Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2001 Suzuki DR-Z250 MSRP . .. . . . ..• •... . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . • . . ... . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . .•$469 9 ENGINE 249 cc. 4-stroke. single-cy linder, DOHC 4 -valve, air/o il-cooled, BORE/STROKE , 73.0 x 59.6mm COMPRESSIO N RATIO 10.4:1 CARBURETOR Mikuni TM28 LUBRICATION Wet Sump IGNITION CDI STARTER Electri c/ Kick TRANSMISSION 6-speed constant m esh FINAL DRIVE Chain a /A LENGTH 84.8 in. a /A WIDTH 34.6 in. a / A HEIGHT .48.4 in. SEAT HEIGHT 36.2 in. GROUND CLEARANCE 11.8 in. WHEELBASE .58 in. DRY WEIGHT : 259 .6 Ibs. SUSPENSION . . . . .FRONT , .Telescopic, oil damped, 16-way adj ustable compression and rebound damping . . .. .REAR link-typ e, gas/oil damped . fully adjustable com pression/ rebound damp ing and preload BRAKES FRONT Single hydraulic disc REAR Single hydra ulic disc TIRES FRONT 80/ 100-2 1 REAR 100/1 00- 18 2.7 gal. FUEL TANK CAPACITY COLOR Yellow @: [i:;I]®m~:][3 Crankcase: Compact, vertically split case with tr iangular crank shaft and transmission shaft layout . Design incorporates balancer shaft and internal oil lubrication passages. Engine Covers: The cy linder-head cover is constructed of magnesium - other engine covers are constr ucted of aluminum alloy. Crank shaft: Pressed-together, roller bearing-type crankshaft (like the DR-Z400 ). Connecting Rod: Sim ilar in construction to the type used on the DR-Z400. Lubr ication System: Wet-sump lubric ation system is used (unlike the DR-Z4 00's drysump system) with oi l ma intain ed in the engine. Internal passageways distribute oil thro ugh crankcase, cyli nder and cylin der head. Oil temperature is reduced through extemal air-co oled oil cooler and then routed to a cooli ng chamber in the cyli nder. Cylinder: Aluminum cyli nder with SCEM finish. Th is nick el -phosphorus-silicone-carbid e finish is very ligh t and dur abl e. Since the DR-Z250 uses air-oil engine cooli ng, the cylinder is finned and does not have coolant passages like the DR-Z400. Cylinder Head: Features Suzuki's Twin Swirl Combustion Chamber. Camsha ft : DOHC camshaft constru ction is similar to the DR-Z400. Valves: The DR-Z250 uses a direct-drive valve system. Carburet ion: The DR-Z250 uses a TM28 mechanical slide carburetor equipped with an accelerator pump. whil e the Califom ia specifi catio n DR-Z250 is equipped with a BSR32 constant- veloci ty- style carburetor. which allows it to be eligib le for "green-stick er" offroad registra tion. Air Fil ter: Foam ty pe. Exhaust Syst em: The DR-Z250 is equipped with a painted, stainless-steel exhaust system, using a spark- arrester -equipped mu ffler. Clutch: Thirt een-plate clutch with five coil- type clutch springs. Transmis sion: Six -speed, constant m esh. Drive Chain: D.I.D 520 a -ring. Charging System and Battery: The DR-Z250 is equipped with a three-phase charging system with a regulator/ rectifie r assembly and a m aintenance-free-type battery . Start ing System : Electric and prim ary -type kick -starter. Ignition : 12V DC-powered digital COl ignition. Tripme ter: Mechanical. ©lXJ&@@O@ (L eft) Horsepower is n 't on e o f the DR -Z 250 ' s st rong poi nts, but a s m ooth an d controllab le p ower d elivery is. (Be low ) The Suz u ki has a nice, slim prof ile , but it's a little he avy at 259.6 pounds dry, (that's c laimed, so you know it' s more). Suzuki w a s n ice enough to In clu d e handguards. Frame: Steel frame is based on the RM250 frame. Front Suspension: The conventional-fork system is based upon the RM250W and is similar in appearanc e to the DR-Z400. The 43 mm Showa cart ridge fork features rebound and compression damp ing adjustabili ty, but no external spring preload adj ustment. Wheel travel is 11.2 inches. Rear Suspension : A beam -styl e alum inum swingarm and RM-sty le suspension lin kage are used. The Showa shock absorber has a cast-a luminum -alloy body with remo te gas/oil reservoir and a threaded spring -preload collar. The shock has rebound and compression damping adju stm ents. Wheel travel is 11.2 inches. Brakes: The front -brake caliper, rear cali per and rear master cy linder are similar to the item s used on the DR-Z400. The brake rotor s were speciall y developed for the DR-Z models. and rebound d amping a dj us t ments, and boast over 10 i nc h e s o f wh ee l t r a ve l. ( T he f o rk h a s n o ex ter n al s p ri n g p r e -Jo e d adjustm en t , th e shock , of course , does . ) The DR's steel fram e and c h assis ar e a lso RM250- insp ired, so y ou k no w right off t he bat that, combined w ith the quality suspens ion compo nents , th e D R-Z 250 is going t o han dle pretty we ll, w h ic h it does , even fo r a 2 6 0 - pl us - po u nd , un d er p o w e r e d fo ur- st roke . T he S u zu k i ' s f ro n t a nd rear di sc b ra kes are m o re t ha n su ffic ient fo r t he li ttle DR as h ard as I cou ld , but I so ft fo r a g g re ssi ve riding b u t , o t her f ault that I c o uldn 't keep up ; th e n ic e to k n o w tha t , once you do get th at 260 pounds ' worth of m o m en t um going , y ou can get it sto p ped in a hurry. E ven though we spent most of our t i m e on t h e D R -Z 250 i n its easy- ab use. I thou ght th e fork w as a little wasn 't ge tting anywhe re . Prett y soon, ev e n Mike's d ust was settling o n the tra il. But it really w a sn ' t the b ik e ' s g etti ng t h e dawdlin g DR h a u l ed in ; t he n aga in , so wou ld the Fr ed F l in t stone m eth od o f st oppin g . O k ay , so I' m ex agge rating a l ittl e b it, but it's and ruts w ithout w o r ry ing any m o re than us ual - very a c c eptable , espe cia lly fo r la id -ba c k t ra il riding . Bu t t h e DR -Z 250 isn't designed to tables c ou ld 'v e been turned . and I still w o u ld ' ve b e en su cking M i k e ' s d ust. A f te r al l , w e 'r e ta lk ing Mike K iedrowsk i h er e . T h e DR-Z250 ' s ane - th an tha t, I fe lt I could rea lly h amme r th e D R t h r o ugh t h e w hoo ps , rocks m ic motor , h owever, ce rta in ly didn ' t help m e o u t a n y . I had th e throttle pinned mu ch o f the time , and t he poor little DR wa s gi ving it s all a nd, b e r idd en at Mike Kie d r o w s ki's speeds . Instead , it, l ike Yama ha 's TTR250 and H o n d a ' X R2 5 0 R , i s des igned to provide fu n , easy-go in g a nd r eli ab le off- road en tert ai n men t , to its c re d it , wasn 't ba lk in g , b ut it just wasn 't e nough . F o r any t hing b ut casua l trail r id in g , the DR -Z2 50' s w h ich it does q u it e we ll . B etter t han th e afo re me ntio ne d m o t or cycles ? W ell , w e ' ll see . In fact, a ll t h r ee of h e woul d b e g one. B ut d o n 't t h ink I moto r cou ld use so me h elp . O n th e othe r h a nd , th e D R's sus - d idn 't at least try to keep u p . I rode pe nsi on and chassis c an take a lot o f th ese bikes ar e c urrent ly in our pos sess ion , so we 'll start w orki ng on a " fun b ik e sh oo to ut " soon . CN going el em en t , w e d id r ide t h e b ik e prett y ha rd at t imes , mainly the first to u g h: K i e d r o w s k i was atop h is ti me w e rod e it and went tra il rid in g w ith f o r me r fo u r-ti me Na t ion a l MX Ch ampi on and cu r r ent G NCC ti t l e and I , of co u r se, was on the b ox - Yos hi mura -modified Suzu k i D R-Z4 17 , sto c k 2 50 . I n e v e r saw mu c h of K ied row sk i th at d ay . I cou ld keep h is c o n te nder M ike K ied ro w sk i of Suzu - b ik e's ye llow rear fe n der in sig ht for, k i 's off -road team . So y o u m ight sa y th at w e rod e the DR -Z250 f ro m o ne ex t re me to t he other. K ee p in g up was oh , ma y b e tw o sw itc hb ac k s, and th en cue I e n e _ s • M AY 2 , 2 0 0 1 47

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