Zukin
3rd April 2007, 21:37
Hi there
No problems whatsoever
The DRZ is a fantastic bike.:first:
Now I tested the following 250cc bikes on the market in June/July last year
Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda
The Suzuki was miles out in front for “on road” use, for things like comfort, ease of use etc.
This is why we chose the DRZ
I have ridden many dirt bikes over the years (I am in my mid thirties) off road and a few on road.
My wife, Carissa had never ridden a bike in her life, before our adventure.
So we had to find something that was good enough for me (I am 5ft 7 and weigh (too much) about 95kgs), and Carissa who was a learner, and is only small
The DRZ is in fact a fantastic bike to learn on, and at the same time good for those with a little more experience, and will grow with the rider as their skills and confidence grows.
For anyone who is considering a learner bike that is a little more off road orientated, the DRZ has to be one.
Carissa really enjoyed the bike, and in fact has become quite attached to it.
She also enjoyed the easy layout of the controls; with only very small hands the layout was so good she had no problems reaching any of the controls.
We both liked the easy to read digital display, which was very visible even in the worst conditions.
It is really agile and easy to manoeuvre, and the electric start is a fantastic feature.
Its great seating position is great for views well ahead of you when you are riding, something Carissa noticed that she didn’t have when she sat on a smaller road/sport orientated bike.
The bike allowed us to keep is a pretty respectable pace in most conditions, even on the gravel roads the bike performed well. Carissa was not at all fond of the gravel, in fact she hated it with a passion, however the bike was so easy to ride on the loose surfaces, but it didn’t take long for Carissa to start to relax on the gravel (especially on the 180km stretch of gravel in Molesworth)
On a flat road I could easily get the bike to 110km kms and if I pushed it, it would go a lot faster if I needed it too
On the hills I did struggle with power, but because the DRZ is a 6 speed I could simply change down and go for it
Carissa would (as the confidence grew) simply pull out and pass me going up hill!! Power to weight ratio I guess!
The fuel was better than first anticipated (after you run them in) and on some days we would get over 240km on a single tank, which is very good on a 10 litre tank.
We never run out so I don’t know the maximum distance.
The ride comfort was great, soaks up all the bumps and is a fantastic bike on the gravel.
Off road they are very good to, they are light and very agile, easy to hook a wheelie over logs etc. I would if I used it a lot more off road probably put on a smaller sprocket for real hard off road riding.
I honestly don’t think I would change a single thing on it, maybe the exhaust to free it up a bit if that is what you needed.
I can not say enough good things about it, and I am not biased, as I have an XR as well (that I am selling because I have decided that the Suzuki is the way to go)
The Suzuki probably doesn’t have the same deep thumping sound as the XR, but outperforms in the three main areas we looked at when we were deciding on which bikes to use on our 14 day, 7000km Ride around NZ
Safety – Great lights, these are fantastic for night riding, and cars notice them during the day, not once did we have any “close calls” with car drivers pulling out to overtake other cars because they didn’t see us!! This happened a lot on the XR
Indicators – They are big and bright, but very important. Some people change them to small out of the way indicators, but I prefer to be seen than be hit from behind.
Colour – Yellow Bright, again to be seen, they say yellow or white are good colours to have on a bike.
Comfort – The seat (sure it not as comfortable as a road bike) is remarkably comfortable compared to the others we tried. We comfortably rode for approx 500km per day without any ill effects on the bum! The actual seat and sitting postion must be good for most people as we got off the bikes feeling rather good! I am not sure if perhaps we were just getting ride fit, or whether the bikes seats were getting softer.
Reliability - From the extreme wet we experienced in the Far North, to the searing 30+ temperatures we had in Molesworth, the trusty DRZ’s just kept going and going.
No problems whatsoever, not even as much as a blown bulb!! We have done over 8000km now and still there is nothing that needs doing! Not saying that no other bike is capable of that, but from the research I did prior to the trip starting was that the Suzuki dealerships were much more obliging in the unlikely event that we had a mechanical breakdown. :first:
The factory tyres were the only things to disappoint us; we only managed a little over 3500km before the rears were almost shot. Sure there was a little more tread on them when we decided to replace them after the North Island leg in Wellington, but the South Island is rather large and as we were travelling around the West Coast first, the Suzuki Dealer options were a little limited there, so we decided to get them changed at Wellington Motorcycles.
These are our personal opinions and experiences.
I just wanted to share these with anyone that is considering a DRZ, or just wanting to know
Cheers Scott
No problems whatsoever
The DRZ is a fantastic bike.:first:
Now I tested the following 250cc bikes on the market in June/July last year
Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda
The Suzuki was miles out in front for “on road” use, for things like comfort, ease of use etc.
This is why we chose the DRZ
I have ridden many dirt bikes over the years (I am in my mid thirties) off road and a few on road.
My wife, Carissa had never ridden a bike in her life, before our adventure.
So we had to find something that was good enough for me (I am 5ft 7 and weigh (too much) about 95kgs), and Carissa who was a learner, and is only small
The DRZ is in fact a fantastic bike to learn on, and at the same time good for those with a little more experience, and will grow with the rider as their skills and confidence grows.
For anyone who is considering a learner bike that is a little more off road orientated, the DRZ has to be one.
Carissa really enjoyed the bike, and in fact has become quite attached to it.
She also enjoyed the easy layout of the controls; with only very small hands the layout was so good she had no problems reaching any of the controls.
We both liked the easy to read digital display, which was very visible even in the worst conditions.
It is really agile and easy to manoeuvre, and the electric start is a fantastic feature.
Its great seating position is great for views well ahead of you when you are riding, something Carissa noticed that she didn’t have when she sat on a smaller road/sport orientated bike.
The bike allowed us to keep is a pretty respectable pace in most conditions, even on the gravel roads the bike performed well. Carissa was not at all fond of the gravel, in fact she hated it with a passion, however the bike was so easy to ride on the loose surfaces, but it didn’t take long for Carissa to start to relax on the gravel (especially on the 180km stretch of gravel in Molesworth)
On a flat road I could easily get the bike to 110km kms and if I pushed it, it would go a lot faster if I needed it too
On the hills I did struggle with power, but because the DRZ is a 6 speed I could simply change down and go for it
Carissa would (as the confidence grew) simply pull out and pass me going up hill!! Power to weight ratio I guess!
The fuel was better than first anticipated (after you run them in) and on some days we would get over 240km on a single tank, which is very good on a 10 litre tank.
We never run out so I don’t know the maximum distance.
The ride comfort was great, soaks up all the bumps and is a fantastic bike on the gravel.
Off road they are very good to, they are light and very agile, easy to hook a wheelie over logs etc. I would if I used it a lot more off road probably put on a smaller sprocket for real hard off road riding.
I honestly don’t think I would change a single thing on it, maybe the exhaust to free it up a bit if that is what you needed.
I can not say enough good things about it, and I am not biased, as I have an XR as well (that I am selling because I have decided that the Suzuki is the way to go)
The Suzuki probably doesn’t have the same deep thumping sound as the XR, but outperforms in the three main areas we looked at when we were deciding on which bikes to use on our 14 day, 7000km Ride around NZ
Safety – Great lights, these are fantastic for night riding, and cars notice them during the day, not once did we have any “close calls” with car drivers pulling out to overtake other cars because they didn’t see us!! This happened a lot on the XR
Indicators – They are big and bright, but very important. Some people change them to small out of the way indicators, but I prefer to be seen than be hit from behind.
Colour – Yellow Bright, again to be seen, they say yellow or white are good colours to have on a bike.
Comfort – The seat (sure it not as comfortable as a road bike) is remarkably comfortable compared to the others we tried. We comfortably rode for approx 500km per day without any ill effects on the bum! The actual seat and sitting postion must be good for most people as we got off the bikes feeling rather good! I am not sure if perhaps we were just getting ride fit, or whether the bikes seats were getting softer.
Reliability - From the extreme wet we experienced in the Far North, to the searing 30+ temperatures we had in Molesworth, the trusty DRZ’s just kept going and going.
No problems whatsoever, not even as much as a blown bulb!! We have done over 8000km now and still there is nothing that needs doing! Not saying that no other bike is capable of that, but from the research I did prior to the trip starting was that the Suzuki dealerships were much more obliging in the unlikely event that we had a mechanical breakdown. :first:
The factory tyres were the only things to disappoint us; we only managed a little over 3500km before the rears were almost shot. Sure there was a little more tread on them when we decided to replace them after the North Island leg in Wellington, but the South Island is rather large and as we were travelling around the West Coast first, the Suzuki Dealer options were a little limited there, so we decided to get them changed at Wellington Motorcycles.
These are our personal opinions and experiences.
I just wanted to share these with anyone that is considering a DRZ, or just wanting to know
Cheers Scott