New bike

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Hiya everyone, another entertaining post from your resident Jefferson. Laughing

My Dad recently bought a new bike, a Suzuki DRZ400. It has £600 of sports exhaust on it, on a 53 plate. I intend to have a go down the local offroading track, or just a field to get used to it. As I only ride a crosser myself (50cc of pure unadulterated power), and it's not very powerful, what can I expect the transition to be like?

I have been offroad on mine before, but it was sort of a dirt track, and with little to no jumps. Has anyone had any experience with this bike before? Or a similar type? Will it be easy to get into or really hard to grasp?

And what do you think of the bike? Smile

(It's not the same bike, just model. More pictures this weekend Thumbs Up

)

https://www.bikepics.com/pics/pics/suzuki-drz400s-03-bikepics-078880.jpg

Cheers,

Karma

Joe

space · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Karma :

£800 for a DRZ! Shocked

how you manage that so cheap? 50cc to 400cc! Shocked

You sure you'll be ok on this! Thats a big increase

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

It's because it was stolen and recovered I think. I hope I'll be ok, I was kinda hoping you guys could advise me on that. I will be respecting the bike, not ragging it's nuts off.

Laughing

yzf750r · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Karma :

Has it got a logbook and everything?

Bargain, I say! Karma

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phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

yzf750r · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Karma :

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

You are going to shit and piss your pants similtaneously!

Be very careful. Last time I saw one of those being ridden off road, the rear wheel never did exactly the same speed as the rest of the bike. Opening the throttle too quickly can easily result in you landing on your arse with a hot motorcycle on top of you.

I'm not going to tell you to try something slower offroad before you go out on a stupidly highly tuned and lightweight 4-stroke enduro bike straight from a moped because you are a teenager and wont listen.

Wear your gear and don't go out offroading by yourself on it until you know what you are doing (someone needs to help lift it off your leg/phone the ambulance when you fall off).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
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phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Cheers guys.

Never said you did Zeffer, sorry if it seemed that way Smile

Stinkwheel, thanks alot for the advice it was just what I needed to know. I just hope the weather is nice (Although cold), I will be taking full precautions and my Dad will be coming with me to watch over me.

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

To put it another way:

RYZ 50
Weight: 95kg
Power : at a guess 5bhp, 8bhp at the outside (correct me if I'm wrong).

DRZ400
Weight: 119kg
Power: 40ish bhp

So only 25kg heavier with at least five times the horsepower. Thinking

____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

Dom · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Karma :

£800? Lucky git.

That is all. Whistle

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Photos and that

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Dom_ · Points Mean Prizes Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Karma :

First.

£800, lucky c*nt!

Clutchwork. Let the clutch out with no revs 'til you feel it bite, then, let it out even slower. Big torquey singles have sheet loads of torque and if your not careful it'll just wheely/spin up off the mark. you really need hardly any throttle movement to get one of these bikes moving. So none of that full throttle/slipping the clutch l00nacy that you do on the 50!

Power. Once you've gotten a feel for the clutchwork (as it's a hell of a lot different to a 50) then you really need to get a feel for the power, so do a few laps around a car park or somewhere, be progressive with the throttle and dont stab it. And whatever you do, don't pin the throttle back in 1st.

Engine braking. Engine braking will be very very immense, especially coming from a 50cc 2 stroke with zero engine braking, so make sure your prepared for it when you back off the throttle.

Changing down gears. Changing down gears will be different to the 50 as well, you can't just pull the clutch in, drop and cog and dump the clutch again, you'll need to let the clutch out smoothly and slowly, just as you did when you were pulling off, either that or blip the throttle on downchanges so you can match the gearbox/engine speed.

Finally, don't panic. If you try and think about too many things it's likely you will f*ck up, it should come naturally you as to how to behave, what to do etc...

Have fun.

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Oh jesus. Thanks Dom_ that is really helpful Thumbs Up

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

The DRZ isn't a super light super fast machine like stinkwheel was trying to make out. It's a good introduction to off-road, if you're tall enough to get your feet down anyway.. problem is it'll be heavy so be careful... easy enough to ride in trail riding/messing about/enduro type riding... just take it easy and don't rush and you'll be fine.
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KLR600 · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Karma :

I remember the first time I rode my KLR600 after my DT125. It felt absoloutly massive and had masses of torque compared to the DT. I just took it really really easy and didn't pin the throttle or do anything stupid like that.

Basically, do what Dom_ said and take it very easy for a while because the DRZ will hurt you if you don't respect it.

But don't forget to have fun!!

And damn, £800 Shocked

. Madness.

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Sparks! · Sir Tart-a-lot Joined: 30 Aug 2003 Karma :

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Cheers for the replies guys, although Stinkwheel was slightly out on the weight, he was damn accurate when he says it's going to be weird and a weird feeling., and bloody fast compared.

I'm probably going to go on it this weekend, I'll let you all know how it goes Thumbs Up

Kaben · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Karma :

we shall light the candles for you Wink

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space · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Karma :

any pics of your bike?

phantomtek · Lil Joe Tek Joined: 20 May 2005 Karma :

Sure.

https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/Phant0mtek/DSCF0013.jpg

https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/Phant0mtek/DSCF0012.jpg

https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/Phant0mtek/Image007.jpg

https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/Phant0mtek/Image008.jpg

space · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Karma :

errrrr some how i dont think thats a DRZ! let alone a 400cc! Shocked

space · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Karma :

Sorry I meant a the pic of the DRZ

Dom · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Karma :

See the first post ^^
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Photos and that

space · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Karma :

Thats not his DRZ tho