Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

adj us tme nts a re maj or cha nge s. Perha p s th e m ost im porta nt cha nge is th e fron t brake. where th ere are twi ce as ma ny leadi n g shoes as last year . In rece nt vears Suz u ki has had to p ut up witli co m me nts a bo u t th eir br ak es th at in sinua ted thev wou ld work bett er draggin g beh ind th e bik e o n a ro pe th an p u tt ing th e squeeze on th e brak e drum . \ Th ose days a re gone. as th e R M's fro nt brak e is o u tsta n ding. and th e rear is. if any th ing. a shade too strong . In addition th ere a re a h ost of hi dden det ai l cha nges that mak e th e RM sim ila r to last yea r. but much im prov ed . T o ge t to the bottom line earl y, th e . RM 500 is n ot . in o u r o p in io n. the hottest Open class mot ocrosser o n the market . It is. however a so lid performer. It s 1980 predecessor was rat ed as a n exce llent a ll-a roun d performer. an d we wou ld ra te th e 500 th e sa me . For man y riders th e RM will be th e best choice . even if it is not th e best in th e polls. T he RM has a n amazi ngly tracta ble engi ne. good sus pe ns io n and riding positio n a nd a stout gea rbox . We foun d th e engine stron g enoug h for ho 1csh ot sta rts. yet lik ed it bett er wh ile tra il riding tha n th e " Enduro" ma chi nes we had a lo ng . And that desp ite th e rea l o r imagi ned han di cap o f th e four-sp eed transmissio n . W hat va' got SuzV7 Impression: 1983 Suzuki RM50o' RM Open classer still afloat? By Ka re l Kramer To the dedicated motocross observer, Suzu ki seems to build models with a two- or threeyear model run in mind. Fortunately, they usually build a world-beater the first year 20 a n d make im provements o n it th e next year a n d so metimes a th ird year. A good case in poi n t was th e 1980 R M lin e. They were a n slig h tly updat ed a nd debu gged ver sion o f the to ta l reva m p in 1979. Our RM 500 test bike is· actua ll y part o f the secondyea r updat e o n the exce lle nt 1981 Ful l- Floa ter RM s. T hese bi kes domin at ed a t a ll levels o f mo tocro ss a nd were th e pr iva teer's cho ice as a wea po n wi th whi ch to wage wa r a ga ins t the m ight o f the facto ri es. O ur test R i\! is no t too far remo ved , barring th e di spl acem ent ch a nge. from last yea r's RM 465. Th e in crease in bore, 10 sill y mi ll im eter s in wh eelba se an d mor e sus pe ns io n damping Fo r th ose wh o a re not fam ilia r wi th th e big R i\! , i t has a clean , unclu tt ered a nd bu sin esslik e look a bo u t it. It shou ld co me as no surprise th at is has not hin g ot he r than wh at it needs to do th e job a t hand. No fancy brackets , doo-da ds o r frill s. T he rear fender is a ttached to th e sea t: wh y was te a met al bracket? T ha t th in ki ng pe rmeates th e design u nti l you get to the air bo x. It does sea l well. bu t it is a R u be Gold berg spe cia l with a wh ol e handfu l o f hardware between yo u a nd th e d irty fi lte r. We whined abo ut it in th e P E I75 Im p ressio n . so ' n uff sa id . At the front o f th e bi ke is essen tia ll y th e sa me fork as th e last two yea rs with th e addi tio n o f adjustable co m p ress io n dampin g . It works well after a li tt le fidd lin g. We cha n ged to ATF for a littl e qu icker rebo und and backed o ff the co m p ress io n dampi ng two turns. Kayaba bu ilds it for Suzuki. and it fea tu res 43 milli meter tu bes. Sus pe nded in bet ween th e fo rk legs is a strong, co n ica lly-h u bbed front wh eel wit h th e clev er stra ig h t-p u ll spokes we a re accus to me d to seei ng o n Suzu ki dirt mach in es. The new doubl e-leading -sh oe fro n t bra ke is hard ly nor icab le, bu t a sudde n lyap pea ring wash o u t in the desert and

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