I want more torque

[Balkos]

After ridding the SM around the last few days i decided my bike needs more torque. It is bone stock right now. I am waiting for break in to be finished then i plan on doing some mods. I am pretty familiar with most of the mods available. I plan on doing a 3x3 and jet kit on the weekend. But i wanted to know what the best mods for torque are. I was thinking i would definatly need an FCR as the carb seems to be the bottle neck for other mods as well. I am not to concerned with HP. I am going to keep this bike off the highway and under 100 km/h, cause quite frankly the tendancy to wobble at high speeds scares the crap out of me. I know changing the gearing will make it feel like it has more torque, but i would like to leave the gearing alone if at all possible.

So what is the best mod to make my bike a torque machine? Dyno graphs are always nice if anyone has any.

THANKS!!

Chris

[Neil Claydon]

94 mm Big Bore = more torque, more HP from idle to the limiter.

If I have to do all the mods again, it will be a big bore with a jet kit and the 3x3 first, then an inlet cam.

Neil. ?

[William1]

Get a FCR. Get Cams. Get a Stroker kit. Get a Big Bore. Get all.

Best mods for torque alone and any mod for that matter is also dependant on how much money you have to spend.

[DRZ400SK4]

If you don't mind losing some top end speed, a gearing change will give you the biggest bang for your buck. No contest there.

[000ShaDoW000]

yep new rear sprocket will have you flipping off the back in no time (pretty cheap as well).

[gleaves]

What worked best for me after rejet and 3x3: A full Yoshimura RS-3 system. The difference is unbelievable and adds a much meaner look to the bike and is lighter than factory all at the same time! But it is loud. It's a real Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde change. I'm not exaggerating. You can't beat that deal! (whereas with the FCR, the change isn't obvious and doesn't make the bike lighter, but does add HP all over the rev range and a low end "snap" due to the accelerator pump squirt.)

IMHO, the No. 1 choice if you're looking for a torque increase the best mod it the RS-3 system, where the FCR is more a HP increaser. Plus it's an easier job - not as fussy as the FCR "fix" (IMHO). Just read this forum for all the questions on FCR problems and decide for yourself. Of course many more people love their FCRs than those that have problems...

And No.2: put in a lightly used "E" intake cam. Those can be found cheaper than the hotcams.

And No. 3: replace the base gasket with the "E" base gasket, but that's a complicated procedure.

Beware of some cam changes will reduce the low end, because many cam changes are designed just to give a better peak HP number and actually reduce the low end torque. Some cam changes need the E base gasket just to bring the low end torque back to factory levels! Beware of this.

For the wobble: Make sure your forks are bled, and your tire pressure is spot on Manufacturers recommendation using a quality pressure guage. Try taking the elephant ear mirrors off. Others have tried the Acerbis supermoto front fender with success. Make sure the forks run smoothly and aren't binding. Mostly when it wobbles at high speed, it means you're gripping the bars too tight. Just ease off the death grip! If you do that, then you'll appreciate the higher speed capability of the bike and won't want to lose it by regearing!

[Balkos]

For the wobble: Make sure your forks are bled, and your tire pressure is spot on Manufacturers recommendation using a quality pressure guage. Try taking the elephant ear mirrors off. Others have tried the Acerbis supermoto front fender with success. Make sure the forks run smoothly and aren't binding. Mostly when it wobbles at high speed, it means you're gripping the bars too tight. Just ease off the death grip! If you do that, then you'll appreciate the higher speed capability of the bike and won't want to lose it by regearing!

The bike is less than a week old so i hope that the forks are bled (whatever that is lol) tire pressure is good, i am assuming they are balanced. I was going to try to take the mirrors off but the are great for visability. I am definatly not gripping the bars to tight. I am barely touching them. Once the bike hits about 115km/h it gets a slight snake action that gets progressivly worse the more i stay at that speed. I tried letting go of the handlebars (thats what you should do during a tank slapper anyways) and it didn't really do anything. The only thing that worked was backing off the throttle to about 100km/h. then it was steady (although the front still feels real light) but when i go back to 115-120 the starts snaking again after about 5-10 seconds. I am used to ridding my 600RR and it is on rails at 200km/h steady as a rock. I never realized how steady it was untill i rode the 400SM on the highway. Although i took some corners on the SM i wouldn't dream of on the RR.

Anyway back to the topic. I definatly don't want to change the gearing. I know that it is probably the cheapest fastest way for more wheelie power, but they are already so short and i do want decent topend/cruising milage.

Thanks

Chris

[gleaves]

Try bleeding the forks. Take the bike off the ground and put on a stand. Look at the top of the forks and see that there is a screw head that is lower and off to the side of each fork cap. Open that slowly and eventually you'll hear a "psssffff" as the pressure equalizes. Repeat for the other fork. Go ride and let us know.

But mostly, the DRZ wobble is normal for the bike. Since I went with the

dualstar.com inboard mirrors, I don't personally have the problem anymore.

http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Equipment/adjustable_mirror10.htm

[Regalman]

As gleaves stated, some E parts would help torque. When I did mine I bought an E intake cam, E base gasket, and E exhaust. This along with the 3x3 and rejet gave my bike at least one more gear of wheelie'ability. Just the other day I brought it up in 3rd at about 40'ish (speedo is off) with a big tug on the bars and throttle. Total cost was around 200 bucks.

[000ShaDoW000]

well i was testing my new carb(fcr mx) on my new 06SM just the other day and had it pegged at 155kph indicated (slight wind) i have hit 160 indicated before steady as a rock well lets not say rock lets say small tree moves a bit but predicable and controlable only thing i can thing of is check yr front fork settings mine where wrong from the factory (made them a lot stiffer)also check mirrors have simalar alingment if one side has a bigger profile or more drag it will twithc at high speed(test with them off if you want to rule them out) i haer a lot of people saying that the bikes get real twitchy but i havent found that to be the case(now my old sportster would walk from one side of the ride to the other at full speed very nerve whracking....

thats all i can think of let us know how it goes ;-)

[Jim Hale]

Sprocket change to 14/47, uses stock chain. If you don't care about top-end that's the best bang for the buck.

[OSITECH]

What worked best for me after rejet and 3x3: A full Yoshimura RS-3 system. The difference is unbelievable and adds a much meaner look to the bike and is lighter than factory all at the same time! But it is loud. It's a real Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde change. I'm not exaggerating. You can't beat that deal! (whereas with the FCR, the change isn't obvious and doesn't make the bike lighter, but does add HP all over the rev range and a low end "snap" due to the accelerator pump squirt.)

IMHO, the No. 1 choice if you're looking for a torque increase the best mod it the RS-3 system, where the FCR is more a HP increaser. Plus it's an easier job - not as fussy as the FCR "fix" (IMHO). Just read this forum for all the questions on FCR problems and decide for yourself. Of course many more people love their FCRs than those that have problems...

And No.2: put in a lightly used "E" intake cam. Those can be found cheaper than the hotcams.

And No. 3: replace the base gasket with the "E" base gasket, but that's a complicated procedure.

Beware of some cam changes will reduce the low end, because many cam changes are designed just to give a better peak HP number and actually reduce the low end torque. Some cam changes need the E base gasket just to bring the low end torque back to factory levels! Beware of this.

For the wobble: Make sure your forks are bled, and your tire pressure is spot on Manufacturers recommendation using a quality pressure guage. Try taking the elephant ear mirrors off. Others have tried the Acerbis supermoto front fender with success. Make sure the forks run smoothly and aren't binding. Mostly when it wobbles at high speed, it means you're gripping the bars too tight. Just ease off the death grip! If you do that, then you'll appreciate the higher speed capability of the bike and won't want to lose it by regearing!

Softening the bottom end to gain a strong mid/top can be a good thing though...I've found that with the Hotcams and RHC cams, I can get off the line (stoplight) easier because the engine is a bit softer and then the mid hits like a train about the time I'm at the top of second gear...it's aggravating to have to feather the engine thru the intersection to keep it from pulling the front...the added power at mid/top FAR out wieghs the slight softening of the very bottom...I definately wouldn't go back personally, I like riding the train!!

[Regalman]

Sprocket change to 14/47

IMHO, 14/47 on an SM would be silly... and I can't imagine the chain fitting either.

[Jim Hale]

IMHO, 14/47 on an SM would be silly... and I can't imagine the chain fitting either.

Yes... forgot the chain has 110 links on the SM , but for what he's asking the sprocket change going down one in the front and up 3 on the back (from whatever is stock sprockets for the SM) would allow him more grunt and he said he wasn't interested in top-end. I personally would not want to lose the top-end but I also know where he's coming from with the easy wheelie desire.

[mickeydee]

if your above 180lbs the sm is sprung to soft.when you sit on the sm and you weigh in excess of 180lbs the wheel base shortens to much and you can get a wobble.when you are going fast look at the front fender,it does some weird flexing movements.the rad shrouds and rudder type mirrors also add to this problem.i have hit the limiter in 5th at 175km/h(speedo indicated)and its solid as a rock(but i have lots of mods,check my garage)

as for the torque i would do the 3x3,fcr,pipe.then when you have a few mor bucks get cams,bigbore,e base gasket,and at that time decide wether you want to stroke it.

if you want dynographs,do a search.burned(eddie)has done lots

[Balkos]

thanks Mikey. I have seen alot of the graphs. Most of them show HP more than torque. I guess they go hand in hand. I was just wondering if any one mod produce signifigant torque more than any other. As far as i can tell from the graphs i have seen the FCR looks like the best bang for the buck. It also opens up alot of other avenues as far as mods go. I kinda want a pipe too, but i have been checking out the db #'s and they are high. I thought my RR was loud with an akrapovic on it at 14k RPM it 102 db. yosh makes 102db at 6k RMP 111 db at 10K RPM.

as for the wobble. I only weight 140lb. The dealer mech said he set it up to factory suspension settings. If suzuki's factory settings are as bad as they were on my honda when i got that maybe that is the problem. I am waiting for my friend to get back from Daytona. His dad owns a shop around here and helped me setup my suspension in the past. I need to set my sag and all that still on the DRZ. Free dyno runs too

[sryder]

...the tendancy to wobble at high speeds scares the crap out of me...

I had this same problem last year--but I don't have it now. I see many suggestions on this board for eliminating wobble--and I tried most of them. I believe the change that stopped the wobble dead in its tracks was remounting the front wheel carefully, following the exact procedure described in the Service Manual (pinch bolt and axle tightening sequence and specs).

Do you have a front tire other than the stock trailwing? If so, it is possible that the forks might have been inadvertently misaligned when mounting the new tire.

It would be an easy thing for you to test--simply loosen the pinch bolts and axle, wiggle the forks a bit, and re-tighten everything in the correct sequence. And be sure the speedo tab is in the correct position.

Please let us know how you finally get rid of the wobble.