[bonesheal]

I'm shopping for a bike that I can use as a dirt bike for easy trail riding (following my family around on their dirtbikes), but that I can switch to 17" wheels for street use. I'm thinking of doing it with a DRZ-S for ease and low maintenance, both of which are more important than high performance to this middle aged man. I have a couple questions:

Is there anything I need to change other than wheels & front brakes?
Do any vendors sell kits with all the parts for a SM switch out?
How much should I expect to pay for all of the parts to make the switch?

I want to maintain my bike's dirt ability as well as its street ability, so I will put knobbies on the big wheels. How much trouble is it to switch back and forth? I'm not a complete idiot, but it still takes me an hour to change a tire and an evening to bleed my brakes.

 

[Astroman]

just buy a set of rims and hubs use a second stock size rotor front and back this way it will be 15min work to change wheels IF you go with bigger rotor you have to relocate the caliper and than means you have to use a 320 disk on the dirt which is not a good idea.

for Rims/hubs/Tires you ate going to spent from $900 to $1500


If you are just going to have some street fun on your Bike you just have to change the rims and replace the front fender for the look

if you are more serious you go with gearing, adjusting the fork/shock but then forget about Quik Switch from SM to Dirt...

 

[bonesheal]

Is the stock front rotor adequate on a street wheel? I thought I might do two complete brake setups, but I'm all about convenience, so if I can get away with one, I might just do it. Lately I've been riding my wife's CB250 with drum brakes--I have to plan ahead to stop.

Do rims have to be laced specifically for a certain bike, or is there some degree of swapability?

 

[bonesheal]

Do any vendors sell kits with all the parts for a SM switch out?
How much should I expect to pay for all of the parts to make the switch?

OK now I see that the vendors advertised on this site have these things, even organized into kits.

 

[Astroman]

you can use the stock caliper with a bracket but you have to remove the bracket any time you fit the stock wheels/rotor on the front..

so you get

1)17inch wheels with sticky tire around $1000-$1100 total
2)Big rotor with relocation bracket for your caliper $200-$300

 

[bdmmotard]

if i were in your boat, i'd shop for a drz or xr400 that was already converted. if you convert your own, the stock brake, along with a steel braided line is adequate for street riding, but you will overheat it at the track. do everything in stages so that you learn as you go. you probably will go with a oversized rotor eventually. first step is just throw some 17's on a dirtbike and have fun. here's a excellent source:

http://home.comcast.net/~michaelnel/

 

[bonesheal]

Well, BDM, I finally sold my dirtbike, but not soon enough to buy your XR. Congrats on selling it. I think I'm going to convert a DRZ-S.

 

[bdmmotard]

Well, BDM, I finally sold my dirtbike, but not soon enough to buy your XR. Congrats on selling it. I think I'm going to convert a DRZ-S.

:thumbup:

 

[crashmw]

That is what I did.
I would do as mentioned above...get a 320 rotor and bracket, so you can use the existing caliper.
change wheels and brake pads and you are good to go. You can even add a few teeth to the rear sprocket on the DRZ without having to break the chain.
You might even find that you prefer to not add dirt wheels everytime you hit the dirt. I often visit a local riding area that has an MX track, and pound out laps on the DRZ. Then I just ride back home on the street.
Not the best traction, but it really depends upon what you need or want to do that particular day. If it is a laid back trail ride, then I guarantee that you can tackle most anything out there. If it is an agressive trail ride on the other hand, I would run the 21-18 setup.

Mike

 

[bonesheal]

I'm getting ready to buy an XR650L--this bike will mostly be ridden on the street. Then I'm going to do as you said, with the 320 & bracket. It looks like that puts me in for at least $1300--is there a cheaper way of doing this?