Hey everyone,

I’m back from my Balkan expedition on the new Suzuki DR-Z4S. My initial master plan was massive, but let’s be honest: reality always gets a vote on a long-distance dual-sport trip, and things didn't go exactly as planned.

I’m currently buried deep in editing hours of footage, so I’ll be dropping the technical write-ups and videos stage by stage as I progress.

Here is my honest, no-BS technical feedback from Days 1 to 3 (Verona -> Ancona -> Albania TET Sec. 8):

• The Highway Wobble (Tarmac Compromise): Stage 1 was a 300 km slab transfer to the ferry. In full travel trim (heavy rear luggage, 3L extra fuel, handlebar nav tower, aggressive knobbies), the front end gets light. Above 110 km/h (68 mph), the bike started to head-shake/wobble. Removing the OEM bar-end weights to fit my wrap-around handguards definitely reduced dampening. Dropping to 105 km/h (65 mph) fixed it completely. You just have to accept the bike’s limits on tarmac.
• Off-Road Weapon: Once on the loose rocks and steep climbs of Albania, this bike is a cheat code. I was seriously debating whether to take my Africa Twin CRF1000 on this trip, and I am incredibly happy I left it at home. Turning around on tight single tracks is effortless, and the agility is incredible even with luggage.
• Trail Reality (River Levels): Due to high water levels, I had to skip Albania Section 14 entirely since it runs right through the riverbed. Even on the main track, the river ford looked sketchy, so I smartened up and bypassed it using the bridge. The tracks get more demanding as you approach Çorovodă, but finding good, affordable local accommodation there was extremely easy.
• Fuel Range: Averaging around 25 km/l (58 MPG). With the tiny OEM 8.7L tank, you are looking at a hard limit of well over 200 km before running on fumes. Extra fuel bottles saved my day, but a proper aftermarket oversized tank is the only real solution to centralize weight.

For now, I've only managed to edit and publish Part 1 of the video covering the setup and the first stages on my YouTube channel: anbat_adv. The rest will follow as soon as possible.

I’ve also uploaded the full detailed technical log on my hub: drz4s.org.

Hey everyone,

I’m back from my Balkan expedition on the new Suzuki DR-Z4S. My initial master plan was massive, but let’s be honest: reality always gets a vote on a long-distance dual-sport trip, and things didn't go exactly as planned.

I’m currently buried deep in editing hours of footage, so I’ll be dropping the technical write-ups and videos stage by stage as I progress.

Here is my honest, no-BS technical feedback from Days 1 to 3 (Verona -> Ancona -> Albania TET Sec. 8):

• The Highway Wobble (Tarmac Compromise): Stage 1 was a 300 km slab transfer to the ferry. In full travel trim (heavy rear luggage, 3L extra fuel, handlebar nav tower, aggressive knobbies), the front end gets light. Above 110 km/h (68 mph), the bike started to head-shake/wobble. Removing the OEM bar-end weights to fit my wrap-around handguards definitely reduced dampening. Dropping to 105 km/h (65 mph) fixed it completely. You just have to accept the bike’s limits on tarmac.
• Off-Road Weapon: Once on the loose rocks and steep climbs of Albania, this bike is a cheat code. I was seriously debating whether to take my Africa Twin CRF1000 on this trip, and I am incredibly happy I left it at home. Turning around on tight single tracks is effortless, and the agility is incredible even with luggage.
• Trail Reality (River Levels): Due to high water levels, I had to skip Albania Section 14 entirely since it runs right through the riverbed. Even on the main track, the river ford looked sketchy, so I smartened up and bypassed it using the bridge. The tracks get more demanding as you approach Çorovodă, but finding good, affordable local accommodation there was extremely easy.
• Fuel Range: Averaging around 25 km/l (58 MPG). With the tiny OEM 8.7L tank, you are looking at a hard limit of well over 200 km before running on fumes. Extra fuel bottles saved my day, but a proper aftermarket oversized tank is the only real solution to centralize weight.

For now, I've only managed to edit and publish Part 1 of the video covering the setup and the first stages on my YouTube channel: anbat_adv. The rest will follow as soon as possible.

I’ve also uploaded the full detailed technical log on my hub: drz4s.org.

Long story short: things went completely sideways compared to the plan, but it made an incredible adventure.

I'm working on the full video, but in the meantime, here are a few shots from the road.

I love my new DR-Z4S best bike for TET!!!

Long story short: things went completely sideways compared to the plan, but it made for an incredible adventure.

I'm working on the full video series for the YouTube channel, but in the meantime, here are a few shots from the road.

DR-Z4S best bike for TET!!!

Ready for test before longest trip of my life.

Tail tidy setup. Here are the technical highlights:

• No Cutting: Used connectors to match the OEM harness.
• Structural Trick: Instead of trimming the Racetech plastics, I heat-bent them. The flap now rests on the subframe crossmember, distributing the load and adding rigidity.
• Hyperflash issue: Replacing OEM with new small LEDs causes fast blinking. You can solve this by adding resistors.

Full technical breakdown, wiring diagram, tutorial and more on the hub drz4s.org.

👉Step-by-step Installation Guide