If Only Suzuki Would....?

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

To be fair the valve check/service interval is probably far longer on the Honda than the Suz as there are fewer wearing parts. But I only ever needed to adjust one valve once after 10,000 miles on my DR.

Much depends on use and fuel quality.

[Jak*]

I could be wrong but I think that you can still buy a DR250, which in many ways is a better bike than both the DR 350 and the DRZ 400. Suzuki for some reason do not import them into the UK, whilst Honda sell bucket loads of CRF 250s which again, are in many ways an inferior machine. As others have mentioned the Himalayan is probably the nearest modern equivalent that you can officially get in the UK to the 350 and a cracking bike. The UK market has always seemed very image driven to me, hence the huge number of Harley’s, ridiculously over powerful sports bikes and mammoth ‘adventure’ bikes on our roads. Whether we are now seeing a change in this attitude as the average age of motorcyclists is increasing, certainly the popularity of the Himalayan has come as a shock to many in the trade including Enfield.
Cheers Jak

[P4ulie]

Need to adjust the valves on DR350...you'll need a feeler-gauge and couple of spanners. You just need to take the rocker covers off. All done in 30 minutes while drinking a cup of tea.

Same job on the Honda...strip the cam out, and get your micrometer and factory shim set out. Bugger about, put it back together and hope you got it right first time. Repeat if necessary. What's that...oh, you've dropped a shim down the cam-chain tunnel. Ah, this may take some time...

Progress?

Just my experience Richard, but after 48000 miles on my CRF the valves have been adjusted exactly 0 times, they've always been within tolerance. I've always liked the DR but the 350 is just too tall for me, the only way I could get on one was to climb up the side stand

[Brads]

This valve clearance thing is a bit of a red herring.

Certainly does not concern me with my Husqvarna FE 350. And thats a far more capable off roader than a DR and is still road legal.

I do agree that a decent dual purpose bike would sell though.

[Tonibe63]

This valve clearance thing is a bit of a red herring.

It was a problem with the early crf250x from around 2004/5 when the valve neck stretched due to them being filled with sodium or something to keep the valves cool but this was corrected around 2006 and was no longer the problem.

[dave h]

dave.

[Redmurty]

mine loved Iceland where it was cool. But didn't like the heat of Moroc as much but I learned a lot about oil failure

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I put a very expensive full-synth in mine before going to Morocco, thinking that would be my oil worries over, fit and forget.

Much of the oil disappeared crossing the Atlas...refilled it with a heavy-duty diesel oil (all I could buy at the time) and all was well after that!

[dave h]

another option,

electric or kick, cc generally 350 to 636, air cooled, 4 valve head, belt driven non contact cam,dry sump, part and upgrades readily available,

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dave.

[EWR]

My new Alp - all day comfortable, rides and handles nicely on the road, loads of torque, smooth fuelling and happily goes through or up anything. No issues in 700 miles of mixed use and comes up lovely after a quick wash. Not the 'best' bike I've owner but quite possibly my favourite (so far at least).

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