DRZSM... or something else?

[Duken4evr]

Ironically, my DRZ is in great shape. The thing is solid (and heavy) as a rock. The valves have not needed adjustments in years. The engine runs better than new too. Feed it a steady diet of Rotella, keep the air filter and suspension serviced and I wonder if it will ever wear out

Ya, the Kawi 450 looks interesting. I read that they have fantastic suspension. Used clean nicely modded WR's are a lot easier (read cheaper) to find around here though, and I am a cheap bastard

[gixxerjasen]

And that's exactly why if I had the cash I'd buy the Duken model. I know that while it's been thrashed, it's also been well cared for.

[BikePilot]

And his suspension is very well setup. Its not nearly as scary in whoops as I expected a 300lbs DRZ to be

Craig, I'm still sorta stuck in Honda/kawa mode as by ridding budy in VA owns a honda/kawa dealership and I was really unhappy with my last YZ. Also, not very many WR's back east so it would be the other way around here. Loads of CRF's, and probably about equal for WR's and KLX's I'd guess. Anyhow, if you ever think about buying new, I could probably have my buddy ship you one pretty cheap.

[Duken4evr]

Yea, Eddie Sisneros from Thumpertalk fame here in Denver set up my suspension. He said he could work with the stock pistons in the forks and valved them, the shock got a Race Tech kit and he set up up with a "3 stage" shim stack. Both ends have one step stiffer springs. The fork springs are a touch soft, but I like them like that as I like the front end to be feelable in the rocks and tend to "ride the rear tire"

Eddie did a good job

[OldTLSDoug]

I would jump on the yammie, especially if you still have the TL. You can go blast on it, but have the comfy street bike when you need it. Do it!

[Duken4evr]

Dyno chart from Motorcycle Online. The Yam buries the Kawasaki 250.

Looking at the chart, I bet more top end power is in it with simple FI and exhaust mods. Look at that flattened plateu of power. It looks snuffed down to me. I bet there is well over 30 hp in it after some uncorking.

[BikePilot]

There might be. The YZF250 makes around 35hp at the rear wheel. Of course its a full blow race bike, not a 26k-mile-service-interval street machine. It does seem that yamaha came up with a great motor in their 250 but its a real shame the thing ended up so heavy. 270lbs is just a ton of weight for a 250cc four stroke. Heck, my old DR350SE makes similar power and weighs only 15lbs more

[Duken4evr]

If the WR motor is built heavier so it lasts, I don't see much reason it can't make near what the YZ250 does once it is uncorked. One cylinder out of an R1 makes a touch under 40 hp and a single 250cc slice of my 150 hp FZ1 makes 37.5, both motors capable of doing 100K miles, easy

Maybe all the WR needs is $300 worth of hotcams dropped in, some exhaust therapy and a PCIII. That amounts to over a grand. Not cheap, but not insane either. The DRZ S model only really needs the intake cam switched out to wake it up. Who knows.

There does seem to be a correlation though. 35-40hp in a dual sport in a reliable bulletproof package is going to push the needle on the scale to around 300 pounds, regardless of engine size.

I bet a lot of weight comes off from up high on the bike with that cat equipped exhaust though. Even given comparable weight, the smaller spinning mass in the engine would make it more nimble handling than a DRZ too.

A good running DRZ really is a pretty good compromise though. It is easy to get 45 mid range oriented hp out of them. More than the weight, the bike's biggest unfixable flaw IMHO for dual sport nirvana is no 6th gear.

It also remains a mystery to me why they put a 36mm CV carb on it. Why not a 40mm CV, which has been shown to boost power substantially? I can't imagine it costs much more than the 36. The stock head pipe on the DRZ-S is pathetically small too. It is like Suzuki crippled the DRZ-S on purpose. Dunno why - a correct head pipe like the one found on the E costs no more than the small one on the S. Actually, it costs more to stock the two different parts! With the "E" headpipe and a 40mm CV, a DRZ-S would increase it's output from 35 to 40 hp. An "E" model makes around 43. Why not give us a 40 hp S? Beats a 35 hp S

Oh well. The WR450 version will be heavy, but it will be a cool bike if the 250 is any indication.

[BikePilot]

I think the MFG's have yet to really make a serious attempt to trim weight off dual sports. Comparing all the weight-saving efforts that go into sport bikes vs dual sports is telling imho. It seems that dual sports are where sport bikes were in the late 80's perhpas - just starting to gain real popularity and performance focus but not terribly well thoughtout or optimized just yet. They borrow some from MX bikes which helps, but even MX bikes (especially two stroke ones) aren't terribly weight-focused as the two stroke mx bikes have been nudging the AMA minimum weight limits for a long time. In fact it wasn't unheard of for mfg's to intentionally use a few heavy parts or add lead shot to frame rails to meet weight requirements.

Another interesting potential area for improvement is getting away from race-class determined specs. For example, hitting the usual 250cc and 450cc marks may not be ideal. It wouldn't surprise me if the WR250R could have been a 350R for the same weight and obviously the DRZ can go bigger without trouble (when Suzi came out with it 400cc was the limit for four strokes in the 250cc class IIRC). Then also forced induction could be employed although it may be a bit complex for a machine intended to be bashed about, its proven invaluable in ski's and sleds... Think what the WR250R would do on 15psi of boost via supercharger

[Duken4evr]

I think you are onto something with the non standard displacements. It is a dual sport, who cares what it displaces. What works? A well developed 350cc thumper would be perfect for Colorado and trail riding.

The mid bore 450cc size does seem like a good compromise for reasonable off road agility and the ability to traverse distances on the street though. DRZs work very well when punched out to 435cc. The valves are unshrouded and the bike picks up more power than the simple displacement increase would suggest. I wonder if the DRZ was originally supposed to be a 450. The head seems designed for it. Suzuki made some funny choices when they designed the DRZ. One thing they did right was the suspension. For a budget oriented bike, the DRZ S and SM have decent suspension affixed to them. They may need valving and springing, but the foundations are there.

The new WR looks to be the same way, with good suspension components. Suspension has always been the bane of affordable dual sport bikes. Of course the new WR is on the expensive side for a 250. It buries the Kawasaki competition though.