There is an inherent problem with buying a Jimny. It is nigh on impossible to leave it standard. Now don’t get me wrong, Jimnys work well and look the goods straight out of the box. Till a pimped one drives past, that is. There is a camaraderie amongst Jimny owners that strikes a chord with what we experience as bikers. Jimny drivers greet each other with a flash of the lights in passing.
We obviously needed to do the ZA Bikers logos. This is subtle, but looks insane (in our considered opinion) with the red ZA matching the red mud flaps to a T. Then came the General Grabber AT3 All-Terrain tyres. Now our Jimny has the hiking boots it needs for its intended use. The interior is protected with custom seat covers, load liner and floor mats by Takla Products, complete with the ZA Bikers logo embroidered into the front seats. Load Bars were fitted initially to accommodate our Thule pod. Good to go, or so we thought…
Enter Des Sol
This is a Durban-based company that builds bits for the Suzuki Jimny that they export worldwide as well as sell locally. It says reams about the Jimny that a viable business can be built around accessorising these fantastic little beasties. The peace of mind that comes from buying locally produced products is a no-brainer. All the development was also centred around South African conditions.
They make a Rack-Tech Roof Rack that is wonderfully slim yet brilliantly functional. A roof rack gives you the option of loading all sorts of goods that you may need for an extended trip, be it cargo, fuel, water or whatever. The rack is aluminium and coated with a high-strength 5-stage ‘military-grade’ coating process for maximum durability. Various mounting brackets are available from Des Sol, however, we have also found that our Thule pod and Front Runner cargo box/mounts also fit onto the rack.
I personally prefer this rack to other racks on the market as it sits much lower down on the Jimny’s roof, which gives it a sleeker look in my opinion. The aerodynamics of the rack is excellent—wind noise/drag is almost non-existent.
Accessing the goods on the roof is made easy by fitting a Rack-Tech Roof Rack ladder which mounts adjacent to the spare wheel on the back of the Jimny.
It didn’t end there… After much soul searching and consideration and bearing in mind what we would be asking of the Jimny, we went the whole hog. On went Des Sol’s Gen 4 Suspension upgrade. Now please understand, there is nothing wrong with the standard suspension on the Jimny. The vehicle is extremely capable straight out of the box. What we are talking about here, is the equivalent of fitting Öhlins or Wilbers suspension to your bike.
The suspension kit is totally engineered, utilising replacement springs and lumo green Gabriel HDP shocks together with all the supporting hardware to marry them to the Jimny perfectly. It should be noted that there is no cutting or drilling required. Everything is a bolt-on.
As good as the standard kit is, as, with the bike analogy, an immediate difference is felt in the general ride quality and behaviour of the Jimny, especially over poor surfaces.
Oh yes, it looks frikken’ spectacular too!
Important to note: You typically void your vehicle warranty as pertains to the parts that you change, however, Des Sol and Gabriel do warrant these bits.
We would love to say we are done with our Jimny, but you just never know. The Jimny is the kind of car that you engage with in a way that you typically only see amongst bikers. We just love to pimp our rides. It is part of the joy of owning a motorcycle. So it is too with this iconic little Jimny.
Our Jimny is raring to go on its first assignment.
Watch this space…
