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DRZ-SM experience - a different animal

so are these DRZ really that much fun? been reading up on it and kinda want to check it out. Know anywhere that would rent one out??? I'm around fremont.
 
ns3v3n said:
so are these DRZ really that much fun? been reading up on it and kinda want to check it out. Know anywhere that would rent one out??? I'm around fremont.
Click to expand...

Funny you should ask...

I asked the same question a few months back, made an arrangement with a fellow BARFer and at the end of the day just bought the bike from him. YMMV. It looks like you went from a Ninja 250 straight to an SV1000, so one caution is that a DRZ, power-wise, is going to remind you a lot more of that 250 than your current steed.

Otherwise, it really depends on what you plan to do with it. A DRZ is (IMHO) awful on the freeway, but you have the SV for that. On the other hand, from Freakmont it's a short jaunt to Calavaras, Mt. Ham, etc. and a DRZ will absolutely shred those roads, soaking up the bumps and ruts along the way quite nicely. Great for poking around in town too.

Back to borrowing/renting a DRZ: some folks may be willing to just swap bikes with you for a ride or a day. Before ever throwing a leg over it the arrangement I made was an agreed rental price and an agreed purchase price along with cash in hand to buy the bike outright if I dumped it (I didn't dump it, I just liked it). You might be able to find someone selling one who will work a similar arrangement.
 
Hey Thanks for the reply, yeah i dont know many people up here, so maybe i'll ask around. I'm selling my SV1000S so maybe after that bike is sold i'll poke around to see if the DRZ-400 is for me. Kinda over the sport bike phase. Power shouldnt be an issue for me, since i just like to cruise around anyway. Well Thanks again!



Ogg said:
Funny you should ask...

I asked the same question a few months back, made an arrangement with a fellow BARFer and at the end of the day just bought the bike from him. YMMV. It looks like you went from a Ninja 250 straight to an SV1000, so one caution is that a DRZ, power-wise, is going to remind you a lot more of that 250 than your current steed.

Otherwise, it really depends on what you plan to do with it. A DRZ is (IMHO) awful on the freeway, but you have the SV for that. On the other hand, from Freakmont it's a short jaunt to Calavaras, Mt. Ham, etc. and a DRZ will absolutely shred those roads, soaking up the bumps and ruts along the way quite nicely. Great for poking around in town too.

Back to borrowing/renting a DRZ: some folks may be willing to just swap bikes with you for a ride or a day. Before ever throwing a leg over it the arrangement I made was an agreed rental price and an agreed purchase price along with cash in hand to buy the bike outright if I dumped it (I didn't dump it, I just liked it). You might be able to find someone selling one who will work a similar arrangement.
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Riding the DRZ-SM reminds me a little of driving my old ’85 Toyota 2WD pick-up truck way back when. That Toyota pick-up was low on power and crude, but it had a light-yet-sturdy feeling that made me feel I could take it anywhere without breaking its suspension. Every time I drove that truck I felt like a stupid cowboy. The DRZ is a little like that - light and sturdy, raw and direct - plus the way it effortlessly flicks into corners feels like you're riding a Razor scooter.
 
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Ogg said:
On the other hand, from Freakmont it's a short jaunt to Calavaras, Mt. Ham, etc. and a DRZ will absolutely shred those roads, soaking up the bumps and ruts along the way quite nicely.
Click to expand...
What do you do when you have ridden all the back roads and now want to explore roads further afield? Load up the DRZ on a pick-up?:ride
 
sportsluvr said:
What do you do when you have ridden all the back roads and now want to explore roads further afield? Load up the DRZ on a pick-up?:ride
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Since I haven't a pick-up I:
a) ride one of my other bikes
b) ride the DRZ farther (discomfort and all)
c) ride the local back roads some more
d) all of the above
 
sportsluvr said:
What do you do when you have ridden all the back roads and now want to explore roads further afield? Load up the DRZ on a pick-up?:ride
Click to expand...

I find riding the same roads on different bikes give you a very different feeling and experience. So if you get a second bike, you get to experience the same old roads in brand new ways, effectively "double" the roads you can ride locally. Get a third bike, triple the roads. Pretty soon you'd run out of time to ride them all, and the experience is always new. Ain't that great? :teeth
 
sounds like good times, lol, I guess i'll have to wait to sell my bike first since I cant justify having two bikes atm.


Gary856 said:
I find riding the same roads on different bikes give you a very different feeling and experience. So if you get a second bike, you get to experience the same old roads in brand new ways, effectively "double" the roads you can ride locally. Get a third bike, triple the roads. Pretty soon you'd run out of time to ride them all, and the experience is always new. Ain't that great? :teeth
Click to expand...
 
I've swapped bikes with a few people so they could try out the SM, 3 of them got rid of their sport bike within a month. The one guy offered to buy mine. Still kicking myself for not taking it, I could be rolling on a 690 SMC, but there's always next time.
 
Damn. If I read this thread anymore I will probably pick up a DRZ myself, so let me get out of here.:teeth
 
ns3v3n said:
so are these DRZ really that much fun? been reading up on it and kinda want to check it out. Know anywhere that would rent one out??? I'm around fremont.
Click to expand...



I'm in SJ and wouldn't mind letting you take it for a ride sometime. I have an 06 (that I just bought from Yana--She's amazing! :party) with 3x3 + jet mod. Shoot me a PM if you're interested
 
PM sent!


asdfghwy said:
I'm in SJ and wouldn't mind letting you take it for a ride sometime. I have an 06 (that I just bought from Yana--She's amazing! :party) with 3x3 + jet mod. Shoot me a PM if you're interested
Click to expand...
 
My first drz too, an 06 with 9400 mi. fcr carb, jetted properly this thing runs like a sewing machine great at low speed never any probs. I rode a stock one and saw a huge diff. If you can at least to a jet and get a yosh. If you have the spare cash go for the fcr carb.
 
Alright, sold my Sv, now if i can just find a DRZ to check out...:rolleyes
 
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