Husqvarna 450 SMR / Suzuki DRZ "440" SM shoot-out to Pai!

KTMphil

KTMphil

Senior member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Location
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bikes
2007 KTM 990 Adventure Suzuki DRZ 400
The Husqvarna 450 SMR feels fast, but with no reference that is meaningless. Luckily LivinLOS was up for a thrash to Pai for a comparison on his DRZ that been bored out to a 440cc.




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This is "The Perfect Route" from Chiang Mai to test motard bikes, in fact I would wager large that there's no quicker type of bike on this super windy 125km route (if you cut the corner with R 3009).




Chiang Mai - R 107 - R 3009 - R 1095 - Pai



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Map Copyright RideAsia.net - All rights reserved




We had 2 star guest appearances by Kevin on a new Honda CB 500 X & Glen on a Kawasaki Ninja 250



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Tires



I think it was West that brought this tire discovery for motard bikes to Chaing Mai - The Pirelli MT-60SR ("SR" is important, they also make a hard compound MT-60)/ RS Corsa, soft compound, rain, race tire. About 12,000 Bht for a 17" set, they are unbelievable, truly amazing motard tires. They communicate everything, from when they start to give/ slide to when they slide more, its all very obvious and very controllable, i'm in awe of them.


I've just put these on and i'm told that you get between 2,000 - 4,000 km out of them. Expensive but amazing.



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So, down to the riding comparison.


The Husqvarna 450 SMRis a beast, there's no other way of describing it. Raw power, huge brakes, light as a feather, hard suspension, it rocks, you always have a grin on any twisty road. We swapped bikes for about 35km east of Pai, LivinLOS, who is a bike aficionado totally agreed "raw power" he said.



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Mr Hanleys Suzuki DRZ 400 SM, bored out to a 440cc is a lovely example and loved. When we swapped bikes it felt like a purring BMW after the Husky beast, although the DRZ breaks felt weak and suspension bouncy by comparison.



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So for this test, although a little unfair because I had the new Pirelli MT--60SR tires, the Husky was a clear winner in performance and cornering, its a very unique machine that needs to be tested against a KTM 690 SMR for sure
 
Tried to go see Mac at Mac' s Bar but it was shut, lunch at the floral place in Pai that does the huge baguettes



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Kevin (right on the Honda CB 500 X) is relatively new to big bike riding, after a few early corner problems, he had a breeze for the rest of the day and fell for the CB 500 X


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A quarter of the way back to Chiang Mai and still 778 km to Bangkok


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Coming east on R 1095 (MHS loop road), its hard to spot the right turn for R 3009 that takes you south to Mae Rim avoiding the boring R 107. Look for this sign on the LHS on R 1095



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So to summarize - The Husky 450 SMR rocks
 
Sure that DRZ will be at Herman's again soon, as usual (Mr. Hanley: "There is this strange sound from the engine again") ;)
 
Lightemup said:
Sure that DRZ will be at Herman's again soon, as usual (Mr. Hanley: "There is this strange sound from the engine again") ;)
Click to expand...

Different piston and engine dynamics (400-440) could well be the culprit as it hasn`t hand grenaded or gone off song IMO.
 
johnnysneds said:
DRZ For Sale???
Click to expand...

KTMphil said:
He kept mumbling "690 SMCR" when he got off the Husky
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They sell these with plates in Cambo...

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Really.. The DRZ is quite hoonable.. But the SMR is just a whole nother level of raw.. Brakes everything so sharp.. Getting back on the DRZ it all felt so soft (going to crank the suspension up harder now).
 
Lightemup said:
Sure that DRZ will be at Herman's again soon, as usual (Mr. Hanley: "There is this strange sound from the engine again") ;)
Click to expand...

It hasnt been to hermans for weeks.. Well.. Maybe days ;)

Dont want to jinx it, but the cylinder works barrel and vertex piston may well have done it.. So next is the hot cams..
 
Thanks to the guys for doing the ride yesterday... a good mix of having their fun with the stronger bikes and yet still looking out for the new guy and giving some much needed pointers and advice along the way. A great ride, felt loads more confident by the end of the day, everyone came back safely, job well done. Forgot that the she-wok is off today (no school) so I may rent something else and try for a smaller loop once I finish breakfast. Was thinking Somoeng on the ER6N, going quite slow due to having the girl on the back, but I may look around and find something else to try... or, I may eat, get lazy and not go anywhere... guess we'll see...
 
BTW, that CB500X was the bees knees as far as I'm concerned... enough power for a full-figured man such as myself, but not too much for a newbie. It was comfortable and the torque was pretty much there all over the rev band. All in all, a very good beginner bike.
 
^ I`m looking at a ride out to Mae Sariang next week using some of the alternative routes.

WarProfiteer said:
BTW, that CB500X was the bees knees as far as I'm concerned... enough power for a full-figured man such as myself, but not too much for a newbie. It was comfortable and the torque was pretty much there all over the rev band. All in all, a very good beginner bike.
Click to expand...

^ a lot of those 650 Kwakas are quite ratty/old/abused/crashed by now.

The CB500X was a fine choice but will struggle a little 2 up obviously but have had much less use and abuse.
 
Agree Lew, I've been looking around and even finding a decent 2013 was a challenge. C&P Service has one though. Most everyone else, if they got new Kawa road bikes they bought the Versys. So there's very few new ER6N's around... which sucks because supposedly several things were changed for the 2013 model, not the least of which is riding position (less reaching forward, more upright). So I have been quite keen to try a nice 2013. I'd probably like the way the Versys rides, but I really dislike the way it looks. Zero interest.
 
Versys looks horrible, but it rides really nice.
But again, I don't get that WOW feeling of the Kawasaki bikes.
 
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