After much more reading (square eyed and eye drops needed) im pretty much decided on a DRZ400SM.

In its basic form its not the best for off roading but for fire roads and the less technical stuff all info points to it being ok with the right tyres.

Some also consider the suspension being stiffer therefore less likely to bottom out and its easier/cheaper to swap wheels than suspension. For road riding the brakes are better apparantly. On the wheels front i can get the larger ones from the S and make use of the existing rotors, only issue being the speedo drive.

Ive worked out that my immediate goal is an adventure trip to Morrocco so that shouldnt call for to deal with anything like deep mud. Theres a few companies that run these sorts of trips.

Anyone point out anything where ive gone wrong in my logic?

There you go Lee, I'm not often wrong (ask my wife !!!)

For an adventure trip to Morocco the DRZ SM will do fine on road sections of the ride. Once off road ... it may not be ideal. :confused1: For a first "adventure" ride a guided tour is not a bad idea! Sometimes these companies provide a bike. Maybe use their bike for your first ride? Less liability.

If you're willing to absorb the expense ... and difficulty ... of changing out wheels and tires on an SM and then trying to balance front to rear bias and re-set geometry so the bike will actually handle well ... then go for it.

Taking on such an endeavor is, IMO, an Experts Only project.
Are you an expert? Or can you pay an expert to convert your SM to a dual sport bike ... and do it right? ( a bodged up job means the bike will never handle properly ... and you may never know it! )

EDIT .... The below bit is WRONG ... my mistake, sorry! SM wheels are spoked 17's, front/rear
The SM stock wheels are WIDE 17", cast Alu road race wheels. No normal dirt bike knobby tire will fit. Plus ... cast wheels may CRACK (or dent) if ridden hard off road on a loaded up bike and no longer hold air! Spoked wheels like on DRZ S are far tougher off road.

Mounting knobbies on wide stock SM wheels may be akin to "Lip Stick On A Pig".

If you change out stock SM wheels for 18"/21" "S" spoked wheels/rotor ... then you may as well just buy an S model DRZ to start with.

I'd be curious to hear from SM owners who have done this conversion and hear comments on how the bike worked on a Morocco trip (or similar) in full ADV mode.

The SM is a fun twisty road hooligan bike. (my best friend own's own, and I work on it for him) It's a low cost option for a beginner's SM bike ... but it's been designed from day one as a street bike. Wide wheels/tires, street biased suspension/brakes, a light weight minimalist bike.

The DRZ S model dual sport with its 18/21" spoked wheels, can use any knobby or dual sport tire made. It has off road oriented suspension, is super tough and reliable. (like all Suzuki's! )

Wide 17" wheels W/street tires not ideal off road. The front will have a tendency to easily "wash out" in corners. The rear can step out under power. Sure, you can fit TKC 80 semi knobs (that's about it) ... but it's just not going to be ideal in rough going or when making progress on challenging mountain roads in Morocco on a loaded up bike.

And ... if you need a spare tire ... you may be out of luck. Wide, 17" TKC semi-knobby is Not a common tire.

A 21" knobby front gives far more confidence (and "feel") on loose scree or any challenging trail or Piste. A 21" front steers better and rolls over objects better than a wide 17" wheel/tire. Ruts and big rocks are handled easier with a skinny 21" front tire. It just flat works! Nothing else is as good.

You could leave the 17" rear on and convert front end to 21". Be careful with geometry and balance here. You are treading into unknown territory. If it's done ... hopefully it gets done buy someone with experience doing this specific conversion, someone who's done lots of testing and development.
Sure, it can be done, but to do it wrong would be a shame.

As a raw off road Newbie ... I would not try to re-invent the wheel just yet.
Go with a tried and true machine. Do the common and proven mods ....
AND GO RIDING. At this point seat time is THE most important thing.


DRZ400S ... Bone stock ... 2000 miles of Baja off road. (yes, this is my pic)

Hi,
I think the 400s would be a better buy than the 400sm because you can have a proper laugh with the 400s on dirt tyres (t63) on road but then go up the side of a mountain if needs be..............cant say the same for the 400sm

for those not in the UK, the TRF is the Trail Riders Fellowship- an organisation that campaigns to keep 'green lanes' (trails) open to all traffic, and organises and promotes responsible trail riding.

There are very few DRZ400S for sale in UK, and tonnes of SM for sale.

I bought an SM.. and it came with S wheels, although it turned out the rear was a 19' so I bought an 18' (19' tyres and 17' tyres were very hard to come by in some countries).

Changing the wheels over is easy- tweeking the suspension is not rocket science either, but maybe worth paying a visit to someone who knows their stuff and getting them to set it up and write down the settings for riding both with and without luggage.

I did some TRF rides in East Anglia on the DRZ, sometimes it was the biggest bike, sometimes there were was the odd BMW along too.. the DRZ was never to big for the rides, the only setback was my riding ability, which would obviously not be so much of a problem on a more nimble bike.

I busted two rear shocks on the SM, one in Turkey, one in Iran, I have a much heavier shock now, and would obviously recommend going down this route.

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Unless I'm mistaken most of the SM'd have spoked wheels and need tubes, for example:
SUZUKI DRZ400 SM 2007 SUPERMOTO MOTORBIKE | eBay

The main reason for sticking with the SM is that there's a lot more around that the 'S's and for now at least my main focus is still the road which a little bit of experimenting off road. I'd like to get a different set of wheels mainly to not have to sod around which changing tyres if I get into more serious offroading.

Even when I had the Tiger I was considering the Heidanau K60 Scouts and there seems to be a suitable version for the SM in the form of 150/70 (stock is 140/70), I think's thats right anyway. There was similar issue with the Tiger in that stock is 100/90 where as Triumph confirmed a 110/80 would fit.

Completely illogical reason but i do prefer the look of the 'S's with it's bigger wheels.

Appreciate all the feedback.

You are 100% correct ... my mistake! I must have been thinking of one I saw at the track a while back. But I still believe the wide tire thing may catch you out off road.

Two sets of wheels makes sense ... but would you go with the same size wheels as stock or go to a 18/21 combo? I have two sets of wheels on my DR650 ...(both stock sizes) one has knobbies, other street tires. And you're right ... much easier than swapping tires.

The wider tire looks cool for sure ... but wider is not a formula for success off road!

You could run Scouts ... and they'd be fine on hard packed Piste or dirt roads in fair condition. Rougher stuff, steep, rocky, muddy ... not so much.

Riding off road, front tire is the more important one for control. But try all this out ... see how it works for you. If you just swap tires ... then no need to worry about geometry changes or even a different rotor set up.

Hope you find a good deal. I'd love to see how you rig up luggage to suit for travel. Do post up some pics if you snag a good one!

One of our club members bought a DRZ SM and stuck trail wheels on it for trailriding. I rode it around our woodland enduro course expecting it to shake me to bits but the suspension didn't seem all that much firmer than my "E".
He had fitted an SM brake rotor to the 21" front so to swap between his 17" super-stickies and road legal MX tyres was an easy job.