DRZ advice please.. cans, sump guards and indicators

To be honest and IMHO, I think that your are much better moving away from the stock OE exhaust all together, no matter what version of DRZ you have.

Other than the performance gains to be had from retro fitting a FMF or similar system, the OE header pipe rusts like there is no tomorrow.:spitfire

At least with most, if not all the after market ones, they are all stainless steel:clap

I had the CRD system on my first DRZ-S, then when I sold that to buy the E version, I went for the FMF Power Bomb header and Q pipe.

Nice and quiet when it needed to be, but open it up and it roars like a bastard. :D

Fit a White Bros air filter, go from a #165 main jet up to a #175, then up the slow jet from a #45 to a #48, and finally lift the needle one notch on the circlip.

You will then have a DRZ that will lift the front wheel in every gear. :augie The down side is that when the going gets a bit slippy, there is a bit to much whack at the rear wheel :blast

Never the less, bloody good fun..:thumb2
 
rocks said:
I love the sound of the can at present, just its too loud when the throttle is wound open...lol.
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The important thing, and read my last post, is that when you are pottering about, or near ramblers/horses etc, it is nice and quiet.

But all after market cans will bark when they are gassed up, it is the nature of the beast.

The down side to the S and any performance gains, is the useless CV carb. Sadly, there is little that you can do to make it respond better.:(

Other than bin it of course and then fit a flat slide carb from the E, very costly I can assure you. :(
 
Alan, I'm seriously thinking about an DRZ-S just for pottering about on lanes, avoiding huge bumps, nothing too serious. I haven't ridden one yet but I'm a bit perturbed by your experience with the S.
Is it really sluggish at all? Were you doing any competitive stuff with your E?
To give you an idea of my mindset, I went and sat on some CRFs yesterday. The seemed really good quality but obviously they are a bit mental and I'm sure I'd loop it leaving the dealership. So I need something a lot more tame, but not so tame as to be asleep ...
 
Gaz said:
Alan, I'm seriously thinking about an DRZ-S just for pottering about on lanes, avoiding huge bumps, nothing too serious. I haven't ridden one yet but I'm a bit perturbed by your experience with the S.
Is it really sluggish at all? Were you doing any competitive stuff with your E?
To give you an idea of my mindset, I went and sat on some CRFs yesterday. The seemed really good quality but obviously they are a bit mental and I'm sure I'd loop it leaving the dealership. So I need something a lot more tame, but not so tame as to be asleep ...
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Please dont get me wrong the DRZ-S is a great bike, it will go every where that you want to go. It is certainly not sluggish, unless you compare it to the likes of the CRF etc.

But it is quite heavy and from new it is not really suited to off roading, lack of rim locks, and very poor bash plate for example.

In saying that, IMHO it is more suited to trail ridng than the E, due to the soft delivery of the power and also the very low down torque.

The E on the other hand has all the power at the top end, and thanks to the flat side carb, when you dial it in, it picks up straight away. This was the problem with rejetting it, while it made it more responsive, it also made it a fookin handful in tricky conditions.

I orginally had a E on order, but then cancelled it at the last minute for the S, common sense took over, or so I thought. Spent a lot of time, effort and money bringing it up to a decent off road level.

But despite my best efforts it never excited me. :( I was also very worried about smashing that very expensive switch gear and speedo assembly.

Sold that and bought a new E, and did the reverse, converted that to road use.

IMHO it was a lot cheaper and a lot easier to do, Pro Racing in Daventry make a loom to make it all road legal. The only problem if you want to use it as a daily commute is the lack of indicators.

But this never worried me to be honest, as my journey to work is around the lanes anyway.

Both DRZ versions are bloody bomb proof and have little in the way of running costs But you cannot compare them to the likes of the CRF or the KTM etc. These are pure race machines that require the necessary maintenance to keep them running tip top.

Yes, they have much better suspension, are a lot quicker and have much better parts overall fitted, but at a cost of course.

You can pick a second hand mint DRZ-S up for very little money, in fact there have been a few on here recently I recall.

As for which one suits you, well thats your call? But I would maybe opt for the S if I were you, but call me if you need any more info etc.
 
Gaz said:
Alan, I'm seriously thinking about an DRZ-S just for pottering about on lanes, avoiding huge bumps, nothing too serious. I haven't ridden one yet but I'm a bit perturbed by your experience with the S.
Is it really sluggish at all? Were you doing any competitive stuff with your E?
To give you an idea of my mindset, I went and sat on some CRFs yesterday. The seemed really good quality but obviously they are a bit mental and I'm sure I'd loop it leaving the dealership. So I need something a lot more tame, but not so tame as to be asleep ...
Click to expand...

I use my DR-Z 400 S as both an everyday commuting bike and a green lane machine.

Apart from gearing and additional guards, it's mechanically standard (including the OE exhaust).

It's an awsome commuter in London. It'll do 80mph, is quick off the mark and light enough to be nimble in traffic. But it could do with sharper brakes for road use and a softer saddle.

On the lanes, I've never felt that I needed more power. The power delivery is superb - if the engine is turning, it'll pull strongly at any revs. But it is a little heavy as a dedicated green-laner; that's the cost of having the road stuff like indicators, fan, metal tank, rear sub-frame, pillion pegs, etc.

Many people strip that stuff off their bikes, but, as I do use my bike for commuting, it all stays on.

The book says 3½k miles between oil changes and mine's had a cam-chain at about 20k miles.

All-in-all and excellent bike for my needs.

Greg
 
Just having read Alan's post, I also deliberated long and hard between the E and the S and eventually decided that, for the use I was going to put the bike to, the S would be the better bike.

FWIW, you can no longer buy a new E model.

Greg
 
Thanks very much for the feedback chaps - I think I'll go for the S as I have to do a fair few road miles to get anywhere vaguely remote. Just have to do a tad more work on Mrs Gaz first ;)
Alan - I may come and pester you for route info at some point :)
 
Gaz said:
Alan - I may come and pester you for route info at some point :)
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By all means Gaz, but all the routes will need checking at the local ROW office for the area that you intend to ride in.

With recent changes with RUPPs etc, it always pays to double check if it is still legal to ride them.

Recent changes in the law also mean that you now have to prove that you have the right to be there. Unlike a few years ago when the landowner had to prove that you shouldnt :eek:

The Police also have the powers to sieze your bike, in the event of you being caught/suspected of "trespassing", assuming of course that they can catch you;)

Trail riding has to be the best thing that I have ever done, bar nothing! But after 15 years of doing it, I was getting sick and tried of all the hassle, both internally with the politics of the TRF and also landowners, local councils etc, so the moto-x boots were finally hung up a couple of years ago. :(

I would love to do it all over again to be honest, but we have lost so many lanes and routes of the years, and it hasnt stopped there yet either. It will only get worse.

I just feel very honoured that I was shown the delights of the countryside up and down the UK, by others with the knowledge, before it all went tits up!
 
BTBR said:
To be honest and IMHO, I think that your are much better moving away from the stock OE exhaust all together, no matter what version of DRZ you have.

Other than the performance gains to be had from retro fitting a FMF or similar system, the OE header pipe rusts like there is no tomorrow.:spitfire

At least with most, if not all the after market ones, they are all stainless steel:clap

I had the CRD system on my first DRZ-S, then when I sold that to buy the E version, I went for the FMF Power Bomb header and Q pipe.

Nice and quiet when it needed to be, but open it up and it roars like a bastard. :D

Fit a White Bros air filter, go from a #165 main jet up to a #175, then up the slow jet from a #45 to a #48, and finally lift the needle one notch on the circlip.

You will then have a DRZ that will lift the front wheel in every gear. :augie The down side is that when the going gets a bit slippy, there is a bit to much whack at the rear wheel :blast

Never the less, bloody good fun..:thumb2
Click to expand...

good tips :) mechanicly mines totaly stock 05 "S" model..i may well do the above to mine too if the gains are good without being loud as i meet alot of horses on my route ....whats a "power bomd and Q pipe"?
 
y2blade said:
good tips :) mechanicly mines totaly stock 05 "S" model..i may well do the above to mine too if the gains are good without being loud as i meet alot of horses on my route ....whats a "power bomd and Q pipe"?
Click to expand...

fmf_product_powerbomb.jpg


That's a Powerbomb header. Made by FMF and distributed in the UK by Rush Racing.

I got one for my 2002 S and its a lot wider in diameter than the stock item.

Rush Racing sell off stock on Ebay and I managed to pick up an FMF Powercore end can for £120 less than normal retail.
 
y2blade said:
good tips :) mechanicly mines totaly stock 05 "S" model..i may well do the above to mine too if the gains are good without being loud as i meet alot of horses on my route ....whats a "power bomd and Q pipe"?
Click to expand...

Sadly, you can only do that mod to the E, because the S has the CV carb.

There is very little that you can do to alter the jetting on the S, maybe lift the needle from memory. :nenau

But very little gain to be made for the work involved to do it to be honest.

Check out the FMF web site for more details about the exhausts. But yes it will be a improvement over a OE can. But maybe money wasted unless you can get the most from it by rejetting.

I would however, highly recommend fitting the E sprocket sizes to the S, now that does make a huge differance.
 
Retro fit

I just took my fmf powercore exhaust off and retro fitted the OE one.

Does not sounds any where as good. But last night i did near 80 miles out and about in lanes with Hew, and my bike scared a few horses and it gave me ear ache by the time i was home. Sounds awsome, but it is possible to get too much of a good thing.

Now just attacking the issue of crappy indicators..

Oh.. I bought the S version for road and off road use, hence we improving the mini indicators that were previously fitted. Having taken it out for its first off road run in my hands last night. It went very well and was very enjoyable. Handles the road pretty ok and goes fast enough to scare the preverbial out of my on the rough stuff.

I droppped it once, and that was at speed. Nothing hurt and fired up after a few splutters and off we went for another 30 miles of lanes..

Ohh big thanks Hew.. was a top ride.
 
Been for5 a blast..

Just had a quick trip out on the bike.. The original indicators fitted once more and working. Original rust bucket exhaust fitted..lol.

Sounding not too bad, not ear splitting, but doesnt seem to have actually made a great difference to the power output.. so i am happy.

Might just keep an eye out for one that aint quite so rusty.

Lots of fun!

John
 
Nice one Rocks, I think you will be a lot happier with that exhaust.
Glad you enjoyed the ride and looks as if you've got the hang of the DRZ already
Well done:thumb2
 
Does anyone know if the Carbon Fibre sump guard and other trick bits are any good? I always thought CF was tough but fragile :nenau and presumed it would crack easily as a sump guard?
 
snoopy said:
Does anyone know if the Carbon Fibre sump guard and other trick bits are any good? I always thought CF was tough but fragile :nenau and presumed it would crack easily as a sump guard?
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its ment for the SM boys! looks nice but would prob splinter on impact!

get a beefy CRD one like mine:thumb2
 
Seems the holes are different :nenau

Anyway went for the carbon fibre pack. The seller says its Kevlar underneath and they supply for the toughest of Enduro needs. Sounded good and it's the same price as alloy parts separate.

Now for the Corbin seat. $236 USD from USA or $450 USD from UK. Rip off. :spitfire
 
rocks said:
Just had a quick trip out on the bike.. The original indicators fitted once more and working. Original rust bucket exhaust fitted..lol.

Sounding not too bad, not ear splitting, but doesnt seem to have actually made a great difference to the power output.. so i am happy.

Might just keep an eye out for one that aint quite so rusty.

Lots of fun!

John
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did you get a bash plate?

http://shop.thumpertalk.com/ThumperTalk_Skid_Plates_p/bp_tt_skid.htm

i have used this lot for my casing guards,7 day delivery from the usa half the price they would have been here..highly recomended
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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