Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

Hi Guys,
i'm currently riding a BMW F800S, thinking of changing for over the winter and the little suzuki has caught my eye.

Has anyone got any experience of riding one of these of any length of time?

Has anyone had any ownership experience?

Could i fit a set of DR-Z 400 E wheels for some off roading or will the suspension be too hard/soft?

Any performance mods?

Any advice would be great!!!!

Cheers Mark.

It's not easy to alter the SM into an off-roader as the brakes and suspension are different from the DR-Z 400S and the similarly equipped DR-Z 400E. The engines of the S and SM are identical. The E has a sharper engine, but is no longer available new in the UK. It also doesn't have winkers, mirrors, a cooling fan and other stuff that's quite useful for road use.

If you want to make a bike that you can both super-moto and trail-ride, buy the S model (or if you can still find one, the E model). Use the standard wheels for off-road knobblie tyres and buy a set of Talon hubs with Excel rims in your preferred size for the SM tyres (17”/17”?).

On my DR-Z, I use stock sizes for both road and trail and can swap the wheels and the chain (off-road uses a bigger rear sprocket) in about 20 minutes.

Stock gearing is:

S – 15/44
E – 14/47
SM – 14/38

Go for a 14 tooth front sprocket so that you can use a case-guard too. Choose a rear sprocket of say, 48 or 49 for off-roading and something between 38 and 44 for SM. You’ll need split-link chains.

SM sized wheels come up on eBay once in a while.

If you wanted to go the full-Monty, you can also get a larger front disc with a Talon calliper adaptor. Obviously, it would take a few extra minutes to change that too.

What you end up with is a bike that is reasonably competent off road and a reasonable SM too.

Greg

Thanks Greg,
that is a really useful insight, would it be cheaper to buy the Sm and the buy a set of excel off road rims and swap over brake discs etc? Would this work?

Cheers Mark.

Wonderboy said:

Thanks Greg,
that is a really useful insight, would it be cheaper to buy the Sm and the buy a set of excel off road rims and swap over brake discs etc? Would this work?

Cheers Mark.

Click to expand...

No, because you'd need the E/S forks (same on both models) and all the other front end paraphernalia. I'm also not sure about the SM's rear suspension. It may well have a lower setup than you could use off-road.

Greg