D
RIDING IMPRESSION 1994 Suzuki RM250R
~
was terrified by last year's RM25O, and in all honesty - I wasn't
very anxious to throw a leg over the 1994 version. After all, the
new bike looked the same, so why shouldn't it work the same?
The '93 RM250 motor had a lackluster bottom end, an overly
violent burst of power in the middle, and not much on top. Coupled with a quick-handling, supercross-style chassis, the yellow
machine was completely out of my league.
Okay, enough of the old, in with the new. My first ride aboard the
'94 RM was at Starwest Supercross Park in Moreno Valley, California. Just as it's name indicates, the track is filled with jumps, whoops
and more jumps - though all are relatively easy.
At Starwest, I was pleasantly su rprised to find tha t the engine
had been toned down a bit in comparison to last year's. Don't get me
wrong - the bike still hauls - it's just not as violent. While last year's
motor had a minimal amount of bottom-end power, the new engine
produces a good amount of power down low tha t pulls relatively
smoothly into the fat part of the powerband. The midrange burst is
still there, bu t it comes on in a more-controllable fashion. Unlike last
year's motor, the '94 continues to pull when over-revved. Where the
'93 would fall on its face, the '94keeps on going.
At Starwest, the power was perfect fer the short take-off ramps of
many of the obstacles, and bliPBing the throttle and ski in
through th~ su~o~~le, whoops was just as easy.
The bike wasaIso erfeclly suited for the su~rcr
'The nel:V:style
.
an admirable j9bofsoa . g
the,harshest of Ian
everyone comes up shortnow'and
then, righ t?) and th
. ... .never did anything strange or unpredictable. Last year, the '93 R¥ caught me off guard repeatedly with
unexpected swaps and ki<:l<.s" especially when attacking uneven"
faced jumps or square.::edged braking bumps. Though there were no
really rough sections at Starwest, I was quite pleased with the way
the new RM250 handled:
My next ride aboard the yellow beast was at Glen
Helen OHV Park , sight of the AMA 250cc National
MX Series finale. The Glen Helen track is considerably fas ter than Starwest, and is much rou gh er as
well.
While I was equally as pleased with the power
output at Glen Helen, the bike's handling charac teristics brought back.some not-so-fond memories of
the '93. The bU
