Suzuki puts dual-sports on the road, in the dirt
My first dirt bike was a chopped and lopped Suzuki 50, so I have always been favorably disposed toward this storied Japanese label. I became more so when, in the early 1970s, motocross champions like Joel Robert, Sylvain Geboers and Roger DeCoster abandoned their European bikes to ride for Suzuki -- and continued to win world championships.
But I hadn’t been on any Suzuki except for a street GSXR for ages, and didn’t know what to expect when I got astride the company’s 2013 DR650SE and DR-Z400S.
I came away very, very impressed by both machines.
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The DR650SE is a strong, dependable worker of a bike, long part of the Suzuki dual-sport line. The model I borrowed had been lowered -- seat and suspension both. It sat smartly and tracked smoothly. After riding a few dual-sports that had motocross ergonomics, I was happy to scoot around the city and stop at a traffic light with both feet flat on the ground.
It felt light and surprisingly nimble for a 650cc motorcycle. There was nothing scary about the sensible power band, and at about 360 pounds did not ride heavy. It was snappy in traffic and very stable on the freeway, riding along happily at 70 mph and getting up to 85 mph without too much trouble.
I liked the helmet lock -- why, oh why, don’t all street motorcycles offer them as standard equipment? -- and the bar end sliders.
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I wasn’t so crazy about it in the dirt, where the 360 pounds suddenly felt like a lot and all that asphalt nimbleness disappeared.
That’s where the DR-Z400S comes in.
I’ve written in the past about how disappointing I’ve found some dual-sport bikes after they leave the pavement. They don’t feel safe, they don’t feel secure, and they’re mostly not very much fun.
The DR-Z400S is the closest I’ve come to experiencing a bike that’s as capable in the dirt as on the street.
Around town, I admired its comfortable ergonomics, upright sitting position and snappy acceleration. (And the helmet lock, here again offered as standard.) I found it less sturdy on the freeway than the DR650SE, but not by much. The smaller bike hit 70 mph and stayed there, despite its more off-road-oriented tires and lower (about 315 pounds) weight.
But in the dirt it was a revelation. It sprinted agreeably in corner-to-corner acceleration, those off-road-oriented tires grabbing the ground on the straights and busting loose to slide in the turns. The close gearbox that was a little annoying around town (in truth, I started putting the bike in 2nd gear at stop signs and red lights, and ignoring 1st gear altogether) turned the DR-Z400 into a motocrosser once I got it off the highway.
The bike felt eager to jump, and stable on the landings, and the front end was easy to get up and over the whoops and bumps.
So this is the legacy of those European legends who gave up their contracts with CZ, Husqvarna and Maico to ride the upstart Japanese brand. Their input turned the RM line of Suzuki motocross bikes into very successful racers. The same lineage runs all the way down to the current DRs.
The stats on the bikes suggest they’re very similar. They share disc brakes, 5-speed transmissions, electric starters, Mikuni carburetors, and more. The DR-Z400 is liquid-cooled and has over 11 inches of travel at both ends. The DR-650SE is air cooled and (in the lowered version) has over 3 inches less travel at both ends.
Price-wise, pretty close too. The DR650 is $6,399. The DR-Z400S is $6,499. (Another $500 buys a SuperMoto version of the same bike, known as the DR-Z400SM.)
But performance-wise, the 650 is solidly a street bike, with dirt capability, while the 400 is a real dirt bike that functions perfectly well on the street.
They’re pretty close in all-round likability, as well. I’d happily ride either again.
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