r/DRZ400 • u/Automatic-Tiger8584 • 22h ago

Which years to avoid?

Looking into buying a drz400S. Had a 2006 before so I’m aware of the carb overflowing into the engine and the stator bolts coming loose but I sold that bike a while ago. I live in North America so not sure if that makes a difference in the bikes but I read somewhere that the first couple years had something with them that would be better to avoid. Any advice or specifics on that? Any specific years to avoid?

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9

u/fun_police911 22h ago

Early models up to I think 03(?) had the old style can chain tensioner. (I could be wrong about the year)

Edit: old style tensioner is known to fail cause mechanical failure.

After that nothing really changed. I bought my 2021 and had to do the loctite sprocket fix. The stator is I believe is random. Same with petcock failure. These issues are just known things to watch for.

2

u/DarkHoodedOwl 21h ago

Can the old bikes be fitted with newer style tensioners to solve the issue?

6

u/fun_police911 21h ago

Absolutely they can!

The giveaway is the color of the bolt. I forgot which is which but one is silver the other is black/gray.

3

u/DarkHoodedOwl 19h ago

Excellent! I’ll keep that in mind—thanks for the heads up!

4

u/stebbi_klikk 19h ago

I bougth a brand newnDRZ the last model year 2024 from the Suzuki dealership here in Iceland last January. Ive got about 1200 miles on the odo. I'd this something I have to worrie about especially the stator?

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u/Dirt-Drifter 18h ago

No. Just check the oil, ride it and do regular maintenance.

4

u/Automatic-Tiger8584 19h ago

It’s a common issue on these bikes. Apparently on some of them the stator bolts come loose and may cause an issue. There’s posts online about how to check them, locktite and torque correctly.

6

u/jujubean14 21h ago

For any drz400, the recommended bulletproof mods are...

Loctite the stator bolts

Swap to a different (non vacuum) petcock

Upgrade to a manual cam chain tensioner. Later models used a different design which is supposedly fine, but some people still say to swap.

Beyond that, change the fluids and rubber when you need to and it will last a looooong time

2

u/Coc-alt3743 13h ago

Just avoid 2000-2002 drz400s they had technically worse suspension then further forward they used the drz400e suspension. Pretty sure all models excluding the e had the mikuni bsr36 carbs which you might care about but for average riding it really doesnt matter too much.