robscomputer
Well-known member
Might be a future purchase, just want to hear from other DRZ-400SM owners about the bike. How's the performance, gas range with stock tank and any problems.
Thanks,
Rob
Thanks,
Rob
DRZ-400SM owners, ride reviews please
- Thread starter robscomputer
- Start date
V4
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
I had a DRZ400sm and loved it....
the reason I "had" one is because I was going to trade it for a GSXR1000 but took the money instead .....
powerwise, ya just can't compare one with a sprotbile of the hourspower or you'd be disappointed but as long as ya know it's a single cylinder bike, and only 400cc, you will be happy ....
they kinda suck on the freeway though unless you're okay traveling around 65mph all the time....you can go faster but it can get somewhat interesting....heavy traffic, the DRZ shines...
a jet kit/pipe/airbox mod is what ya can do to get some more hp out of it....
compared to the other supermotos, it's low on power but the trade off is that you don't have a extensive maintenance schedule either ...you just ride it.....for do-it-yourselfers, this bike is easy to work on and not as frequent as some hardcore supermotos
it's already legal for the street so ya don't need to build anything up and the 07s come with Excel wheels and Renthal bars which is a bonus for those who crashed on OEM dirt bars from Suzuki or Hondas...
handling is a bit soft till ya tweek it a bit, like any other bike but it can hold it's own against sprotbiles on the street .....against other supermotos, it's somewhere in the middle ....depending on which other bikes...
parts are cheap to replace or modify....
fun factor makes up for it and once ya ride a supermoto, ya can get hooked easily and always want one again .....
I may get another drz400sm but only after i find out what 07 has by other manufacturers
cheap on insurance....
the reason I "had" one is because I was going to trade it for a GSXR1000 but took the money instead .....
powerwise, ya just can't compare one with a sprotbile of the hourspower or you'd be disappointed but as long as ya know it's a single cylinder bike, and only 400cc, you will be happy ....
they kinda suck on the freeway though unless you're okay traveling around 65mph all the time....you can go faster but it can get somewhat interesting....heavy traffic, the DRZ shines...
a jet kit/pipe/airbox mod is what ya can do to get some more hp out of it....
compared to the other supermotos, it's low on power but the trade off is that you don't have a extensive maintenance schedule either ...you just ride it.....for do-it-yourselfers, this bike is easy to work on and not as frequent as some hardcore supermotos
it's already legal for the street so ya don't need to build anything up and the 07s come with Excel wheels and Renthal bars which is a bonus for those who crashed on OEM dirt bars from Suzuki or Hondas...
handling is a bit soft till ya tweek it a bit, like any other bike but it can hold it's own against sprotbiles on the street .....against other supermotos, it's somewhere in the middle ....depending on which other bikes...
parts are cheap to replace or modify....
fun factor makes up for it and once ya ride a supermoto, ya can get hooked easily and always want one again .....
I may get another drz400sm but only after i find out what 07 has by other manufacturers
cheap on insurance....
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V4
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
for around town and local backroads, the DRZ is perfect....
if you need to do a lot of traveling from one area to another, it can be a bit of a chore but the trade off is sometimes worth the shortcomings....
just know what type of riding you wanna do and realize what ya may gain and give up when getting into supermotos...
if you need to do a lot of traveling from one area to another, it can be a bit of a chore but the trade off is sometimes worth the shortcomings....
just know what type of riding you wanna do and realize what ya may gain and give up when getting into supermotos...
NeverSayDie
Well-known member
Are they at all capable of short 2-up riding?
robscomputer
Well-known member
V4 said:
thanks for the info! I've ridden a Ninja 250 and a SV650S in the past, looking for something to ride around the hills but light and fun. Lots of my favorite roads to ride are small bumpy roads like Kings Mountain and Tunis creek. I don't think I'll be doing any long rides, nothing more than 300~400 miles in a day.
Rob
robot138
Well-known member
Mileage on mine (with about 3000 miles on it) is right about 48 MPG - that's mostly L.A. city commuting though, lots of stoplights. It was around 60 MPG when i was playing with it on Angeles Crest. Stock exhaust/airbox/jetting. Usually I fill up at 80 or so miles...every time I've hit reserve I've killed it, which never happened with my NT650.
I don't know about 300 miles in a day with the seat, but that's true for every bike I've had, not just the supermoto.
For two-up, it's got the passenger pegs and will hold them. It's not so powerful (35 hp or so), so if they weigh much at all, I can see it being really unfun. I haven't tried it though.
For what I'm doing, it's way more fun than a sportbike though.
I don't know about 300 miles in a day with the seat, but that's true for every bike I've had, not just the supermoto.
For two-up, it's got the passenger pegs and will hold them. It's not so powerful (35 hp or so), so if they weigh much at all, I can see it being really unfun. I haven't tried it though.
For what I'm doing, it's way more fun than a sportbike though.
stan23
Well-known member
I had one. It was lighter in 'feel' than what the specs say. Maybe, i'm just used to heavy sportbikes??
Handling wise, it was awesome! Very flickable and suspension was plush, but felt planted.
Power wise, it was down a bit, but I didn't get a chance to do any of the mods to wake the bike up. I could easily power wheelie in first, and stoppies quite easily, so the fun factor of the bike was high.
The only reason why I got rid of it, was cuz of freeway riding. I could only have one bike (apt issue) and the bike was terrible for freeway. It was so light, that you felt like you were being blown around. It can do 95mph, but at those speeds, your body felt like a huge sail.
Handling wise, it was awesome! Very flickable and suspension was plush, but felt planted.
Power wise, it was down a bit, but I didn't get a chance to do any of the mods to wake the bike up. I could easily power wheelie in first, and stoppies quite easily, so the fun factor of the bike was high.
The only reason why I got rid of it, was cuz of freeway riding. I could only have one bike (apt issue) and the bike was terrible for freeway. It was so light, that you felt like you were being blown around. It can do 95mph, but at those speeds, your body felt like a huge sail.
AbsolutEnduser
Throttle Pusher
V4 said:
In what way does it suck at above 65mph? Is it: too much vibration; too much wind from front (no windshield) ; too much wind from the sides (light bike) ; or does not have power to go 80 mph or above?
65 is OK but for safe cruising at low traffic times, it seems one needs 75mph to 80mph over here.. (and I'm not even talking hwy 280)
ANYONE know how's the comparison to Yamaha XT225? I am mostly interested in whether it survives the highway: e.g. can it go over 65mph, does it get pushed over by the wind..
thanks
nine_inch_rear
Well-known member
Get one.. you wont regret it. The suspension is completely adjustable to any riders needs. It needs a bit more umpf, but not much. I have yet to do the mods cause iam twisting too much throttle as it is. At freeways, in my view, it wasnt all that bad. Remember, no fairings to push you with shifts of wind. Its not perfect, but the fun factor is so hawt that you wont mind it. The engine gets much stronger by the time a 1000 miles chimes in. It will do 75mph indicated, and i havent twisted it to the stop. You can gear it for your needs though. I have had to sportbikes..I doubt id ever go back. If you have to freeway commute, i dont really recommend it. But if you like twisties and carving traffic like a hot knife through butter, then deff look into getting one. Youll find yourself finding areas to carve at and taking the longer way home
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UKOD
snuffalufagus
Get one you won't regret it...I love mine.:thumbup
I communte daily from Richmond to SF with no problems at all. When trafffic opens up the bike cruises at 75 no problem. I've taken my wife on a few rides and she has no complaints about comfort. I didn't like riding it with a passenger just because it upsets the suspension too much for my liking.
The brakes and suspension are great. The stock seat sucks IMHO, so I replaced it with a Corbin.
I get 85-90 miles per tank WITH the 3x3 airbox mod, Factory Pro jet kit and Muzzy full exhaust installed. More powerful and rev happy too.
The sidecovers are super thin magnesium. They will get cracked. I had a SUV in back into the bike while it was parked and the trailer hitch reciever went right through the sidecover. :mad Get the Factory Pro sidecover. Also, round off the edges on the back of the shift lever (or it will punch right through the stock cover in a crash) The radiators are unprotected, so a good radiator guard will save you big $$ in the long run.
Oh, and for the record I've never had any problems in the wind. No instability, no wobbles, nothing scary ever. That includes the BB in the winter/rain/wind.
Other mods I'd reccomend: Moose skid plate, ball bearing chain rollers, braided brake lines, pro-tapers, barkbusters.
I communte daily from Richmond to SF with no problems at all. When trafffic opens up the bike cruises at 75 no problem. I've taken my wife on a few rides and she has no complaints about comfort. I didn't like riding it with a passenger just because it upsets the suspension too much for my liking.
The brakes and suspension are great. The stock seat sucks IMHO, so I replaced it with a Corbin.
I get 85-90 miles per tank WITH the 3x3 airbox mod, Factory Pro jet kit and Muzzy full exhaust installed. More powerful and rev happy too.
The sidecovers are super thin magnesium. They will get cracked. I had a SUV in back into the bike while it was parked and the trailer hitch reciever went right through the sidecover. :mad Get the Factory Pro sidecover. Also, round off the edges on the back of the shift lever (or it will punch right through the stock cover in a crash) The radiators are unprotected, so a good radiator guard will save you big $$ in the long run.
Oh, and for the record I've never had any problems in the wind. No instability, no wobbles, nothing scary ever. That includes the BB in the winter/rain/wind.
Other mods I'd reccomend: Moose skid plate, ball bearing chain rollers, braided brake lines, pro-tapers, barkbusters.
reynolds_brad
50NUT
I've had mine for several months now and have grown to love the bike. Previously I had a 03 GSXR1000 and loved it as well but insurance for a 1 liter bike seemed a bit too much after I went out and got myself into a mortgage on a home. My getting the DRZ was based on wanting something with less ccs, cheaper insurance, easy to work on, city friendly and I could beat on.
FYI I also commute from San Francisco to San Jose so I needed a bike that would work well on the freeway. My first concern on the DRZ is that it would make a crappy commuter as people were telling me that it didn't do to well at higher speeds. They are somewhat right and wrong there. In my opinion it dose everything it needs to on the freeway. Sure it cant pull up power wheelies at 70mph like the GSXR could but hell I don't need to do that anyways. It will do 80mph but it feels pretty wound out. For the most part I cruse at about 75 on the freeway which feels like a good speed to be going on 101 during commute. I plan to change the gearing here next month to make a better freeway commuting speed and I'm pretty sure I will be even happier with it.
As for power the stock DRZ is lacking IMO and the CA emissions really suck. For the first 3 weeks I was dealing with a starting issue, basically I couldn't start the bike for the life of me. This was the charcoal canister issue. the tank vents to it and if too much gas gets in there the bike wont start. once I got rid of the dam thing it starts every time. As for lower power I did the 3x3 airbox mod and rejetted using a dyno jet kit and that really woke the bike up. Stock the bike is super lean and restricted, once that was fixed and I tuned the carb a little further and replaced the exhaust tip with one that doesn't restrict as much there was a huge difference in power. I've de restricted bikes before and never noticed such a difference as I did with this one. It now can pull up power wheelies in 1st in 2nd with out even yanking it up. Before it was just 1st and I had to yank it.
For cornering I'm pretty impressed coming from a street bike back ground and I enjoy it so much up in the city cause the suspension takes up so much of the road. Its a real joy to ride around. It actually brought me back to street riding a lot more as I had tapered off riding my GSXR all that much, just wasn't fun. I havent been to the track on it yet and im not sure how i will like it or not as i used to do a few track days on my GSXR and it seems like it will be a bit different in style. As with the bike in general im sure i will glow to love it.
down the road I plan to do a lot more for example the gas tank and seat. the stock seat is a bit rough. To put it bluntly it cuts off the circulation to your groin and stuff go's numb. not kidding. I stand up on my commute every 15 miles or so just to keep things flowing. I plan to get Suzuki's gel seat here pretty soon as most of the guys on thumper talk say its the best. The gas tank is too small for me. I get about a little over 100 or so miles out of a tank then I have to flip the petcock to res. Not too good for me as I put a ton of miles on it daily. IMS makes a 3.2 gal one so I have that coming already. I should get quite a few more miles with that tank. Plus its clear so I can see how much gas is in it. I don't think the tank would work well for some people though as it eliminates the key option for the tank.
lastly Maintenance rocks! I do all my own work to my bikes and next to my Honda monkey this bike is the best to work on. Its not a CRF450 so you don't have to treat it like a race motor, no changing the oil every 50 riding hours. its a street bike so intervals are great. the filter is easy its on the side of the bike, just three small bolts. oils in the frame so one plug for that another on the case. everything is out in the open, its so easy. Adjusting or making changes to the carb can be a pain, but once you know the tricks on getting it in and out its not so bad. Thumper talk has some great info on that.
FYI I also commute from San Francisco to San Jose so I needed a bike that would work well on the freeway. My first concern on the DRZ is that it would make a crappy commuter as people were telling me that it didn't do to well at higher speeds. They are somewhat right and wrong there. In my opinion it dose everything it needs to on the freeway. Sure it cant pull up power wheelies at 70mph like the GSXR could but hell I don't need to do that anyways. It will do 80mph but it feels pretty wound out. For the most part I cruse at about 75 on the freeway which feels like a good speed to be going on 101 during commute. I plan to change the gearing here next month to make a better freeway commuting speed and I'm pretty sure I will be even happier with it.
As for power the stock DRZ is lacking IMO and the CA emissions really suck. For the first 3 weeks I was dealing with a starting issue, basically I couldn't start the bike for the life of me. This was the charcoal canister issue. the tank vents to it and if too much gas gets in there the bike wont start. once I got rid of the dam thing it starts every time. As for lower power I did the 3x3 airbox mod and rejetted using a dyno jet kit and that really woke the bike up. Stock the bike is super lean and restricted, once that was fixed and I tuned the carb a little further and replaced the exhaust tip with one that doesn't restrict as much there was a huge difference in power. I've de restricted bikes before and never noticed such a difference as I did with this one. It now can pull up power wheelies in 1st in 2nd with out even yanking it up. Before it was just 1st and I had to yank it.
For cornering I'm pretty impressed coming from a street bike back ground and I enjoy it so much up in the city cause the suspension takes up so much of the road. Its a real joy to ride around. It actually brought me back to street riding a lot more as I had tapered off riding my GSXR all that much, just wasn't fun. I havent been to the track on it yet and im not sure how i will like it or not as i used to do a few track days on my GSXR and it seems like it will be a bit different in style. As with the bike in general im sure i will glow to love it.
down the road I plan to do a lot more for example the gas tank and seat. the stock seat is a bit rough. To put it bluntly it cuts off the circulation to your groin and stuff go's numb. not kidding. I stand up on my commute every 15 miles or so just to keep things flowing. I plan to get Suzuki's gel seat here pretty soon as most of the guys on thumper talk say its the best. The gas tank is too small for me. I get about a little over 100 or so miles out of a tank then I have to flip the petcock to res. Not too good for me as I put a ton of miles on it daily. IMS makes a 3.2 gal one so I have that coming already. I should get quite a few more miles with that tank. Plus its clear so I can see how much gas is in it. I don't think the tank would work well for some people though as it eliminates the key option for the tank.
lastly Maintenance rocks! I do all my own work to my bikes and next to my Honda monkey this bike is the best to work on. Its not a CRF450 so you don't have to treat it like a race motor, no changing the oil every 50 riding hours. its a street bike so intervals are great. the filter is easy its on the side of the bike, just three small bolts. oils in the frame so one plug for that another on the case. everything is out in the open, its so easy. Adjusting or making changes to the carb can be a pain, but once you know the tricks on getting it in and out its not so bad. Thumper talk has some great info on that.
J-Boat
Read Only Lurker
Pretty much what everyone else said. I rode one for a year and loved every minute of it...
I added the Clark 3.9 tank for much better range. I also did a few performance mods and came out with 41.2 rwhp (full Yoshi exhaust, Hotcams, Dynojet kit, 3x3)...
It does just fine on the freeway. I added a Cee Bailey windscreen on mine too. If you check their website, you'll see my bike they used as a model since I was the first one to do it...
I added the Clark 3.9 tank for much better range. I also did a few performance mods and came out with 41.2 rwhp (full Yoshi exhaust, Hotcams, Dynojet kit, 3x3)...
It does just fine on the freeway. I added a Cee Bailey windscreen on mine too. If you check their website, you'll see my bike they used as a model since I was the first one to do it...
V4
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
the DRZ-SM isn't perfect outta the supermoto lineup but IMO, the ease of owning one, maintainance, easy to get parts and accessories, is a good trade than having the more highperformance exotic bikes....
I'm lazy, cheap, and just wanna ride which is why I like the DRZ outta the rest.....
I'm lazy, cheap, and just wanna ride which is why I like the DRZ outta the rest.....
robscomputer
Well-known member
Everyone,
Thanks for your comments and answers. I'm getting a better idea of what to expect with this bike. Right now I drive 20 miles each way to work, the bike should be ok for this. On the weekends I would like to ride around and maybe have some freeway riding but not much. Coming from a 250, I can deal with the low power, might be better since I less chance to "test" the top speed.
The 90 mile range is a limiter but I think I can work around this until I find a bigger tank. Usually I'm riding in the Santa Cruz hills and hit a gas station every 30 miles. The seat might be my first upgrade, sitting on one in the showroom didn't seems too hard but then again it was only a few minutes.
Andrew,
I'll send you a PM.
Thanks,
Rob
Thanks for your comments and answers. I'm getting a better idea of what to expect with this bike. Right now I drive 20 miles each way to work, the bike should be ok for this. On the weekends I would like to ride around and maybe have some freeway riding but not much. Coming from a 250, I can deal with the low power, might be better since I less chance to "test" the top speed.
The 90 mile range is a limiter but I think I can work around this until I find a bigger tank. Usually I'm riding in the Santa Cruz hills and hit a gas station every 30 miles. The seat might be my first upgrade, sitting on one in the showroom didn't seems too hard but then again it was only a few minutes.
thump said:
Andrew,
I'll send you a PM.
Thanks,
Rob
notfromcali
Not from Dayton.
Get one...you'll love it. I've got the S model, but other than the wheels it's mostly the same bike.
90% of my driving is done on freeways. I cruise at 80mph pretty much the whole way unless traffic gets backed up. I have to switch on the reserve around 95-105 miles. The engine is totally stock. I'm up to 7000 miles with only oil changes done to it, my buddy's 05 SM just hit 6000.
I don't even miss the power of my 954. It's still sitting quietly in the garage. Insurance is another plus. Mine is 90 bucks a year for full coverage.
90% of my driving is done on freeways. I cruise at 80mph pretty much the whole way unless traffic gets backed up. I have to switch on the reserve around 95-105 miles. The engine is totally stock. I'm up to 7000 miles with only oil changes done to it, my buddy's 05 SM just hit 6000.
I don't even miss the power of my 954. It's still sitting quietly in the garage. Insurance is another plus. Mine is 90 bucks a year for full coverage.
robscomputer
Well-known member
Seems like the average range is 90 miles, not bad. What should I expect in terms of range with a jet kit installed?
Rob
Rob