Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126005
e • ~ t lO r-~ ,......, N l-o Il.i. ..n E Il.i .... 0.. Il.i C/) . ~ Tester Hymes uses up f ull compression on RM 25 0 rear suspension (left) Jeff Wright gets full extension on RM 370 (rightl . A fast pair. RIDING IMPRESSION SUZUKI FACTORY RACERS By Jeff Peck You can forget all of the Im ages that the TM 250 and 4 00 have given you in the past about Suzuki motocrossers. The RM line has changed all 0 f th at. To begin with there are practically no parts which are in terchangeable between th e TM and the RM motocrossers. Out on the tr ack the handling and the power curve are like night and day . No more TM whiplash. As yo u sit down on th e bike y ou notice how co m fo rta ble th e seat feels not too soft, no t too h ar d , very nice. Bars are a little wide , but th a t can be fixed. Controls are eas y to re ach, clutch operates smoothly , quarter tum throttle is good, grips are a bit on the hard side. Shifter to foot positioning is very good if you don't have a big foot, in which case yo u have to move it up a notch or else you'll be kicking it in to fal se neutrals all of the time. For some reason the br ake pedal is well h idden under the clutch housin g on the right side so "at first it is a bi t hard to find, Just sit tin g on th e bikes brings o u t one of th e biggest differ en ces be tween the two models ; it is the feeling tha t the 370 is higher an d wi der. This bigger feeling stems from the fact th at the 3 70 motor is massive co m pared to the 25 0. As you accelerate through th e gear s you notice h o w easily th e shifts ar e made. Gear rat ios are well matched, although in th e 250 case they co uld be a bit lower. The 370 has no such p roblem - in fact I never go t it ou t of fourth. The RM can be upshifted without the clutch under po wer, but when y ou are down shi ft in g it is necessary to let off the gas. We did find a fe w fa lse neutrals in th e gear box, bu t it was mostly due t o the fac t th at I hive big feet . Cornering on b o th of th e R.lI,ls is a very pleasant experien ce, unl ess y o u let off the th rottle. If y o u do try to coast around a bend th e re arend will start bouncing ar o und . You h ave to stay on the power. This is especially t rue when riding the 370. The bike is at its best when you are real ly- on the gas. You may ' be scared o ut of your mind, but th e- bike will take care of you. It is a very forgiving machine , willing to accept m an y kinds of abuse and still go in a straight line. Squaring comers is the recommended method for cornering. Both of the bikes will slide and acc ording to one of our test riders it is very predictable and very steady . One of the first things you should do to y our RM after buying it is to throw away th e front tire and replace it with a Metzeler, Sin ce we ar e o n th e subject o f th e front end, th e front fo r ks h ave a tendency to pump up and lose m ost o f their damping effect. Th e way to fix thi s was t o put stiffer springs in th e front en d an d ch ange the oil. The front bra ke works very well and did no t h ave a te ndency t o fade un der heavy usage. Th e wheels seem to be a bit on the so ft side and cau sed the spokes to unwind themselves. Keep an eye on your spokes an d be sure to tigh ten th em bet wee n motes. N o w to th e re arend. Rearend tract ion is very go o d , th e tire gets go o d bi te and th e suspension helps t o deliver it t o the ground very effectively. The cantilevered Kayabas are very good units, but th ey will tak e y ou a go od af ternoo n of ste ad y work to dial th e suspensi on in t o yo ur sty le of riding. Th ere does see m to be a po int in th e su spensi on travel whe n the whole th in g see ms not to be workin g very well, This usually occ urs whe n you hi t a series of bumps wh ich are of th e sam e frequency, like th e li t tle bumps head in g in t o a comer. Th is will disappear when you get the susp ens ion dial ed in . No w fo r wh at lies be tween th e fro nt en d and the rearend - the motor. Here is the b ig di fferen ce between th ese two m achines. The 25 0 h as a remarkabl e powerband fo r a moto cr osser, It pulls smoothly from the bo ttom , n o big sur ges , just nic e sm oo th po wer de livered very quickly . Th e power is always there when y ou need it, more th an enoug h fo r getting the fron t end up over holes and wh at n ot. ( Yo go t ta watch those whatnots . . . Ed.] As for the 37 0 th e po wer 15 also delivered sm oothly, but by th e same token it is breathtaking. Th e powerband is wide and most p eop le will not even need all five gear s unless th ey are desert racing. If you need more spe ed just dial it on , it's there waiting fo r you. One of our test riders had a chance to ride Roger DeCoster's GP bike and he felt that the 370 was very close to what the factory machine felt like, both power and suspension-wise. Looking at the total package and the price that they are going to be selling for, Suzuki has a pair of winners in the RM 250 and 370. With a little time sorting out the suspension the y will be one of the most competitive box stock racers on the track. •