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/126281
l.!') 1-0 a; ,.0 o .... u o (Above) The RM-ized Suzuki sits alongside a regular PE. Can you tell the difference" It's the one on the right. (Below Left) A Super Trapp silencer mounts on an RMpipe. ... AnRM-ized Suzuki PE2S0 , am bin engineering' , creates a better Everybike By Lane Campbell It's an established tradition that no motorcycle is so good that riders won't think of modifying it. Not long after Suzuki's excel- 22. . len t PE250 enduro was released for sale , Cycle News began getting calls from riders and prospective owners , asking if the RM250 top end would fit , and if so , would it improve the machine's top end enough to justify the conversion. Steve Miller, who works out of Petterson Suzuki in Twin Falls , Idaho (when he's not pres iding over Idaho Trail Machine Assoc. meetings) has already answered the question, with an emphatic " Yessl" Miller (Zeke , to his friends) simply unwrapped a new RM cylinder and bolted it up with an RM250 p ipe ana a Super-Trapp silencer to his otherwise-stock PR250. That was the extent of the change when the bike was test -ridden. The ports were left alone, the stock PE250 head was retained , jetting was stock, igniti on was stock, and the piston was stock . For the test 'ride in the Idaho "desert", Miller dropped the needle to the leanest position and geared the machine one tooth lower than stock. Riding with a group that included a 360WR Husky , a · TM400 with trick suspension, a pair of RL250 trialers , and a stock PE250 for comparison, we headed out. . We found a playrider's paradise 50,000 or more acres of grassy, sagecovered hills and meadows rimming a la rge, meandering sandwash, laced with sudden-surprise gullies and cowtrails. The test bike racked up about 55 miles of everything from trials gully-picking to flat-out sandroading, to.din drags . In a word , the bolt- on RM conversion worksl It starts first kick to a gentle idle and pokes along at trials speeds in first gear without blubbering, ~~ ~., ........ ~, or loading up. Throttle response is "soft" (more about this later) , but good. Up through the mid-range, it . has this same soft , manageable pull. Then it comes on the ports. The response is immediate, gratifying, yet it's still controllable. What with the excellent rear suspension keeping it all hooked up , the thing is a precise, go· where-it's-pointed bullet. Even with the PE 's wider- ratio gearbox , the immense powerband never lets it go soft (u nless you're used to shortshifting). Compared to a stock PE250 , the conversion is a little harder to ride quickly on a tight trail. The stock PE w ill throttle-steer easily at partth rottle settings, breaking loose at will; whereas the conversion's low-end powerband is softer, and the rear end stays hooked up . It has to be steered deliberately , rather than slid with short throttle-blips - until it gets a bit of running room . The dirt drags really measured the top-end payoff. Both the conversion and the stocker were geared down one tooth on this day . Starting easily in second gear, the conversion pulls the stocker by ten bike lengths uphill , and once in top gear, just keeps walking away. J .. .. ) . ':0 • • • -. ' 1 1.,, ;.. ' ... Going against the TM400, it stays even through third gear, gives up two bike lengths in the upper gears , maintains the same top speed. Against the Husky, same deal, except the sixspeed 360WR begins to walk away uphill to top gear. Top end on the RM -ized PE250 , indicated, is just over 75 mph, geared one tooth down on the countershaft, at an estimated 9,000 rpm. Oh, for a sixth cog! As it is, the RM conversion ought to pull California desert gearing with ease . Such no-hassles engine versatility, combined with the PE250's already outstanding handling, makes for one desirable, inexpensive scooter. Add the fact that it's got lights, plenty of fuel capacity in a light-alloy tank that stays out of one's way , can be made street legal quiet, and is detailed out in typical Japanese thoroughness. (The throttle cable is virtually snag-proof. We verified this by crackling through miles of shoulder- high sage brush on an old wagon trail.) . With one last third-gear wheelie for old time 's sake at the end of a full , dusty, satisfying day , we reluctantly .gave. Zeke his motorcycle back. In the old dollars-versus·"what can I do with it?" game, the RM-ized PE250 is a new yardstick ofvalue. • j).) I •• 1 , • 4 J & . I ) , ....