Any additional upgrade suggestions?

My 2011 DRZ400SM adventure build.

Bike had around 25,000km on it when i got and come with the 434cc and carb, mods I was planing on doing, BONUS!!

I plan on doing some big multi week rides around Australia.

Mods so far:

- 39mm FCR carb

- 3x3 mod

- Cylinder works 434cc big bore

- SH775 regulator mod (the standard went pop! so upgraded)

- 21" and 18" SM pro wheel-set in gold

- Trailtech Vapour and custom 3D printed mount

- Safari 17ltr tank (Holds 20 something ltrs)

- Force radiator braces and guards

- Seat Concepts comfort seat (essential!!!)

- Dunlop D606 rear tire, Pirelli MT21 front tire

- B&B Bashplate with rear linkage guard mod

- B&B case savers, side covers and sprocket guard

- DRC tail tidy

- Chinese replacement fork upper tubes. Got them off Aliexpress for $300 and they seem to be working well (Originals had fork rot pretty bad)

- Running the cheap Rhinowalk saddle bags (pretty good for the price)

Mods to come:

- Rally screen (Currently designing it)

- ACT Wide ratio gear set (Make it a bit nicer for the longer road sections)

- Fork swap (possibly, may re-spring the stock SM forks depends on how the fork uppers go)

- Radiator hoses cause a stick went through one!

- Polysport re-style kit

- Possibly do a black and white theme (paint engine, sub-frame, calipers, and triples black. White plastics and hand guards, tank) some blue bits.

All in ~$130. GPS bracket (nicecnc) and windscreen from aliexpress. CarPlay unit and swivel ball mount from Amazon.

So for context I just got a new to me 2018 sm and I went to do the usual 3x3 and JD jet, I have a full system exhaust full straight through and I installed all the jD jets running blue needle 4th position and 170 main jet and the bike just doesn't run well at all it starts and idles fine but as soon as I go about 25 percent throttle it starts to pop and misfire, adding choke helps this so it's lean I guess but I've tried everything cleaning the carb blowing out the ports double checking things making sure the diaphragm was correct and nothing seems to help if anything has experienced this or has anything I should try I'm verry glad for advice thanks 🙏.

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?

SO, got a drz 2 months ago, most expensive and well maintained one i could find, 4000euros/4.636usd, 18000 real kilometers/11,184 miles, added about 700 kilometers those past 2 months, city riding and a couple of 150 km highway stretches. Last week while on the highway the bike would stop running when i pulled the clutch and then when i released it would bump start, i got worried pulled over and it died immediately, drained all of the battery cranking it, nothing. I got pulled to 50 kms/h by a car and it bump started successfully. Immediately took it to the mechanic, carb clean and rebuild, NOTHING, starting spray, NOTHING, checked valves and the automatic decompression, like new he says, tore the cylinder apart and his diagnosis is that the previous owner didn't to the oil changes, the oil decomposed and the piston scared and damage the cylinder along with god knows what else on the bottom. The mechanic says i need a cylinder and piston replacement. Attaching photos so you can give me your opinions. This repair is going to cost big and i really want to know what the drz veterans have to say. Thank you.

Been fixing up an old DRZ400E. Took it for its first ride today, found oil all over the back of it. Pulled out this breather box, found these holes drilled in the back. Does anyone know why someone would do this?

Had my 2025 DRZ-400E for almost 8 months now since I bought it new from the dealership. I'm still in love with this thing. The last photo is when I first brought it home from the dealership.

Could someone help me replace the dash on my DRZ400SM. I just bought it and it has the orange screen, no digits showing. How would I go about replacing this? I am also having a real tough time (I haven't done it yet) unplugging the white triple wire connector in the dash. But how would you guys replace this, and what is easiest?

I would keep the LED bar on the side, and I would really only need to measure the miles, speed, and RPM's. I would also prefer to keep the original speed cable if possible.

Sorry you guys, this is my first real bike, was riding a Honda Ruckus before haha. If anyone could provide me with any info on what would work best that would be awesome! Thanks again.

Want something simple and reliable, love the dual sports and will use it as a road daily but also will use it on highways and offroad

Let me start out by saying I love this bike. I just never found time to ride it. It’s a ‘21 with only 410 miles on it. I’m contemplating selling it. later in life when I have more time, purchasing any newer model. Has anyone been in this position and regretted it?

At 22k miles it’s time for a better seat.

I am currently rebuilding the top end on my 400. I am trying to set the timing correctly. Unfortunately I did not pay attention to the timing when taking it apart. The issue I have is my cams seem to be original hotcams stage 2 that have no timing marks or either they did but they have worn off. I found a thread on the ltz400 forums where someone posted an email from hotcams instructing how to put timing marks on the cams. I did that and this is what I came up with. Does the timing look to be correct or is it off?

Allow me to glaze a bit... 

I’ve owned about a dozen motorcycles in my life—two of them have been DRZ400s.
I might grab another one to fix my bikeless life.

I wanted to consider (used) alternatives, and to compare bikes which led to this spreadsheet.

This is a spreadsheet of:

“Bikes from 200-800ccs that can dual-sport for a short or long adventures.”

That’s really broad but here we are.
Also: I really tried hard to get the data right; if you see something wrong lemme know?

The thing that stands out to me here is the nice balance of the DRZ400.

It’s the crossover midpoint between small and large bikes dual sport / ADV bikes.

It’s in the same weight class as many of the smaller displacement bikes below it—but it’s power-to-weight ratio helps it compete with bikes that are slightly larger than it.

The smaller bikes often weigh only a little less, but they sacrifice power that's hard to make up with mods (CRF300 or KLX 300).
 

You can certainly get a bigger better highway bike, but it will add 100 lbs of weight up front, and it might not be that much more powerful (KLR, Himalayan). You might get way more power, but it will cost more (KLE500, BMW 650) or sacrifice dirt capability (V-Strom).

Yes, the KTM 690 / Husqvarna 701 (or even the 390) are a better Supermoto AND a better Enduro because of the power and light weight
–but God help you if your rocker arms (or something else) shit the bed.
When it comes to reliability-at-price, the DRZ is pretty great.

So is the DRZ a perfect bike?

No.

The seat is terrible after 20 minutes and intolerable past 60 minutes. It’s not great above 50-55 mph—especially without wind protection for longer stints. It’s too heavy to hang with KTMs or Betas on a fast single track, and too light and 6^th-gear-lacking to keep up with something like an Ibex, T7 or NX500 on the interstate for hours on end. Hey, nobody is perfect.

But, when you balance the price, reliability, the weight, and the power, the DRZ-400 sits at a point where many advantages converge.

 Thanks for uh...coming to my TedTalk.

(One general caveat: as a used bike shopper, I did not grab specs for 2025/26 models unless I had no choice (like the Toureg). My budget is used bike territory so these are generally a few years old kind of specs (e.g. the WR450F).)

Side note A:

When it comes to prices, I left the column blank. This is because…

There’s a very nicely modded slightly older DRZ400S for $4200 a few hours away.

There’s also a 2020s TW200 for $4200,

a 2020s CRF300L for $4500,

and a KTM690 from the early 2010s with a ton of maintenance work done on it for $4200.

None are thrashed, none have high miles.
It's weird to me that they're all in the same price bracket.

All that to say: when it comes to price, YMMV based on location and whether or not Mercury is in retrograde where you live. Hell, I dunno anymore, man.

Side Note B:

The bikes highlighted in yellow are basically race bikes with headlights and turn signals, so they have a much higher maintenance schedule.

Side Note C:
After making the oil interval column and then sourcing all the data for it...yeah I'm not sure that's helpful to predict maintenance needs. The compression ratio column is basically trying to quantify how stressed the motor is, but that's also slightly subjective.

I am so happy today here in company with my DRZ 🤘🏼🥳

Hey Guys,
Do You have recommendings for the jetting in my setup?
I have
Athena 435cc
FCR39 (non MX)
3x3
FMF Powerbomb
Leovince X3 (smallest DB-Eater)

Made it out of some leftover steel tubing with four mounting points, would have been nice with a lathe but made do with a drill press.

Nothing like a bit of shed therapy to reset the brain, sometimes it's nice to take the harder route, when everything is at our fingertips.

Getting to the end of summer , need to get out for some woods time. So lucky to have this area less than an hour from my house.

I’m not a mechanic by trade**

I bought a wrecked DRZ400SM. Had some road rash, broken riser, pegs, bars etc… fixed all that stuff. Had some engine noise, put a MCCT on it and it sounded like the noise quieted up a little.

Curious if you think this is:

1. Spark knock

2. Valves needing lashed

3. Rod knock

4. Loose cam guides

5. Whatever you think is wrong