anyone here own one? Do you like it? Ive been looking into getting a first bike and think this may be a good choice. I do not have much riding experience but it seems easy to ride.
suzuki drz400sm
- Thread starter chico4554
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I have never road one myself...but I have a coworker that rides his every chance he gets. He swears its the best bike he has ever owned.
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One of my coworkers has the one with the knobbies and loves it, I personally have no experience with them though. It wouldn't be a bad first bike, its got a lot of torque, but the single cylinder won't get you into TOO much trouble compared to an inline-4.
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I have one.
I have an absolute blast on it. For what I use the bike for, I can't imagine another bike that I'd enjoy more, at least not without spending at least double what I spent on the DRZ. It corners like nothing else out there. I ride it 5 miles to and from work, around town, and around the twisty Ozark roads around here, which is where it really excels. The great thing about this vs a sportbike is that you can have fun at 30mph, you don't have to do triple digits.
If you leave it stock you can get 65 mpg, or you can mod the hell out of it and still get 55 or so. Aftermarket is awesome since it shares so many parts with the now 9-year old DRZ400E and S models. You can get great info on mods at thumpertalk.com, in the DRZ subforum.
Another thing is bodywork - you can replace every piece of plastic on it for $140 total (not counting the tank). So if you wreck it, which at some point you probably will, it won't cost a fortune to fix, if you even want to. Try THAT on a sportbike.
My criticisms - if your riding is going to consist mostly of straight, flat highway cruising, there are better choices out there. Being a single cylinder it isn't the smoothest engine out there and the vibration and noise is tiresome if the engine RPM is staying constant for long periods. I changed my rear sprocket from the stock 41 to a 38 and it helped this immensely...but I still wouldn't ride it to Sturgis or something.
I have an absolute blast on it. For what I use the bike for, I can't imagine another bike that I'd enjoy more, at least not without spending at least double what I spent on the DRZ. It corners like nothing else out there. I ride it 5 miles to and from work, around town, and around the twisty Ozark roads around here, which is where it really excels. The great thing about this vs a sportbike is that you can have fun at 30mph, you don't have to do triple digits.
If you leave it stock you can get 65 mpg, or you can mod the hell out of it and still get 55 or so. Aftermarket is awesome since it shares so many parts with the now 9-year old DRZ400E and S models. You can get great info on mods at thumpertalk.com, in the DRZ subforum.
Another thing is bodywork - you can replace every piece of plastic on it for $140 total (not counting the tank). So if you wreck it, which at some point you probably will, it won't cost a fortune to fix, if you even want to. Try THAT on a sportbike.
My criticisms - if your riding is going to consist mostly of straight, flat highway cruising, there are better choices out there. Being a single cylinder it isn't the smoothest engine out there and the vibration and noise is tiresome if the engine RPM is staying constant for long periods. I changed my rear sprocket from the stock 41 to a 38 and it helped this immensely...but I still wouldn't ride it to Sturgis or something.
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Thank goodness someone else in the world knows about the DRZ-400sm. Spend the extra 1500-2000 above the standard DRZ-400, and buy the supermotard version. You won't be sorry. Just don't expect to ride the interstate, it gets a little scary trying to keep up with traffic at 75-80. Like ^ said it's a great town, back roads bike. Just enough torque and rideability to make it one of the funnest bikes made.
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