Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

164 |JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.au

THE DR-Z2 50 HASbeen

aroundforwellovera decade

andhas remainedrelatively

unchanged. The double-

overheadcamshaftenginehas

four valves withshim-and-

bucketadjustment.

Itis air cooledandruns a

carburettorbutfeatures a

six-speedtransmission witha

wet,multi-plateclutchoperated

bycable. Theenginehas an

electric startwith kickerback

up. Theengineisn’tknown for

being a powerhousebutis

renownedfor itsreliability.

With regular servicing and

sensible riding, the motor will

last alifetime.Itisaslow-

revvingengineand,unlikemost

trailbikes, can handle road

ridingwithoutmanyissues.The

problem with road ridingon

trailbikesisthat themotorscan

runhot andcanstarttoburn

oil,but as the DR-Z doesn’t rev

harditcanhandleit.

This is not to saythat the

Suzukicancommuteonthe

freewaybutif you arelooking

for atrailbiketochucksome

roadtyres on andcommutein

townthenthis is yourbike.

When neglected or held at

highrevs forlongperiodsthe

DRmotorhas atendencyto

stretchthetimingchain orthe

camgears slipandputthecam

timing out.Ihave also seen

them seizethecamsinthe

aluminiumheadwhen run out

ofoilor overheated

Be carefulwhendoing oil

changes. Makesureyoufitthe

new oilfilterthe same waythe

old onecame out.Ihaveseen

thesefiltersfittedinbackwards

manytimesanditstopstheoil

from getting to the cylinder

head.This causes thecamsto

chew the head before seizing.

Thesteelframeisnot

designed forjumpingbutifthe

bikeisriddenasintended then

thechassiscanhackit.

Itisnotmeanttobejumped

or smashed throughlargesand

whoopsoutinthedesert.The

suspension is softandplush

andhandles small bumpsatlow

speedswell.Largehitsand

jumpswillcausethesuspension

toblowthroughandcouldput

the frame under enoughstress

tocauseittobreak.

If you just wanttohitthe fire

trialsandcruise aroundalittle

singletrackatacomfortable

speedthentheDR-Zwill be

perfect.Theonlytime Ihave

seen suspension orframe

damagehasbeen when

someonehastriedtopushthe

bikebeyonditsability.

If you arebuying a DR-Z

second-handthencheck to see

ifithasaservicehistory.Ifit

hashad arebuildthencheckto

see if it was done bya

professional and find out why.

Look around the steeringhead

and footpegmountingbrackets

forstressfractures andmake

sure the engine starts easily

withbuttonorboot.

Make sure it doesn’t blow any

smoke upandthatitidles

easily, with no rattles or ticking.

Takethebikeforaride,check

for clutchslipandmakesure

you can selectallsixgears.

If yougeta DR-Z from

someone whohas maintainedit

andare onlylookingtodosome

beginnertointermediatetrail

riding withalittleroad

commutingthrown inthen you

have gotyourselfagoodbike.

Technical Editor Mat Boyd

TRAIL BLAZER

HOW TO RIDE / ADB GARAGE / WE RECOMMEND / TECH / KIDZ KORNER / USED RIDE

REAR GUARD

NEW

2001 $7990

2002 $ 7990

2003 $ 7990

2004 $ 7990

SECOND HAND

2001 $1700-$200 0

2002 $1800 -$ 2100

2003 $1800 -$ 2100

2004 $1900 -$ 2300

2001 – 2004 SUZUKI DR-Z250

ENGINE

Installingtheoilfilterbackwards

willill tstarvethth tetop-endd f ilofoilandd

thecamshaftswillseize.

WEIGHT

The DR-Z250 weighs a

claimed 131kg with the 10.5L

tankfull.Itis 7kglighter and

25 mmshorterinwheelbase

thanthe DR-Z4 00 E.

SUSPENSION

The Showa monoshock is adjustable for

compressiilon an s

spring preload. I wasn’t expectingthat.

FRAME

TheDR-Zhasasteelframeand

subfbframebb t iutisnotdt d iesignedfd for

jumping tall buildings.

01–04

YamahaTTR250

$2100 -$ 2500

01 - 0 4

HondaXR250

$2100 - $2700

timeless

Off-RoadScoot

Priceless

01–04

KawasakiKLX250R

$2200 - $2900

market

EQUIVALENT