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/126997
00 00 Cj') ....... The RM doesn't look strikingly different, but it now has stronger power. and the suspension to match. 26 'T here are 20 external co mpression and rebo und damping adj us tment settings with th e Kayabas, and lo w fricti o n seals are used to help eli minate sti cti on. The rear Full-Floater suspensio n has sligh tly different linkages, a nd . the Ka ya ba sh ock ca rries a new reservoir co m plete with a compressio n damping adj uster. T here are 21 compression an d rebo und ex ternal adjus tments . T he Suzu ki 's motor takes on a num ber of changes for 1988. The Automatic Exhaust T iming Co ntrol (AET C) power-va lve is sti ll used bu t th e exha ust ports are wider, a nd th e al umi num cylinder is still lin ed with a special hard co m posite surface pl a tin g cons is t i ng o f a ni ck el ! pho sphor a lloy, ca rryi n g boron bromide. This special hard coating h el p s di ssip a te h ea t better and improve wear life of th e p iston and ring . . T he biggest change to the Suzuki's motor is an all -new Miku ni carbur etor. Suzuki ca lls the 38m m flat -slide Mikun i a " Slingsho t" carbo T he slide itself is thinner and li ghter, and features a unique half- round indexin g rid ge o n the slide's face. T he new slide is su p pose d to improve flow a nd red uce turbulen ce, elim ina ting dead air a nd increas ing flow in the carburetor throat. Since the slide is small er a nd lighter, a softer return spring is used, making th e throttle easier to twist. Other changes to th e R M include the addition of a head stay to red uce engine vibration, a new electron ically timed magneto CDI ign iti o n , a modified rack -and-pin ion clutch release for a ligh ter pull on the clutch lever, and a new piston and p iston pin design to improve Iubri cat ion to the small end bearing. Im pressi ve. That ' s the first th ought that comes to mind when rid ing th e new RM. It 's different from last year's model in just about every way. Engine respo nse is snappy and power is much stronger tha n before, espec ia lly from m idrange on up; low end isn't an ything to brag abou t, bu t is go od eno ugh to get the job done. It 's midrange wh ere th e Suzuki rea lly sh ines. The R M hooks up slightly better off the bo tto m th an last year's 250, pulis m uch harder.in th e middl e Tile new Slingshot Mikuni carburetor gives the new RM quicker ' and more precise throttle response . Vibration is now a thing of the past. of the powerband and has slightly more speed on top. Not only does the RM hav e more power, the mo tor revs more quickly but still maintains ~ood tra ctability, making the Suzu ki easy to ride in dry condi tions. In fact, we felt the Suzuki worked best on dry, slic k tracks for many reasons. Since th e RM doesn 't have an overabundance of low-end power, th e rear wheel sticks' to the ground quite well , spend ing less time sp in ning ' a nd getting sideways. With the me llow low- en d, th e R M tra cks straight, a nd by the time th e ha rd-hitting midra nge co mes on th e pipe, the bike has ga ined eno ugh momentum to . take adva nt age of the motor's strongp