[Archive] DRZ SM 2005-2010

[R.C.]

Small hands = can't see, can't be bothered!

[ronnyz]

as promised hor, remember to pass it to me when ur done wif it!

 

[Mystique]

Originally posted by ronnyz@May 7 2006, 04:01 AM

as promised hor, remember to pass it to me when ur done wif it!

 

hehe i'm done wif both.

see when free den pass u lor.

when next meet up?

i'm off on tues~

riding tiu?

[angeldogleslie]

Hi guys, Would like to enquire more about the DRZ-SMs.

 

As i'm about to enter NS so i think buying a first hand DRZ is pretty much out of the question. Perhaps a second-hand ?

 

Wonder how much would it roughly cost ? Though it is a new bike but never-the-less there would still be a few ppl selling rite ?

 

I do have a 2A but pretty dumb-founded by the 5-figure cost of this babe.

 

Any advice ?

[ryanC]

Originally posted by angeldogleslie@May 8 2006, 11:55 PM

Hi guys, Would like to enquire more about the DRZ-SMs.

 

As i'm about to enter NS so i think buying a first hand DRZ is pretty much out of the question. Perhaps a second-hand ?

 

Wonder how much would it roughly cost ? Though it is a new bike but never-the-less there would still be a few ppl selling rite ?

 

I do have a 2A but pretty dumb-founded by the 5-figure cost of this babe.

 

Any advice ?

Let's see. you are about the enter NS, could you tell us your age? if you're below 21, how are you going to secure a loan to finance a 2nd hand DRZ-SM?

 

the DRZ400SM is just probably 1 year 1mth or maybe 3 mths old in Singapore. How much do you expect the price to drop? OTR for brand new is about the range of 11.8k+/- now. let's see, most people sold off their DRZ-SM at the range of 9k onwards. maybe the lowest will be 8.5k. will that be around your budget? I think 8.5k will be the seller is desperate to get rid of it or it had probably clocked more than 50k milage.

 

my advice is, don't buy any bike. you might end up in a stay-in unit. and your bike will be underutilize. so underutilized that the cost of maintaining the bike could be more than the amount of petrol u pump into it. I'm talking about 2 months change your engine oil only.

 

wait till you finish your BMT and get posted to a unit, then u decide. it's never too late then. who knows, you might be an officer, able to stay out and you can pay for the bike brand new!

[angeldogleslie]

hmmmm i'm below 21 but I can use gurantor wad. Yar lar that was what i was thinking. Decide after BMT when i get my posting first den buy.

[ronnyz]

Originally posted by ryanC@May 9 2006, 01:30 AM

Let's see. you are about the enter NS, could you tell us your age? if you're below 21, how are you going to secure a loan to finance a 2nd hand DRZ-SM?

 

the DRZ400SM is just probably 1 year 1mth or maybe 3 mths old in Singapore. How much do you expect the price to drop? OTR for brand new is about the range of 11.8k+/- now. let's see, most people sold off their DRZ-SM at the range of 9k onwards. maybe the lowest will be 8.5k. will that be around your budget? I think 8.5k will be the seller is desperate to get rid of it or it had probably clocked more than 50k milage.

 

my advice is, don't buy any bike. you might end up in a stay-in unit. and your bike will be underutilize. so underutilized that the cost of maintaining the bike could be more than the amount of petrol u pump into it. I'm talking about 2 months change your engine oil only.

 

wait till you finish your BMT and get posted to a unit, then u decide. it's never too late then. who knows, you might be an officer, able to stay out and you can pay for the bike brand new!

nice advice!

[r3fugee]

hi everyone here! after so long .. i finalli get my drz e sm ... 1st time riding a scrambler .. know nuts about scrambler .. so hope u guys could help me out along the way.. Its fun riding a SM.. denfiniteli!

 

CHEERS!

[Raptor]

So who's going for the PG Track Day this Sunday??

 

I know of at least another DRZ and a KTM that is going coz we are going to have our own private race during the 5 Lap Race for 400cc and below class.

 

Its going to be fun.

[Visor]

Hi, need help here, need to know the list of shops that sells DRZ's...

[barracuda]

Hi all SM/DRZ owners, I'm interested to know if a DRZ-SM or in fact any SM would make a fairly decent tourer. I understand what most owners use the bike for..mainly transport and for the fun factor and occasional races/track sessions. I was just wondering if anyone has done any serious touring on it.

 

Can share your experiences?

 

Is it possible to mount pannier racks on it etc?

 

Is the chassis/frame the same as the DRZ-E/S?

 

I know the DRZ-SM has different forks, wheels and brakes. Apart from that, any other major differences?

 

What is the comfortable cruising speed for the DRZ-SM?

 

Pardon my long list of questions. Appreciate your inputs

[ryanC]

Originally posted by Visor@May 13 2006, 08:12 PM

Hi, need help here, need to know the list of shops that sells DRZ's...

why not you give Guan Hoe a call? or just go shop around. Looi motors should have. Mah Pte Ltd also should have. Most major bike shops will have this bike.

[ryanC]

Originally posted by barracuda@May 14 2006, 05:33 PM

Hi all SM/DRZ owners, I'm interested to know if a DRZ-SM or in fact any SM would make a fairly decent tourer. I understand what most owners use the bike for..mainly transport and for the fun factor and occasional races/track sessions. I was just wondering if anyone has done any serious touring on it.

 

Can share your experiences?

 

Is it possible to mount pannier racks on it etc?

 

Is the chassis/frame the same as the DRZ-E/S?

 

I know the DRZ-SM has different forks, wheels and brakes. Apart from that, any other major differences?

 

What is the comfortable cruising speed for the DRZ-SM?

 

Pardon my long list of questions. Appreciate your inputs

It is possible to mount pannier racks but i never seen anyone done that in singapore.

 

Chassis and frame is the same as the E and S model. subframe is different from the E model.

 

 

Besides Forks Wheels and Brakes, the swingarm is different. It is from 04' RM250. The rear shock comes with low and high speed adjustment. It has a PAIR system and a unknown item on the carb. (these 2 things seems to be useless) The speedo drive is meant for SM wheels. unlike the E and S model ones. It is running on lower compression as compared to E model. Same as S model. It is lower than E/S model converted to SM. Basically that's all i can think of.

 

I'm not a cruising type of rider but with proper suspensions setting, you should be able to cruise nicely at the range of 100-130km/h.

 

my opinion is, it will not be as comfortable as any other touring specific bikes in the 400cc range but it should be pretty ok and acceptable for touring. one of the owners is keen on doing touring on the bike. the only complain he has is the tank is too small. (10 litre tank) you should be able to tour on this bike but it's not exactly a comfortable touring bike. then again, there are people who rode a xr400 up to cambodia and there's someone who rode a drz400 S model to thailand as well.

[Fc2222B]

Congratulations to Henry!!! Showing that DRZ SM is really a good all rounder bike!

Winning the Novice class SM race at kallang today with a unofficial best lap of 33secs.. and then using the same bike for travelling to work on tuesday!!!

 

Good job! 3 out of 3 wins! keep it up! :thumb:

[L3stat]

Bah, double-post, sorry.

[L3stat]

Hi folks, I just got meself a '05 DRZ-SM. Well it's actually Chris525's, hope I haven't caused y'all to lose a riding kaki! Richard, if you're reading this, thanks for coming down the other day to help start the bike, owe you a drink!

 

I'm a total noob to scramblers, never owned one before, couple of burning questions. Tried reading the pages in this thread, but it's a lot of pages to go through, so please bear with me:

 

1. Where do you get tire tubes from? Like any specific places? "Any scram tire shop" is probably good advice, but "any scram tire shop" is pretty hard to nail down for a noob, don't even know where the scram shops are for example.

 

2. What usually happens when the tire tube blows/punctures? Loses air instantly right? Tow truck right away?

 

3. Where can I get a decent rack for a box? Been trawling the net for some choices, saw 3 available, but not sure if these are box racks or just for stowing stuff:

Happy Trail

Tonn's Racing

Suzuki OEM

 

I'd assume Guan Hoe carries the OEM version? What's preferred around here? The Happy Trail version is nice, but really pricey.

 

4. Does anyone know if these mirrors will fail the TP/LTA test?

Dualstar mirrors

 

5. I'm going to get the TT case-savers really soon, anyone want to tag along? By the way, any other useful stuff to buy from TT while I'm at it?

 

6. The Bitech MCCT is no longer in production, between the TT and APE MCCTs, which is better?

 

By the way, where's this "secret forum" you guys are talking about? Thanks for your patience and reading, if you got this far! The bike's a blast to ride!

[ryanC]

Originally posted by l3stat@May 16 2006, 10:10 AM

Hi folks, I just got meself a '05 DRZ-SM. Well it's actually Chris525's, hope I haven't caused y'all to lose a riding kaki! Richard, if you're reading this, thanks for coming down the other day to help start the bike, owe you a drink!

 

I'm a total noob to scramblers, never owned one before, couple of burning questions. Tried reading the pages in this thread, but it's a lot of pages to go through, so please bear with me:

 

1. Where do you get tire tubes from? Like any specific places? "Any scram tire shop" is probably good advice, but "any scram tire shop" is pretty hard to nail down for a noob, don't even know where the scram shops are for example.

 

2. What usually happens when the tire tube blows/punctures? Loses air instantly right? Tow truck right away?

 

3. Where can I get a decent rack for a box? Been trawling the net for some choices, saw 3 available, but not sure if these are box racks or just for stowing stuff:

Happy Trail

Tonn's Racing

Suzuki OEM

 

I'd assume Guan Hoe carries the OEM version? What's preferred around here? The Happy Trail version is nice, but really pricey.

 

4. Does anyone know if these mirrors will fail the TP/LTA test?

Dualstar mirrors

 

5. I'm going to get the TT case-savers really soon, anyone want to tag along? By the way, any other useful stuff to buy from TT while I'm at it?

 

6. The Bitech MCCT is no longer in production, between the TT and APE MCCTs, which is better?

 

By the way, where's this "secret forum" you guys are talking about? Thanks for your patience and reading, if you got this far! The bike's a blast to ride!

1. this one i dunno. there's a few shops but i've been hearing stuff.. just ask around those sport bike riders what tube would they use for the profile of tyres you would wanna use. the current stock profile is 140/70 if i'm nto wrong, you might wanna change to 160/60 or 160/70 next time.

 

2. Yes it will go flat almost immediately. or maybe in a few seconds. you can still ride to a shop to repair if u wanna risk badly dented rims and cracked hub.

 

3. this i have no idea. i carry a bag instead. be prepared to wait if u want to buy from guan hoe. they don't stock up DRZ parts that is not the usual replacement parts. they don't even bring in wheel bearings seals! that's according to the person that answered my call.

 

4. No idea but you can try. they would prefer to see OEM ones i guess.

 

5. you might wanna get the 25 pilot jet if u intend to buy an exhaust and continue to use your mikuni carb. you might also like to have the extended fuel screw for the mikuni carb as well. if you intend to upgrade to fcr, they have a fcr-mx package that is very attractive. you might wanna get that as well. if you get the fcr, you might like to get the extended fuel screw for your fcr as well. in other words. there is a lot of stuff to get but it depends whether u have got the cash or not.

 

6. both works equally fine except for you need an extra gasket for the APE mcct. I will prefer u buy the TT one. less hassle.

 

Lastly. the fcr package will set you back about slightly less than SGD $1K i think. inclusive of shipping. enjoy your ride.

[L3stat]

Originally posted by ryanC@May 16 2006, 01:15 PM

1. this one i dunno. there's a few shops but i've been hearing stuff.. just ask around those sport bike riders what tube would they use for the profile of tyres you would wanna use. the current stock profile is 140/70 if i'm nto wrong, you might wanna change to 160/60 or 160/70 next time.

 

2. Yes it will go flat almost immediately. or maybe in a few seconds. you can still ride to a shop to repair if u wanna risk badly dented rims and cracked hub.

 

3. this i have no idea. i carry a bag instead. be prepared to wait if u want to buy from guan hoe. they don't stock up DRZ parts that is not the usual replacement parts. they don't even bring in wheel bearings seals! that's according to the person that answered my call.

 

4. No idea but you can try. they would prefer to see OEM ones i guess.

 

5. you might wanna get the 25 pilot jet if u intend to buy an exhaust and continue to use your mikuni carb. you might also like to have the extended fuel screw for the mikuni carb as well. if you intend to upgrade to fcr, they have a fcr-mx package that is very attractive. you might wanna get that as well. if you get the fcr, you might like to get the extended fuel screw for your fcr as well. in other words. there is a lot of stuff to get but it depends whether u have got the cash or not.

 

6. both works equally fine except for you need an extra gasket for the APE mcct. I will prefer u buy the TT one. less hassle.

 

Lastly. the fcr package will set you back about slightly less than SGD $1K i think. inclusive of shipping. enjoy your ride.

1. Sportsbike riders? They wouldn't know cos their tires are tubeless right? I might go with Maxxis tires when the stock pair run out, but given my usual mileage per month, maybe never!

 

3. sh*t. I saw Axxis' bike pics, having a box doesn't look weird. Will check with him instead.

 

4. Ah.. then I guess I'll pass la, not critical. The cosmetic bling stuff I'd do last, plus the stock mirrors do the job well, although fugly. Durability and protection comes first.

 

5. Am seriously considering the FCR option. From other forums, sounds like that should actually be the first thing to do, compared to pipe, cams etc. Most effect for least moola, relatively. Okay, I'll check if the extended fuel screw on TT is compatible for the FCR. They should have different versions for Mikuni and Keihin.

 

6. TT it is!

 

Thanks a lot mate! By the way, any meet-ups/ride-outs coming up? Would love to meet up with the DRZ gurus! Where's the "secret forum? PM me please?

[Axxis]

Originally posted by ryanC@Apr 25 2006, 12:40 PM

difference is probably in milage? i think the bike is being underpriced... although it's an SM, people are not putting the RM swingarm, Showa forks, high speed and low speed adjustments for the rear shocks, as well as the RK excel rims into considerations. the bike have less power goodies but more controls goodies.

 

the lack of power areas are the thinner base gaskets, cams, cdi and carb. in comparison, i feel this bike should be able to retain value as the 4-5 yr olds E models.

 

so being just 1 yr old and slashing away 3k or more is quite ridiculous unless the bike has clocked more than 30k milage or so.

My bike had low (around 8k) mileage. The reason I could and did sell it so cheap was that I got it for not much more than that from a friend who had to leave Singapore urgently just a few months earlier. As such I didn't loose much money for my short ownership period and I treated this amount as what I consider a reasonable "rental" rate for the enjoyment it provided. Certainly less than most people would pay in monthly installments over the same period.

 

As for it being underpriced, there were a couple of SM's (Labbits/Chris525) being sold for 9.5k and they weren't exactly rushing off the shelves. I wanted/needed most of the money back in my bank account for other wedding/family related matters.

 

The other issue is that there are new bikes being offered for as low as 11.8k if you have the $$$ to pay cash. I personally feel that if I were to buy a bike that isn't brand new (with warranty from the dealer) I would want a discount of atleast 25 to 30% off the new machine price. This is the reason I don't buy brand new bikes. Knowing that if I absolutely have to sell it not long after buying it I can't handle that I would have to take such a big financial hit.

 

I don't like stuffing around when I sell things so I put attractive prices and get rid of the goods instead of wasting my time and others with bullshit bargaining etc. I know what I think the bike is worth. If someone is willing to pay that it's theirs. I don't change my prices depending on if I like the persons face or not either.

 

As for people selling bikes with COI plans this works well for those who don't have the cash to purchase outright. But I can't see why anyone would want a 2nd hand bike for 10.8k when you can get a new one for just 1k more. Certainly the DRZ-SM's were more expensive last year when they were first launched but the prices are more competitive now.

 

Sadly some people paid maybe 12.8k machine price plus another big sum for insurance and then more for some acc's and then add all the interest on top and they have a 14+k sum to repay. I pity these people when it comes time to part with their babies.

 

Anyway, the main thing to remember is to buy and sell bikes for what they are worth to you and what you can afford. Don't worry too much about the rest.

[ryanC]

sorry my mistake there about asking the sportbikers... hmm... there ain't much spoke wheels that's the size of motard wheels. so based on what i know is that seldom, you will be able to get the tube size suitable.. they will usually use something like "can use lar!" that kind of attitute. i've got a spare tube at home but it's for sizes that's 120/80 or 110/80 profile tyres and the shop sold to me saying it's for my rear tyre... maybe you can check the packaging before they change the tubes for you.

 

Mikuni fuel screw and keihin one is different. you'll need the keihin one more than the mikuni one... because if you wanna tune your mikuni carb, you can use a tiny screwdriver and squeeze in the small area to tune the fuel screw... must have good sense of feeling and hands that can withstand heat!

 

Axxis> you just make me feel like kicking myself in the ass after buying the bike brand new with a loan.

 

my point is that.. look at a stock S model, it'll cost 3-4k maybe? an E model will cost 6-7k? plain stock. they are 5 year old bikes or rather, probably 6 yr old by now. correct me if i'm wrong, the bike price was like same or probably 1k difference from the SM model.

 

the SM was launched at 12.8k, 1 year later, the price dropped to 11.8k brand new. The E model is able to retain it's value due to probably 2 reasons.

 

1. There's less than 50 pcs of the E model in Singapore.

 

2. The higher compression and FCR carb as well as the higher rev limit cdi and cams?

 

it can be done on a SM with probably $3k but it won't make the price any better. within the first year, the bike price dropped by 2-3k in the 2nd hand market. if it continue, by the 6th year, the SM is worth 3-4k only. everyone seems to be more focused on the power side of the bike that they neglected the better swingarm, the motard wheelset, the oversized disc mounting point, the oversize disc and the top end Showa twin chamber forks on the SM.

 

I felt it's unjustifiable to judge a bike's price by the power output only and forgoing the other goodies on the bike. i guessed the SM will go down the same path as the S model.

[L3stat]

Good analyses guys!

 

With that said, I'm not really sure how long I'd keep the bike, or how much mileage I'll rack up on it. My typical usage pattern is like 30km/week, max.

 

I might drop a grand in adding some bits, and probably cap it at that for what ryanC said. Kinda partial towards the FCR route, but am really not sure.

 

By the way, couple of observations:

 

1. Mine's in stock trim, tends to get a little "buzzy" on expressway speeds, esp around the 95~100kmh region. Coming from a IL4, maybe it's just me. Normal?

 

2. The front brake seems a little soggy, maybe a combination of softer sprung forks/2 pot caliper vs 4 pot double-discs/braided lines/radial pump. For the guys who have done it, braided lines make a marked difference?

[ryanC]

i don't understand the buzzy part... i'm a more numb rider..

 

as for brakes... hmm... you can try some of the lads' bikes with steel braided hoses when u meet up with them. it does give a much lesser spongy feel. some lads prefer aftermarket front brake reservoir as the stock one can't seem to take the beating with his riding style.

[Axxis]

Originally posted by ryanC@May 17 2006, 10:22 AM

Axxis> you just make me feel like kicking myself in the ass after buying the bike brand new with a loan.

Nothing wrong with doing this at all but I just feel that if you do this you really need to keep the bike for min 3 years to make it worthwhile.

 

For me I'm fickle as fark and have trouble keeping a bike for even a year and I'm also lucky to have been working longer than many riders in here (ie I'm OLD) and therefore have some savings to play with. If I could keep a bike for a long period of time I'd have no problems buying a bike on loan.

 

Anyway, I think the price of 2nd hand SM's will continue to drop a bit if there are lots more sold but nothing so drastic. The biggest hit is always taken in the first year of a bikes life. Say it's worth around 9k after a year (a 3k drop) I think it should only lose another 1k in the next year and probably less the year after.

 

But as usual it's always a supply and demand issue so if heaps of ppl buy them now and then the motard craze turns out to be a fad and nobody wants them in two years the price might drop drastically.

 

I personally feel the old DRZ S and E models are WAY overpriced. Mainly because of a lack of decent alternatives. For example in 2001/2002 a new DRZ S was around 7+ to 8k. Now people are still selling them at 4 or more. Compared to a Y2k sport bike retailing for 24k and now selling for maybe 6-7k. NUTS! Even one friend who got a Y2k GSXR 750 for 4.2k! How's that for depreciation.

 

Basically once enough DRZ SM's start hitting the 2nd hand market the value of the S models will drop very quickly. Just not worth converting them. However the E model will always remain exclusive.

[Axxis]

Originally posted by l3stat@May 17 2006, 12:46 PM

1. Mine's in stock trim, tends to get a little "buzzy" on expressway speeds, esp around the 95~100kmh region. Coming from a IL4, maybe it's just me. Normal?

I found that the DRZ has a sweet spot (less vibey) between 90-110km/h or so. I would assume that's because they (Suzuki) designed the gearing so that the bike is in it's most comfortable rev range at these speeds. Below and above it's a little more buzzy/vibey.

 

It's probably just that you're not used to a single. IL4's are definately smoother.

[Axxis]

Originally posted by l3stat@May 17 2006, 12:46 PM

I might drop a grand in adding some bits, and probably cap it at that for what ryanC said. Kinda partial towards the FCR route, but am really not sure.

I think the FCR is a great move if you do such low mileage or it's a weekend bike. If you're riding it daily the FC could change a bit. Anyway, I always find mods like that are best done in conjuction with others. If I was to change the carby I really feel you need to free up the exhaust, change the cams and CDi and if possible bump up the compression to really reap the benefits of the change.