I had always wanted to take my DRZ400sm to an OHV park to try out dirt trails, and I finally did this afternoon. I didn’t bother reducing the tire pressure (from 25/29 to maybe 18/22) of my Distanzias for the trails; lazy, I guess. Uphills on the beginner/intermediate trails were fun, but right away I felt I was in over my head on the steeper downhills. I’m a total dirt newbie and had no idea how much traction there was in downhill braking. There were quite a few oh-shit moments during the 2+ hrs I was there and I was too scared to explore more than the 2 trails I looped several times, but I didn’t drop the bike until the last run and the last downhill turn. Not much rear brake but still too much; skidded into the turn, locked up the rear and stalled the engine, came to a stop in the steep/banked turn. The bike fell over, and I took a slight tumble. I couldn’t pick up the bike with it lying head-down on a down-slope with loose footing, and had to wait for someone to help.
The DRZsm worked pretty well on the dirt trails and covered up a lot of my skill deficiencies. My lack of dirt skills was by far the limiting factor during the ride.