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/127648
(Clockwise, from right) The DR350 has a simple yellow-and-white color scheme, and isn't cluttered up with racey graphics. For a four-s troke, the DR is relatively thin and easy to maneuver on. The rider 's cont rols are comfortable and within easy reac h, though we found that the handlebar and levers bend qu ite easily. The peppy 348cc engine is far from being a racer, but delivers plenty of ih rills in stoc k cond ition . set of respectable susp enders that deliver a pleasant ride as long as the going doesn't get too rough. A cartridge-style , conventional Showa fork offers 11 inches of suspension travel up front, while a single Showa shock handles the absorption duties in the rear. Tha t also offers 11 inches of travel. Both the fork and shock offer compression and sp ring preload adjustments, but lack any sort of rebound adjustability. LET THE FUN BEGIN Firing up the DR' s motor was - as promised - quite easy. A pull on th e decompression lever, a few slow stabs at the kick starter, and one healthy whack with no throttle is all it takes to bring the engine to life. If you're too lazy to use the lever, the new automatic decomp ression works just fine , b ut we preferred going the manual route. We found the DR to be a bit cold -blood ed, and a few minutes of idling with the choke on was needed befo re the bike would warm up to operating temperature. The first thing we noticed about the DR is that in spite of its 249-pound' dry weight, it felt m uch li ke its lig h te r RM250 MX cousin. The bike is slim and com pact, and enjoys many of the same hand controls as th e MXer. The stock han d guards are a nice touch, but do little to shield your paws from serious foliage. They do protect your hands from the elements o n co lder days, though. Clutch pull is light, and even under heavy abuse the clutch only shows mini mal amounts of fadin g. As is the case w it h almost a ny d ece nt-sized fo u rstroke, the motor p rod uces a tor q uey, eas y-to-ride type of power that is well spread thro ughout the p o we rba n d . Th anks to th e co u n terba lance r; the motor runs very smooth and very little ' vibration is transmitt ed through th e handlebar. The transm ission res ponds to e ven the sli gh test tap on the shift lever, and powershifts are not a problem. While brute power is not the motor's forte, getting the power to the ground is. The DR350 hooks up be tter than any two-stroke race bike could ever hope to. While raci er ma ch in es m ig h t be left spinning, the DR will hook up and tractor away. Thanks to the motor 's smoo th, predictable power delivery, long, controlled powe r slides are easily performed. The hydraulic d isc brakes are more than adequate, and do an excellent job of hauling the rela tively hea vy bik e d own from speed. Though they are not as strong as th e un it s tha t co m e on Suzuki's MX lineup, they do their job well and resist fading and overhea ting. Suspension-wise, the DR350 can best be described as a Cad illac . At slow to moderate speeds, the Showa units soak u p every little ripple an d bump with ease, pr oviding an extremely cushy rid e. But get the itch to ta ke to the a ir, and you might find yourself in tro ub le . Attaining higher speeds aboard the DR becomes sca ry, as both the fork a nd sh ock will bottom vi olen tly . Smaller leaps are handled we ll, but harder landings will leave the rider yearning for a set o f stiffer suspenders. Stiffenin g the compression adjusters on the fork and shock yielded favorable results, bu t w ith the lack of rebound adj ustm en ts, such adjustments could lead to an undesirable situation. One por tion of our tes t session was conducted at the Cougar Buttes area in Lucerne Valley, California, an ar ea that featu res a wide variety of terrain. Along with the usual wide open rolling whoop sections, a multitude of hills, trails and enormous boulders keep things interes ting. As long as the speeds 'weren' t too high, the DR performed like a ch am p . Even a few attempts at trials-typ e sections over and th rough the rocks wer e ha nd led with ease, tha nks to the DR's smooth power delivery and agile handling. Yes, the DR350 has received littl e attention from Suzuki since its debu t, but who's to say tha t it needed it? Three years la ter, th e DR is just as fun as it ever was. And easier to start, too. C\' WhileCyclt NtwS believes theforegoing ttst miobit, it is the "Pinion of the reoieuers only and should not be relied upon in determining the performance or saftty of the tsehicleis). The reader should make his or her own investi ation g