Re-Doing my DRZ400SM Wheels - Opinions Needed

[VaderTT]

Thanks for the props.

I'm not huge on the open subframe look myself, but Ryan's bike does look sick.

I just don't like the 12 bar, more of a new school round bar guy.

Your bike looks good though!

[JasonRR]

I'll be totally honest with you here...the DRZ SUCKS on the highway. I rode it up to McKinney from Flower Mound on 121 on Sunday. The speed limit is 70mph, and I basically had the thing wide-fuckin-open the whole way. I'm +1 in the back, and top speed is limited to 95mph. I saw 104mph with the stock sprockets. The worst part is that there is no acceleration whatsoever on the highway. It gets boring, real quick.

But that's not at all what these bikes are for. Once I got up there, we hit up an abandon housing development and spent a couple of hours racing around, jumping up and down stairs and generally acting like hooligans. The bikes are so light and agile that they're an absolute blast to ride. But the highways just suck.

I had a guy offer me $1k more than I paid for it, and while I can't believe I'm even considering it, a Husky 610 or KTM 690 SMR may be in my near future. By the time I spend the cash on big bore/carb/cams/pipe ($2k), I can put that money into a bigger bore bike that will better handle my weight.

And that is the other issue. I'm 250lbs right now, and the bike is just underpowered for all my weight. A 150lb rider may find the bike to be a whole lot quicker, but it won't help with the highway riding.

The bike is perfect for roads where the speed limit is 45mph-55mph, but anything above that, it's just underpowered. And the 5spd transmission doesn't help. If it just had a 6th gear, I think most of my complaints would be resolved.

I'm not sure about range, but they're supposed to get around 65+mpg riding them around town, so it's a fantastic, low-cost commuter bike for someone that doesn't have to hit the highways.

I love the way the bike looks, rides and feels...and if I lived in a place that wasn't full of flat highways, it'd be a no-brainer. But for me, I think I just need something a little bit bigger with more torque.

Of course, the trade-off for more power is typically reliability. The DRZ is known as a bullet-proof piece, and aftermarket support is everywhere, and cheap.

I'm really happy I bought this bike, and may end up keeping it and just using it for local runs. It's proven to me that I really do like supermotos and want one in my garage, but the DRZ just might not be the best fit for me.

You can come ride it if you want to get a taste for what it has to offer.

[futant]

thanks for the honest low down, very helpful.
I suspected some of that. I don't weigh much , but that isn't going to change the highway.

I fully support the idea of selling it and getting a 600+cc.
I think you would be definitely happier with your weight on it.

the thing I didn't like about the 600+ ers like the 690's and other awesome tards is the bike weight.
Since I'm considering a new bike, and I *might* want to turn it back to dirt and be able to jump it etc., I just didn't see a 300+ lb bike EVER working under those circumstances.
Though they pretty much rule on the street by comparison to the 'dual sports' would .

I think what ultimately has turned me off from this idea is that I just don't want to deal with electric start/ batterys , but don't want to kick a 400+cc bike weighing 160 pounds myself. AND I'm just too fucking short to be standing at stop lights with a 37" tall seat, it would be miserable.
Also the thought occured to me that any street bike see's enough miles to just plain wear out a nice dirt bike motor.
I'll be staying street / sport bike.
man i really liked the idea of hopping some curbs though , and throttling around some whoolies on a tard. some of the you tube videos really show the fun factor here.
Here in good old Texas though , youre gonna have to face up to the fact that freeways are always going to be needed.

[futant]

man i would totally be down with a 690 or a nice motard 600+cc's but they are also just plain out of my budget for what i would want. a comparible used sport bike is more cost effective and 10X easier to find

[JasonRR]

HOWEVER......


I just got back from a little night ride, and I can't see myself parting with this bike. It's seriously the most fun bike I've ever ridden. It's ridiculously light and easy to toss around. You almost can't do anything wrong on it. I hit up an industrial spot and was jumping little stairs and wheelying off of little jumps. Stuuuupid fun. A more "serious" machine might not be what I'm looking for afterall.

[futant]

thats exactly what im talking about , light , fun ....

but i use my bike for commuting , lots of freeway ,etc.

I saw a guy stunting one out at a plano spot one day, looked like hella fun.

[futant]

say Jason, I was thinking about hitting you up for a ride on the DRZ ,but I'll hold off for now.
I wanted to get your thoughts on this -
I see some DRZ400's out there for reasonible prices, and most reports indicate they are bullet proof and cheap like I think you mentioned, definitely some upsides there. Prices for used is pretty reasonible too.

However I was thinking about your comments , and about a 2009 Husqvarna SMR 510
I see out there for sale.
The DRZ weighs in at 290 dry weight, and has a 5 speed , 400 sized engine.
The husky weighs in at 250-260 dry weight, and has a 6 speed , 500 sized engine.

so i would think it's hypothetically the best of both worlds. (except more expensive)
might be decent on the freeway , though im sure not spectacular
then eventually if I gave up street I could just go back to dirt and still have something light enough it would jump and trail ride decently

I have to admit the DRZ's are priced much more reasonably. I just don't know if I could compromise on the weight and more annoying on the freeway.
After sitting one my 125 for a bit, I think I could deal with the seat height for traffic and lights. It will suck though. Also it might suck to need to chain up your bike on the street or get lojack for a motard. I could definitely see that shit getting picked up by fucking theives.

[futant]

wow this threads a bummer -

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-537213.html

seem to be really bitching it up about what it would take to get it 'good' for dirt.
obviously you would need new wheels and knobbys, but the other complaints are the front brake being oversized (possibly interferes?)
and the suspension being less travel / stiffer also
seems like you would definitely need a radiator fan on the SMR 510 for street riding.
and the light is basically useless.

damn a lot of compromises needed!!!!

[JasonRR]

Come take mine for a spin man. That's the only way to get a feel for it. I'll hop on the 954 and we'll go for a ride...some backroads, some highway, some lot. Mine is +1 in the back too, so that doesn't help on the highway. I'm probably going to buy a +1 for the front, just to see how that feels. They're cheap and easy to pop on, and I'm curious to see how bad it effects the power of the bike. It might be a better compromise.

I really like the 510SMR, and I'm sure we've been looking at that some one with the goofy wrap on CL. My beef with it is that I just don't think it'd be reliable in the long-term. I can see that as being a bike that you constantly need to be fucking with, and with 4 bikes in the garage, I don't need that shit. I want to unplug it from the battery tender, hit the start button and clutch that bitch...lol. I think it'd be a lot better on the highways, but it's still not a bike that you want to just cruise on. The DRZ actually has me looknig for more fun routes that avoid the highways, but sometimes when you just wanna/gotta get somewhere, you gotta just suck it up.

I really, really wouldn't ever take the 510 offroad. Maybe just for playing around like I do on my DRZ, but the Husky is a purpose-built supermoto and I think you'd be asking for trouble offroad.

Also, beyond the purchase price, aftermarket parts are harder to find and just more expensive. The DRZ stuff is way cheap by comparison.

I could see upgrading to CRF450X one day, but I'm gonna be happy with the compromises that the DRZ offers for now.

[futant]

you are correct that is the 510 smr I'm looking at with the 'goofy wrap' , lol

I got him down to 5K with the exhaust (devil dual is mega expensive apparently , like 2K I read somewhere)

I am going to collect it tonight and remove that crappy header wrap. Probably going to ceramic coat the headers if they don't clean up well, and are in fact pretty damn hot on your leg.

I read mainly the SMR is a total race bike, like you so mentioned. So I agree might have some issues... most ppl online though were pretty successful with just changing oil VERY often and occasionally checking valve clearances.

I humbly agree that it won't ever be a freeway bike , or something i want to put a bunch of miles on . I think I'll swap to smaller rear sprocket for street and see how the freeway stuff goes , which will be of course high rpm , and mostly slow goin I imagine .

I also agree that the changes needed to ever make it offroad friendly would be too much. Also possibly too expensive. I'll definitely 'play around' offroad !
but if I decide to later want a big bore 4 stroke for that, I'd just get a different bike.
after all I also won't want to ditch the SMR into a tree on accident either probably.
that was the first thing I did on my 125 2smoke after I made it all pretty (graphics ,numbers,etc), cartwheeled that bitch after landing a jump on the front tire.

right now, I saw the bike has a radiator fan, so I'm just focusing on how to make it hard to steal - lojack of some sort, or just Fin chain it to whatever I can find - everytime, everywhere.
the other things like the exhaust and sprocket I will do ASAP.

Pretty fucking pumped right about now about the husky. looking forward to tarding around with you somewhere, especially if you know some spots to hit up. I'm all the way over here in Allen/Plano though. let me know if you actually ride dirt too btw!
mostly the plan for this thing is short commuting, and hitting some abandoned spots occasionally for fun time.

[Pokulski-Blatz]

This thread has me really thinking about a DRZ400SM ...... I just dont know how well it wouild work out for my short ass at stop lights.

[futant]

This thread has me really thinking about a DRZ400SM ...... I just dont know how well it wouild work out for my short ass at stop lights.

believe me I thought about it, I'm 5 6" ! my dirt bike drives me crazy, it's like mandatory to have a kickstand! well more important for kickstarting actually, but you get the point.

however after sitting on my 125 for about 5 minutes last night i realized it's not like i even sit in traffic. And invariably you just lean to the right anyway waiting for lights to change.

even when traffic gets nasty on my cbr f2, I get impatient and start splitting lanes , or ride shoulder. Especially if it's not moving , or i can see what the problem is up ahead.
so really , a supermoto just makes that easier.
curbs , what curbs!

im not really a 'comfort person' though. I don't care about a/c or heat , nada....so I realized that just wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be. stop and go traffic is so annoying on a motorcycle I pretty much avoid it at all costs already. traffic lights themselves....i can get over it.

[futant]

wow the husky is shorter than i thought.
Not like a dirt bike at all. Owner was saying it's cause of the 17" wheels.
so if you're anything over 5'6" like me I don't think youll have any problems at all comfort wise. it's only a couple inches taller than my CBR, so no big deal

The Husqvarna is mine.

[JasonRR]

Congrats on the purchase man!! I'm stoked for ya! I'll bet you're out riding it now!!

So when are we gonna go ride??

[futant]

Congrats on the purchase man!! I'm stoked for ya! I'll bet you're out riding it now!!

So when are we gonna go ride??

hmmm pretty sure I wanna do a couple things to it before I sell my cbr / transfer insurance....
might be a couple weeks til then
know someone good with ceramic coatings ? I want a local pro I can trust to do a good job. this thread is probably a good example of WHY ! lol

bout to go hit up the freeway , see what I think about that speed /rpm and sprocket needed.