The Honda's suspension
far outshines the Suzuki's in
performance and adjustability.
The Honda comes fitted with
a 44mm Showa cartridge fork,
the same fork used by elite off-
road racers in the day, such as
Scott Summers, who won sev
-
eral GNCC titles on the Honda
XR600R. Many still speak highly
of this fork, and we do too. The
shock is equally good and fully
adjustable; the XR's fork has
compression adjustability but
no rebound. Those Schrader
valves at the top of the Honda's
forks are bleeder valves and
have nothing to do with preload,
but they help keep the fork per
-
forming consistently by elimi-
nating air build-up. The Suzuki's
fork has no bleeder valve.
The Suzuki's suspension is
lower grade in comparison. It
isn't as adjustable as the Hon
-
da's and has approximately an
inch less wheel travel and both
ends, a reverse side effect of
having a lower seat height. Over-
all, for casual riding, the Suzuki
still rides well on the road and
even on the dirt, but you'll reach
the limitations of the Suzuki's
suspension far quicker than the
Honda's.
Both bikes handle well, but
they are heavy. The Suzuki is
substantially heavier than the
Honda, but the DR's lower seat
height helps make its weight as
easy, if not easier, to manage
than the ultra-tall XR. Choose
your evil here.
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P113
The DR (left) has a much lower
seat height but less wheel travel
than the long-legged XR.
