Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ TECH 1991 Suzuki DR350S Dual Sp_OI_t _ first, but to o ur surprise the Cobra muffler is j ust a bo ut as quiet as th e stock mu ffler. It migh t be a decibel louder than stoc k, bu t you ca n barely tell the difference. Boyco also cla ims tha t t he Cobra mu ffl er incr eas es horsepower, albeit slig h tly. " We rea lly d idn 't des ig n It to increase horsepower," said Boyco. " It was mainly designed to rep lace ' th e stock muffler beca use it's so ugly and hea vy. It 's kind or like putting mag wheels on yo ur car. Bu t keeping it q uiet was priority number o ne." The Cobra muffler is U.S . Forest Service-approved a nd does not have to be cleaned or rebuilt. It has a suggested retail price of $129.95. To furth er r ed u ce weight , we re moved the sto ck IO-pound metal brace under the rear render a nd attached th e license p late to th e top of the rear render. In o ur o pinion , the stock DR seat is too narrow, short a nd m uch to o hard. We contacted Ch ris Haines o r Baj a O ff-Road Products, and he set us up with a longer a nd wider seat for th e DR. T he replacement seat uses th e stock base bu t with a n ex tension whi ch ~ Little changes, ........ ~ c-r [) ..0 S V ;> o Z big difference By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones o one will a rgue against th e fact that, righ t out of the cra te, the Suzuki DR350S fits th e bill fo r casual tra il rid in g. Bu t for th e more aggressive dual sport rider, th ere are certai n a reas w here th e DR needs improveme nt, mainl y in th e suspe nsio n dep artment, overall weight and ga s capacity. In stoc k conditio n, th e DR 's su spen sio n is wa y too soft for a ny thi ng but cas ua l trai l riding. Our biggest gripe is th e DR 's fork , wh ich is undersprung a nd doesn ' t have enough reb ound da m pi ng. To solve th ese p roblems, we hand ed ove r o ur 1991 DR350S to Pro g ressi ve Sus pens io n, a n a fte rmarket com pany th a t specializes in dual sport ma chi nery, especially the Suzuki DR models. Both the for k and rear suspension go t th e works. First, the for k was co mpletely tom dow n an d the stock spri ngs were tossed a way a nd replaced by sti ffer 20/3 0 lb. prog ressive-ra te spri ngs. Next, th e damper ro ds were modified to increase rebound damping. This work, ho wever, was not performed by Progr essive Suspens i o n. Inst ead , P r ogressi ve handed th e da m per rods to Strictly Suspension , another aft ermarket co mpany loca ted just a stone's th ro w away. St ric ti y Sus pens io n m achined the damper rods. T he forks were th en reassembled wit h fres h' oil. The comple te fork mod if icat io n runs $85. T he fork spri ngs ca n be p ur chased separately Ior $59.95. At th e rear , th e en tire stoc k shock was r epl a ced b y a n all -new P ro gr essive-b u i lt unit. T he sh ock features a steel body , a rem o te reservoir, a nd rive-position rebound a nd comp r essi on d amp in g ad j us tments . U n like th e rebo u nd damp in g adj ustm ent co ntro l knob t hat uses riv e deten ts for tuning, the com pression damping adj us tme nt has no deten ts. Instead, th e co m pressio n damping kn ob ca n be tw is ted th ree revolutions N (Above) The words " street legal" ta kes on a whole new meaning. (Right) The {our-gallon Acerbis gas ta n k do u bles the DR's range. It has a soli d moun t. and stopped anyw here in between fo r extremely fine tu ni ng. P rogr essive ins talled a stiffer 3501 390 lb. spring o n our DR, but th e stock spring will fit if desired. The shock body costs $340. The stock 2.0-gallon gas tank is rather small a nd o nly provides about 70 miles worth of hard off-road riding before it req uires refu elin g. For serious exploring, 70 m iles j ust doesn 't cu t it. Th is is where Acerbis USA came to the rescue. Acerb is offers a super-sa no 4.0-ga llon p lastic ta nk that easi ly bolts o n to th e DR350S, as well as the offroad only DR350L. The Acerbis ta nk uses two petcocks, wh ich are supplied, as well as co m plete mounting hardware needed for a so lid fit, The Acerbis tank comes in white; yellow or blue wi th co lorfu l decals, and has a suggested retail pri ce o r $ 149.95. , We didn't modiry th e DR's motor, prim arily for two reasons. First, we did n' t want to risk reliability Ior th e sake or a Iew more horsep ow er , and seco nd ly, we didn' t wa nt to in crease noise. 'Bu t af ter much deb at e, we ins talled a Co bra En g in eerin g ISDE Pro alumin um muffler , mainl y because it 's two pounds lighter th an th e stock mu ffler a nd look s a lot bett er. The decisio n ' Baja Off-R o ad Products offers a wider and lon ger seat for the DR. It is mo re comfortable than the stock seat and is :better for doubl ing-up. Co bra Engineer. ing's ISDE Pro aluminum muffler is about two pounds li ghter than th e original mu££ler and is only a decibel louder. To the ear th e differen ce is ha rd ly noticeabl e. 18 to try th e Co bra muffler was mad e after speaking with th e com pa ny's founder, Ken Bo yce, ,who claimed hi s muffler is o nly one decib el louder than th e stock muffler. We were skep tica l a t makes it significa ntly longer. The sea t co mes in a variety o r colors wi th no n slip o r plain covers. The cos t is $131, which incl udes roam, cover and extensio n . Sta nda rd len gth is also avai lable. Suzuki DualSDort Riders Club W het her you ow n a stock or modified Suzuki DR250, 350. or even the 650S Du al Sport bike, do n 't for get that you ar e eligible to join th e Suzuki DualSport Rid ers Club, free o r charge. When you become a member you' ll recieve a free subscription to Rou te Sheet, th e cl ub's quarterly newsletter wh ich p rovides in forma tio n suc h as even t schedules, technical infor matio n. ride reports, persona lity profiles, and invitations to participate in local organ ized tra il rides a nd deal ershi p-sponsored Suzuki Du alSport Cl ub rides. Amer ican Suz uki first introduced th e Suzuki DualSport R iders Club last spring, and has since hosted a nd sponsored many organ ized dual sport trail rides across th e country: The Suzuki cl ub events ar e open to all riders, regardl ess of wha t mak e o f street-legal dual sport mo tor cycle th ey ride, a nd dem o rides aboar d Suzuki's dual sport lin eup o r DR motorcycles are also ava ilable. Not only does Suzuki use th e rides to promote the DR line, but to promote th e sport of dual sport riding. Charles Halcomb, Suzuki's Du a lSport Riders Club su pervi sor. said, " O{ course we want to sell motorcycles, but our main goal is to promote th e sport and get our dealers more involved with dual sporting even ts. "We (America n Suzuki) produced eight d ual sport events this year in many different sta tes," added Halcomb. " Nex t year, however American Suzuki will not produce these even ts ourselves, instead we're encouraging our dealers to put on these Suzuki DualS!?'? Ri ders Club events. Bas ica lly what we did this year ~as 1't show the d2iiIers ow it' e such as laying o ut a course, making up route sheets, set . helJl;1.th e'deafen by sup plying food, taking care iliings ana a lo t more. Bu t it'~ up ir areas: ' shou ld ta with ~ir local JfC

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