Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

orEST ~ Suzuki RM125 "I hate the word "mellow/" said Suzuki's Pat Alexander as he handed over our ~94 RM125 test bike. "Mmellooww. Mellow is bad. Mellow is not good. People automatically think mellow means By Donn Maeda slow." Don't wor ry Pa t, w e won't say that the 1994 Suzuki RMl25 is mellow . But why sho u ld w e? Sure, the new eig h th-li ter RM doesn' t have the sa me lo w a n d m id - ran g e p u n ch th at las t year's had , bu t that doesn 't necessar ily mean that it's slow . . . or mellow. In s tea d , th e ne west ve rs io n of the RMl 25 boast s a decen t b urst of power that is primarily loca ted at the top of the p owerband . Sure, th e bike might seem "me llow" to a begi nning rider, but th e powerp lant can be made to work magic in the hands of faster or more aggressive . riders. So wha t d id Suz uki e ngineers change? Accor d in g to Suzuki, "RM125 engine improvem ent s for '94 have been designed to create better overall power w ith an e m p hasis on im proved rea r wheel tracti on and control, throu gh smo other tra nsitions from low to mid to high rpm en gine speeds ." For starters, the cylinder port timing h as b een cha n ged to allow for mo re hi gh rp m rev capab ili ty, and Suzuki claims that the new specifications prod uce mo re horsepower as well. A new Keih in PWK 36m m carburetor re places last year's Mik u ni unit, a nd is sai d to provide better th rottl e response and pow er delivery. O ther chan ges include a new intake pipe and a more.durabl e reed va lve that is claime d to im prove accelera tio n. A digi tal-type ignition rep laces las t year's CD! box, and, oddly enough, Suzuki tells us tha t the ignition is programmed to provide better low a nd m id ra nge po wer. But w hat a bo u t th os e tri ck, new forks? "The sing le most im portan t chan ge to the RM is an all-new front fork design made by Sh owa," sa ys Suzuki' s p ress info rma tion. "This is Sh ow a ' s m os t advanced design of inverted, cartridgetyp e telescop ic forks and it is a Suzuki exclusi ve . Tw o yea rs of developme nt h as been contri bu ted by Team Suzuki riders to ach eive this level of performance." 18 On the outs ide, the forks look no d ifferent than any other inverted for k, wi th the exception of the top fork cap . Rather th an th e fa mi lia r re bou n d damping adjusters, th e top fork cap spo rts the compression d ampin g d ia ls. Showa 's new Twin-Chamber desig n is a rad ica l departure from the tra d itional inverted fork design, an d internally, th e new ins ides closely resemble those of a rear shock. Un like the traditional cartrid ge fo rk d es ign in which the cartridge shares the sam e oil as the re st o f th e fork, th e Twin-Chamber design se p ara tes the cartridge from the rest of the system. . Such a des ign prevents ai r contamin at ion of the oil in the cartridge, thus providing more consi stent rebound and compression damping. The oil in the sealed cartridge unit is not succep tible to the foaming that occurs almost immediately when the bike is ridden. The fork spring is now located in the bottom half of th e fork and, as stated -r earlier , th e reb ound a nd compression adjusters h a v e b ee n flip- flop ped in ord er to enlarge the oil lock sys tem. The oil lock is d esigned to p rovide a cus hion effect when the fork reaches the bo ttom of its stroke. Extern ally, the forks have been lowere d 5m m in th e tri p le clamp s in a n att empt to reduce head shake. Out back, therear shock linkage ratio has been altered to compliment the ride of the new fork . According to Alex ander, the ne w ratio is designed m o re tow a rds outd oor-ty p e terra in , ra ther than the radical indoorsupercross-type courses . The shock has been revalved to coinci de with the linkage ratio changes; and a softer shock spring rounds ou t the changes made to the rear. A n o th er a l tera tio n on the n ew RM125 is brake pads that are made of a d ifferent material. Su zuki claims that they imp rove br aking and have greater wear resistance. • Thanks to a new mounting tab location, the radiator shrouds are 20mm narrow er at the front, provid ing more room for the rider' s knee s. New one-piece footpegs, b igger fork protector s and a new sidestand complete th e p ackage. Suzuki ha s finally done away w ith the frame-mounted kickstand a n d go n e with the more popular triangle side: stand design. . Perhaps the most important new feature is the RMl25's all-n ew , bigger and not-so-much-better price tag of $3999: Thanks to the ever-declin ing dollar-toyen ratio, this year's 125 costs $300 more than last year's. OpIaiODS m ust ad mit, my first feelin gs about the '94 RMl25 were thos e of disappointment. I had grown qu ite fond o f the '93 RM125, thanks to its p ep py motor and great turnin g traits, and I was saddened when I first threw a leg over the ' 94 ' and found that the power spread was com pletely di fferent. While last yea r's mo tor started to pull down low a n d hit really hard in the midd le of the powerband, this y ear's RM seems to prod uce th e bulk of it s power way up on top. My first ri de aboard th e new RM came at Sta rwest Supercross Park . Just as its name states, Starwest is rid d led with numerous stadium- typ e obstacles. On this d ay, I was able to rid e both the '93 and '94 machines back to back, making it even ea sier to compare th e two machi n e s . I found that m ost of the obsta cles were eas ie r to clear on th e older machine, as the hearty burst of power could easily send me sailing over all of the obstacles. Jum pin g those same jumps on th e '94, though, took more effort an d much more concentration. The new bike is tougher to keep on the pipe but, oddly enough, once it's on the p ipe it pulls much harder than the '93. Suspension-wise, the RM felt just fine on the re la ti vely smooth track. The Showa front end felt a bit harsh at first, but aft er a few hours of break-in time the ride im p rov ed considerably. The rear end soaked up all of the killer landings without bottoming, as did the fork. The RM worked like a charm through I the stadi um ro cker sec tion, as both the front and rear ends felt well balanced. I d id, though, have to ' make ve ry sure of m y gear selection before en te ri ng the section, as too-high a gear would leave me bogg ing. A few da ys later, Chris and I took the RM125 to Glen Helen Raceway, site of the 250cc N ationa l MX Serie s fina le . Glen Helen is a relatively fast track that features a few tabl etop jumps and two whoop section s. As the d ay wears on, the track gro ws more challenging as it becomes rou gh er and more slip pery. It was a t Glen Helen tha t I really began to like the new RM. In the tighter corners, the RM hugged the insid e line and wen t anyw he re it w as pointed . In flatter turns, the bike worked equally as well an d slid quite predictab ly. On some o f th e fas t straigh ts, however, I found tha t the forks were too softly sprung for the braking bumps that followed. Stiffen ing up the com p re ss io n only made the ride feel harsh, so I think I would opt for the stiffer fork springs instead. Out back, the rea r end worked fairly well. Although it tended to swap from time to time, it never really did anything that scared me. Motor-wise, the RM felt worlds better at Glen Helen than it d id at Starwest. Why? Because unlike Starwest, an instant burst of power isn't needed to negotiate any of the obstacles at Glen Helen. Because of it's fast straights and berm turns, it was easier to keep the . M R in the upper part of the powerband at Glen Helen. Though I wouldn't dare say that the

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