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/128607
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400S By KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY KINNEY JONES f your boss came up to you today and gave you a choice of either getting a raise or having an extra day off during the week, what would you choose? I know what I would do: I'd take the day off and use the precious extra time to get in some more riding. Especially if I owned Suzuki's new DR-Z400S dual sport bike, because after riding one, that's all I want to do now. Heck, what can I say? But the DRZ400S is exactly what I want out of a dual-sport bike. This is a motorcycle I could ride right off the showroom floor and never do a thing to it. . (Okay, I lied; I'd change the tires. I'd trash the stockers for more off-roadfriendly D.O.T. knobbies. But that would be it. REALLY.) Up until the DR-Z400S, Honda's XR650L and Suzuki's previous DR350S were the only ready-made dual sport bikes I would ever consider owning, but I could reel off a long list of changes I'd make to both of those I bikes before I'd be truly happy with them. (Actually, I used to own a DR350S, and I did, in fact, make many modifications to it.) Besides these two bikes, my only other option would be to buy an off-road-only bike - perhaps a Yamaha WR400, a Honda XR400 or even Suzuki's new DRZ400Y - and perform all the necessary changes to make it street legal. But that just sounds like a time-consuming pain in the neck (and wallet) to me; besides, those lighting kits never seem to work, anyway - at least after a couple of rides. In fact, I just loaned my truck to a friend whose XR400R's lighting kit had gone completely haywire, necessitating that his bike be hauled to the shop for repair. But, hey, the lighting kit did serve a valuable purpose; it allowed him to obtain that all-important piece of metal - his license plate, his ticket to freedom. And I guess that's what truly matters. But I'd just as soon have blinkers that blink, lights that light and a horn that honks, and I guess that's why I like production dual sport bikes so much - everything works. And I really don't care if the price you pay for this convenience is increased weight, soft suspension and less-than-thrilling engine performance. After all, when I go dual sporting, I'm not trying to win a national enduro, but just attempting to have a good time and get away for a while. Nonetheless, that price for convenience just got smaller with the more powerful and better-handling DRZ400S, a bike closely based on the wonderful dirt-only DR-Z400. The 400S's new water-cooled motor, with electric start, of course, delivers far more power than the DR350 ever dreamed of. Looking back, I was forced to break down and put an aftermarket exhaust pipe on my personal DR350S just to give it a needed extra boost in the horsepower department, but the downside here was a significantly louder bike. The DR-Z400S, however, churns out acceptable power as is, and I could easily live with the quiet exhaust system that comes on it. Especially in Just put gas in it and go: In stock fOml, the new Suzuki DR·Z400S can tackle just about anything that comes its way. 12 APRIL 5, 2000' eye I e nevvs today's environmentally sensitive world, and in a society that has absolutely zero tolerance for what other people like to do, I'd just as soon not be heard by anyone while tooling around in the hills. But if an aftermarket company comes out with a DR-Z400 exhaust system said to be as quiet as the original unit, I would be tempted to give it a try. After all, increased horsepower is increased horsepower, and that's always a good thing no matter what kind of motorcycle you're talking about. Equally as improved is the DR's fully adjustable suspension. The DR easily passed one of the hardest tests we gave it while participating in Suzuki's DR-Z400S introductory ride at Death Valley National Park. We spent much of the ride blazing down twotrack desert dirt roads filled with rocks: loose rocks, ·imbedded rocks, big rocks, small rocks and just plain numerous rocks. Traditionally, rocks and dual sport bikes go together about as well as a bowl rainbow sherbet and a pint of Guinness. In such conditions, the previous DR350S suf-