The DRZ Chronicles: Your guide to everything for the Suzuki DRZ-400

Adventure Accessories:

The Dizzer makes a decent offroad oriented adventure beast. However, several accessories will help it immensely in this role.

First and foremost, the Lil Suzy needs more fuel range. Numerous options are available in sizes from 2.6 to the supertanker 7.4 gallons of the Aqualine tank (stock capacity is 2.64 gallons). Please note that the 400S and 400E tanks mount differently, so most are designed for one model or the other.

I made use of the Clarke 3.9 gallon tank on my bike, which allowed the stock shrouds to be maintained and didn’t add much width to the bike. The tank actually held approximately 16.4 L (4.36 gallons) when completely dry as I found out when I ran out of gas in Mexico. Downsides to the tank were a poor finish and a fuel cap that had a habit of swelling gaskets. Switching to a Tusk Aluminum cap solved the latter problem as it used a different gasket design.

Second on the list are comfort options which weredetailedpreviously.

Next up on the list is luggage. This category has numerous options, from saddle bags to tank bags to rear racks.

Saddle bags

To mount saddlebags properly on a DRZ, one really needs additional framework to keep the bags from wandering into the rear wheel, chain, and exhaust. As it stands you have several options:

Racks and bags are available from Dirt Bagz, although it is worth noting that theWolfman bags supplied with this setup are not particularly waterproof, or dustproof for that matter. One is better off buying the racks and using them with the Wolfman Expedition series instead, which are constructed of tough PVC coated fabric.
Another attractive option is the Turbo City rack systems such as the Denali and Sequoia. These rack systems provide both a rear rack and generous saddlebag support for all of your hauling needs, at the gain of 9-12 pounds of extra mass.

Rear Racks

Promoto Billet offers an excellent rack for the DRZ that is both lightweight and strong. I utilized it on my DRZ for the last few thousand miles.
Tonn’s Racing offered a decent rack for the DRZ, but there current status is questionable.
Numerous other rack designs are available from other manufacturers, however I lack first hand experience with them.

Luggage

Personally I’m partial to the Expedition series bags from Wolfman as they have held up well through the years. I’ve made good use of the Wolfman Expedition Small Tank Bag on my DRZ (and have gone on to use it on my KTM 530/990). The bag fit well, didn’t cut into my seating position, held plenty of equipment, and was for all intents and purposes weather proof.
I’ve also had good results with the Wolfman Expedition Small Rear Bag, which despite its name is actually fairly large in size. This bag fits well on the rear rack of a DRZ and packed appropriately can carry enough gear for a week long adventure.
Andy Strapz also makes a set of bags that have proven popular with some adventurers, however I lack experience with them.

Another set of popular addition to the DRZ are electrical devices, specifically heated grips and GPS. When adding electrical devices, keep in mind that a stock DRZ stator only has a 200W max output with less than 60 W available at any given time. I found I could run heated grips (36W) and a Widder heated vest (33W max) together as long as I didn’t run the vest on full power for too long. Adding a GPS to the mix could result with in a flattened battery.

As for adding a GPS, choices abound. Look for a future article or post your questions on the forum in the mean time.

With regard to the flattened battery issue, adding a kickstart kit to the DRZ-400S/E is a good idea if you like to venture to the middle of nowhere, especially if you travel solo. DRZ’s - like most carbureted bikes - can flood out as the result of a tip over. With only an electric starter it is easy to completely drain the battery while attempting to restart, leaving you stuck having to push start, or if you are lucky have a friend tow start your bike. Those unfortunate enough to drain the battery in deep sand need to resort to the viktobravo technique of elevating the rear wheel, putting the engine in high gear, winding a strap around the wheel, and pulling the strap with force until she fires.

Needless to say the factory Suzuki DRZ kickstart kit works wonders in this situation. This kit is compatible with the 400E, 400S and 400SM models, although the manual decompression parts will not work with the 400S and 400SM models due to the lack of the machining on the cylinder head.