Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

1990 Suzuki RM motocrossers Fine tuning the RM lineup Suzuki h ead s into th e fin al year o f t he ir n o w-fam ou s three-year development p rogram, in which an all -new RM is introduced o ne year then updated over the next two models, wi th th e 1990 R M lin eu p . Ch an ges were made to the RM s so that now th e RM80, 125 a nd 250 share simi lar feat ures suc h as Full Floa ter suspens io n, exhaus t power valves a nd , except for the RM80, inverted forks . Althou gh th e 1990 RM80 , 125 and 250 loo k exac tly the same , exce p t for the "bold new gra p hics," as th ei r p redecesso rs, man y refinem ents have been made to each o ne. Each model receives int ernal engine cha nges a nd some chass is refinem ents. whi le on ly th e RM 80 go t a completely new chass is. With in th e '90 RM250's motor is a molten plasm a in jected-piston, in ... Although Suzuki's RM250 _ looks identical to last year's model, several refinements were made such as a new piston, new porting, a removable clutch cover, revised suspension damping and a 19inch rear wheel. ....... The most obvious change to the ~ R M 125 is the inverted Kayaba forks . It also received the same, less-noticable refinement s as the RM250 as well as a shorter intake man ifold , Suzuki's smallest motocross machine, the RM80, received the biggest changes with a redesigned frame, aluminum swingarm, link-type Full Floater rear suspension, redesigned shock, rear disc brake and some of the same internal engine refinements found on the larger RM machines. 20 whi ch m olten mol ybd enum is sp rayed o n th e wri st pin boss a rea to redu ce wear. The pi ston travel s with in Suzuki 's Composite Elect ro Ch emical Material (SCEM) coa ted cylinder, wh ich is slig h tly harder th an last year' s Boron Compo site linin g. Combustion cha m ber shape has been modified , a nd th e Auto mat ic Exhau st Timin g Contro l (AETC) exha us t valves cover mo re exhaus t port area . Clu tch cha nges ar e ma de eas ier with the add it ion o f a removable cover, wh ich a lso a llowed the wat er pump to be reposi tioned so that it do esn 't in terf er e wi th th e rider 's boot. New fiber -type cl utch plate mat eri al is fo und within th e clutch, wh ile the tra nsm ission has a new second gear ratio and cha nges to the shift mech anism for more positive sh ifts. . Suspensi on remains th e sam e excep t for revised damping rat es, and a new 19-inch rim graces th e rear end, The RMl25 received the same pi ston , co m b us ti o n c ha m ber , cylinder and AETC valve refinements as th e 250. A new sho rte r intake manifold feeds th e engine through a modified reed valv e. A rem ovabl e clutch cove r is a lso found on t he 125 , with needl e . bearings added to th e cl u tch release pinion. Suzuki mad e the sw itc h to inverted forks o n th e 125, wh ile the rear suspens io n gets new linkage rat ios a nd revised da mpi ng rates. It is a lso fitt ed with a 19-inch ri m. Like its larger sibli ngs, th e RM80 ge ts th e molten pl asm a injected pisto n and lik e th e 125 a shortened intake manifold a nd refin ed reed valv e. The RM80's biggest cha nge is th e redesigned .frame, which now has a la rger backbone to hand le th e new link-type Fu ll Floater sus pe ns io n wh ich replaces the o ld eccentric ca m. A new a lum in um swi nga rm is supported b y a p iggyb a ck -r eservoir shock, and a di sc brake has been added to the rear wh eel. Up front the forks hav e new damping rat es, a n improved ' triple clamp bra cket , tapered ro ller steering head bearings and a la rger front ax le, Suggested re tai l prices on all models have changed slightly as well. The R M250 is u p $200 over last year to $3899, the R M l 25 no w goes for $3299, a $300 in crease, and the RM80 is S1999. R M80s should arrive in dea ler showrooms in late August, the RM l25 in ea rl y September, and buyers will h av e to wait until October for the RM250 to become a va ilable. •

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