Early Valentine's day gift :D or whatever you want to call it

[zaq123]

UPS finally just dropped off my goodies:

Big bore kit with JE piston, a set of more aggressive than stock cams and new base gasket for 12.2:1 compression
Was thinking to go all out with stroker but decided to wait a little. Don't feel like splitting the case to install new crank just yet. After all the DZer has only 5k miles.

Can't wait to dig in rode the bike to work today. As of right now, DZer is all washed n' clean and ready for the procedure.

[nd4spdbh]

athena 440 kit?

i would recommend against a stroker if you want to keep the reliability.

already assuming you have done the defacto FCR drz400sm upgrade.

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh

athena 440 kit?

i would recommend against a stroker if you want to keep the reliability.

already assuming you have done the defacto FCR drz400sm upgrade.

I was advised against Athena as a consensus on ThumperTalk was that it's overpriced and not worth it Athena has bigger cooling capacity in the cylinder. Apparently it's not justified as tests showed.
Went with top quality JE piston and Namura cylinder.
FCR39 is already on the bike

As far as stroker goes, oh yes, she will be stroked once the will be a need to revalve head. I just don't trust OEM 2 piece valves with stroker.

[zaq123]

Hey ND, watched your vids with your buddies DRZ. What mods does he have?

[rmb]

Great!... Now you'll pull away from us in the twisties faster than you did last year...

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by rmb

Great!... Now you'll pull away from us in the twisties faster than you did last year...

hahaha. I'm thinking about getting a set of these so I can actually cut corners without worrying about sliding with the slicks I have now

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by zaq123

I was advised against Athena as a consensus on ThumperTalk was that it's overpriced and not worth it Athena has bigger cooling capacity in the cylinder. Apparently it's not justified as tests showed.
Went with top quality JE piston and Namura cylinder.
FCR39 is already on the bike

As far as stroker goes, oh yes, she will be stroked once the will be a need to revalve head. I just don't trust OEM 2 piece valves with stroker.

intresting ... ill have to let my buddy know about the athena kit... he has been set on the athena 440 for some time.

got links to the parts you mention? what is the cc's you will have now?

btw... his drz is bone stock minus the stock exhaust w/ baffle removed.... hes just about to buy some type of FCR and get the modding started.

[zaq123]

it's 440 kit with JE piston. JE is top notch quality stuff.
Don't get this wrong, Athena is nice product. However it's overpriced and it's cylinder cooling capacity is the only benefit it has over any other kit(yet to be proven to be benefit).

Tell your friend to go with one of these:
SUZUKI JE DRZ400 DRZ 400 BIG BORE 434CC CYLINDER KIT | eBay
CYLINDER WORKS BIG BORE KIT 434cc SUZUKI DRZ400 DRZ 400 /E /K /S /SM 2000-2012 | eBay

I went with JE kit as I saved $30 on the auction and JE piston is better than Vortex in Cylinder works kit.
Cylinder works is a very very good kit though. Tell your buddy search Thumpertalk.

[rmb]

Originally Posted by zaq123

hahaha. I'm thinking about getting a set of these so I can actually cut corners without worrying about sliding with the slicks I have now

I don't know if they would've helped you in that grass...

[zaq123]

would be better than Pilot Powers I have now. I rode through some pineys today and PP don't like sand at all. They are so sticky that sand just gets caked on them

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by zaq123

it's 440 kit with JE piston. JE is top notch quality stuff.
Don't get this wrong, Athena is nice product. However it's overpriced and it's cylinder cooling capacity is the only benefit it has over any other kit(yet to be proven to be benefit).

Tell your friend to go with one of these:
SUZUKI JE DRZ400 DRZ 400 BIG BORE 434CC CYLINDER KIT | eBay
CYLINDER WORKS BIG BORE KIT 434cc SUZUKI DRZ400 DRZ 400 /E /K /S /SM 2000-2012 | eBay

I went with JE kit as I saved $30 on the auction and JE piston is better than Vortex in Cylinder works kit.
Cylinder works is a very very good kit though. Tell your buddy search Thumpertalk.

what cylinder is that in the ebay link?

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh

what cylinder is that in the ebay link?

first link is Namura
second link is Cylinder works.

Just don't get namura pistons, get JE one or Vortex.

There is only one documented Namura cylinder issue and it's due to installer/user letting dirt into the engine. http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/815...mura-cylinder/

Cylinder Works are good as well

[zaq123]

well, logged in 236 miles after rebuild, so far so good. 236 miles of proper engine break-in without any issues from LEOs. I wish I had a Dyno available to break her in, it's easy to get in trouble with this proper street break-in procedure
Did the leak-down test on the cylinder, Less that 3% loss , meaning that 97% is actually converting to power. Pretty exciting, considering that rings still have time to break-in even more.
Overall pretty happy with this kit.

Here is what she got as of now:
440 big bore with nickel silicon carbide plated cylinder and JE forged aluminum piston. EX and IN Hotcams stage I, one piece valves, valve seals, valve springs. Increased compression ratio from 11.3:1 to 12.2:1 (have to run premium fuel now). Keihin FCR39MX carb jetted for 440. Yoshi RS2 exhaust, some other junk and reworked suspension. DRZ400E CDI to increase rpm to 10.5k

It's amazing how you can almost double the power (50hp from 32hp stock) with a few upgrades on this bike and still keep it very reliable. Suzuki did very good job on these DRZ400 motors: reliable, no need in frequent valve adjustments, overbuilt for HP it comes from the factory with, easy to work on. I love this little bike.

[zaq123]

Oh yea, head is revalved and the strocker can go in without any reliability issues. Just not yet, don't want to split engine cases right now. I think she has plenty of power for me at this point. Maybe someday I will add the strocker. Or maybe not.

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by zaq123

Oh yea, head is revalved and the strocker can go in without any reliability issues. Just not yet, don't want to split engine cases right now. I think she has plenty of power for me at this point. Maybe someday I will add the strocker. Or maybe not.

eh id leave it as is... going strocker setup will start wear much faster.... due to higher piston velocities etc. Your setup right now is probably the best all around power / reliability setup you can get that doesnt break the bank.

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh

eh id leave it as is... going strocker setup will start wear much faster.... due to higher piston velocities etc. Your setup right now is probably the best all around power / reliability setup you can get that doesnt break the bank.

stroker is like the icing on the cake. Pretty involved and expensive I should add. As of right now, stroker is not going in. But maybe someday......

[nd4spdbh]

why not just get a KTM 690 smc to begin with :-P

[zaq123]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh

why not just get a KTM 690 smc to begin with :-P

initial cost and you want to talk about reliability? they are PITA to maintain, don't last long and parts are $$

speaking of smc.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by zaq123

UPS finally just dropped off my goodies:

Big bore kit with JE piston, a set of more aggressive than stock cams and new base gasket for 12.2:1 compression
Was thinking to go all out with stroker but decided to wait a little. Don't feel like splitting the case to install new crank just yet. After all the DZer has only 5k miles.

Can't wait to dig in rode the bike to work today. As of right now, DZer is all washed n' clean and ready for the procedure.

I like your idea of Valentine Day gifts, be it you to yourself, to you on behalf of your special one, or yours to her - and if so, there's surely a story re the basis of such giving.

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by zaq123

initial cost and you want to talk about reliability? they are PITA to maintain, don't last long and parts are $$

speaking of smc.

haha ya i kno... but EFI and mo powa... buddy has 20k on his valves still spot on and he rides the piss out of it, multiple track days here n there.

but i feel ya... the drz just has somethin to it, that hooligan throw around bike with so much aftermarket backing its nutz!