The DRZ Chronicles

Comfort/Ergonomics:

Bars
The DRZ seems to be built for a smaller rider in all aspects except for seat height.  The handlebars are not only too low, but also too far rearward for off road riding.  This makes standing for any length of time difficult. 

For riders over 5’7”, CR-Hi bend bars are a significant improvement.

For riders over 6’, CR-Hi bend bars and 1” risers or ATV-High bars seem to have enough rise.

For riders over 6’2” or those that prefer to stand: ATV-High bars and 1” risers give 2.5-3” rise over the stock bars for a more comfortable cockpit. Risers are also available that relocate the bars forward for more room.

Grips
The OEM Suzuki grips are blisters waiting to happen.  I’ve tried numerous grips and finally settled on Spider grips for offroad use.  These grips are well cushioned, although the newer variations seem to be slightly thinner than the older model.

For a street biased use, I also have found the Buell Traction Handgrips to be exceptionally comfortable and have since fitted them to my KTM 990.  These grips match the anatomical curves of the human hand and provide superior comfort.

Grip donuts are another cost effective handgrip addition.  For a couple of bucks you will help thwart the blistering of the outside of your thumbs.  Take your pick of brand and color as everyone seems to be making them these days.

One thing to note is that the stock handgrip is very firmly bonded to the throttle pipe.  For the time it takes to remove it, you would likely be better off buying a replacement throttle tube such as the one made by Motion Pro.

Footpegs
The skinny 400S/SM footpegs are subpar during offroad use.  Better to replace them with wider pegs such as the Tusk Stainless steel pegs or IMS pegs from Rocky Mountain.

Seat
The stock seat is also another sore point (literally).  It is said that Suzuki engineers tossed out engineering theories and used a 2X4 board as the design model.  In practice, rides longer than 100miles will leave the Dizzer pilot with a bad case of monkey butt. 

The Suzuki gel seat is not much better for long distance comfort, and as it is lower taller riders will find themselves with less legroom.

Beaded seat covers such as those from Bead Rider will provide cheap comfort for street riding, and effectively double your “monkey butt” range.  Off road they slide around too much on the seat and make it harder to grip the seat , leaving the friction coefficient of freshly Armor-All’ed vinyl.  In addition, they trap dirt and sand which accelerates the wear on both your seat and the beads.

Adding a sheepskin cover will buy you perhaps an extra hour or so of riding comfort.  However, be aware that they collect moisture in the rain/snow/frost which can take a while to dry out.

A custom seat from Corbin is an expensive add on, but if you plan on long distance rides it is worth it.  I special ordered a Corbin with a black gripper cover and 1-1.5 inches taller than a typical Corbin giving it a similar height profile to the stock seat.  Aside from the high cost ($350), the Corbin weights approximately 5 pounds more than the stock seat, adding more weight up high, which only increases the top heavy feel.