[Brian Wilson]

Well, it's out of our hands now and the rest is up to the test riders at Dirt Rider.

We lucked out and had a few minutes of dry weather when we first arrived to snap off some shots before the rain came.

It was a fun day of riding, but I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get a chance to ride the bikes from the other web sites. All of the bikes looked great, but once the test riders got their hands on the bikes in the morning, they weren't giving them back so none of the web sites had a chance to check out each others ride.

We started off the day on a short ride so the magazine could get a bunch of pictures of the test riders in action on the bikes. The riders managed to find a natural terrain double jump that they must have hit 30+ times with each bike trying to get the perfect shot. I'm not sure what jumping a double has to do with testing a dual sport DRZ, but the bike handled it well. It sure is funny to see blinkers, license plate and all flying through the air. That was followed up by some log climbing action where the KTM bike introduced Jimmy Lewis to the dirt courtesy of a head over heals tumble over the bars.

After the test riders finished jumping doubles, and climbing over logs we asked them "So, now that you've jumped and log climbed with our dual sport bike how about we take it out on the road and see how it handles at 90mph like it was built for". The response was "We can't do that, these other bikes weren't built for that." I'll admit it was kind of satisfying to see the DRZ jumping, and log climbing (something it was never intended to do) and handling it just fine, but the test riders didn't dare try to put the other bikes through the dual sport portion of the test. It appears TT has managed to pull it off and build a bike that can truly be a jack of all trades.

I did get to take a nice loop on the DRZ, and I have to say it performed flawlessly.

While out riding the DRZ Bryan and myself manged to get a little lost and a 20 minute ride turned into an hour but we did find our way back eventually. But by the time we got back the rest of the group had taken off on a ride led by Jimmy Lewis of Dirt Rider Magazine. At first I was a bit disappointed we missed out on that ride, but it turned out to be a good thing we missed the group ride.

After being gone for several hours, one of the guys that was on the group ride comes back to camp alone. It turns out Jimmy led the group way up into the mountains into 1 1/2 feet of snow. Several of the bikes ran out of gas up there, most of the other bikes were too low on gas to make it back and the test rider burned out the clutch on the CRF's only project bike. So with a burnt clutch, and several bikes running on empty most of the group was stuck up on the mountain with less than an hour of daylight left.

The guys from service honda had a spare clutch pack for the CR500AF but no one knew if it would fit the CRF450. At this point in the day I was all loaded up and just about to head home when I learned about the burnt clutch. So I had to unload my personal bike (a CRF450) and open up the clutch so we could see if the spare clutch pack for the 500 would fit the 450's. It turns out it did fit so the guys took the new clutch pack and headed back up the mountain to try and get the stuck bikes back down before nightfall.

I'm not really sure what happened after that, since I left to start my 6 hour drive back to Las Vegas.

[flip18436572]

Thanks for the pictures and the information.

[2wheels-drz]

wow sot wat happened? is there a cr500 and test rider buried in snow up there? you should have sent he drz up after em, i bet ya could tow them bak with it!! lol

[ZICK]

I can't wait to read the write up on this. I just hope they keep in mind what the DRZ is designed for.. If your going to jump it like a MX bike why not make the mx bikes run on the pavement at 90 mph like the DRZ was designed to? I'm proud that it took the abuse well.. I hope they at least concede in the article that the DRZ DID IT ALL and they wouldn't even try that on the other bikes. I can't wait to see what they say when they swap out rims and run it in SM trim!! I really hope they show how versatile that thing is..

[2wheels-drz]

I can't wait to read the write up on this. I just hope they keep in mind what the DRZ is designed for.. If your going to jump it like a MX bike why not make the mx bikes run on the pavement at 90 mph like the DRZ was designed to? I'm proud that it took the abuse well.. I hope they at least concede in the article that the DRZ DID IT ALL and they wouldn't even try that on the other bikes. I can't wait to see what they say when they swap out rims and run it in SM trim!! I really hope they show how versatile that thing is..


well said! totally agree!!!! :thumbsup:

[ONLY4STROKES]

Damn...nice job on the DRZ! It looks awesome now that it's finished.

Makes me want to ride one, BAD!

[ZICK]

wow sot wat happened? is there a cr500 and test rider buried in snow up there? you should have sent he drz up after em, i bet ya could tow them bak with it!! lol


I was thinking that.. while they were all up there over heated they would have seen the value of a electric fan!! If it still had the buddy pegs on they could have rode the other guys out on the back.. I guess they could have all rode b!tch on the DRZ!! :applause:

[digitaldan]

Good to see all the bikes, I will take the DRZ 475 TT thank you very much !

[Predator]

I just hope they keep in mind what the DRZ is designed for.. If your going to jump it like a MX bike why not make the mx bikes run on the pavement at 90 mph like the DRZ was designed to? . . . I hope they at least concede in the article that the DRZ DID IT ALL and they wouldn't even try that on the other bikes. I can't wait to see what they say when they swap out rims and run it in SM trim!! I really hope they show how versatile that thing is..
Lucky for the DRZ that DRN's 500AFX didn't have any SM wheels available.

[mocktar400]

Thanks for the photos and the write up. You guys did a great job.
Lets see what Dirt Rider has to say. When do you get the bike back?

[Eddie Sisneros]

Lucky for the DRZ that DRN's 500AFX didn't have any SM wheels available.

ok,if you say so.

[Neil Claydon]

It looks good to me, a proper bike that can do it all.
Just a shame that it is the only road legal bike there.
It would have been nice to see the testers face when they realise that the dual sport they have
been abusing over the jumps can ride to the trail, and play at road racing during the week.
Awesome job Eddie, I hope you are as proud of the bike, as we are of you.
Neil. :thumbsup: :ride: :ride:

[MoTo_IsLo]

LMAO, sounds like a fun crazy day.

To bad you didn't have the bike back in time, sure it might have sucked to be stuck up on the mountain, but then we could have seen how it did compared to the others. See how much longer it would last on fuel and things like that.

Great pictures too, thanks. :thumbsup:

[ZICK]

ok,if you say so.


That's all I gotta hear!! :worthy:
Bring on that big red 500 bluesmoke.. :ride:
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Eddie just sold a pretty bad a$$ 500 recently. Now considering that and that he is one of the few men in the world to ride the 475TT so far I think he may be one of the few people qualified to make any judgments on what will be a better SM machine.
And I think he just spoke. :thumbsup:

[MutualBill]

Great info. Thanks guys.

I think the testor will find many surprises in the Rodney Dangerfield of bikes. (No Respect)

[vrecksler]

Frankly, I am a bit pissed with the testers initial response.

The whole concept of this build off was to test each bike in the area they were designed for, yet it appears as if they were only interested in MX'ing them. I would have no problem if they were doubling the bikes AFTER doing the individual tests but in doing this first they are already creating certain personal biases with the bikes.

I still have the utmost confidence in our bike however, and from the looks of the other sites' bikes I would have to think that DM would feel justified in giving ALL the sites some print as it looks like everyone worked so hard in such a short time span, and it would be a really interesting read. :)

[Bryan Bosch]

This bike just feels well put together. Almost hard to describe. Sort of like a german car compared to a chevy. Everything felt tight, controlled and positive.

The suspension is sooo plush, almost making it feel like it would be too soft to push, but when ridden hard, it's very progressive and never harsh. Nice, nice work Mr. Curea!

The motor's power delivery was a bit harder to get used to, since my CRF450R power delivery is like an on/off switch, so I tend to ride a gear higher (I'm a lugger) and the bike will overrev with a flick of my wrist. The rotating mass of the stroker motor means that the initial power delivery is a bit slower to come on (quiet core in), but when it does, it's a beast and will rev out far past what the vast majority of riders will even need. I'm convinced the DRZ would hang with or pull my CRF450R from the mid range on up. Rev the DRZ, riding it a gear lower and it will be right in the meat of the powerband. You've built a beast Eddie & Ron!

The DRZ475TT really is a bike that you could play at the track with, ride just about anything off-road and still dual-sportable. I'll be riding the bike in SM trim in a few weeks, so I'll report back how she runs on the pavement.

The only bike that would be better would be several bikes in your garage, each built for a very specific purpose.

Thanks to all that contributed to making this happen. Regardless of what DR says, good or bad, I'm proud of the bike. :thumbsup:

[doggerdan1]

Lucky for the DRZ that DRN's 500AFX didn't have any SM wheels available.
What makes you say that? :confused:

[Predator]

Frankly, I am a bit pissed with the testers initial response.

The whole concept of this build off was to test each bike in the area they were designed for, yet it appears as if they were only interested in MX'ing them.
Looked to me like they were trail riding them. The magazine is DIRT Rider . . . :excuseme:

Now, maybe a supermoto mag would LOVE to put the DRZ thru its paces. Hell, I would!

[Bryan Bosch]

They ARE going to test the bike on SM wheels at the track. They've only had the bike for one day.

Traily riding them? Sort of. However, it was a bit more like finding MX obstacles to play on, on the trail and enduro/trials type of obstacles.

But, it was only the initial day of testing, as they'll have the bikes for a few more weeks and the terms are to test the bike for their intended purpose.

So, the DRZ475TT DID the doubles just fine and was taken over a good sized log, proving it's more flexible that we even intended.

[NateTheGreat]

I love the thought of the DRZ475TT doing doubles in full dual sport trim. Mirrors and all.... honking the horn in mid flight. :lol:

I wish you guys had some more pics of it to share. No action shots of the DRZ. :cry:

[Predator]

What makes you say that? :confused:
Okay, let me restate . . .

*Too bad* the SM wheels for DRN's 500AFX weren't available. 'twould have been neat to do some heads-up pavement pounding.

oh, and by the way, if it's got lights, I could plate it in Idaho. :)

[kawidual]

Thanks for the update. I think that issue of dirt rider is going to be a big seller...!!!

If you guys would have put the 4 gallon tank on her and made that trail
ride you could have bailed everyone out & saved the day. :ride: :thumbsup:

[NorCalRider]

Brian, where was that testing done at? The staging area looks familiar?

[Bear on a bicycle]

All of the bikes look sweet! I realy like CRF's only.com's colors! I would've loved to have participated! Looks kind of miserable weather-wise, though. Great pic's Brian.

[Dust_Devil]

Brian, where was that testing done at? The staging area looks familiar?

Keysville, right on the kern river below lake isabella.

[Three Stooges Racing]

Nice article,would have like to have seen the action shots. Will we get any more feed back before the issue comes out?

Good job to all who helped build the beast,flames would have looked better though.

[gregghealy]

Nice bikes. Especially the DRZ... I cant believe they took off on such an ambitious ride late in the day with machines that didnt have the kind of mileage they needed to make it back. In the snow. Wow... Hopefully somebody brouoght the Donner party cook book with them.

What a great project, cant wait to see it in the mag.

[Numskull]

I hope the test tiders realize that its not a motorcross shootout. That infact, the bikes will be tested for there intended purpose, per dirt riders internet bike build off.

[Numskull]

I hope the test riders realize that its not a motocross shootout. That in fact, the bikes will be tested for there intended purpose, per dirt riders Internet bike build off notification. It just kind of struck me funny when the test rider said " we cant do that, the other bikes weren't designed for that". I suppose they are used to shootouts between Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Honda where all the bikes are built for a specific purpose.

Sounds like a chaotic day that a few people had problems: lost, out of gas, mechanical failures.

It is very obvious that the people behind the TT Suzuki build made a bike that is unparalleled and need a big Congratulations to a job well done. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: