1980 DR400S Info

[TT]

Tony, carb  posted today .   Bike looks real tidy for it's age ....good buy
cloogy on to it, cam timing peg - sproket and mag cover changed to 2 piece .
Yes forks are a much debated area , I have only seen 36mm & 35mm versions with long and short legs.
Bought a set of USA ebay a few years back and where tapered @ triples  that was when I procured alloy swing arm  ... same bike as picture ( white )
Back to shed for another play 

Thanks oldfart. I'll buy you that Pepsi at CD7. 
So it seems that there might be quite a few carry over SP parts. Which is good for me. 
I've got a DR400 front end here and it looks identical to the SP. The forks are externally identical and 36mm.

[Tex]

Nice original looking bike you got there TT. We might see it at a Vinduro some time then?

Tex

[cloggy]

  I've never seen anything other than a two piece mag and sprocket cover either in print or the flesh. They are bit fragile just by the sprocket, so perhaps there might have been a production change to one piece. I've got 5 or 6 cams , only one is pegged and we didn't get the T in the UK. I'm wondering if it was maybe dropped due to it's inherent unbalance causing the cam journals to wear out quicker.
Suzuki's monoshock USA PE175  ran a different front fork and wheel to the UK model. The USA GN400 was a very different beast to the UK spec. It may well be there were variations in spec according to destination and time, though the DR had a very short production run. They and the SP370 did well at the Dakar.
 Marc Joineau  bagged 3rd in '83 on a 500; the only twinshock bike in the top ten and also the smallest engine.
http://www.dakardantan.com/paris-dakar-1983/joineau,suzuki+dr+500,41.html

 Norbert D'Aboville got 12th in '81 on this bog standard DR400S, even down to the passenger footpegs!
http://www.dakardantan.com/paris-dakar-1981/d-aboville,suzuki+dr+400,19.html

The DR had a full width front hub. The SP's ran a half width, though I think they interchange. The frame is totally different and rear wheel is not intercompatible. In fact just about the only common parts are the engine block, ignition, and foot levers

[TT]

Nice original looking bike you got there TT. We might see it at a Vinduro some time then?
Tex

Thanks Tex.
Yep, that's my New Year's Resolution, to make a far bigger effort to get to as many old dirt bike events as I can. 

[frostype400]

That sounds good Tony me and my dad went to a couple vinduro's great fun will be going next year for sure I need to work on the PE's I would like to have them looking better thanks Michael.

[LWC82PE]

Suzuki's monoshock USA PE175  ran a different front fork and wheel to the UK model

Would you like to expand on this? As far as i am aware all monoshock PE175's 82-83 have the same 38mm forks and wheel no matter what country. I have friends in UK with 82 175s and they have the same front hub and 38mm forks as the USA and Australian bikes. If you can provide some evidence that differs, please let me know as i would like to document it for the PE group. Thanks.

[cloggy]

 I'll have to do a lot of digging. But the UK magazine test pics I had had them with the earlier type hub and smaller spindle forks whereas the USA model was pictured with the straight pull hub with the bigger axle. Having sold my PE I've lost the links to all this, and don't know where all the stuff I researched is. It may be there was a model change. Or it may be that this was a press model. The pics I had are in a now defunct UK dirt mag

[Marc.com]

I have white DR400T with 36mm forks, full width hub, theres a few things on the DR500T not the same, but good source for 400T headlight, odometer, footpegs and plastics. Tank on DR400 T however is alloy not steel.

The hard part for DR400T are the sidecovers, they were fragile plastic and flew off from new.  It seems much harder to get cosmetic parts for than same year RM/PE as no real industry around rebuilding them, Vintage Suzuki white PE guards do pretty well. Motor parts are not such a big deal as plenty of 400S to rob them off.

[LWC82PE]

DR 500 came out as a 81 model first not an 80, so there was a DR500 X and  a DR500 SX and no DR500 T or ST. The DR500 SX was basically the same as the  USA SP500 X. There is an ebay seller called 2wheelsunlimited that i have seen they have had a air bit of NOS DR plastics liek headligth shells/numberplates and sidecovers.

Cloggy, if you can find that 175 info that would be great. Some of the early pre production bikes that magazines had as test bikes were not what the public eventually got though. I can not think of a reason why UK would have kept the 36mm forks and 130mm or 150mm full width hub and 12mm axle from the 81 model though.

[Tex]

that's my New Year's Resolution, to make a far bigger effort to get to as many old dirt bike events as I can

Now that's a decent resolution. Far better than giving up booze, or something dull like that! 

Marc Joineau  bagged 3rd in '83 on a 500;

He was pretty handy that Marc Joineau chap. He picked up 10th in 1980 on an SP370. In fact every time he rode a Suzuki four stroke he finished. If he rode anything else he failed!

Tex

[TT]

He picked up 10th in 1980 on an SP370. In fact every time he rode a Suzuki four stroke he finished. If he rode anything else he failed!

See! I've been telling you blokes for years what good bike the SP370 was. 

[cloggy]

 I'll look for the article over christmas

[bazza]

And T model front brake hub is same part number as RM

[firko]

Hey Bazza did part 2 of the Klub Kevlar "Clothing for the Needy" package arrive?

[cloggy]

http://www.dakardantan.com/forum/suzuki-dr-400-n19-norbert-d-aboville-vt942.html
Gives a few more pics of Norbert.
From Google translation it seems he bought a bog standard S model, slung away the original mirrors and rear light, and roped several plastic cans onto the tank. Armed with a couple of tubes, some tools and spares, he then ran inside the overall top ten until smashing several ribs in Mali. He struggled on to finish top marathon [unsupported] rider and 12th overall.
With the proceeds of his win and with selling his bike and gear at the flea market,   he managed to complete the whole event almost in profit. Speaks volumes for both him and the bike.

If you scroll to the bottom of this link
http://www.dakardantan.com/forum/photos-paris-alger-dakar-1983-vt1006-30.html
There's 3 pictures of the third place 1983 DR500, a very different beast