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/127208
Th e new RM1 2 5 (left) has switched to the up side-down fork design. made by Kayaba . Motor-wise. the RM250 (right) has better respon se off t he bottom and still pulls ha rd throughout the powerband. gai n d ue LO less sidewa ll flex. T he 125 co mes with a Du n lop K490, w hi le th e 250 is Brid geston e M22 shod . Last year's wh eels will al so bolt r ight i n to pl a ce for o ff-roa ders wo rried a bo u t flat s that can occ ur easier wi th th e th in ner sidewa ll. New rea r brak e ca lipe rs have a lo wer-m ounted br ak e lin e, in crea sed p isto n a nd pad size so th a t th ere is m ore brak e wi t h the sa me feel withou t go ing to a lar ger d isc which is m ore vu lnerable LO damage. T he low er part of th e di scs a re no w p rot ected by pl a stic co vers. Roostin' around Si nce both the RMI 25 a nd 250 share so man y o f the sa me fea tures a nd cha nges, it's no wonder th at th ey share m any of th e same cha rac teristics o u t o n th e tra ck. Both ma chines have si m ila r powerbands an d handling traits, but we'll begin with the 125. Sta rti ng th e RMl 25 is a snap; o ne ki ck usu all y fires it eit he r hot or co ld. Once underwa y, th e port ing a nd e x ha ust va lve c ha nges be com e a p paren t as th ere's an abu nda nce of low-en d to midrange pow er. Last year 's 125 a lso had good power in this range, hut th e '90 's gr u n t is even bett er, a nd it 's a lso very smooth. T he re's no sudde n bu rst, but ra ther a st ro ng, grad ua l pull. U n fort u nately th at pull grad ua lly fades o ut as the revs rise hi gh er in to the top end , so th e Suzuki goes best wh en kep t in th e midrange. There's a littl e more top-end power, but just lik e last year th e mo tor just seems to rev without go ing a nyw he re. T here is a parti al cu re, however , since th e stock airbox co ver restric ts a irflo w. Since co ndit io ns were dry; we rem oved o u rs and gai ned a slig h t im p rovem ent in to p-end power. T he cove r shou ld be left in p lace for wet an d muddy conditions. Sh ifting is sm ooth a nd posit ive so mi ssed sh ifts are ra re, a nd th e clutch ac t io n is li ght fo r o ne- fi nge r ope ra tion. Suspe nsion has al wa ys been Suzuki's strong point, but we weren' t sure wha t to expect fro m the 125's new inv erted Kayaba forks first introduced on last year's RM 250. The '89 250 fork s weren ' t th e best, and we were a fra id that la st year's supe rb fork actio n on th e new RM 125 m ight be lo st. But o u r fears were quickl y put to rest since th e '90 R M125's front forks work j ustas well as la st year's. Acti on thr ou gh out th e forks ' tra ve l is smoot h a n d co ns is te n t w ith n o ha rshness, and th e in creased rigidity mak es th e fro nt end go wh ere it's pointed for pr ecise turning. At th e rear Suzuki 's Full Float er sus pe ns io n system works wonder full y, soa king up th e big jo lts with ease wh ile still rem aining responsi ve to th e sma ller b umps. The rear end tracks straigh t a nd th e rear end sta ys hooked up. Wh ile th e RMI25 sta rts easi ly, th e 250 lak es just th e rig h t a mo u nt of thro ttl e to fire u p eas ily. It usuall y LOok a few jab s o n th e ki ckstarter to ge t th e eng ine running whe n co ld, but once warm th e 250 will usuall y fire on the first ki ck. T he RM250's pow erband is quite si m ila r to th e 125 with stro n g low a nd midra nge power th at trails o ff as th e revs rise. La st year th ere was a strong hit in th e midrange, but thi s tim e th e power starts to pull , and pull hard , in th e low-end. It keeps p u lling th ro ugh th e midrange. often lifting th e front end off th e ground , until th e power tapers off in th e topen d of th e rev range. Like th e 125, th ere is a lso th e sa me restr ict ive a irbo x co ver a nd removin g it , whe n co n d itio ns permit, helps the engine br eathe bett er. Short -sh iftin g th e RM250 works very well at gett ing it a ro u nd th e trac k quickl y, a nd with th e transmissio n cha nges th ose sh ifts a re sm oo th a nd posi tive. Each gear ca n be felt a nd th ere is less tende ncy to kn ock it into neutral as th ere was on last year's machine. Suzu ki did th eir hom ework an d m ade th e suspens io n work much bett er than th e har sh rid e o f last year's RM . The front end is n ow res pons ive th roughou t th e fork 's tra vel, th ere is no stiffness a t th e beginn in g of th e strok e lik e last year. And th at makes turning mu ch eas ier since th e front en d isn't a lwa ys cli m bing o ut of th e berms. At th e rea r , th e Full Floa ter suspension system's revised dampi ng ra tes give a smoot h ride and soak u p large and sm a ll humps eq ua lly wel l. There is no deflection like o n last year's mod el. The same stuff Both machi nes have a comfortab le la you t a nd rid ing position. Movin g aro u nd o n th e RMs is simple, a nd th e relativel y fla t sea t m ak es getti ng over the tank in the turns easy. We did have some problems with the RM I25's pipe burning our leg just above top of the boot . The brakes on both bikes work · very well. T he fro nt brakes are strong but n o t overpoweri ng, whi le the rea rs a lso have good power without easily locking the wh eels. And th e new rear on the RM250 works much better than las t year's since it doesn' t kill the engine so easi ly. It 's tough to tell if the 19-in ch rear whee ls ma kes a lo t o f differen ce, bUI we did noti ce that o n hard , dry and slip pery tracks the rear ends d idn 't seem to slide o ut as easi ly. The verdict Both th e RMI25 a n d 250 a rc improv em ents o ver th e previous m odels and sh ould be very strong co nt en ders for th e best bike in eac h cla ss. The RM 125's sm oo th, ea sy-to -use powerband wi ll su it a wide range o f rid ers and make it easy for th em to get around th e tra ck quickly. Fast er , more ex perienced rid ers may want a lillie more top-end, wh ich th ey will no doubt find through a competent tuner. Combine the wide powerba nd wit h th e gr eat handling and suspensi(;>Il and you ' re sure to co me up a winner. The R M250 ha s sim ilar cha rac teristi cs to th e 125, o n ly with a harder hit due to th e larger di splacem ent. If yo u rid e o r ra ce o n tigh r, su pe rcross-style tra cks th e R M250 will be LOugh to hea t with its good low a nd midrange power delivery a nd excelle nt handling. Suzuki h a s a lso improved th e dm for RM racers, co n tingency progr in creasing th e p rogram 's gra nd total from $1.7 to $2.8 milli on . A total of 18 different series and races will be cov er ed, with th e most lu cra tive payouts bei ng in th e pr estig io us AMA Supercros s and National series. A 250cc su percross win will pay a Suzuki rider $5000 in cas h. whil e th e I25cc class pa ys $2500. Pro Nati onal moto wins pa y $2500 per mota. Amat eurs will ra ce for up to $300 in Suzuki gift certificat es w hi ch will be paid o u t a t num erous events . • Both the RM 125 and 250 (left) have switched to removable clutch covers. Now the covers can be removed without having to drain the radiator coolant. The RMs have redesigned airboxes (center) with larger air inlets. Both forks (right) have external 21 rebound and compression damping adjustments.