“Mmmmm, is a tricky frame to get right, the custom drz” was the first bit of advice I got when I started asking questions to Jeremy Tagand from Deus Ex Machina about my next custom build, a DRZ400E street scrambler designed to be just as fun on-road as it was off-road.

Certain bikes are hugely polarising to different subcultures - to a KTM enduro rider, the DRZ is a clunky tractor with a heavy front end. To many supersports riders, the DRZ is little more than a farm bike. To a custom bike builder, a DRZ400 doner bike is frustrating, risky and complicated to get right when compared to its air cooled DR650 big brother. But few bikes have as much cult love as the DRZ400, the sort of familial advocacy that avidly highlights the limitations of their bike adoringly.

“Yeah, it’s an ugly, dirty, heavy piece of shit… can’t fault the thing, can’t kill the thing, and it outrides me every day.” seems to be the general cult consensus.

Dust Hustle saw the already tired single (40’000kms) to the red line and beyond, with too many stacks to count with total accuracy. It wasn’t until the next weekend during a beach camping trip that the motor gave up and the custom build began in earnest.

Whilst waiting for the right head and cams to turn up, I chopped the rear subframe and strengthened it with a flat plate of 3mm alloy welded across the rear to add strength and support the seat. Too many tanks were mocked up and discarded than I care to admit (thank you Drew Mansini for the collection), but I eventually settled on a 70s era suzuki tank that was both short enough to clear the oil reservoir cap on the side of the frame, and tall enough to ensure the front end doesn’t end up giving the bike a “praying mantis” stance. Most people run into the frame and radiator when trying to place the custom tank tastefully, and often modify the frame and replace the radiator just to get something to look right. Frankly, the DRZ400 radiators do an outstanding job, and manage to take more of a beating than any other radiator I’ve come across before cracking, so I wanted to keep these.

A spare ebay special seat hanging around at the Skinnys Garage social space ended up fitting into the tank lines perfectly, with the foam pulled away and redone in multiple layers of different density foams to ensure it could handle dirt and long(ish) distances. Skinny’s Garage became a frequent haunt over this build, with the motor, forks and shocks being rebuilt under the guidance of Alex Kelly, Brisbane’s DRZ400 Wizard. The full stainless system was welded up near the end of the build at Skinny’s Social as well, as their workshop tools and equipment are significantly higher end than my home garage.

Ground clearance turned out to be an issue only once the build was mostly finished, after bottoming out on the big jump on the main track at Motoland (on motard rims with dual sport tyres). The subsequent binning gave me more embarassment than pain. Lesson learned; wiring was adjusted, suspension hardened, and a 21” front rim swapped in for the upcoming Dust Hustle 11.

Radiator, sump and chain guards were supplied by B&B Off Road, with the motard rims covered in a Heidenau K60 Scout on the rear and TKC80 on the front. XSR900 ebay special side covers managed to capture the look I was after once flipped horizontally, so they stayed. Unifilter, being the only foam filter that manages to keep red dust out of cape york trip bikes, was the obvious choice for filter. The entire air box was swapped out for a direct 150mm black Unifilter foam pod. Critical to those doing a custom DRZ is the recommendation not to use a cheap ebay special pod filter, as these tend to not be able to manage enough airflow at high RPM on the big single, running lean down low with poor throttle response due to sucking turbulent air whilst also running rich at high RPM. Spend the money on a great washable oilable filter with solid flow rate for a 400cc single, ideally with a fairly long pod chamber.

To keep that tall front end staying tall without sticking out like a sore thumb, most of the front end wiring / speedo / ignition was tidied into and around the handlebar risers. Further to this, the fork headlight mounts were pulled off, flipped onto the opposite sides and inverted to push the position of the headlight lower. A short alloy fender was made by hand on the english wheel at Skinnys Garage, and mounted to the bottom triple, cleaning up the front end whilst ensuring that I was doomed to eat shit (read: mud) at Motoland later on.

The stainless system was made over a couple of nights at Skinny’s, and when paired with the “Yoshimura” RS3 muffler, became one of my favourite parts of the build. To be able to go from fairly quiet to that deep open performance 450 dirt bike sound with the change of a baffle is a joy to play around with. For commuting, I’m listening to music and the great low end throttle response is paired with the quiet soundtrack of the pipe. For racing or hooligan stuff, the baffle comes out and the bike starts to pull into the top end with a roaring rush. 45 horsepower isn’t much in the grand scheme, but when the combined weight of the rider and bike is only 190kg, suddenly everything becomes all that more of a rush.

The tank, fender and engine cover guards were all finished in a “galaxy”-inspired paintwork, that has come to be one of my absolute favourite parts of the build. While getting the technique right certainly had me close to my wit’s end, the finished result is something truly unique, and has become a bit of a talking point when the bike is out at community events.

Whilst I wouldn’t recommend the DRZ400 to anyone wanting to do their first custom build, the take-home from this build for me personally is one of constant improvement. The more you work with it, the simpler it becomes, and the better you can make it. The DRZ remains unchanged for over 20 years, and was always built to a budget, so there is so many improvements that can be made without major outlay to make this great cult bike even better. There are stock and aftermarket parts that can be had for cheap, and widespread support all across the world, with almost any mod you can think of having already been attempted and documented.

Big thanks to the help and supplies from Alex at Skinnys Garage, as well as Adventure Bikes Australia, Dust Hustle, DNA Custom Paints, Hostyl Fabrications, Unifilter, Heidenau & Continental tyres, Lee Brothers & Co, Excel Rims, MX Store, B&B Off Road, Antigravity Batteries and Protaper.