Suzuki DR-Z400SM

[limbimtimwim]

Im looking at buying a DR650 with the intention of doing some adventure riding/commuting etc.... However I have been on Suzuki NZ website and see there is a DR-Z400EK7(OnRoad) but I assume its the dirt/road version not the motard one. Would you recommend this bike for said adventure riding? Would it be a smart idea to try and purchase a motard kit for the bike as well?

The 400 weighs a lot less than a 650. You may like that. It has been brought to my attention that the SM model also has a fan on one the radiators, which the regular DR-Z does not, which may suit what you are doing. I know the SM is better on the road than the regular DR-Z, and I would guess that it is superior to the DR650. But I would also think the DR650 would be a better longer distance bike as the DR-Z's seat is a bit planky. Also the DR-Z is quite high off the ground, but if you are limber and don't have some silly need to be able to get both feet on the ground at the same time you won't care.

Buying new 17" wheels and futzing with the brakes to convert a regular DR-Z is quite expensive.

I am putting some softish dual purpose 17" tyres on my DR-Z shortly, I may be able to report after the weekend how that went. Personally I think street tyres are just fine off tarmac as long as it is dry.

[Coyote]

That bike would suit me. Reliable single, can handle a fall, can go over gravel sections, etc. Still desire the sportsbikes though...

[Qkchk:Me]

The 400 weighs a lot less than a 650. You may like that. It has been brought to my attention that the SM model also has a fan on one the radiators, which the regular DR-Z does not, which may suit what you are doing. I know the SM is better on the road than the regular DR-Z, and I would guess that it is superior to the DR650. But I would also think the DR650 would be a better longer distance bike as the DR-Z's seat is a bit planky. Also the DR-Z is quite high off the ground, but if you are limber and don't have some silly need to be able to get both feet on the ground at the same time you won't care.

Buying new 17" wheels and futzing with the brakes to convert a regular DR-Z is quite expensive.

I am putting some softish dual purpose 17" tyres on my DR-Z shortly, I may be able to report after the weekend how that went. Personally I think street tyres are just fine off tarmac as long as it is dry.

Thanks for info. Height is an issue but probably not for me and Im slightly taller than the hubby. (We are looking at buying 2 bikes) Weight however might be something to consider as I have basic offroad skills but think the 650 might be a tad too heavy to lumber around offroad and the 400 could make the job easier for me. Do you think there is much more to be gained by motarding the bike or is there shits and giggles regardless on standard setup?

[GaZBur]

The 400 weighs a lot less than a 650. You may like that.... and I would guess that it is superior to the DR650. But I would also think the DR650 would be a better longer distance bike...

Having ridden both - I can only suggest that is exactly what Qkchk should do before making a purchase decision or you could be sorry. Despite both being called DR's they have totally different feel to ride. In my opinion the 650 is far superior to ride on the road and the 400 is far superior everywhere else including gravel. I wish I could afford one of each myself!
I am sure a dealer can arrange a couple of test rides if you are a genuine purchaser. Good luck either way as they are both a hoot to ride!

[Drew]

The 400 weighs a lot less than a 650. You may like that. It has been brought to my attention that the SM model also has a fan on one the radiators, which the regular DR-Z does not, which may suit what you are doing. I know the SM is better on the road than the regular DR-Z, and I would guess that it is superior to the DR650. But I would also think the DR650 would be a better longer distance bike as the DR-Z's seat is a bit planky. Also the DR-Z is quite high off the ground, but if you are limber and don't have some silly need to be able to get both feet on the ground at the same time you won't care.

Buying new 17" wheels and futzing with the brakes to convert a regular DR-Z is quite expensive.

I am putting some softish dual purpose 17" tyres on my DR-Z shortly, I may be able to report after the weekend how that went. Personally I think street tyres are just fine off tarmac as long as it is dry.

That was a lot of reading for what could have been as simple as..."There are pro's and cons for both, depends what you're after."

[limbimtimwim]

Milton Friedman has been credited with many different achievements, including being one of the most effective advocates of economic freedoms and free enterprise, being the greatest economist to ever walk the face of the earth, and proving every single word that Lord Maynard Keynes ever said to be wrong. Why these may or may not all be true, it is obvious that Friedman was a brilliant man of many accomplishments. Milton Friedman was born on July 15th, 1912 in New York City. His parents were poor immigrants and his father died when he was a senior in high school. Despite all of these obstacles he had to overcome, Friedman received a scholarship to Rutgers University and got his B.A., an M.A. in 1933 from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in 1946 from Columbia University. He worked as a research assistant to Henry Schultz at University of Chicago until 1937 when he started working with the National Bureau of Economics. There he jointly published the book Incomes from Independent Professional Practice with Simon Kuznets, which also served as his doctoral dissertation at Columbia. This book introduced the concepts of permanent and transitory income. In 1933 Milton Friedman met Rose Director, a fellow Economics student, and six years later they were married. Rose and Milton have collaborated on quite a few books and essays, and have established the Milton & Rose D. Friedman foundation, which promotes School Choice, which will be explained in more detail later. In 1976 Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy. Milton Friedman coined the terms only money matters as his emphasis on the role of monetary policy in the United States economy. Friedman is perhaps the most effective advocate for free enterprise and monetarist policies from 1945-1985. His only rival among economists of the 20th century would have to be Keynes. As well as being a Nobel Prize winner and just an overall brilliant man, Friedman served as Senator Barry Goldwater's informal economic advisor in 1964 and for Richard Nixon in 1968, then as President Nixon's advisor. He served as President Reagan's Economic Advisor on his Advisory Board in 1981. Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year. He was also a member of the President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force and the President’s Commission on White House Fellows. He is a past president of the American Economic Association, the Western Economic Association, and the Mont Pelerin Society and is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Friedman was awarded with many honorary degrees by universities in the United States, Japan, Israel, and Guatemala, as well as the Grand Cordon of the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 1986. He is known as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics. Milton Friedman is the author of many books and two public television series that he did with his wife Rose: Free to Choose(1980) and Tyranny of the Status Quo(1984). His most important books include Free to Choose and Tyranny of the Status Quo( both of which compliment the TV series), Capitalism and Freedom(1962 with Rose D. Friedman); and Bright Promises, Dismal Performance (1983), which consists mostly of reprints of tri-weekly columns that he wrote for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983. Also, A Theory of the Consumption Function(1957) and A Monetary History of the U.S.(1963 with A.J. Schwartz). Milton Friedman has a primary belief in the tenet of limited government. He describes himself as classic liberalism. Today's liberalism views are very opposite to Friedman's, and therefore he is often considered a Republican Libertarian, as conservative is really to narrow a label to encompass his other views of a limited government. Friedman's belief in a limited government is supported by his desires to restrict the scope of government's authority in the lives of individuals and to decentralize the power base of government to prevent a person's unwanted entanglements with a federal bureaucracy. Friedman's belief is that any one person given the power that officials of the government are given is bound to become corrupted. Therefore, he believes that the original intentions of separation of the branches of government should be enforced more strictly. Friedman says Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens against crimes against themselves or their property. This entire belief is based simply upon the principles that the United States was founded on. Principles like that of Thomas Jefferson that government is best that governs least. The economic arena is the major area where Friedman feels government has no right to intrude in the freedom of the collective or individual rights of its constituents. Government should be completely hands-off, laissez-faire when it comes to the private market. Otherwise, the government will only end up doing more harm than good, government should trust in the free market system and support the capitalism that this country is a product of. Friedman very much chooses to follow the beliefs and theories of Adam Smith, who was a free market supporter all the way. Today's liberals support regulation to deal with economic and social problems, where as Friedman supports only an entirely free market of capitalism galore. Milton Friedman has many things to say about the common idea that higher unemployment and slow growth are cures for unemployment. Milton Friedman argues that this is not so, and it's evident just by examining the trends of countries in which growth level has slowed, unemployment has risen, yet at the same time inflation is also rising. Friedman's explanation seems simple enough as well. Slow growth and higher unemployment are not cures to inflation, but only side effects of the cure. For example, a producer is going about, producing his product when he notices that he's selling a lot more for the same price as usual. So he orders more from his manufacturer, who orders more from the workers. If this increase in demand is coming from newly created money though, other products are increasing demand as well. This puts a greater demand on labor to work harder and longer, so they think for more money. But when they get their money, they discover that the price of things they must buy has gone up. Therefore it takes a bigger percentage of their paychecks to buy their necessities, so they didn’t make any more money at all. This results in the companies raising their prices higher and higher to make up for the money they've lost and eventually results in a vicious downward spiral of inflation. And then this is going to make employment and prices go way up. This is how he proves the common theory wrong, and you can't argue with facts like that. In the free market system that Milton Friedman saw workers are protected either by unions, the government, other employees or no one at all. Unions bring workers of a common trade together so that they can make sure they are getting the proper safe and comfortable work conditions. As well as getting paid for what they think they should be paid for their profession. This can be very beneficial to a work force by either keeping down the number of jobs available, or the number of people available for a class of job; both by enforcing a higher wage rate. Of course unions can also be harmful to the workers. This is because anytime one group of workers is benefiting from the increased wages or other union benefits, another group is being hurt by it. For example, if the pilots union decides to raise his ticket prices, he would benefit with the profit, but the consumer is hurt by this transaction. Even other pilots are hurt by this raising of wages, because when wages are raised, more must be charged for the tickets, and as a result less people will fly. This will mean that fewer pilots are required, and some can be let go. The government sets laws such as minimum wage, child labor laws, and affirmative action to help to protect the worker. Once again these laws definitely do help the worker, however some laws, such as the minimum wage law can give certain groups, especially minorities, an unfair disadvantage. Minimum wage laws stop workers that maybe aren't worth as much as minimum wage from getting a job where they could work up with on the job training or something. Instead many minority teenagers have great problems finding jobs. Some laws, like child labor and workmen's compensation simply embody practices that had already become commonplace. Other employers especially protect many employees. This is simply competition in the job market. If workers are mistreated or not paid enough, they can always get another job at another company. Finally, there are certain job situations in which the worker is really covered by no one. Workers who have only one possible employer, and workers who have no possible employer. A good example of a worker with one possible employer would be a professional sports team player. While they have a contract, the only leverage they have is to threaten not to play. This can work to great lengths, or it can work not at all, just depending on the situation. People who have no choice among employers are usually victims of government measures. For example, it's only beneficial for a welfare recipient to get a job if the wages he earns will make up for the money he will lose. However, it may not be possible for a person of such a disadvantaged background to find an employer to which he is worth that much.

[limbimtimwim]

That was a lot of reading for what could have been as simple as..."There are pro's and cons for both, depends what you're after."

Well, yeah, but what if she didn't know what they were.

As people always say "Ride them all" is probably the best thing to do. Not that I ever do that.

The SM also has better brakes than the regular DR-Z by some margin. Coming from a proper motorcycle, I could call the regular DR-Z brakes 'bad'. But someone wise pointed out on gravel you don't want an great front brake like you do on tarmac.

And the SM has pillion pegs.

[James Deuce]

Milton Friedman ....(snip)

Heartless Cunt.

Pinochet allowed the cult of Friedman to operate freely within Chile. The rich got richer, Government Services got slashed, and a tyrannical murdering despot got to throw living, breathing people out of aeroplanes and blow up opponents in the middle of Washington with impunity.

Milton Friedman is the Hitler of modern economics. He hated poor people and wanted them dead.

He is thoroughly discredited, as his theories all require a very robust economy to begin with, to absorb the true cost of human suffering that his give to the rich, burn the poor policies engender, and which typically result in a stale though positive economy that ticks along as minimum wage workers work far too hard for their minimum wage.

[limbimtimwim]

Relax Jim.

I was looking for short essays on John Milton, but found one on that other Milton and posted it as a laugh.

[James Deuce]

He makes me angry. I spent a lot of time with Chilean refugees and their families as we had four at my Primary school and Dad had two Chilean blokes working for him at the MoW. That's when I found out that humans could chop bits off other humans for a laugh, and that people can be disempowered by their Government quite deliberately.

John Milton was merely a drug addict with a pen. Friedman is a murderer.

[SlowHand]

I am putting some softish dual purpose 17" tyres on my DR-Z shortly, I may be able to report after the weekend how that went. Personally I think street tyres are just fine off tarmac as long as it is dry.

Well???????????????

btw, i think the k6 is cursed with SM/dirtbike inducing disease

[limbimtimwim]

Well???????????????

I put an Avon Distanzia SM 160/60 on the back (Original Equipment is a 140/70 Dunlop D208SM) and a Pirelli MT60R Corsa on the front.

I would have liked to have put the Avons at both ends for the sake of completeness, but I would have had to wait till March (Apparently..) to get a front.

SOOOooo

The rear has a lot of bite on gravel and the bike goes forward instead of spinning the tyre now. Which is less fun in some ways, but ultimately safer.

The front dances around like it always did in deep chunky gravel, I think a bigger wheel and a skinnier tyre would help here. But in the finer kind I have on purpose given the front brake a good squeeze and it didn't lock up. An improvement.

I still have not tried mud or sand yet, but at least in gravel it is a bit better.

btw, i think the k6 is cursed with SM/dirtbike inducing disease

Cursed, I agree.

[Brainfade]

I got My new DRZ400SM one month ago &, Man, I LOVE it, is sooo much fun!
Ive only ridden My R6 twice since I got My DRZ, Im almost thinking of getting rid of the R6 & just keeping the DRZ, of course Id like a new pipe & carb etc for it
Im gonna do the 3 x 3 airbox & rejet thing next, Ive got a new taillight & front mudgaurd for it, its the sort of Bike You could spend a fortune on BUT, even stock, its friggin BRILL!
Also, if I drop it, it doesnt matter unlike My R6 which is approx $2000 per drop!
Honestly, I LOVE riding this Bike, it doesnt matter what the weather or the road conditions are like, its ALL Good

[limbimtimwim]

But keep the R6 for the long trips. I'm taking my RVF to Auckland via State SnoreWay 1 on Thursday because the fuel range and seat would be pox for going to Auckland non-stop.

[skelstar]

But keep the R6 for the long trips. I'm taking my RVF to Auckland via State SnoreWay 1 on Thursday because the fuel range and seat would be pox for going to Auckland non-stop.

Just avoid the Waipapa Dam road eh Simon