I am proudly a motorcycle rider again! With the parts GS still in the process of getting titled, I have been dying to ride.  So I pulled the trigger and scooped a 2006 drz400sm with just under 1500. I have clicked past the 1500 mark and am enjoying every mile! This and the GS are the only motorcycle's I've had the pleasure to ride. I really like having both, but after riding the drz more and more with the new owner of old GS- I'm DYING to get back on my gsF!!

Once the ground dries up a bit more i'll be looking to dip off in the woods soon

Well enough rambling, here's a couple quick photos:


getting artsy..

This bike will always hold a special place for me.  My buddy's was the first bike I learned on.

I've always liked those bikes.  How does it ride compared to the GS?

Nice!!  Now you just need a set of knobbies so you can come play   

-Jessie

Brought her to work today, warm up time is nice. started full choke, put helmet on, glasses, and gloves. cut choke to half and tied my shoes. closed choke up completely and she idled perfect!

The handling is.. different. I am a complete noob still in the moto world. Only have ridden the gs and now the drz. It is insanely agile, and seems to pick up quit a bit faster than the gs.  For power it does seem to have more acceleration, but suffers with only a 5 speed. I drove it on the back roads from roanoke to radford, it did well, but was definitely buzzing when i would cruise 65-70. Which is perfect with me, as i'm heading towards the dirt instead of the interstates. Suspension feels nice, not too dirt bike like. I can feel more travel in it compared to the gs, but not drastic by all means. I do however feel more comfortable on the gs, stability wise. Not sure if its the lighter weight, or change in riding position on the drz, but i feel much more planted on the gs. Not saying the drz isn't stable! I feel completely in control and confident. Its just feels much quicker to turn/change line in a heart beat. Comfort - gs wins for sure. I have no complaints on the drz's riding position, but that seat... WHEW! haha. Haven't had a chance to dip into the drz's brakes, but i'll dabble with that tonight.

Only have gotten a couple rides in with the new owner of my 04 gsF. So we've been slowly working our way up riding more twists. Haven't had a chance to get out on my regular spots and test it out. Brought her to work today so i will get a chance today to push a bit more.

Knobbers are coming soon, keep an eye out for a set of drz400s wheels for me!!

I'm just stoked to be back on the road

Dirtbikes carry their center of gravity a good bit higher, it just takes a little getting used to.  The seats always suck on dirtbikes but if you are actually off roading you are standing on the pegs most of the time.  I'll let you know if i come across a decent deal on offroad wheels.  Don't know how far it is for you but there is a trip to Rock Run Adventure Park in Pennsylvania planned for April 15th.  Let me know if you want to go and I will get you a ticket.  $10 for admission and includes lunch on that day.  Pull any clutch wheelies yet??

-Jessie

Sounds good on wheels, preciate it for sure! don't think i'll make it to the rock run park.. its just over 6 hours away. I will try to take a couple days off and make a long weekend trek up that way, but it will probably be later in the summer.

I found another z rider locally and he has mentioned they run sumo races on the kart track at VIR. I'm thinking this will happen at least once this season!

No haha no clutch wheelies yet, i have been reading/watching brushing up on my knowledge.  The new owner of my GS dropped her in the gravel a few days back, so its got me wanting to keep this thing on 2 wheels for at least a week! haha i am getting the itch though

Wheelies are for showing off on the street but it is a necessary way to navigate some terrain off road.  Let me know when you are heading up this way.  I'm also planning to do some offroading at the Hatfield/McCoy trail system in West Virginia later this year.  I'd also like to hit Pocahontas County, WV on street bikes   

-Jessie

So you're advocating adding knobbies to a bike who's existence is based on taking a dirt bike and taking the Knobbies off and adding street tires!?!?!?! It boggles the mind!

Quote from: steezin_and_wheezin on March 01, 2012, 07:39:53 AM


Once the ground dries up a bit more i'll be looking to dip off in the woods soon

Love it! Wish you were up close to Pittsburgh, I need to find some new people to ride with this spring. The only guy I knew with a sumo just sold it.

You'll definitely want to wait for it to dry up before you take it offroad. I tried taking mine to one of the local dirtbike spots two weeks ago, it had rained a few days earlier and it was a nightmare haha. I had fun, but I spent 100% of the time with my bike tire spinning away as I just barely crawled along, and had to stop a few times to push myself out of mud I got stuck in. Street tires do not work in the mud at all. I got lucky and got the offroad wheels/tires when I bought the bike, but I was too lazy to put them on that day haha. It's hard to tell in the picture but my tires were just covered in mud.



It'll take a little time to get used to it but you'll definitely appreciate it more and more as you get comfortable on it. I noticed instantly that all of those smooth fast and twisty roads just didn't satisfy me anymore, and I spent all of my time looking for the most torn up, gravel covered, pot hole filled, tight twisty roads I could. You have the most fun on roads you never thought you'd enjoy on a motorcycle. The seat definitely leaves a bit to be desired, I usually wear some padded bicycle shorts if I know I'm gonna be out for a while.

I borrowed my friends DRZ for a weekend before I bought my bike. The power was comparable to the GS. I've seen plenty of guys doing wheelies all over youtube on DRZs, but I didn't have much luck getting the front wheel off the ground, and I'm perfectly fine at doing them on other bikes. I don't really like to abuse clutches though so I probably wasn't trying hard enough. The brakes are amazing though. I couldn't keep the back wheel on the ground the whole weekend  My YZ still has the smaller offroad front rotor, so I don't have that problem yet, but when I get $200 to throw at the front brake, I'll make sure to get that sorted.

So.... you put your gloves on BEFORE you tie your shoes?? Interesting

Hey TT,

The invite to Rock Run on April 15th goes out to you to.  You have to buy a ticket in advance though.  Details are on the bottom of Pete's website:  http://www.petescycle.com

-Jessie

Thanks! I'll look into it. When you guys were talking about it I assumed it would've been way closer to the other side of the state by Baltimore, but google maps says it's only 2 hours away. That wouldn't be bad for a day trip. I have like 4 miles of offroad experience, could probably benefit from a little practice before I set myself free on 50 miles of trails haha.

Got to get a good ride in yesterday, and man i'm stoked on this moto! overall impression = love it, but she definitely needs some fine tuning. 

I get some surging on steady throttle, need to figure out what jets i'm running and go from there. For shits and giggles I submitted a best offer on a barely used full rs-3 yoshi exhaust on ebay, but don't plan on getting a new exhaust anytime soon though.

When I got on my regular twisties, i could feel the front end fighting me a bit.  I changed riding position from nuts on the tanks to scooched back a fair bit. She definitely likes my weight more on the front wheel. The surge in throttle doesn't help when trying to hold a fine line and feel what the bikes doing.  Still i could feel the front wheel act up when coming out of a tight turn and getting heavier in the throttle.  I found a few threads on people's clicker setting for front/rear suspension. I will be getting into tuning as best i can, if i'm still not happy i know a local that is a suspension genius.

Pachman - i was hunting for a dual sport, but the super moto was close with unbelievably low miles.  Have been talking to Baltimore about the bikes and he knows i'm trying to get deep out in the woods. it may be built for the road, but she's begging for some knobs and mud

TT - definitely wish you were closer! i have found another drzSM close to me, and he's ready to ride when he gets back in town! i'm glad i read yer post about fighting the mud on street tires. i would have been out there stuck in the slick stuff if i didn't for sure. haha i dying to get in the dirt!! know excatly what you mean by wanting more gnarly roads for this thing will have to see if i still have my old padded road bike shorts, thanks for the tip!!

Still wanting to get a week under me before taking a wheel of the ground haha

Starting to fix some of the things the PO butchered. Ordered a brand new black steel tank for $150 shipped on ebay, a new clutch lever, and clymer's repair manual.

Still deciding on which pegs and mirrors to get. Also hunting for a black right tail plastics/frame cover to replace the one that was blown off the bike

edit:

Quote from: tt_four on March 01, 2012, 10:57:44 PM
So.... you put your gloves on BEFORE you tie your shoes?? Interesting

still don't have a good pair of moto boots, i usually wear my ipath grasshoppers. i tied them so no strings hang out and they have a nice ankle strap to clamp down. i had another pair of shoes on that day and had to jump back off the bike and tie them up tight haha my usual process is jacket, helmet, strap helmet!, gloves, and glasses.

Quote from: tt_four on March 02, 2012, 06:34:41 AM
Thanks! I'll look into it. When you guys were talking about it I assumed it would've been way closer to the other side of the state by Baltimore, but google maps says it's only 2 hours away. That wouldn't be bad for a day trip. I have like 4 miles of offroad experience, could probably benefit from a little practice before I set myself free on 50 miles of trails haha.

There are plenty of easy trails and even the hard ones aren't that bad (though there is one hill I bite it on every time!).  They are rated for difficulty by green, blue and black signs like ski trails   

-Jessie

Quote from: steezin_and_wheezin on March 02, 2012, 09:43:00 AM
love it, but she definitely needs some fine tuning. 


Still deciding on which pegs and mirrors to get. Also hunting for a black right tail plastics/frame cover to replace the one that was blown off the bike

edit:

Quote from: tt_four on March 01, 2012, 10:57:44 PM
So.... you put your gloves on BEFORE you tie your shoes?? Interesting

still don't have a good pair of moto boots, i usually wear my ipath grasshoppers. i tied them so no strings hang out and they have a nice ankle strap to clamp down.

You'll be amazed how much info there is online about the DRZ. There's a ton of stuff people do to smooth them out and get a little bit more power. You can definitely sort that out. Carb tuning is something I've never been that great at, but my YZ manual has a whole chapter in the back on just the carb and how to get it running right, so it's something I plan to get better at. My bike runs fine but even with the stock jets and exhaust it pops pretty bad on deceleration, I'd like to get rid of that.

I'm all over my bike when I ride it. My last bike I would just plant my butt in one spot and steer it everywhere but this bike I'm sitting almost on the gas tank, at the back of the seat, leaning with a knee out, turning with my foot out. It's definitely a different feel from normal street bikes where all you do is move a little side to side.

My favorite setup for the mirrors is to get some cheap bar end mirrors from ebay, and you put them on the bars on the inside of the grips/controls. Because of your seating position you can fit them there and see behind you perfectly, not something you could do on a streetbike. I'd try to find a picture but I'm at work, I'll see if I can find one later. That way you don't have to worry about them breaking when you crash either, they stay out of the way.

The shoes comment wasn't so much about the style of shoes you're wearing or what you do with the laces, but me trying to picture someone tying their shoes with riding gloves on. Sounds way more difficult than just pulling the gloves off to tie them.

Definitely! I have been reading on thumpertalk, advrider, and the occasional supermotojunkie

Glad to hear i'm not riding funky cause i'm all over the seat!

I will check out those mirrors, they look great! I caught them out of the corner of my eye in the photo you posted in here. Needless to say i drooled before continuing scrolling

Just threw the type of shoe in there because i normally don't need to lace, just 1 strap to tighten. No riding gloves yet, more like a pair of mechanic gloves.

Riding gloves, pants, and shoes are my next purchase for both bikes. A supermoto/dual sport helmet in next for the drz. Looking at the joe rocket hybrid helmet, price seems good, and its made by hjc which fits my melon well.

aah, yeah I forgot you could see my mirror in that picture.



I only have one mirror on at the moment because I've got too much crap on my left bar. Once I buy a new camshaft with the auto-decompression I'll get rid of that lever and have room for the second mirror.

I just picked up a pair of riding pants over winter. Cyclegear had them on their clearance rack for $30. Glad I found them, Ive always wanted a pair. I usually still ride in jeans, and would really like a pair of those jeans with the knee and hip pads sewn in. The pair I have I'm sure would be way too hot to wear in summer. I wore them when it was 35 degrees and I felt perfectly fine, and that was with the liner removed, can't imagine riding in a temperature cold enough to need the liner.

Those dual sport helmets look awesome. I need to get one. I have a street helmet and a dirtbike helmet, but I'd love to get the dual sport helmet to split the middle.

good deal on this one, wish it wasn't camo... http://www.motostrano.com/AFX-FX-37-DS-Camo-Dual-Sport-Helmet-p/01102187.htm

Got a call from a buddy today who was going riding with a few friends. I was out so didn't think I'd be able to make it. Eventually I got home, but the mx wheels on my bike, loaded it up and headed up there. Got in about an hour or so before it started to get dark but I had a great time. It was pretty wet and my bike is absolutely covered in mud, but you'll definitely need to find some mx wheels for your DRZ.

Quote from: PachmanP on March 01, 2012, 06:38:15 PM
So you're advocating adding knobbies to a bike who's existence is based on taking a dirt bike and taking the Knobbies off and adding street tires!?!?!?! It boggles the mind!

TRUE. but these tires appear to be all but worthless in offorad/mud/ anything other than hardpack