Just nicked out a 70+ mile day on single track on mine. After 5 hours of sand, ruts, hill climbs, dirt road 80mph blasts, and deep sand you realize that you are still riding well while the people you are riding with on their modern 450cc motocross based enduro bikes have been beaten up. Yes the bike is slightly slower than a 450. It’s not a jumper. The bike can’t handle super fast chop as well as the modern bikes but IMHO it does everything else better. It’s comfortable. The engine is smooth and not vibey. You carry 2 quarts of oil. The handling is secure and the bike just floats over everything with the standards forks. This is why they still sell the darn thing.
I had a ride on the weekend and found the same thing the DRZ just keeps giving and the engine is the best engine for hard terrain you can get. Guys on there 450s are beaten up and amazed the DRZ can out preform them. Thanks for the feedback safe riding mate👍
E model is jetted properly out of the box, if you fit a full exhaust (staintune is best) raise the needle one clip and adjust the idle mixture screw from 1.5 turns out to 1.75. there's really no such thing as a 3x3 mod for e model it already has a 3 inch by 3.75 inch cutout in the top of the airbox all you need to do is pull the rubber snorkel out. a lot of advice on forums is for the s model and doesn't apply to E model as E model already has 24% more power than s-sm stock. the power is very smooth and they make peak power at 9k rpm so the harder you ride it the harder it goes, most people tend to putt around on them and because its manageable and torquey down low assume it has power that signs off early similar to old air cooled 4 stroke trail bikes like dr's, xr's,tt's etc but that's just not the case.
@@BrokenSprocket The DRZ is no single trail bike. Way too heavy but you already know that. The OEM exhaust tip is opened up already. Not sure you will gain too much from an after market apart from more noise and weight reduction. FMF, Yoshi and MRD seem to be the best performance exhausts but is 2hp worth the cost and you better wear your ear plugs. Not much power to be gained unless you go big bore 440 and or add stroker kit to make it 470cc. If you are riding slow out in the bush, your number one upgrade should be some radiator fans as there are none on the 400E. Number 2 upgrade should be heavier springs and valving for the suspension. great bush bike with limitations.
@@BrokenSprocket yes exhaust is a good upgrade staintune is a lot lighter and gives a noticeable increase in power. mines 18yo now on my second drz. sounds better and never needs repacking. suzuki motorcycles australia actually sell them as an approved accessory. i've done plenty of single trail on my drz's over the last 20yrs, never had a fan it won't overheat until you stop moving and start riding the clutch. i don't ride the clutch and if i'm not moving i switch it off. that's the beauty of the drz you can't hear all the people saying what you can't do when you're out there doing it. single trail to interstate trips it will do it.
@@BrokenSprocket I think it would be very handy if your video could be edited to either remove mention of the 3x3 mod or at least say the mod is unnecessary. There are already too many posts talking about the 3x3 mod which don't point out the fact it's only for S and SM models. The E model is superior not only in power, suspension and off-road ability but also eats the other variants on tar when road tyres are fitted.
been there done that , had a drz-e 03, best wheelie bike I ever had , but to tall, didn't handle to well, uncomfortable, felt top heavy, didn't feel fast ... can't wait to see some videos from you ... on this bike :D
I got a brand new '22 and love it. Still quicker than the boys on the 701's on the fire trails alot of blokes say its a heavy bike I don't find that I've been riding and racing 25 years I'll stick with the Suzuki over Euro trash.
Great vid! Just picked up a 2024 model in NZ. Unfortunately, no Cape York Edition here.. Great that Suzuki Aus did that promo! I have a YZ250FX for the trails, but have really been missing the exploration side of riding, so think it will be perfect for small adventures via public roads. Cheers!
Excited about content, just bought a 2000 drz-e here in states… love it for single track and hill climbs. My first traily. Light to me, have a 1290 adv-r. My buddy sold to me who out rode everybody on it… hare scrambles etc. he was ex MXer though. But not always the bike clearly.
Great stuff steve awesome seeing a bike back in your stable The beast looks in immaculate condition Looking forward to the upgrade videos and riding videos
