#dr-z400sm

News flash: Suzuki is still selling the DR-Z400SM. Can you believe it? One of the early adopters of the street-legal supermoto craze, Suzuki had a lot of people excited with this bike. Unlike former MOron Sean Alexander in his ride story below, I was less than thrilled with the bike. Anemic and heavy, it dulled the sensation of how cool a supermoto for the street (or just supermotos in general) could be. In fact, I still feel this way, and Suzuki isn’t doing itself any favors by keeping the bike exactly the same over the course of nearly two decades while KTM has gone and made some insanely fun street-legal SuMos.

Suzuki has released its 2019 line-up for motocross, dual-sport, off-road, and youth models. The most news-worthy new models are the in the RM-Z and DR-Z families with the RM-Z250 motocrosser and all-new DR-Z50 youth model. Suzuki has said it focuses on the fundamental performance elements of run, turn, and stop when it comes to the RM-Z line and have been hyperfocused on advancing the 250’s turn capabilities while bringing over technology from the revamped 2018 RM-Z450 to create what Suzuki calls the Winning Balance. The all-new DR-Z50 adds a new youth motorcycle to the market that’s easy and convenient for youngsters to sink their teeth into.

Monumental! That’s what this is. MO’s first electric vs. gas, head-to-head supermoto comparison. A bare-knuckle brawl between the embedded establishment and the harbinger of an electrified future. Yep, this shootout is unique, but it’s also the proverbial tip of the iceberg. With the exponential rate at which electric motorcycle technology is improving, there’s a heap load more of this kind of comparison to come.

As the only true Super Motard remaining from any of the major manufacturers, Suzuki’s DR-Z400SM is the default choice for anyone looking for a street-legal dirtbike with 17-inch wheels, street tires (Dunlop D208s, specifically), electric start, and a 12-month warranty straight from the showroom. So when Content Editor, Tom Roderick, and I decided we wanted to reacquaint ourselves with supermoto after a long dry spell, our option was pretty obvious.