The DRZ's 5 Year, 10k Mile Beauty Makeover

[Brakelate]

Just over Five years old, approaching 10,000 hard miles of commuting, wide open canyon running over the best motorcycle roads in So Cal, along with numerous races or flat out fun practice days at just about every kart track or open road race course in So Cal and Qualcomm in San Diego, as well as several vintage bike rally's, sport touring double up, and blazing a trail across muddy and rock strewn single track at both official OHV Areas and the open fire roads and trails that criss cross what is left of the wild untamed areas of the Antelope Valley, Malibu Hills and Piute ring trails that encircle Lake Isabella, with even an over nighter out at Calico's Ghost Town to round out the mix, I figure it was time to add some more convenience, form function and an fresh, updated look to the Old Gal.

First, went on the infamous Mike the Bike rear rack mod, then I topped that with a high quality space age, waterproof and airtight Pelican Case to provide a place to stash tools, drinks, the mandatory DMV and insurance paperwork, along with any other spare glasses, gloves, cleaning kit for the face shield and all that other good stuff that night need to be locked away while the bike was unattended.

I then added fresh pair of peg sliders, to keep this super sport adventure toury race bike technically legal for use on any of the many available kart or road race tracks. It has survived the winter, and even a very frosty subfreezing ride through Zion National Park and a subsequent overnight stay out doors at the nearby Coral Pink Sand Dunes OHV Area.

For all the spills, thrills, rides in bad weather, mud and talcum powder dust running fire trails and chasing the likes of Frank on his modded up BSA 50, Norton John Aboard his Yamaha 400 two smoker along with another buddy on a KTM450 equipped with a Recluse Auto Clutch as wel as an old pro aboard a nicely dialed in Honda Single through single track trails through the Sequoias, to slaying countless RR Liter bikes, including the likes of the Pro Race / Stunt Crew from Long Beach up on the Angeles Crest Hwy, to rubbing elbows with the hot shoe Alpha Dogs aboard the top end Honda RR's in both the 600 and 1000 cc variety over the likes of Lake Hughes Rd and the Infamous Spunky Cyn.

It also had it's fair shair of moments of a few low sides and at least two spectacular High Side Get-Offs at the local Kart tracks, which it fired up and was ready to ride post event with little to no evidence of the damage inflicted to me.

Anywhoo, Off came the race numbers, and on went some nice sporty graphics to freshen her up at bit. Here's to another long and enjoyable relationship for another Ten years and hopefully double the number of spirited road miles! Long Live the DRZ-SM.

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[Brakelate]

And a couple more, since the first two shots were duplicates that I was unable to edit and clean up. Oh well, you get the idea.

Next, should I find a money tree, will be to send off the suspension and have the brand new Ohlins rear shock re-sprung, shortened and re-valved to match the stock forks which would also be correctly re-sprung and matched to my weight, riding style and dialed in to work with the fancy new rear Single Shock that I have been saving up for a couple years now.

At the same time I may spoon on and groove up one of he few remaining Super Soft front and Medium compound rear racing Maxxis slicks, that I could then groove up to pass a visual road inspection.

Much to my surprise, the stock clutch , springs, cable and internals all seem tight and both feel and sound as if they have years of service left in them, with the only other usable commodity, other than tires and tubes, being high performance front bake pads. The original chain, maintained properly seems tight, smooth and still holds it's set tension without any concern at all.

Here, a last few shots.

[Tetge]

You are a comfy seat away from having a genuine DR-Z, adventure tourer. Now, if you could find your GoPro you could start to make some videos of all the terrain that you are covering.........

Also, I wish that my DR-Z was as sparkling clean as yours.

[Brakelate]

Still can't find several valuable things in my garage. My box of GoPro's and associated mounts and accessories being near the top of that list.

I may just have to break down and sell off some things and buy the latest greatest version, along with a quad copter to mount it to before Flashflood season.

[mikedbike2002]

I especially like the luggage rack. Considered putting one on my DRZ but I'm too cheap!!! My tail bag, a six pack cooler from Walmart, was only 8 bucks!!

[Brakelate]

Yeah, the rack was a close out unit but still pretty expensive. But it bolts on very secure, and is almost worth it simpy allowing more grab handles and easy spots to hold it to help push it around the garage or up any inclines or angles.

I splurged on the brand name Pelican case, as it comes with all sorts of custom variations of foam filling to keep fragile valuables from breaking, or at the least, rattling around and making noise and getting beat up all the time.

The other cool thing, is that it is water proof, VERY durable and well made and is lockable and also has a high quality handle at the rear, which also helps pull the bike around or serve as a hand hold should it start to get away from me.

I had mounted one on my VStrom years ago ( a bike that really had a crummy shaped tank for a tank bag, and it impressed upon me how much I ended up using it, and how handy it was to have a durable, lockable case that wasn't too small, but wasn't too big either. It really was handy and I used it a lot more than I ever expected that I would have when I installed it. I really have no hesitation leaving my glasses, a camera, GoPro, my wallet or other valuables in It for extended periods with the bike left unattended. Mounted properly, the whole thing really is strong and built well enough to distract people from tampering with it due to it's industrial secure looks.

VERY handy item, especially again on a bike that does not accept a tank bag well, and that I am growing tired of the back / shoulder pain, heat and movement restrictions caused when wearing a loaded down backpack.

Worse come to worse I could fill it with three or four bottled waters and a healthy amount of ice and a small washcloth for cooling off on those hot days, cleaning wind screens or cleaning up road rash sposts and helping out with a little first aid should I come up on someone who's gone down and acquired a few new "Strawberries". Speaking of which, where the hell did Norman get off too anyway????

[xbacksideslider]

What are you doing up at 3:41 in the morning?

[Tetge]

What are you doing up at 3:41 in the morning?

That's when the tennis from England comes on, old chap. Brakelate thinks tennis is bloody smashing.

Or, he could have been up searching for his GoPro so that he could make us some good videos of frontier life in the hinterlands.

But, as one who suffers from chronic pain, it is my best bet that he had to get up to shake off the pains that sometimes are at their greatest when a person lays down and tries to sleep.

In any case, it is nice and quiet at that time and Brakelate did post an account of his activities as well as pics.

Hey, this paragraph thing is not so bad after all.

[xbacksideslider]

Now you are overdoing it. Five once sentence paragraphs? All of that could have been in one paragraph since it is all on the same topic but I have to admit that arguably it is proper insofar as each one is directed at its own discreet sub-topic.

You see, there above, just now, I have written one paragraph with three, count 'em, three sentences, all on one subject, and then, there is this second paragraph, consisting of but one sentence, on a different, and therefore paragraphable subject, to wit, your style of paragraphing.

Hmmmm, maybe I overused commas just now?

[jhwalker]

Very nice, Jay. It ALMOST makes me want to install all of the stuff I have here, but not quite...