Why is the XR650L Superior to the DRZ400

Discuss. I am in an argument with a buddy who has the DRZ, and I have the XR. The XR is obviously superior, but I need more ammo

Dumb

I can think of 250 more reasons why the xr is better

Well, the answer is subjective. The DRZ is way more modern, water cooled, as fast with a pipe and carb, and handles way better, and is lighter. POSSIBLY as reliable well not really maybe! Now the Honda is heavier so probably better two up or when loaded down. Has more touque. Is probably more reliable in the real world. And does handle very well on the road and on open trails. Depends solely on what its use is.

xr is better.

when you get done a really nasty rocky hilly muddy tight single track trail nobody walks up to a drz rider and says, " thats pretty impressive how well you got through on that big bike".

I have ridden both, I liked the xr better on the trails. The drz felt taller, and the weight is almost the same.

Why, because nobody actually gets up such a hill on a DRZ?

DRZ-E model about 50 lbs lighter. I own XRL, just like it better?

Upgrade the suspension and the XL600 is superior Even though they're 30years old

The DRZ is a bit more modern, but I don’t know that it all translates to “better”. The heart and soul is the power plant, and you need to decide if it’s “better”. Water cooling looks good on paper, but consider, if you stay up with your maintenance, use good synthetic oil, and change it often, there’s NOTHING wrong with air cooling, and that Honda engine is VERY proven. The XR’s suspension is a bit dated, but it’s not bad at all; just depends on what you want the bike to do. For adventure riding I really like the XR because it’s dead nuts reliable, and it’s one of the better handling road legal bikes when off road. I’m sure the DR-Z is a very nice bike though. The lighter weight is always welcome.

With all that being said, I ride a ’94 Kawasaki KLX650C which will kick the snot out of both of them…but it’s not running right now, so I lose.

I will accept the superiority of the KLX when you find a bigger tank for it so you dont have to mooch gas after 10 or 15 miles. Kawasaki was on to something when they built the KLX650, but dumped it before the aftermarket caught up.

I would agree with that statement…the KLX was heading squarely down the right direction. It had inverted forks back in ’94 and the DRZ is just now getting there. It was lighter than the competition and the KLX engine puts out almost 10 more HP than the KLR; yeah, Kawasaki was on to something. But the market didn’t respond.

Yeah, the fuel tank is rather small. It’s like they thought it was an MX bike and not a dual sport trail bike. Acerbis made a larger tank years ago, but they’re very hard to find now. But when you get that larger tank and fill it full, it does make her rather top heavy.

Ain't that the truth, and no Doo to worry about. Whichever Kawasaki executive made the call to kill the KLX program and keep the KLR program alive unchanged since the Earth cooled should be flogged.

I always felt Kawasaki was on the perfect road to uh, perfection with the KLX but they were ahead of their time. By that I mean they had the LKLX almost perfect years before anyone was really DSiing off road bikes or making these an everyday rider like we are now. I think if Kawasaki made a nicer lighter KLX now it would outsell the KLR by a large margin if it was plateable.

It's early... dunno why I'm sucking myself into this comparison

Having owned a DRZ, current owner of an XL600R and KLR and ridden both the XRL and XRR (friends)... gotta say the DRZ 'feels' more modern; that is, it's nimbler but lacks the torque of the Honda's (400cc vs. 600-650cc duh). Lowering links (<32" inseam) helps a ton even with the loss of suspension travel.

The XR is still a pig, and that is coming from a KLR rider. Reliable as hell, but a DRZ will easily out-perform it in single track, but a XRL would be a better choice if your terrain resembles Baja or wide-open sandboxes.

I think the “market” is wanting lighter weight and more power (always a good thing to have on the want list). I have a saying…if you’ll bother to make one for yourself, chances are, there are 10,000 people who are in need of the same thing. I mean, why is it we see people wanting to turn a WR450 into an adventure bike, right?

The KLX had nearly the horsepower of the BMW 650 with something like 70 less pounds. I think the BMW is much of the way there, with a very solid, reliable engine. It’s just too damn heavy.

As for the DRZ vs. the XR thing. I just can’t get past the bulletproof reliability of the XR’s engine. Less wrenching means more riding.

I love my KLX650c, but I hope you guys don't mind a little fact checking, since you brought it up.



That's mine, all of 390lbs with its 5 gal fuel tank. The only magazine test complete with a Dyno result, I have seen, shows 39.39 rwhp. More than a KLR but less than a BMW650. Stock fuel tank is 3.2 gallons and I had no trouble getting 150 miles out of it. It does respond pretty well to the typical carb/exhaust tricks. This one has a 680 big bore and probably makes close to 45hp.

I have ridden with both XRLs and DRZs. The Honda won't stay up with a KLX over long stretches of pavement, but it is better handling on dirt. The only suspension adjustment on the C version is preload on the rear shock. The XRL has more clearance and a shorter wheelbase. I did 800 miles of Nevada dirt with 2 DRZ's and they did just fine. They were having more fun over the sandy whoops than I was. They topped out at about 85mph. I was too scared to pass them.

Mine is a dual sport. Kawasaki did make a dirt version, similar but not the same. If you can license one in your state and don't mind kick starting, it only weighs around 358lb with fuel. You can still get an aftermarket 17 ltr fuel tank.

Mine is sorta new to me&#8230;I owned it about 10 years ago for about a year. Rode it a bit, but not a lot. Little off road, little on road. I think 85mph (that I just got) was probably the fastest I&#8217;ve ever taken the bike. I&#8217;ve never had any complaints about its handling offroad, and regardless of what the specs are, I was rarely beat in an acceleration war; so whatever the specs are, it&#8217;s adequate. I&#8217;ve always read that it was rated at 47bhp at the crank which sounds about right&#8230;probably comes out to about what you say at the rear wheel. I put mine on a truck scale once with about 1/3 tank of gas and it was 381lbs IIRC&#8230;mine is a C model, o theoretically it should be a touch heavier. But also note mine wears NO accessories as seen on yours.

So back after a year of owning and riding the KLX, I had a total knee replacement. In rehab it was painfully (in more ways than one) obvious I would not get enough range of motion to put my feet on the pegs, so I sold it to my wife&#8217;s cousin. He rode it for about 3 years, it stopped and it sat outside since. Wouldn&#8217;t you know it&#8230;About 6 weeks after I sold it, magically the range of motion came back.

Last year I got it back from him in a trade. I cleaned it up, and put it in the garage and I&#8217;m just now getting around to checking it all out. So while I have ridden this exact bike ( and loved it) some, I feel completely new to it. And I&#8217;ll admit that when I had it before I didn&#8217;t do my due-dilligence to learn ANYTHING about it. Changed the oil, checked the chain/sprockets and just rode it. But now that it&#8217;s dead, my hand is forced.

But I&#8217;m taking up motorcycle maintenance as sort of a hobby. My kids who were either tiny or not born the first time I had it, are both (boy of 10, girl of 14) avid riders and never miss an opportunity to ride. My son literally rides every day of the week since he can ride around our house (live on 300 acres). So recognizing that either I&#8217;ll be putting a motorcycle mechanic&#8217;s kids through college, or I need to re-learn how to work on motorcycles (I maintained my own when I was a kid, but they were much more simple then).

So I got a barn find XT225 as a project bike that I&#8217;m doing for my daughter. It actually needs a little of just about everything done to it, so it&#8217;s a good bike to learn M/C repair on since most parts are fairly cheap and it&#8217;s a relatively simple bike.

But with the dead KLX, I now find myself with two project bikes. If you add in the ZZR-1200 I just picked up with broken plastic up front, I guess you can make that 3 project bikes. But the ZZR only has 4k miles on it, so mechanically it&#8217;s perfect; just cosmetics thank God.

I&#8217;m so glad I found ADVRider; what a fantastic forum, and a great group of guys.

By the way (hope this doesn&#8217;t offend anyone); but I&#8217;m a gunsmith, so if anyone has any questions along those lines, I&#8217;m always happy to share what I know.

I found that I can throw my Drz around much easier than I could on the L. The low thump a thump power just does not suit the "pinning it" situation. Not that you are going all that fast on a DRZ when you are pinning it.

DRZ seems easier to ride fast. Maybe my Dizzer is just setup well. My pig usually wants to kill me.

I had an XR400 and then rode a DRZ and wasn't all too impressed. I then got an XR600 and rode that beast everywhere my buddies on their 2-stroke KTM's were. Sure it was big, but it just went anywhere. I then rode a DRZ again, thinking I'd like all the lights and stuff. It just didn't do it for me. Since then I've had all kinds of woods bikes, last was a 2010 Husaberg FE450. Believe it or not, it felt pretty beastly. Now I have a 2012 BMW G650GS Sertao (old dakar) and it is definitely a pig. It is great on pavement and wide open dirt roads, but everywhere else it is a pig. I know the XRL is referred to as "the pig", but I just bought a brand new one to replace the beemer and it feels like a mini-bike to me now. I love it! The trick I learned with the XR's is to rear wheel steer them. Uncorked they have plenty of power imop, so turning that piglet is no problem. I'm in the process of tweaking mine for a little more dirt friendly adventures and can't wait to hit the class 4 town trails around Vermont with it. I'm sure the DRZ is great, but the biggest reason I ride red is the proven engine and chassis. My BMW has had a couple of issues already and that has really pissed me off. I don't want EFI or water cooling or ABS...... I want the Honda 650. Change the oil and ride it.

Hate to resurrect an old thread…(sort of), but I’ve gone back and forth on the XR vs the DRZ more than once. I currently own them both and after today’s 58 mile ride…..rutted dirt roads with plenty of rocks, with about 19 miles of pavement…..I have to admit the heavy and tall XR650L wins.