Hi Maria,
My wife and I rode a pair of DRZ400S machines from the UK to Kinshasa, DR Congo in 2007-8.
Linz is only 5'3" and didn't stand a chance with the DRZ in standard trim, so we fitted Talon links, dropped the forks as far as we could and got a custom seat made from the original ( Motorcycleseatworks) for about £100.
We were on the road for a year and covered 25,000 miles. Lowering Linz's bike reduced it's off road ability, but then so did strapping a bunch of luggage to it.. regardless, it was still perfectly capable.
The S does have less power than the others, but for a long trip the lower stressed engine was important to us. We had Clarke 16 litre tanks which gave an easy 200+ mile range which was enough for West Africa. We had a single 5 litre jerry just in case, but only used it twice.
We ran 15/41 gearing and later 15/38 I think, which was good enough for cruising at 60mph, more than enough for the kind of trip we were doing, but something of a drag on some of the long straight days!
Hope this is useful info.
Dan
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