Dual-Sports: Honda CRF250L vs Suzuki DR-Z400 -- RideApart

JAMIE ROBINSON: We're fresh out of the city center.
This is Sean Matic, local actor and motorcycle
enthusiast.
And we're on a couple of low-powered dual sport
machines, here in the San Bernardino mountains to get
dirty, sweaty, and nasty.
Welcome to "RideApart."
[HEAVY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]
[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]

JAMIE ROBINSON: Oh, this is the life, isn't it?
SEAN MATIC: Oh, it's gorgeous.
I'd like to jump in there right now.
Man, it's hot.
[SIGHS]
JAMIE ROBINSON: I've been amazed at this little bike.
It goes everywhere.
SEAN MATIC: They do.
It's my first time ever riding the bike to the off-road spot.
[LAUGHS]
JAMIE ROBINSON: Oh yeah?
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
Always had the trailer [INAUDIBLE].
It's pretty cool.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, get the trailer.
Boy, we just left today, left the city, and
then we're out here.
What else do you need?
Talk full of gas, some water, perfect.
Because off-road riding, you're generally at quite a
slow pace, but the ground is always moving and changing and
nothing's very consistent.
So your mind's having to think and deal with many things all
of the time, you know?
And that really then helps you when you're on the road,
because the road, most of the time, is very consistent, and
then you can just think about where to position
yourself and braking.
Off-road riding is just a fantastic way
of developing skills.
We're out here to--
I just wanted to really find out what these dual sports
were going to be like.
They're pretty small.
This comes in at just over $4,000.
It's an amazing motorcycle.
I want to see what it can do off-road, and pretty much, you
can handle everything.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
Let's do more exploring, then.
Yeah.
[HEAVY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]
SEAN MATIC: [INAUDIBLE].

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES ROAR]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINE]

JAMIE ROBINSON: I've ridden half the way up
here on this bike.
Fancy swapping?
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
I was looking, that thing looks about 75 pounds lighter.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah.
[LAUGHS]
I'm game for a bit of extra power.
You look like you've been having a lot of fun with the
torque and the power buttons.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, it's good for out-of-shape old farts.
I haven't ridden in a long time.
Just, like, lug it and don't shift, it's great.
JAMIE ROBINSON: You'll have a lot of fun on this, I swear.
I mean, it is really light.
It makes it really easy to ride the bumps.
[HEAVY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]

[MOTORCYCLE ENGINES]
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, we had the conversation earlier that
you were quite surprised at how well these
bikes ride on the roads.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, I mean, I didn't expect to go into those
corners so hard, and I saw you going and your front tire
wasn't giving out.
So I'm like, I guess they grip.
And they're really light.
The bikes are really light.
The last time I rode a dual sport, that thing was a big,
heavy thing.
It didn't really feel like a dirt bike.
You kind of could maybe do it, but these things feel almost
like proper dirt bikes.
Especially the Honda, really.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, yeah.
Very light, isn't it?
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
JAMIE ROBINSON: And they've all got great brakes, good
engines, light, maneuverable.
I mean, we've come out of the city, we've taken the freeway
for quite a while, and I didn't have any
stress on the freeway.
I mean, they're not the fastest thing there, but I
never felt like I was in danger or not much ever came
past us, so they're pretty capable even though the CR was
pretty much running flat out, the top of its RPM there.
But the minute you jump off the freeway, I mean, it's the
bike to be on, aren't they?
They're so much fun.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, yeah, they're a hoot.
And it's not just fun in the dirt.
They're fun on the pavement, they're fun on these twisty
roads we were doing.
I mean, you can really hustle.
When it starts getting really tight, you'd probably go
faster on one of these than a regular street bike because
they're so light.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Has it surprised you, a little 250
like this Honda behind me and the 400 Suzuki?
Are you surprised how powerful they've been and what we've
been able to get out of them today?
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, yeah.
You know, in the Honda, you've got to carry a little more
momentum than the Suzuki.
Like you said, it doesn't quite have the torque.
But you can get both of those things moving, on the payment
and on the dirt.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, yeah.
And we really did push those bikes today and push
ourselves, and got hot, got sweaty, got dirty.
SEAN MATIC: You pushed my [BLEEPED], oh man.
I had one moment of doubt-- you saw the water pouring out,
I thought the water bottles opened up in my backpack on my
chatterbox.
I'm like, no, that's my sweat.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Oh man.
SEAN MATIC: I couldn't believe it.
JAMIE ROBINSON: You were sweaty, though.
SEAN MATIC: I was really tired, but I had
a blast, you know.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah.
SEAN MATIC: That's like the funnest
way to torture yourself.
[BOTH LAUGH]
JAMIE ROBINSON: So really, we're looking at motorcycles
here that people can really develop their
skills on, can't they?
They might be only a 250, they might only be a 400, but you
can take a novice rider on one of these bikes, and they can
go a long way.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, big time.
And bang for your buck, especially if you live
somewhere like this.
It's like, you can do everything on it.
JAMIE ROBINSON: The CRM is a pretty decent-looking
motorcycle, isn't it?
It really does look like its motocross big brother.
SEAN MATIC: It does.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Upside-down front forks, solid breaks.
It's a lot of bike for its money.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
Yeah, and I like the color.
You've got a little flash of the gold forks, and a little
white, a little black, a little red.
Honda did good with that thing.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah.
I think it's brilliant.
I think it's a really, really great motorcycle.
And just on the dash, having everything in the digital
display was just what we wanted.
Fuel--
all the information right there in front of you.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, and that shocked me when I hopped on
after we swapped bikes, and I'm like,
digital dash fuel gauge?
I'm like, dirt bikes have come a long way, baby!
Virginia Slims!
[LAUGHS]
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, yeah.
They really have.
And going to the Suzuki, I mean, the Suzuki is a really
solid bike.
Great engine, isn't it?
I mean, a really, really, really strong motorcycle.
Good suspension.
I had no problems riding that off-road or on-road, even.
Really solid bike.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, it's a good bike.
It's like a total workhorse bike.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Are you pretty surprised in that a little
250, a little 400 dual sport bikes are can cover the ground
and the range that we have?
We've done city, freeway, a whole load of dual sports,
some technical stuff.
And we're here at the end of day and the bikes are not
missing a beat.
SEAN MATIC: No, they haven't.
They've been great.
They're solid performers.
They really live up to the name dual sport because kind
of like you said, we covered it all and the bikes never
skipped a beat once.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, brilliant, eh?
Absolutely fantastic.
I really think that people should be looking at these
bikes to develop their skills on.
They're light, you can get a lot out of them, you take them
off-road where you really do develop your skills off-road.
These bikes are just made for it, aren't they?
SEAN MATIC: Yeah, I agree.
I mean, I learned on dirt.
I always say the best place to learn is on dirt.
But this way, you don't need to have your pick-up
truck, or your car.
Maybe you're a teenager, you just got your license, you're
on a tight budget.
Just ride to the trails.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Right, that's it.
Just like we have today.
SEAN MATIC: Yeah.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Spend a bit of time on the roads, but we've
ridden to the trails and had a blast.
The only one point is there's a 250 and there's a 400.
It's about 120 miles home, so which bike are you thinking?
SEAN MATIC: [LAUGHS]
It's up to me?
I'll take the 400.
[LAUGHS]
JAMIE ROBINSON: Well, you are the guest, so I guess I'll
give you the bigger bike.
So you have the 400, I'll take the 250.
SEAN MATIC: All right, Jaime.
You're a gentleman and a scholar.
Thanks for bringing me today.
[HEAVY METAL MUSIC PLAYING]
JAMIE ROBINSON: [DISGUSTED]
Is that sweat?
Oh my goodness, look at you.
SEAN MATIC: I know, you're talking about getting dirty,
nasty, and sweaty, you're not sweating a drop, here, man.
Look at me.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Go on, local--
aspiring--
aspiring actor, local--
actor and motorcycle enthusiast, and we're on a
couple of low-powered sports--
actor and mot--
[SIGHS]
[ENGINE PETERS OUT]