Thinking of Getting a dual sport.

Heres how it goes, ive been riding for awhile now and have always ridden 2 strokes, but now i got the itch for a 4 stroke street legal bike to take on some adventures. Im kinda leaning towards the DRZ400s and found a good deal on an 06 with 2600 miles for 2800. Its the end of wildland fire season and i have some extra money to play with lol, i was origianally going to go for one of the followin
-go mid travel front and rear on the taco
-buy a downhill bike
-buy cbr600rr

this dual sport kinda touches on what i would be doing with any of those. Comments? suggestions? i want to hear your opinions fellow TW members

 

The drz400 SM is a supermoto from factory with everything to keep you happy. 60mpg avg isnt bad either. the honda 650 is just too heavy. ktms are super overpriced! the drz 400's have been known to go 30k+ on an original piston when taken care of. thats what got me.

 

DRZ SM FTW!

 

What kind of dual sporting do you plan on doing?

If you want something to waste more time, go to www.advrider.com and have a look around.

 

My dual sporting will be few highway miles and mostly dirt trails and forest service dirtroads, i work as a seasonal wildland firefighter and theres always cool stuff out in the woods.

 

Camping? Carrying stuff? DRZ will work for that.

A friend of mine just did 600 miles of dirt in Ridgecrest on his. So you'd be good to go.

 

yea, nothing too brutal on the bike. im trying to play it safer now that i have a carreer going for me.

 

The other thing you might look at is a Yamaha WR450 or Honda CRF450 for comparison.

 

DRZ-E is the shit. My buddy has one and I've ridden it several times, it's a great mid-priced dual sport. I ride it's bigger bro the DR650, love it.

The DRZ is a bit tame out of the box, there's a good chancy you'll soon get bored twisting the throttle; fortunately a few hundo after uncorking it you'll be happy again. The gearing is a bit low for the highway and it gets real buzzy and high RPS (it's closer geared for dirt). You can fix this with a $30 sprocket and 15min of work swapping it if you're hitting the highway.

When you factor the price, factor these items too: JD jet kit + fuel needle (about $60), an aftermarket pipe (FMF or something $200-500), Tires (the stock tires suck, but you have LOTS of options depending on your primary riding from full knobbies to slicks $60 to 150 each). And of course bark-busters, wrap around aluminum frame ones (vital for that first time you drop it in the dirt, they will save all those fancy dual-sport controls). Probably a sprocket to higher/lower the gear ratio $30.

Also, you'll need a helmet, riding boots, and some other shit but those 2 are the most important.

 

the DRz400 will meet all my needs and i can get an awesome deal. hopefully it will still be there monday when i make the move lol

 

heres a pic of the bike

 

i had an older dr350 and it was the shit on the street. road some friends drz400's not to long ago and they are really nice. i'd say go for the drz for sure

 

i go back to socal tomorrow night, but i have to wait till monday for the bank to open, hopefully the guy still has it

 

this bike already comes with all this stuff i already have gear from my usual weekend riding. so ill save myself a few bucks

 

Looks perfect. Desert tank and all. Get it.

 

Bike looks like it's ready to go. Good luck!

 

I had a DRZ400S a few years ago, and it was okay. I had it piped, jetted and it made it a bit better. If you want to hit fire roads n such it will probably be what you want. Here is a pic of my old blue beast.

 

I have a dual sport and I too converted from a 2 stroke. Altho there is less power, its worth being able to go anywhere you want. I have not regrets. I also have a yamaha yz 225 dual sport. haha

 

i have an 05 drz... all i can say is if you get one invest in the kickstart kit off a drz 400 e

its like $250

drz's are easy to flood if it stalls on you on the trail... the battery is expensive and mine would only last a season... not having the kick start as a back up really!!!! sucked

i bought an 04 ktm.... WAYYYYYY better than a DRZ. i got my 450exc for 3300 and it is way more bike than the drz. lower first gear than drz better trail and higher top gear better for highway makes the ktm more rounded as a dualsport...

i still have both...

 

i also have an RMZ dual sport fun fun