SUZUKI DR-Z400S Project 2.0

In 2018, Upshift outfitted a new Suzuki DR-Z400S for a 14 day ride from Canada to Mexico. The bike worked great on that trip and quickly proved how capable it was in a mixed group comprised of other brands adventure bikes. You can check out that adventure here: Issue 27.

In 2020, the DR-Z was sold to an Upshift contributor where it was used for some SoCal dualsport rides and pacific coast fun. In 2023, the owner let us know he was going to sell the bike, and memories of fun rides and great adventures on the DR-Z compelled us to buy the bike back from its SoCal owner, so we made the trip south to collect the bike.

When we reconnected with the bike in Laguna Beach, CA, it was obvious that our DR-Z was going to need a little bit of love in the form of de-oxidizing and a carburetor rebuild. The drive back to Idaho gave us plenty of time to daydream about the possibilities for furthering the build on the bike, as having the carb out is as good of an excuse as any for a build update and overhaul.

The stock Suzuki carburetor had performance limitations, and hopping between fuel injected bikes and the DR-Z had always made those fueling shortcomings obvious. Add in a few years of ingesting sea air, and too much time left sitting with fuel in the bowl, and the carb was in need of some serious love. This led us to Lectron, and a few days after spending some time on the phone with the team there, a shiny new Lectron Billetron™ Pro carb, specifically created for the DR-Z400S arrived in the mail. The kit provided was plug and play, and the only thing we needed to do was adjust our idle with one simple screw turn. From the first twist of the throttle, it was obvious that fueling was significantly improved. We hit the desert running, where we enjoyed near-fuel injected quality fueling and additional power throughout the PRM range.

The other major part change was the installation of a Rekluse RadiusX 4.0 clutch. This auto clutch engages smoothly off idle; it never chatters or grabs unpredictably. This can help when riding technical sections, as clutch modulation is no longer an issue, stalling is a thing of the past, and it makes ham-fisting the throttle and other forms of sub-par riding technique less likely to result in a failed attempt at an obstacle. The one big drawback of any auto clutch is the lack of the in-gear parking brake. The ability to lock the rear wheel with the transmission is very helpful any time you’re not parking the bike on perfectly level ground.

Given that this is an adventure bike, and not an enduro bike we opted to install the new Acerbis plastic skid plate, frame guards and engine guards; they were easy to install and gave the bike a nice blacked-out look while providing protection that’s on-par with the bike’s intended use. For control protection, we went with the Lycra Pro Bend kit. All these items are available at www.tmbrmoto.com

Many of the parts from the initial bike build were still in great shape, so we kept the Seat Concepts seat, ProTaper bars, and RaceTech Suspension that Alex Martens tuned. The Dubya built wheels with the stock hubs, heavy duty spokes, and DID rims were still in like new shape so there was no reason to make any changes here.

Build updates also give us a chance to remove parts that don’t live up to our expectations, and the oversized Cyclops rally light that we had on version 1.0 was replaced with a more compact Baja Designs twin light set-up that provides better lighting in a much lighter and smaller package.

No Upshift build update is complete without a new look, and we decided to riff off of the Mosko Moto Woodland colorway found on their Reckless series of luggage.

Even with the announcement of the 2025 Suzuki DR-Z4S, we feel confident that our newly refreshed DR-Z400S is still a relevant, capable, and affordable adventure bike. The around the world parts availability is also an advantage – as this bike is now ready to ride for years to come.