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I’m heading down to Bannockburn to swap my drz250 with a drz400 I bought a while ago. Going to leave the 250 at a mates place. I’m under the pump a bit so not a very ADV ride down..No time to check out the T2B route but I’m taking the camping gear and I will see how I get on in the colder regions of the country, so should still be a lot of fun.
First use of my new Green Chile “rack”. So far very pleased with it. Combined with the BandB rack, it makes securing gear a breeze. I can strap all the heavy stuff to the sides of the bike.
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Happy miles with lotsa smiles then!
Maybe there’s a couple of cherries to be picked from this one:http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6424
Try for at least the Old Culverden Stock Route, the Lees Valley Loop or the Gore Bay-> Hurunui River Mouth.-> Greta Valley coastal loop.
Great riding, awesome scenics. 🙂Enjoy the trip. There’s a lot worse places than Bannockburn to have a bike stored and ready. So much good riding on the doorstep there.
Nice run down to Whanganui via River Rd. Even got a few waves from Harley riders.
Crossed the little ditch today.
Nice luggage system. Please do a write up on your thoughts stepping up to the drz400 from the drz250. Looking at the drz400e’s myself just waiting for the right time and bike to come up.
Will do. Sboyld be a pretty good comparison….except for the weather. Cant imagine the weather gods will allow me two fine weeks!
Today was Picton 0730 then Havelock for breakfast Nelson (buy more wooly socks) Murchison lunch Westport Greymouth Hokitika at 1700. A good day. Tomorrow is Hoki to Bannockburn via Haast and Wanaka all being well.
A good day out….as Wallace and Gromit would have said.
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Yesterday was even better. Amazing roads and pretty quiet. Bike now getting new tyres as i wore out the back one getting down here.
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Went up the first few ks of the Nevis Road this avo.
Very cool. Looking forward to doing that properly one day.Attachments:
Not quite home yet but differences between the two bikes are pretty clear.
To clarify mine is a 2011drz400S so not the E model. Im not sure of the differences between e and s but google is. I think the S has more road oriented gearing. Im also assuming mine is stock. The 250 was stock no airbox or exhaust mods but one extra tooth on tbe front sprocket.
Obviously the main difference is another 150 cc.
The 250 will cruise at 90 to 95 and up to 110 for overtaking. Ive no idea how many revs its doing.
This is in 6th but you have to work to keep it there and a small looss of momentum means a one or two gear downshift until you can pick up speed again.The 400 cruises at the same speed but you can generally stay in 5th on the open road and it will cope with a reasoable hill or headwind. Much more capacity to overtake if need be but im still pulling over a lot to let people pass. Consequently its much easier to ride on the highways.
On gravel it feels much the same as the 250 which isnt really surprising as they are very similar bikes. Disclaimer here i rode slow. One might be more capable than the other off road but ill never know as oth bikes capabilities far exceed mine. They both feel fine to me. Ergos are much the same. Choke is much easier to find and thus switch off on the 400. The 400s is not noisy which im very happy about. The PO took the end out of the 250 pipe and its annoyingly loud.
Overall i like the 400. Time will tell if its a keeper but so far so good.
Love the SI, have yet to explore it on an ADV bike though, looks like you had great weather. Cheers for you thoughts. How much higher is it comparatively, and I assume it gets less k’s until refuel?
Hi Daniel
Id say both bikes have a very similar range. Same fuel economy and same size tank, between 150 and 180 to reserve depending on riding conditions. A headwind really affects the 250 fuel use. The 400 doesn’t feel any higher than the 250. I’m 1.80m and don’t have any issues on either of them. The stock suspension is pretty soft so as soon as you sit on it, it drops a fair bit. With a bit of luggage on the 250 I had to be careful at gas stations as it was nearly upright on the side stand and nearly fell over a few times. 400 is the other way round, side stand too short but not sure if that’s stock.I had a spare fuel tank, but never actually needed to use it. I just filled up every gas station! Only went onto reserve a few times. I probably could have skipped a few of those fills but the stress of worrying about fuel is not worth it, imho.
Cheers
Hi Daniel
I went from a 1990 TT350 that I had bought new as a youngster to a 2007 DRZ400E.
The only complaints with the DRZ would be the seat height when the going gets rough (I’m 172cm) – but hey shouldn’t you ride with your feet up.
The other main gripe is that I have found it doesn’t like water much and has a tendency to stall quite easy when going through deeper water – but then that’s when the electric start is awesome.
Another thing is the weight of it – mainly when you have to drag it out of a bog hole.
I have found the DRZ to be ideal for my non aggressive riding style, I know the motors are not as highly strung as other brands but I believe that they are good value for money so much so that my son has also bought a 2016 DRZ400 and my wife and daughter both ride 2005 DRZ125L’s.
They may not be the lightest or fastest of bikes but they have been reliable.
Goodluck and enjoy your riding
Kyle
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