMW to find out how much fun that is.

From my experience DOT knobbies are pretty stiff, including TKC 80's. Spooning them on is a bit of a job and requires copious amounts bead lube or dish soap.

After mounting TKC's on my 690 I looked like a big orange character from a My-Little-Pony cartoon leaving a magical trail of bubbles everywhere I went.