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Question about new rider option...Suzuki DR350 SE?

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tojo92

tojo92

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My 18 year old son, 6 foot 2 inch, 190 lbs...has been riding a CRF230F out on family land and having a blast. I want to upgrade a bike more to his size.

I wanted to find a DRZ250 (converted to street legal) as I thought it would be good fit, but recently found a dr350 SE as an option.

I'm thinking its perfect, but curious for thoughts from the peanut gallery.

Seems to have good size, good reliability, and overall a good option.

Suggestions? Comments?
 
The DR350 is a great platform for simplicity, reliability and still pretty good for finding parts. If you could find the upgraded DR400 version though, you'd be even better off as the parts/aftermarket is almost limitless. The 400 has been around pretty much unchanged for a long time, and is also a very proven platform. His size/weight will easily handle either one, and you can't go wrong with either choice. Like all riders though, he'll be looking for a different bike in a little over a year, LOL.
 
DR350 and Early (pre-96) DR650 are about the same bike but different displacements. The DR350 has an 18" rear wheel where the 650 got a 17".

The later, post-96 DR650 is it's own beast and very, very little is shared between the two platforms. The DR350 lasted unchanged until I think 2000(?).

The DRZ400 came out as a replacement for the more dirt-oriented-yet-still-street-legal DR350. The DRZ400 has one flaw and that's the 5 speed close ratio transmission. Makes any highway time pretty uncomfortable. The 350 had a wide range 6 speed which is probably the best trans that any of these bikes had. I wish my DR650 had the 6 speed for sure.

DR350 and 650 are stone reliable air-oil cooled tractors. The DRZ400 is water cooled and fancier, but not by a whole lot. It seems very reliable, but is more suited to back roads that lead to dirt vs any highway. My 94 DR650 has no issue running at 70 mph for hours.
 
Thanks! Great info.

I was supposed to go look at it Monday but the guy called today and said I could come check it out. I went ahead and grabbed it. It's a 1997 DR 350 SE.

Considering it's as old as it is, it's in really good shape. It does need new tires, but the guy threw in a pristine original metal tank with it. I figure I can sell the tank to help fund the tires and keep my cost lower.

Should be good for the youngest to develop basics on and eventually move to street riding or ADV if he'd like.
 

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tojo92 said:
Thanks! Great info.

I was supposed to go look at it Monday but the guy called today and said I could come check it out. I went ahead and grabbed it. It's a 1997 DR 350 SE.

Considering it's as old as it is, it's in really good shape. It does need new tires, but the guy threw in a pristine original metal tank with it. I figure I can sell the tank to help fund the tires and keep my cost lower.

Should be good for the youngest to develop basics on and eventually move to street riding or ADV if he'd like.
Click to expand...
One of Suzuki's winners, great bike. You made the right choice.
 
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