Dr-Z400s

DR-Z400S

Firmer and funner

JIMMY LEWIS

SUZUKI IS REALLY THE ONLY JAPANESE MANUFACturer attacking the dual-purpose market head-on. Other brands have old-style bikes holding the fort, or leave it to customers to take a dirtbike and convert it into a street-licensable mount, which is becoming increasingly difficult due to tighter DOT and EPA standards.

And while the likes of KTM and Husqvarna have softened up and street-ized their D-P bikes, Suzuki has gone a different route with its DR-Z400S. Remember, this is the same basic bike as the DRZ400E dirtbike, even more so for 2002 thanks to an upgrade of suspension components to dirt-model spec. That means no more mush-bucket compromise suspenders without full adjustability. Now, you get a shock with highand low-speed compression damping as well as rebound adjustment, and a fork that can be tuned for compression and rebound. Just like a real dirtbike.

Fire up the yellow ’Zook and it settles right down to a sewing-machine-quiet whisper of an exhaust note that will leave neighbors and trailside critters undisturbed. Power feels as though it may be down about 5 percent overall from the dirt DR-Z, and there’s not the immediate punch, but you can get the front wheel up with a bit of clutch, no problem. Smoking most cars off the line is never an issue, it chugs around town just fine and will run quickly up to 80 mph, though anything above 70 for any length of time is Windblast City.

The new suspension has done only good for the 400S. On the street, stiffer settings give a more planted feel, and bumps that upset normal streetbikes are simply not an issue. Off-road, this isn’t an MX bike by any means (it still weighs 30 pounds more than the 400E, after all), but there isn’t another D-P bike that will touch it without some serious internal shock and fork surgery. The S wasn’t meant to pummel whoops, but for anything short of non-race trail rides, it’s all kudos. About the only place the old setup rivals the new is on a washboard road-but just up the speed and everything’s fine.

Just don’t get too excited about going off-road with the stock tires. The round, knobless design will prevent anything sandy or muddy from being fun. DOT knobs are the way to go.

Overall, there isn’t any vibration to speak of, and the only sore point to the comfort is the grab strap across the seat cover that you’ll probably unbolt and throw away anyway. Worth noting is the instrumentation that the DR-Z has riding behind its new-style headlight shell. With countback features, dual tripmeters, negative timing capabilities and all the other regular functions, this is the dual-sporter’s dream speedo.

At $5449, the DR-Z400S is a bonafide bargain, too.

Suzuki is on the right track-street or trail-and it’s a fun one at that.

SUZUKI DR-Z400S

Price..........$5449

Dry weight...... 308 lb.

Wheelbase.....58.5 in.

Seat height.....36.8 in.

Fuel mileage ... 35 mpg

0-60 mph......5.2 sec.

1/4-mile.....14.34 sec.

.........@ 88.29 mph

Horsepower ... 32.3 bhp

.........@ 8300 rpm

Torque.....24.4 ft.-lbs.

.........@ 5800 rpm

Top speed......93 mph

Alps

A Dirt suspension!

A Lighter than the competition

A Zero vibration

Downs

▼ Less power than the competition

▼ Needs knobbier rubber

▼ Hard decision: Do you go with the S or buy the E and add turnsignals. Less paperwork with the S.