PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Picked up this guy tonight..

'05 DR-Z400S, 6,4xx miles, clean, knobbies, case guard, cleaned up tail.




My DT really opened my eyes up as to just how much fun riding in the woods can be. I really just had no idea. When I blew the DT up, I started thinking hard about what I really want out of a second bike.. I liked how nimble such a smaller bike like the DT was but it won't put up with the highway, and it doesn't do off road well. (Hey Sirius, you were right!) So go as close to street legal dirtbike as I can? Or go more adventure touring route after reading all the trip reports on advrider.com? Price is a big factor, as well as how many times I'll be servicing said bike..

I ended up choosing the 03+ DRZ because it's fairly dirtbikey but will still work for shorter adventure touring trips. It's bullet proof, relatively cheap, and also cheap to mess around with. I'm ok with it being dated. It's proven. It's also low maintenance, not high strung, and up on oil capacity.

The real kicker was me riding one last weekend. I've been craigslisting them for months and that just sealed the deal. What was a full body workout on the DT was like a cruise though a grassy meadow on the DRZ. And it was still pretty nimble.

I've got the Poconos (Appalachian Mountains though PA: for non PA folk) and the NJ Pine Barrens (500 miles of unpaved road in a 1.1 mil acre nature reserve) in my not so distant future. I'd love to do a minimalist camping trip somewhere with it too at some point.

As far as mods go I'll likely do the rest of the usual stuff like 3x3 mod (open up air box and jet), get some sort of luggage rack on there for trips, and maybe go wider seat.

I'm excited.. the front has already been up a few times.

Now you're talkin'. The DT was mediocre even when it was new; there is absolutely no comparison between it and your new Suzi. While the DT was no doubt fun, the suspension, power, handling, and reliability of the DRZ will increase the fun-factor by orders of magnitude. Orders of magnitude. Add to that the parts availability for the newer bike and you realize workin' on 'em is fun, but riding 'em is a whole lot more fun. And the DRZ will take you more places with a lot less effort. You won't be doing any touring on the DRZ, but that's not what it is for. It's designed to get you legally from one trailhead to another - those stretches of pavement that go from one adventure to the next. Single-tracking through the woods or mountains is unbelievably fun. You can cover so much more ground and see so many more sights than those guys who strap on a marble bag and moccasins and hike for a couple miles. Hiking has its place, but those nature boys don't know what they're missing.

If you don't already have them, I recommend some "bark busters" or some other type of hand guard to protect your hands and levers and prevent saplings or branches from locking your brake or pulling your clutch at an inopportune moment. Trust me on this one. Unless you enjoy being the star of crash & burn videos, of course.

Looks great Mike! I need to get my MC license and a bike. More time and money that I don't have lol.

Sirius wrote: Now you're talkin'. The DT was mediocre even when it was new; there is absolutely no comparison between it and your new Suzi. While the DT was no doubt fun, the suspension, power, handling, and reliability of the DRZ will increase the fun-factor by orders of magnitude. Orders of magnitude. Add to that the parts availability for the newer bike and you realize workin' on 'em is fun, but riding 'em is a whole lot more fun. And the DRZ will take you more places with a lot less effort. You won't be doing any touring on the DRZ, but that's not what it is for. It's designed to get you legally from one trailhead to another - those stretches of pavement that go from one adventure to the next. Single-tracking through the woods or mountains is unbelievably fun. You can cover so much more ground and see so many more sights than those guys who strap on a marble bag and moccasins and hike for a couple miles. Hiking has its place, but those nature boys don't know what they're missing.

Yeah I really can't wait to really make use of this thing. On the touring note, you gotta remember I went to Key West on a Monster in December and even did a 650 mile day to make up some time. For this thing I doubt I'll go more than a few hundred miles tops to any destination but I'm no stranger to dealing with setups less than ideal when I want to.

Sirius wrote:If you don't already have them, I recommend some "bark busters" or some other type of hand guard to protect your hands and levers and prevent saplings or branches from locking your brake or pulling your clutch at an inopportune moment. Trust me on this one. Unless you enjoy being the star of crash & burn videos, of course.

It actually came with looped metals ones!

00Beast wrote:Looks great Mike! I need to get my MC license and a bike. More time and money that I don't have lol.

Do it!! PA has a free MC safety course that requires a permit but you take the license test at the end. Completely free except for the DMV fees. If MN has anything like that I would highly recommend it.

Yeah, I think there's something like that. I live right by a Harley dealer and I know they have an all-in-one course.

Yep. My course was at a Harley dealer too.

I got this thing in the air a couple times. Preloading the front suspension and keeping on the throttle were key.

Went out to Reading, PA yesterday to a pretty tight/technical single track spot. It was awesome.. and the bike was never really too big for any of it.

One section has a box jump style dirt jump and I got to launch it a few times.

That is how you spell fun. Getting the trials bike out this weekend, some rocks are calling my name.

cool, but I dont see any hand guards = you think the seller kept them?

The hand guards are still there and came in handy on that trip!

So I still have this and it does not suck. I had some fun in the NJ Pine Barrens last weekend and want back to the aforementioned Reading spot this weekend. The Reading spot had a lot more single track and rollers than it did when I went 2 years ago. Tons of fun. The bike might be dated and a little heavy but I'm more than happy not knowing what I'm missing.

That's the kind of selfie I like to see. How did you do it?

It doesn't matter what you're riding, as long as you're riding!

Haha. My buddy that owns the green KLX400 was the man behind the camera. It's actually full circle. After I went to this spot 2 years ago and saw how decent the DRZ was on tight single track etc., I convinced him to buy similar. He got one of the 2 year Kawi rebranded 400s, eventually went with me to the same spot and loved it.

Cool. When you eventually get the hots for something newer, take a look at the Beta 300 Crosstrainer. That is a sweet little woods bike and way fun to ride.

Definitely looks fun.

Dayum, Mike!! Sweet shot, looks like a blast!

Since I got this I talked myself out of longer trips on the knobbies so I didn't wear the tires out. Over 2 years later and the tires are still fresh.. So I decided screw it..

Put 120 miles on this guy with a buddy on his XT500 to go check out probably the most exotic looking spot in NJ.






Yep, I went in. Nope, I didn't get tetanus.

That looks like a cool place to ride.

Welp. I sold this to a buddy yesterday since I ride this the least out of my bikes. I've actually only ridden it less than 600 miles in the past 4 years. I thought I would be more into moto-camping and long off-road trips but that never really happened. I have more fun on the IT175 and since a lot of my buddies have trucks, a highway suitable bike isn't a requirement. I thought about bringing it out to Cali with me but I know it'll sit there as well. Here it is all cleaned up one last time for the sale at just over 7k on the clock.








It was a cool bike. Go anywhere, bullet proof, wheelie happy, looked/sounded good. Now it's time for someone to enjoy it more than I did.