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/126987
The gas tan k, seat and radia tor shroud j u nction has been ch anged for easier rider movem ent a nd in p u t, a nd th e handlebar bend ha s been changed to a B "Buckwhea t" (Bob H annah ) bend. The.'8 8 RMI25 is a refi nemen t o f the ' 87 mode l. En g in e cha nges include the new AETC va lve design, new portin g and a new flat to p p iston with 15mm wr ist pin. T here is now a lower co mpressio n rati o. T he ex ha us t p ipe has been cha nged to ma tch the new port in g a nd the new 35m m T MX carb is used. T he silenc er is no t rebuildable. Overall power is geared toward str ong m id range. In th e transm ission th ere is a new pr im ary gear ratio a nd fir st a nd second gear s have improv ed ratios. Like in the 250, two cl utc h pl at es have been added, a nd the clu tch release arm has been shortened 5mm for better feel and less vari a tion in adj us tme nt. Frame geo me try remains the same. but severa l changes ha ve been made to th e fram e so pa rts may be inter- changable between the 125 an d 250. For exam p le, th e rear brake pedal has been cha nged. ' T he master cylinder a nd brak e peda l are interchangeable wi th the 250 u n it so that th e ride r ca n tu ne the feel of the new rear di sc bra ke. T he pivo t po ints are d ifferent a nd give the rider the op tio n o f choosing eithe r a stronger or weak er rear brak e. L ik e the 250 , the 125 h as a n add i tiona l ex h a u st pi pe m o unt , tapered caged ro ller beari ngs in th e upper and lower headset a nd th e new ha nd lebar bend. (Be lo w) A . re d e sig n e d primary cover makes servicing the clutch on both models easier, An extra pipe mount has been added to t he frame , The RM125's rear brake pedal is int e rc ha ng e a b le with the 250 unit. Shock damping is no w changed at the resevoir w ith a screw ins t e a d of a knob . (Rig ht) Cutaway view of the new Mikuni TMX carburetor found on both the RM125 and 250, The flat slide is much slimmer than conventional flat s lides and there is a half-round ridge on the s lide face , The carb is also designed for easy service. We had the opportunity to blast around on the new RMs and teamed u p with Suzuki's Donnie Schmit (le ft ) for the Ed itors', Mini Gran Prix, The RM250 is very easy to rid e and the RM125 has a strong m id -range, Both models n ow ha ve a sim p lified cha in adj ustment asse m bly. Last year 's bikes required a 36m m socket to loosen th e assembly, but o n th e '88 machines chai n ad justment is acco m p lis hed b y l o o senin g th e 24m m axle nu t. Suzu ki fel t th at last year's R M80 was good enoug h to con tin ue wi n ning, so th e '88 is merel y an upda ted version o f th e '87 machine. The o n ly changes are new cylinder porting. a reed valv e mod ification , new muffler a nd n ew ign ition timi ng . Th ese changes have been mad e so tha t the power co mes on lower b u t the engine can sti ll be revved ou t. ;' ~ .. !..-.. ~ ~ Rid ing impress io ns We spe nt the da y blasting around on the new RM 125 a nd 250 for a o neday ridi ng im p ression, a nd we were quite impressed with the 250, more so tha n th e 125. The RM250 is extremely easy to ride. T he po wer comes o n low a nd pulls hard through the mid range. T he motor seemed to work best when sho rt -sh ifted. Shi fting 'was first rate. We never m issed a gear the whole da y. Clutch pull was easy a nd li ght, making it easy to feather out o f the co rne rs. Suspension was typ ical Suzukiplush. O nce dialed in, th e forks worked very we ll , a n d th e Fu ll Fl o ate r- sus pe n d ed rea r end was exce llent, as us ual. Brak e act ion was very good. The rear brak e is strong, but we never had a ny prob lems with it grabbing a nd . stall ing th e motor. T he new sli m la yo u t mad e movin g arou nd o n the RM2 50 a breeze. It' s very comforta ble; although the stock handlebars were a little too wide for o u r tas te. T he R M125's motor is just like Suzuki said it wo uld be - strong . mid -range horsepow er. T he re isn 't th at much lo w-end power, but once th e engi ne hits the middle of 'the powerb an d it comes o n strong a nd smooth. Clutch pull o n our bike seeme d sti ff for a 125, remarka bly sti ffer th an th e 250's cl utch p u ll. Editors' Mini Gran Prix Suz u ki brough t its factory riders to Su nrise Cycle Park in Adelanto, Cal iforn ia , for Suzuki's new model introducti on, a nd they teamed up wit h members from each motorcycle pub lica tion for the an nua l Edi tors' Min i Gra n Prix. Bob Ha n na h was o n hand and was a member of the win ni ng tea m , team ing up with Su per Motocross' Wi lly Si mons and Bob Ca rpenter. The G ra n P rix was a nine-la p race in which the ed itors or designated riders started o ut on the RM 125, raced for three la ps the n handed th e bi ke o ver to th eir factory tea m ma te. After th e facto ry ride r co m p leted th ree laps the editors went ba ck o ut · .to finish the race o n the RM 250. Simons a nd Dirt Bike's Ed Arn et p u lled ou t front a t the start and di ced for th e first lap. Cycle World's Greg Blackwell fo llo wed. Simons eventua lly took co n tro l of the lead a nd a fter ha nding the bike to Hanna h their lead grew to a health y margin. . The Cycle N ews ' team was near last after two falls , one whi le tryin g to repass Motocross Action's Zap at a Espinoza. "Our teamma te, Donnie Schmit, took over a nd charged after Kei th T urpin, nearly cat ching him at the end o f th ree laps. When we headed o u t on theRM250, SuperMotocro ss was long gone with the lead a nd would tak e the wi n. Dirt Bike fini shed second , a n d Motocross Actio n captured th ird when Cycle Worl d's Blackwell crashed on the 250 a nd broke hi s colla rbo ne. Cycle N ews was the last team to finish; Dirt Rider 's team did not fin ish . • 17