Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126601
The DR600 Z plea.e. the eye. and look. like it belong. on the trail. For more .eriou. work. though, a couple change••hould be made. Then, it'. fun tlmel Impression: Suzuki DR500Z~~~~~;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:; ~ The motor is the ticket By Mark Kariya and Karel Kramer Remember those funky " B" movies and TV shows wh ere some plain Jane is transformed into a Christie Brinkley lookalike simply by removing her.hideous secretary glasses, letting her hair dow n and giving her a new wardrobe? You may have even seen a girl (or guy) that might not be so fine at first , yet you know that with a quick going over, th ere 'd be a world of difference. After a few hours in the saddle of Suzuki's la test DR500, we feel the same way . The bike has definite potential (read: fantastic motor). but it possesses flaws as it comes off the dealer's floor that prevent you from fully enjoying what could be. A few changes here and there. though. would produce one fun motorcycle. Stock. the DR isn't bad for just putting and casual riding. Twist the throttle a little further and knuckles become white. bringing fun to a wide-eyed halt. Kicking the ti res 16 If you've seen the ads for the DR500Z or seen one up close. you'll agree that it's a pretty bike. Whi te bodywork with three-tone blue stripes on the sides of the 9.0-liter steel gas tank and the plastic side panels highlights its appearance and sets off the black frame and engine. A small rectangular headlight sits. in a white plastic housing above the smallish black plastic number plate which hides the tool kit . A small odometer resides above th e headlight and is resettable, though we didn't get a chance to verify its accuracy. . The black, nicel y padded seat provides a comfortable spot for resting and is emblazoned with "DR" in bold. white outlined letters on the rear of each side. Behind th e seat is a small enduro-type taillight mounted on the wide white plastic fender which. like its counterpart in front. does a good job of keeping mud and junk off th e rider. Remote reservoir gas/oil shocks are laid down on an extruded boxtype aluminum swingarrn, providing 8.5 inches of travel. A 5.10-18 4P R Bridgestone M22 helps hook the engine's potent power pulses to the grou nd while the rod-operated full floa ting rear brake does its best to scrub o ff acc umulated speed. In front. air/oil leadin g axle forks let the .!I.00x2 1 Bridgesto ne M2.!1 move through 9. 1 inches of travel. Bla ck boots help keep grime out of fork internals and there is no balancing or crossover tube. The full-width hub houses a single-leading shoe brake and drives the odometer. - ----- Getting dirty Fortunately. the DR is equipped with a co mpression release (the lever loca ted above the cIutch lever ) to ease starting chores. wh ich can ' a lso be accomplishe d in gear thanks to the primary kick start. T he choke lever on the .!I5mmMikuni must be pressed down to start a cold engine but is unnecessary once things have warmed up. Even with the manual compression release. starting required a strong and swift kick, often several, to light the fire in the .single overhead cam en gi ne. Even after killing the motor or falling. though. it took a few good boots. Pulling in the clutch lever is easily accomplished thanks to its light pull. Engagement is smooth and predictable. and its action could not be faulted in most situations. We ran into one tight section requiring repeated cIutch slipping due on ly to the physical tightness of the trail and not any power deficiency. That was the only time the clutch faded. but after a bout 10 minu tes of more casual riding. its normal action returned. No further problems were encountered. T he five-speed tra nsmission was OK. When we first got th e bik e. shifting seeme d stiff bu t loosened u p in time. T he shift from first to second remai ned u ncerta in while we had the bike. though. and we wou ld have preferred the shift lever maybe a half inch longer. It does have a folding tip this year . The internal gear ratios seemed just a bit too close for our tastes. at -- least when it came to trail riding situations. First was a little on the ta ll side, a n d whe n we got into a n ex tremely slow trials-ty pe sectio n. it became necessary to keep two fin gers on the clutch. Otherwise, the engi ne had a tendency to suddenly die while ch uffi ng a long. At the other en d of the scale, on long straights in the desert. it felt like we could have used a sixth gear a couple of times. The first thing that hits you when the wheels start to turn is P-O-W-~-T. It 's there from the moment a spoke spins to wherever redline is. and it's th ere in droves. Our local horsepower fanaticjumped on it for the first time. wheelied away and was seen later shrieking with glee as hej umped and skidded around. With the D R. you can dial in as much, or as little. power as you want or need, too. That's what makes it especially fun. A slick corner, a long wheelie or a full-on assault on the local Matterhorn - all are easily tackled with confidence stemming from the predicta ble power output. Low revs or high, power is a lways there and ready to climb. What's not there is good suspension. Our biggest co mplaint centers o n the forks. As del ivered. they were too soft . Shut the throttle. h it th e front brake, a nd 95%o f the travel was gone. However, da mpi ng rates seemed fairly close. With some quick and easy fixes like adding five to 10weight heavier oil and perhaps raising the level plus adding a few pounds of air to suit the rider would improve things tremendously.