DR-Z400E????????

As the title suggests,

who has one...ridden one...knows anything about them good and bad??

can you actually ride them "some distance"(not just a short trip) on the highway without killing them in standard gearing,given it is a 400cc? I would assume it would be revving a bit,but to what degree?

any help appreciated,

john.

My only experience was as a courtesy bike from CMC when the Bandit was in for a servicing. I had to travel about 20kms from CMC to work and same for return trip. It went pretty well for a 400cc on the freeway (of course, nothing like the punch of the Bandit, as you'd expect but heaps better than 250cc's I've ridden). BUT, the seat was the worst of any bike I've ever ridden - at the end of 30kms I just wanted to be off that thing.

Ewok1958 wrote:My only experience was as a courtesy bike from CMC when the Bandit was in for a servicing. I had to travel about 20kms from CMC to work and same for return trip. It went pretty well for a 400cc on the freeway (of course, nothing like the punch of the Bandit, as you'd expect but heaps better than 250cc's I've ridden). BUT, the seat was the worst of any bike I've ever ridden - at the end of 30kms I just wanted to be off that thing.

in what respects,actual postion,or just hard?

Just hard - no comfort at all. Worse than the worst high school bus.

Yeah the seat is quite hard. Just like any other bike you can get it reupholstered or buy a Corbin or similar. If you went up one tooth on the front they would be alright on the highway. I have mine stock geared, but it mainly does offroad work. I am 6 foot and have added 2" risers to make the bike feel better offroad. For a 400cc they go alright. They are very reliable and you don't have to be stuck in the garage wrong on them like the new race bred 4 strokes or older 2 strokes. The 9l tank does well over 100 Kim's and that's feeding it on fire trails etc. For highway I would expect better mileage, but for bigger Kim's you will need to look at the Safari tanks. I did close to 100km last weekend in 2.5hours through the bush and no problems here. Btw it doesn't have a kick start so you need to maintain the battery or it won't start.

cheers for that,

i used to do a lot of cycling,and i cant imagine it would be as bad as a 200km cycle at hours on end,so that part i can adapt to.

I have heard a comment about the battery in the past...so are the standard ones a piece of shit,or do they have charging issues? or is it just a clear case of lack of use that leads to deterioration of the battery

I need a electric start these days due to knee injuries,so I don`t want flat battery probs

reddog wrote:Yeah the seat is quite hard. Just like any other bike you can get it reupholstered or buy a Corbin or similar. If you went up one tooth on the front they would be alright on the highway. I have mine stock geared, but it mainly does offroad work. I am 6 foot and have added 2" risers to make the bike feel better offroad. For a 400cc they go alright. They are very reliable and you don't have to be stuck in the garage wrong on them like the new race bred 4 strokes or older 2 strokes. The 9l tank does well over 100 Kim's and that's feeding it on fire trails etc. For highway I would expect better mileage, but for bigger Kim's you will need to look at the Safari tanks. I did close to 100km last weekend in 2.5hours through the bush and no problems here. Btw it doesn't have a kick start so you need to maintain the battery or it won't start.

Agree with everything reddog has said. I used to do Highway ks with mine aswell before i bought the bandit and even with stock gearing she was alright cruising at 100. would pull out to 140 max if you needed it to . I never had a issue with batterys but mine was ridden regularly. I would buy another one tomorrow if i had the money

I bought a new one and got it on Thursday. Mainly for off road use. It will not be comfortable for long periods on the road, but has plenty of get-up and go, quite fun. Go take one for a test ride. I can attest to being robust. Mine came down hard on a trail yesterday, and nothing broke.

There is a reason that the DRZ400 is the choice of off road tour operators, like Cape York Motorcycles who run theirs from Cairns to the Tip and back month after month. The things are bullet proof. I regularly take mine into the bush on trails that 4x4's can't handle. This includes lots of time crossing creeks etc. They are also known for their ability to recover from a swim, i.e. with minimal tools you can de-water and be back and running in no time.
They can be prone to a dicky starter button, which with no kick-starter resulted in me breaking into a major sweat push starting a borrowed bike. If you are aware of it you just keep an eye on it. I have had my battery go flat when the bike hasn't been ridden for a few weeks, however a quick overnight charge before I go anywhere to adventurous has kept me out of trouble.
I too have fitted risers, and changed the standard steel handlebars which are prone to bending if dropped for a Rental unit. With a good set of radiator guards, sump guard and bark busters or similar they take a fair amount of dropping before anything breaks. I go down one tooth on the front when I head into the really rough stuff, this makes lifting the front over obstacles under power nice any easy. It also takes the load off the clutch and allows me to use the torque the motor produces to get me out of trouble when I have picked the wrong gear.
As mentioned in previous replies they are a low maintenance unit with nowhere near the amount of after ride care something like a Yamaha WR. Having said that they don't have the same level of performance either.

car_ham wrote:There is a reason that the DRZ400 is the choice of off road tour operators, like Cape York Motorcycles who run theirs from Cairns to the Tip and back month after month. The things are bullet proof. I regularly take mine into the bush on trails that 4x4's can't handle. This includes lots of time crossing creeks etc. They are also known for their ability to recover from a swim, i.e. with minimal tools you can de-water and be back and running in no time.
They can be prone to a dicky starter button, which with no kick-starter resulted in me breaking into a major sweat push starting a borrowed bike. If you are aware of it you just keep an eye on it. I have had my battery go flat when the bike hasn't been ridden for a few weeks, however a quick overnight charge before I go anywhere to adventurous has kept me out of trouble.
I too have fitted risers, and changed the standard steel handlebars which are prone to bending if dropped for a Rental unit. With a good set of radiator guards, sump guard and bark busters or similar they take a fair amount of dropping before anything breaks. I go down one tooth on the front when I head into the really rough stuff, this makes lifting the front over obstacles under power nice any easy. It also takes the load off the clutch and allows me to use the torque the motor produces to get me out of trouble when I have picked the wrong gear.
As mentioned in previous replies they are a low maintenance unit with nowhere near the amount of after ride care something like a Yamaha WR. Having said that they don't have the same level of performance either.

After that ramble I just re-read your original question, sorry for the bum steer. I have ridden some distance once on the highway, and am in no rush to do it again. It's only about 80km to where I go dirt riding and I trailer it for that. In motard trim I believe they are quite highway friendly. Changing the gearing which is easy and cheap will remove any issue concerns you have about over working the engine.

What is your main planned use for the bike?

thanks for comments.

i`m buying 100acres,and am after a second bike that does a bit of everything. the property has hills and some rough ground,so need something for that,and will also be good on the hi-way. It is 4-5km of dirt from the property before the road, and at the moment,another 35km of hi-way,but will increase to another 10km with new job.

Once funds increase,will sort out the 500metre driveway ,and will be mostly using the bandit,but still want to share the road use between bikes

I don`t want a heavier 600+ trail type bike,and i`m not into jumping or hitting trees and killing myself.

And at the moment,don`t want 5 different bikes to do a specific task.

Based on that I'd say the DRZ in standard gearing, and maybe a more comfortable seat and you have a truly reliable machine. Coming home the last 4-5 km of dirt will be a blast. Jealous about the block, is it in the Gladstone area?

yeah, bracewell is the area. 50km from city....sorry town heart to property. i DO WANT a set of motard wheels for it,for when i head down to Briz, thats a must