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/126273
IOpposite page above) Mike Bell scatters a sand berm at Indian Dunes. IOpp. page bottom) The test Suzuki in all its glory, race ready right out of the crate. IAbove) Up front is where most of the improvements took place this year, A new conical hub and IIeft) air-oil forks. lAbove right! Tom Halverson, usually a125 rider, found t he 250 very easy to ride fast, We had to pry his fingers off the bars to get the bike back. (Right) To help give the m idrange some serious punch, Suzuki rebuilt the pipe. Here at the silencer junction the pipe is secured w ith some mounts that work. The swingarm and shocks are the same as last year, soak~d up the wo rs t bumps we encou ntere d. Du r in g one r id ing session a drop-away added to the course took us by surprise . As the bike flew off the six- foot drop it landed !I sq uarely on the fro nt tire , Those wat chi ng from the side of t he track th ought they would witness "Killer Endo." Bu t no such luck with the Suzuki . As the full force of the free fall - was soaked up by the front end, we fell in love with the fork , It saved a tes t 'n_ rider's life , Beca use of the air capability the S' fork is infinitely adjustable. The same p r essure t hat worked great at ; Saddleback was way . too stiff on the " Shadow Glen co urse at In d ian Du nes. o r By sim ply lowering the air pressu re , th e forks again were p lush, T he fr ont :d' o n c e dialed in , ha ndled race r ) pu n ishment ea sily. " New triple clamps came wit h the b ' fork and we didn't notice any flex . fl'Trick , m achin e-fit for k gators have l6Vlitt le air vents . The hot set up on th e n brak e cable guide is to take off th e , little collar on the cable then attach ""'!'the clamp directly to. the cable. This will keep th e clamp from working n loose and scratching up the fork tube. J Suzuki changed to a conical hub in (I r the front this year, After the first spoke tightening session the spokes remained tight throughout the ' entire testing period. The front brake worked as well used on the RM250 B. As a matter of as an y bra ke we've used . And besides fact , everything on the bike behind the engine is exactly the same as last year's the fact that it is functional , the hub model. It was the addition of the air looks great. fork that makes it feel like a totally The engine is basically the same one new bike. that was in the R M-B . The difference The rear suspension is handled by is in the transfer ports. This yea r they Ka yaba re mote-reservoir shocks with were angled to give the engine more nine inches of true rear-wheel travel. mid-range punch. The new porting KYB shocks are fa st becoming the coupled with the new p ipe made the "C" a lot more controllable than the standard by which others are ju dged in the from -the -factory suspension " B" - the power comes on smoother. The pipe is well tucked in and only department . They have dual springs touched - our leathers in tight turns; and are a snap to. dial in for your while sitting on the tank. personal riding requirements . O n e A big improvement was the addition rider who weighed in at 180 Ibs. felt th e shocks were perfect. of the new mount at the silencer/pipe junction. It p revents that second-mote Everything on the bike seems in the flop that was familiar with the older right place. The throttle response and Suzukis. mid range power allow a rider to do A VM 36mm SS Mikuni hand les the things no one would dream of trying carburetion and as usu al starting was on a pipey bike. After heading briefly easy. The only change here for 1978 . off the track to trail ride the R M250C , was th e plunger-type choke instead o f we found that it was so torquey and the old lever type. Our bike ran rich co m fort a b le that it's hard to believe th a t it cou ld dominate the MX track when we first picked it up from Suzuki. After lowering the ca rb needle with power as well. But it does. The one notch the bike cleaned up in the 250C is as fast, stock , as most any middle . ot he r 250 on th e market. The big di ffere nce is where the Suzuki comes The 'pet cock fa ces ' in to wa rd th e on the powerband. Beca use of the tank and has a positive on- off click . It m id -range a racer ca n get mo re pow er is well tu cked in and it is unlikely that to th e gr ound ea rl ier in a turn , th us any stray ro ck will be able to tu rn the gas off. ex it th e tu rn faster. .,T he seat-and frame are th e.same as ••-. ike' Bell suggested that th e; <;ilSO the bike seemed easier to ride is tha t, beca use of the mid-range , a rider could ~hif~ .t.o. ~,_higher gear, which is like:tliklng a,n. extra breath. You go as . fast biir not as.hard , ACId that up over a 30 mi nute moto and that is a lot of extra breaths. Mike thought his works Yamaha was faster and didn't vibrate as much as the "C ." So -if you want a better bike. you'll have io cla im one at the Nationals. The individual changes on this yea r' s model were m inor but adding them all up together the difference was unbelieveable. Everything on the RM250C works together. After you r first en counter with - the Suzuki you notice that the scenery around the track m oves by a little faster than it did on you r old sled . The bike handled so well we didn't ca re whi ch way we la nded off the jumps - the suspension was that nice . This yea r's b ike weighs in a little heavier be cause of the air forks but the handling more than justifies the additional weight. The Su zuki requ ired on ly minimum maint en an ce ty p ica l t o Japan ese motorcycle s and handled with th e best of th e Eu ropean bikes. All testing co mes do wn to. the bottom lin e - whi ch bik e to bu y? Of a ll th e bikes we've rid den, we would la y ou r money down on th e R M250 C . It 's t,hat,g09 g . • • 9