Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ; RIDING IMPRESSION Suzuki DR250SL,DR350SL &DR650SL By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones w o w, wha t a concept! Dirl bi kes ma de stree t legal , no t th e other way around! T hat's exac tly wha t Suzuk i had in mind whe n th ey pr oduced th eir lin eu p o f DR dual-sport mot or cycles for 1990. Based o n th e a ll- ne w, p urely o rr-roa d Suzu ki DR 350L a nd DR2 50L (see th e Ma y 2 issu e o f Cycle News for a DR 350L r i din g i m p ress io n), th e DR 250SL a nd DR 350SL emerged, as well as the a ll-, well, maybe not- sonew DR 650S. T he 250 a nd 350SLs are basically Lmodels, but modified just eno ugh to mak e th em street legal. Abo u t th e only differences between th e DR -Ls . (offroad) a nd th e DR -SL s (dua l-sport) are EPA-lega l steel, rather th an plastic, gas ta nks, the ad ditio n of tum indicators and m irrors, sligh tly mod ified exha ust and carb u retor systems, and available sus pe nsio n adj ustme nt settings and different tires. The co lor sche mes also d iffer: T he SL- mo dels are wh ite a nd blue; th e L -m od el s a re w hi te and yellow. Althou gh th e 250 and 350 are nea rly identical, th e sligh tly less po werfu l 250 is -aimed more toward th e entry-level rider, or for th e perso n wh o hasn't ridden for a wh ile and wants to ge t back into the sp an. For those wh o are are looking for horsepower , th e DR 650 was added to co mp lete th e lineup. The DR 650 is basi call y th e sa me mo torcycle as the late SP600 wh ich Suzu ki sold in the m id-1980s. U nli ke th e 250 and 350, th e 650 is no t based o n the DR 350L Saddle up! There isn' t much differen ce between th e 250 a nd 350, th ough th e 650 is a different sto ry. We'll talk abo u t that later. Obviously, th e 250 is sligh tly less powerful and a tad ligh ter th an th e 350. T echni call y, th e 250 is three pounds lighter th an th e 350; reali stica lly, you ca n ' t feel the di fference. H ow ever, th e di fference in horsepo wer is no ticeabl e. T he 250 is an ideal mo torcycle for th e newcomer. Its power output is su per la id- back, a nd combined wi th a fairly lo w seat height, trim la you t and cus hy su spension, ridi ng the DR 250 is a piece o f cak e. Never the less, th e 250 has enough power to keep an aggressiv e rid er gri nning . Sure, it's no t a trench digger, but it's fu n to ho ld the throt tle wide open from tu rn to tu rn. T he four-valve mo tor wi ll get yo u fro m here to there q ui ck ly eno ug h. O n th e aspha lt, th e 250 cru ises down the highway at 55 mph effortlessl y, as does th e 350. Both DRs mak e great a ro u nd -to wn co m m u ter bik es. Sin ce th e DR ' s hav e co u nte r -rota ti ng bal an cers in the cran k, vibra tio n is hardl y noticeabl e. As far as suspensio n a nd handl ing in the din, the 250 doesn 't feel like a street bik e-turned-din bik e like most dua l-purpo se m otorcycl es d o . For exa mple, if you 're ja mmi ng down a stretch o f d in road and suddenly come up on a sect ion of wh oops, you don 't' ha ve to panic - it doesn 't mea n an automatic tank-slapper, The DR will maintain a stra ight line long eno ugh to let you slow down to a speed that will ena ble you to negotiate the wh oops. In stock trim , th e 250's sus pe nsion is set up a lillie so ft for aggressive orrroad riding, but for th e street it works fin e. The DR 350 has prett y much the sam e handlin g and susp en sion character isti cs as th e 250, but th e increase of power help s it track beuer in the ro ugh. Since it's easier to cru ise faster on th e tra il , we felt th e need to in crease th e p reload setti ng on th e rea r shock a nd sti ffen th e com p ressio n da mpi ng up fro nt. T his sig n ifica ntly im proved th e 350's feel on the trail. The DR 350S doesn 't have quite the power' or th e sna p o f th e DR350L , but it has pl enty o f roosting power for dual-sport riding. The six-speed transmission o n the DRs p erform s. smoothly, as does the clutch.

• Cover