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
Suzuki RM250J Engine type Liquid- cooled. Fork tube diamet er 43mm two-st roke. single Front w heel travel 12.2 in . Bore x stroke 67.0 x 70.0mm Rear suspension Kayaba Displacement 246cc sing le shock Compressio n rat io 9 .0:1 Rear wheel travel 1 2 .8 in . 3 8m m M ik uni Front bra kes D isc Carburet or. Horsepower 51 .0 bhpl Rear brakes _ D isc 8750 rpm Front tire 80 /100 -21 Torque 4 .72 kg. m/ l Bridgest one M23 7500 rpm Rear t ire 1 10 / 10 0 · 1 8 Primary kick Brid gest one M22 St arting syste m Ignition Suzuki PEl Claimed dry weight 224 Ibs Lubricat ion Prem ix Ove rall len gth 85.4 in . Straight -cut Ov erall w idt h 32.3 in . Pri m ary drive gear Ove rall height 48.4 in . Final drive • . .. . . .. . # 5 20 ch ain W heelbase 57.9 in . Frame Ch romemoly . sem i- Fue l capacity 2 .1 gal. 14.4 in. dou ble cradle Gro und clearance Rake N / A Seat hei ght .. .•. ... ... 37.8 in . Yell ow Trail •. .. . .... .... . . . .. . . NI A Colors Front suspen sio n Kayab a Ret ail pr ic e $3099 cartridge t elescopic f ork The Full-Floater rea r sus pe nsion will be toug h t o beat. once .again . . Even over th e faster . ro lling-typ e whoops, th e Suzu ki works like a charm. The motorcycle. feels incredib ly sta ble a nd tra cks a straight lin e. 1£ the RM does get a littl e out o f sync, th e Suzu ki usuall y bails itself out o f troub le withou t the ride r having to bac k off th e th ro ttl e. The R M rad ia tes co n fide nce to the r id er , w h ich means yo u can co nce ntrate on o th er th ings. Pushin g th e Suzuki 's suspe ns io n beyond its limit is hard to do .' The Suzuki tu rn s ex trem ely well . It 's bes t to tak e advantage of tigh t, inside lines on th e RM ra th er th an searching fo r berms wa yan th e o u tside . Alt ho ugh th e S uzuki ca n be lea ned far over an d wi ll explo de berms better than before (th an ks to th e la rger fra me an d a weso me ho rsepower), it wi ll carve a clean line on th e inside, a n d do so quickl y. T h e Suzuki is deadly on tigh t, tw isty tracks. Brakin g o n the Suzuki is adeq ua te. The rear di sc is p ow er ful enough , b u t we feel th e fro nt d isc co uld be a littl e stro nger, We usu all y noticed th e need for more front brak ing power when slowing down on down hill s, which ar e us ua lly foll owed by tigh t turns. We di dn 't like the front bra ke o r th e cl u tch lever s very m uch , m ainly because th ey don 't stick o u t far enou gh from th e gr ips a nd are small in size. It isn 't so m uch a p roblem o n the brake side, bu t th e cl u tch lever is rid icu lo us "':' the lever bottoms out on yo ur knuck les before th e clutch is co m p letel y d isengaged. T here isn' t enough of a dogl eg bend . in th e stoc k levers. The Suzu ki is a very com fortab le m ot orcycle to ride wh en co mpared to p ast RMs. It now h as a more neu tral , flatter and larger layou t, m aking it very easy to adapt to . T he seat paddin g has perfect de nsi ty a nd has a narr ow sea t/gas ta nk junction. This co m bi natio n makes the RM easy to flick aroun d in tu rns an d over j u mps. Once aga in , th e Suzuki is a super smooth j u m per. It doesn 't p lay ga mes in th e ai r a nd touch es down The rev am ped cartridge Kavaba fork has extremely smooth action . o ff the largest jumps ' without a violent th ud. Even wh en land in g short over a double j u mp, th e Suzuki handles th e hard impact as well as ever. Even th ough we h aven ' t tested a ll of th e 1988 250cc motocrossers yet, we ha ve ridden most of the m; a n d fro m th e looks of th in gs, th e new Su zuki is go ing to be the p ick of th e li tter in .1 988. T he motor has p lenty .o f potentia l, handl in g is first-ra te and the su spension is spot o n. - This motorcycle is go ing to be _ to ugh to bea t. WHO IS THE·BEST DESERT MOTORCYC LE RACER IN THE WORLD? ONE O NE ONE O NE " Best In The Deser t" P resen ts man machine desert wa y DIRT RIDER ... R TSMAN "~~';~wO' r '~N ~d,,~pl- OPEN TOp~~L RIO ERS SPOTROPHIESCLASSES O NLY 125 .250 . OPE N. ATV I" 125 . 250 . OPEN C"'Dirt" P 0 U~Q8 OVER 30 • OVER 38 eATV ~V a.f.'&. '\ 6 .,\ 1 '\98 ".J nt'" '\ 5 • lll\. 50% PAYBACK ALL PRO CLASSES ENTR Y FEES 16 0 .00 TOTAL PRO 70.00 TOTAL SPORTSMAN Jan U3f'/ FOR'INFORM ATION : BEST IN TH E DESERT 3475·C Boulder Highway Las Vegas. Nevada B9121 7 0 21 457· 5775 (eJ Husqvarna O fficial MotortYcles of Best inthe O esen Thl Offici. 1Oil 01 "Bl st I. Tho O...rt" Offici. 1A TV of Bnt io till 01" " Official Wearing Apparel 01 "Best InThe Oesen" DDIDDDDDDDDIDDDDDDDDDIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIDDDDIDDDDDDiDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIDDDIDDDIDDDDDDDDDIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIDDDDDDDDDDDDa