Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Suzuki RM125K The Suzuki is light and easy to manuever either in the air or on the ground. (Inset) The rear suspension linkage has been changed from steel to aluminum. all- n ew swingarm, an d the rear su spensio n levers were changed fro m steel to alu min u m to reduce weight. At th e end of the swi ngarm is a tri ck new chain adj us tme n t- system that only req uires two wren ch es - one to loosen the axle a nd one to use the adju sters. And the pl astic cha in guide has been rein forced with a sturdy alum inum su p port. T he front d isc brake diameter has been in creased to 250mm, and the disc has been harden ed and bra ke pad size increased. T he rear brake now ha s an a luminum brake pedal to reduce weigh t, and the shift lever is a lso a luminum. . Ergometrics h a ve a l so be en changed du e to th e new gas tank and lowering o f wei ght. The sea t is thinner and flatter , a llowing th e rid er to slide all th e way up to the gas ca p, and th e midsecti on is a lso narrower. New H onda-l ik e grips grace th e ends of th e resh aped bars, and the lever shape has a lso been changed for easier operation. And , fina lly, th e RMI25 eve n lo o ks a ll -ne w . At la st Suzuki repl aced the duckbi ll front fender with a new unit, th e rear fender is a lso resh ap ed a n d th e radi ator shrouds are now slim me r and have a more racy look. So how do all of th ese cha nges . work on the track? It 's a good th ing the RM l 25 is easy to sta rt, because the new, stubby kickstarter brings your foo t down on top of th e peg. A few jabs gets it going when cold, and after the engine is warm it will often fire with just a half-ki ck . After taking off th e first thing you notice is the broad pull of the low- end all the way up through a fa t m idrange. T he p o wer co mes o n smoothly, so smooth tha t there is no defin it e h it. T hat's wha t Su zu ki wa nted because, th ey feel, th at a su dden burst of power tends to sac k the suspens io n a nd makes the rear end ha rder to co ntrol. The trouble is, without tha t hit th e bike just feels slower th an it ac tually is. The meat o f the powerba nd is, like last year, in th e midrange: Sh ort-shift th e mot or to keep it there a nd the littl e RM goes from o ne point to th e o the r quickly. This works fine on fla t, smooth tra cks, but unfortunatel y a ll tracks are n' t th a t simp le. When th e engine is revved into th e top-end o f the powerb and, the power delivery qu ickl y falls o ff. T he engine wi ll rev, but it wo n 't produce much usab le power. This becomes a problem on uphills when you need to rev the eng ine ou t before shifting into the next gear. With the Suzuki yo u ca n rev th e engine so it won't bog wh en it tri es to pull th e next gear, bu t th e revs end up slowing the bike down. Different gea ring co u ld be the answer here. And speaking of shifting, th e RM does it flaw lessly. Shift acti on is ver y smooth, and we rarely had problems with mi ssed sh ifts. An exce llent clutch hel p s, a nd th e light pull mak es it easy to use either whe n shifting or when you need to bring th e revs up. The clutch do esn 't fad e or get gra bby during a long mot o , eithe r. Su zuki has a lways had one o f th e best sus pe ns io n systems on the track, and this year is no different. The rear end tra cks well over whoops a nd o the r rough terrain, a nd even sq ua reedged hol es don't present much of a problem. There is rar ely ever a n un ex pected ho p or kick. Up front th e new forks a lmost work eq ually as well. Their on ly flaw seems to be a tra ce o f harshness at the beginning of the stroke, whi ch we fo und to be most appar ent when landi ng on fla t grou nd from a dropoff. O ther th an that the front , as well as the rear, ha ndl ed everyth in g fro m stutter and braki ng bumps to hard g-o uts with no p roblem s. Due to the increased rigidity of the for ks and rider mob ilit y, the R M turns quick ly an d pr ecisely. All the rider has to do is slide way u p o n the ta n k and cra n k the bars. Last year's bi ke was ha ppier laid over in th e berms, and whi le the '88 model will eas ily rai l a berm it will also turn a n inside line q u ickl y a nd with precision. We discovered this while trying to ride a sweeping, hard packed berm covered with a thin layer of sand. If the fro nt end was just slightly tu rned whi le in the berm, the bike followed. It goes where it's pointed. The Suzuki is ligh t, 192 Ibs. dry, a nd it feels even ligh ter when in mo tio n . It is easy to fli ck into corn ers, a nd when ai rbo rne, a nd it . is easy to lo ft the front end over obstacles. Movi ng arou nd on the RM is a cinch thanks to the narro w, fla t seat and sli m ' tank junctio n. You can move way u p on th e ta nk or hang o ver th e rear fender with ease, but hanging back co uld be uncomfort a.ble since th e sea t is too thin near th e end. The new levers mak e clu tching and braking easy, and the front brak e works excep tionally well with th e larger disc and new pad s T he rear brake also works well a nd isn' t so grabby th at it locks th e rear wheel. So what' s th e lo w-down ? W h i le th e 1989 m o d e l p uts Suzuki closer to th e top than they've been in a num ber of years, it still just misses the mark due to its lack o f top-end power. Bu t tha t's not saying that th e R MI 25 isn 't a winner, . Eng ine type Liquid -cooled, twostroke. single Bore x st roke . . . . . 54 x 54.5mm Displacement . . .. . • .. . • . 12 4 cc Compressio n ratio . . . . . • . . 8 .9 : 1 Carburetor • . . .... 35 m m M ikun i Ho rsepower . . .... . .. .• . . . N I A To rque . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. • . . N /A Starting system . . . . Primary kick Ignition .. .. .. .. ..• .•.. .. . COl Lu brication ... .. . . . . • .. Premix Primary drive Straig ht-cut gear Final drive • . . . . •• . . # 5 20 cha in Fram e . . . Single d ow ntube. split double cradle Rake . .. . .. . . . . . . . . • . . . .. N /A Trail .. • •. ... . . . .. . . ... . . N /A Front suspension . . • Kayaba ca r· tridge telescopic fork 46mm ' Fork tube diameter Front wheel travel 12 .2 in. Rear suspension Kayaba single shock Rear wheel travel . . .. . • 12.8 in. Front brakes . . . . . . • . •. .. . . D isc . Rear brakes . .. ..•. ... • . . . D isc Front tire 80/100-21 Rear tire •. . . . ... . 1 0 0 / 1 0 0- 1 8 . Cl aimed dry weight . . .. . 192 Ibs Overall length . . .. . • ... 84.4 in . Overall width . .. . • • • •.. 32.1 in. Overa ll height • • . . . . . . . 49 .2 in . Wheelbase .. : 57.1 in. Fuel capacity 2 .1 gal. Ground clearance 1 4 .2 in. Seat height 37.8 in . Colors . . . . .. •. .... . . .. . Yellow Retail price . .. . . . . • • . . . $2999 beca use when kep t in th e potent midra nge, a long with the RM 's su pe rb handli ng, it can get you there. But not every RM wi ll be used on the race track since a lo t of race machin es end up o n the .tra ils . And th e RMl25 will do a sp lendid job as a tra il or pl ay bike. The bro ad lo w-end and midran g e m ake i t perfect for j ust cr uising aro u nd, a nd 'there is no abrupt burst of power to intimidate the average ri der. For th ose who do plan to rac e! the RM l 25 seri ousl y, Su zuki' s $1. 7 m illi on co n ti nge nc y pro gra m , which pays cash to p ro s a nd certificat es for Suzuki products to a mateurs, co ul d help to pu t it a t the top. Suzuki finally changed the plastic so that the RM125 even looks all· new. The new case-reed motor delivers improved power. 15

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