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Which thumper SM for longer highway?

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Saint Anthony
Currently I have a 2016 drz434 with a larger fcr39 carb and a full exhaust. I'm thinking of selling it since i moved outside city limits and i have a 30 mile commute to work. I enjoy the hooligan personality of the drz sm but i feel that it is too overworked for long highway stretches.

Any recommendations? Dr650 sm, xr650l sm, 701 husky? Any other bike thats easily setup for a 5'7 guy with 30" inseam and still fun for wheelies(not too heavy)

I really don't want to have 2 bikes as I did that before and I no longer have the space to store more than 1. Any help would be appreciated
 
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Currently I have a 2016 drz434 with a larger fcr39 carb and a full exhaust. I'm thinking of selling it since i moved outside city limits and i have a 30 mile commute to work. I enjoy the hooligan personality of the drz sm but i feel that it is too overworked for long highway stretches.

Any recommendations? Dr650 sm, xr650l sm, 701 husky? Any other bike thats easily setup for a 5'7 guy with 30" inseam and still fun for wheelies(not too heavy)

I really don't want to have 2 bikes as I did that before and I no longer have the space to store more than 1. Any help would be appreciated



The 701 husky is a beast of a bike and a riot on gravel roads and off road. While it has way more power than it needs to run down the highway it is not a fun bike to do high way riding. To short, light and twitchy.
Also it is way to tall for a 30 inch inseam
 
The 701 husky is a beast of a bike and a riot on gravel roads and off road. While it has way more power than it needs to run down the highway it is not a fun bike to do high way riding. To short, light and twitchy.
Also it is way to tall for a 30 inch inseam

I'm looking for another bike in Supermoto trim. I have a .75 lowering link on the drz and I can manage by one footing it.
 
Man I ride my DR-Z, but the seat concept seat makes the commute possible. I only go about 12 miles, mostly highway. Change the seat, it will make it all better. I rode mine yesterday and very much enjoyed it.
 
I do a lot of adventure riding and way too much pavement on the dual sports I ride. You said the DRZ was just too strung out at highway speeds, I agree. I have put about 20,000 miles on my KLX/DRZ and the close ratio 5sp is the major issue. Ideal would be the same ratios for 1-5, but add a 6th OD.

If you want a serious wheelie machine, get a 701. The 701 may be too tall, but it is without a doubt the lightest, most powerful, and smoothest single cylinder option. 74 HP and 320lbs, close ratio 6sp perfect for running twisties with hills. I rode Trailboss' new 701 Enduro from Terlingua to Del Rio and was thoroughly impressed. I found it easily comfortable enough to spend all day on the highway. It cruises effortlessly at 75-80. A SM model should be even better on the pavement.

edit, I want to add, since you have had a tweaked DRZ, you probably will not be satisfied with the performance of a XRL or DR. Maybe a XRR, but the 701 is the answer.
 
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The 701 husky is a beast of a bike and a riot on gravel roads and off road. While it has way more power than it needs to run down the highway it is not a fun bike to do high way riding. To short, light and twitchy.
Also it is way to tall for a 30 inch inseam

I have a 29 inch inseam and I don't feel not to tall. :giveup: I have also ridden the KTM 690 and it was almost as fun on single track as my 450. That was a while back though. I can't flat foot any bike I own, but can get one on the ground easy. I also can't flat foot my V-strom. Not really an issue at all if you ask me. I do ride off road regularly on my dirt bike with a 36 inch seat height. I do have short legged moments every now and then, but overall not a big deal on flat ground. All in what you get used to I guess. If you want it lower all it takes is a check book to knock off a few inches with a suspension tuner of you can buy a kit (pretty sure KTM sells a lowering kit still).
 
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...recommendations? Dr650 sm, xr650l sm, 701 husky? ....
Having had a DR650 and now a SM610, if you've got a well prepped 434 I just cant see you being happy with a DR650. Of the ones you listed hands down a SM701 is the way to go. However they are spendy.

If you have the 434 set up like you like what about just adding another bike for the comute? That could probably be done cheaper than a 701.
http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117343
 
Thank you for the advice, fellas. I do have a comfy seat on the drz and I have done 400 mile days with her. I have been pondering the 701 and so far it is my #1 choice.
 
I do have a comfy seat on the drz and I have done 400 mile days with her. I have been pondering the 701 and so far it is my #1 choice.

As JT noted, I have a 701 Enduro. I have modified it to be more comfortable on-pavement by adding a Seat Concepts seat and a Madstad windscreen. I have lowered the suspension 1 inch to accommodate my inseam.

My experience with the 701 is vastly different from that suggested by focus frenzy. I do not find it to be too short, too light, or too twitchy for serious pavement or highway riding. In fact, in direct contrast, my 701 handles like a sport bike on pavement - fast, smooth, stable, and confidence inspiring. I routinely do 100+ mile pavement day rides in the hill country on it and would not hesitate to ride it at highway speeds all day long. A 30 mile commute would be of no concern at all. It is a joy to ride. I can only imagine the supermoto version would be even better on pavement.

As a point of comparison, I have owned two DRZs. One was unmodified and my experience was the same as yours - it is severely limited by the narrow ratio transmission.

The second DRZ I modified with a big bore kit and an aftermarket wide ratio transmission from ACT. These two mods transformed the diminutive DRZ, making it much, much better on pavement versus a stock DRZ. It is the bike Suzuki should have been building all along, in my humble opinion. I ultimately sold the DRZ because it vibrated at a frequency that bothered me greatly and I couldn't find a windscreen that worked for me but those are idiosyncrasies specific to me.

As has been suggested previously, if you like the DRZ then you very well might be dissatisfied with the other heavier, slower, and less capable Japanese dual sport bikes.

If money is not the deciding factor, I recommend a 2017 or newer 701 (the 2017 701 got an upgraded motor - the 690 did not).

Otherwise a modified DRZ with a big bore kit and a wide ratio tranny would be my second choice for you.

Third would be a XR650L, another bike with which I am personally familiar. The XR-L actually performs surprisingly well on-pavement with its wide ratio 5 speed transmission. A fact that doesn't seem to be well known is that the XR-L tranny is wider than the tranny on the KLR650. However, the XR-L does require at least one upgrade - at a minimum you will have to do something about its tendency to overheat at highway speeds, but that is typically addressed with a readily available aftermarket oil cooler.

Any of the three choices above would be, in my opinion, an improvement over a stock DRZ for pavement riding. For highway riding, the difference between the XR-L and a modified DRZ would be noticeable but not huge and would be about the same as the difference between a stock DRZ versus a modified DRZ. There is, however, a world of difference when stepping up to a 701, a difference that can't be properly conveyed via mere words on a forum. It can only be understood by riding one. I don't mean to imply some mystical quality to the 701 but the technology of the 701 is 20+ years newer than the DRZ or XRL and makes for a dramatic difference. Heck, 74 horsepower (701) versus 32 horsepower (DRZ) at the same weight (both bike are about 320 lbs) provides, all by itself, an enormous distinction between the two on both paper and in the actual riding experience.
 
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I have heard that the 701 is what a drz should have been if suzuki ever decided to update it

My opinion is that the 701 currently sets the standard for the dual sport class of motorcycles (300-399 lb dual purpose motorcycles). It would be very cool if any of the Japanese manufacturers offered a competitive dual sport class bike but it sure doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon. Thank goodness KTM and Husqvarna do.
 
I went 16/39 on the gearing and it became workable for a 44-mile round-trip commute -- and mine's not even a big bore. Are you still on the stock 15/41?

If you can afford a 701, why are we even having this conversation? ;)
 
690. Fang, on twtex, has a fullsm setup that I don't think has ever been used.


He's "commuted" from Guadalajara to Georgetown in one day. If it can go 1,000 miles in 16 hours in Mexico it sure can handle a 30 mile commute.

Also, he has like 30k trouble free miles on his.
 
I went 16/39 on the gearing and it became workable for a 44-mile round-trip commute -- and mine's not even a big bore. Are you still on the stock 15/41?

If you can afford a 701, why are we even having this conversation? ;)

I'm running 15-39 gearing. It's just that the bikes engine just doesn't feel good for 75 mph open highway commuting. I thought about a fz07 but i want to stay supermoto style. I don't know why yamaha doesn't offer a fz07 setup to compete with the 701
 
I'm running 15-39 gearing. It's just that the bikes engine just doesn't feel good for 75 mph open highway commuting. I thought about a fz07 but i want to stay supermoto style. I don't know why yamaha doesn't offer a fz07 setup to compete with the 701

Yamaha is working on a 700 twin dual sport. They are calling it the T700, the T stands for Tease.
 
Yamaha is working on a 700 twin dual sport. They are calling it the T700, the T stands for Tease.

I was wondering when we were going to get around to this one (tease, still unavailable). Behold, the Unicorn (tenere 700 with the fz07 74hp engine)

Yamaha-Tenere-700-World-Raid-Tour-2018-10.jpg
 
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