Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) Choose your line and just point it : When it comes to the t urn s, the RM I2S goes where you want it to go - no questions asked. (Right) We like the toned-down graphics . sys tem for a "more progressive damping a nd shock absorp tion," claims Suzuki. We will soon find out. Of a ll th e major manufa cturers, Suzuki is th e last to un ve il its 125cc MXer for 1998, and we can say with confid e nce th a t it ' s been wor th the wait. Suzuki is quick to p oin t out tha t the RM's delay did not have anything to do with any design problems or flaws with the bike but was sim ply d ue to getting a late start on its tes ting progr am . Aft er havi ng now ridd en all five of the popular '98 125s, we can tell you right now that the Suz uki is definitely a front-runner. In a nutshell, it has the power, suspension and handling to ge t th e job done, period. One thing is for certain: The RM is in no way lacking in the power depar tment. It makes good power off the bottom, pulls ve ry hard in th e middle (tha t's where the hit is), a nd rev s ou t okay on top . Our only complaint is that you have to be some wha t extra-care ful not to le t the mot or fall off the pipe, hich it'll d o without a moment's notice . you're not careful. But if the "Rs" do dro p , it 's n ot t he e nd of th e wo rld, because one quick fan of the clutc h lever qu ickly gets the motor's a ttention agai n and you' re back on your way, with the engine screaming. Speakin g of th e clutch , th e RM ' s clutc h wo rks extre mely well. It has one of the lightest pulls we've ever felt on a 125 a nd it still offers ou tsta ndi ng feel. On e finger can ge t the job d one - even on the starts . where you can easily manage th e eng ine a nd / or the rise of the front end . Off the ga te, you can hold the throttle wi de open a nd le t you r o ne clutch finger do all the work. Holeshots shou ld come easily on the RM. Throttl e response is good, too. We always had confide nce in the RM when it ca me to la unch in g off ju mps. We never had to worry abou t unti mely hesitations or bogg ing when cracking open . the throttle. Overall , th e p o w erband is quite smoo th; the bike tra cks well coming out of the tu rns, even on dry, slick and hard ground . . Getting all of the RM's powe r to the gro und is aided by the RM's excell ent transmission. Even wit h t he engine screa ming and the throttle pinn ed , the tranny slips into the next gea r as slick as can be . Double stabs on the shift lever are few and far between, so you never have to worry a bo u t getting a po or drive ou t of the comers. This bike hooks up we ll. We d id hav e a hard time find ing neutral wh ile at a standstill, but that sma ll annoyance is grad ually lesse ning (Above) The RM's Iransmlsslon has been beefed up and a new retchet-type gearshift mechanism Improves ease of shifting. The Ignition system is new as wen. (Left) You can jump the RMwith confidence. 1998 Suzuki RM125W Specifications Envine the more we ride the bike. The RM is still as co mfortab le as ever. Howev er, a co u p le of our tall er rid ers com plai ne d of a "sq ua tty " feel, sayi ng there need s to be more d istanc e between ' the footpegs an d sea t for their long legs . We swapped seats wi th the '98 RM25O's seat, which is slightly taller than the 125's seat, and that see med to help. Still, most rid ers ag reed that they liked the RM's ergo nomics. Th e RM ' s su s pension is fi rs t-ra te. Everyo ne w ho rode th e' b ike raved abo ut the RM's fork and were quite pleased with the back end, as well. Up front , the 49 mm co n ve n ti o na l twincha m be r fork soaked up the smaller bu m ps , as well as th e ha rd h its , extre mely well. Sure, the re were times whe n you felt the need to grip the bars a little hard er, like while plowing through some nasty braking bumps - but for .the most p art, yo u n e ver ha d to w o rry ab out the front end d o ing so me thi ng weird or unexpected. The fork also does an ou tstanding job handling slap-downs and front-end-firs t landings off th e big ju m ps . We nev er bottomed th e fork or, if we d id , we d idn't no tice it. Ditto wi th the bac k en d . The RM' s rear su s pension perf orms eq ually as well as the front, soaking up the small chop and big hits wi th assurance. Pe rhaps the RM' s best att rib u te is co rnering . No matter if you ' re locked into a rutted groove, plowing through a soft be rm, or d irt tr acking it ' tho ug h a flat , sweeping tum, the RM is perfectly content . Overall, it turns qu ickly but isn 't squ irrelly by an y means. Slowing dow n for the turns is not a problem , eit h er. Grab the front br ak e with one or two fingers a n d th e RM slows d own in a hurry - and if that's not fast enough, just squeeze a little harder. Very pr ed ictabl e and contro llable. And the ba ck brake? As good as a ny thing else. As you can probably tell by now, we are quite happy wit h the new RMl25 . In fact, we almost feel guilty about saying so many good things about the bike, so we made it a p oint to ask all of our testers what they absol u tely did not like abo ut the RM; there was a lon g pau se and everyone shoo k their heads. Someone eventually d id gr u m ble that yo u always had to remind yourself not to let th e mot or fall off the pipe, a nd then another rider came out and sa id he didn't like the bend of the clutch lever. And then one rid er th ou ght long and hard and said he thought the bike felt a little "buzzy," meaning he noticed some eng ine vibratio n. Others thought about it for a while and agreed wit h him . But, as far as negativities go, that was about it. 50, w ill Su zu ki wi n a no ther 125cc champio nshi p next yea r? Who knows b ut the chances are good . If Suzu ki doesn' t pull it off. it probably won't be IC\ the bike's fault. Bore :I: Liquid-cooled. ca se-reed induction. two-st roke stroke Displace_ Compreesl_ ratio Carburetor 54 x 54.5mm 124.8 9.1/ 11.0 ,1 Keihm WJM36 Air cleaner Foam element Starter system Primary kick Lubrication .ystem Premix Transmission .eix-speed. constant mesh Clutch Wet multi-plate Final ratio .4.167 50 /12 Drive chain #520. 114 links Suspension Front twm-che mber conventional. , 8-way compression and 14·way reboun d damping R••• . . . . . . . . . . .Unk-t;pe. adj. preload. 2Q.waycompression and rebound damping Wheel travel Front . _ _ 11.4 in. Rear _ .12.4 in. Rak. & trail 27.75·/4 .S in . Brak. . Front Dlac Rear . ..• . ... . .. . . .. . . . .. . ...Disc Tires Front 80 /100-21 51M Ree• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . loo/90-19·S7M 0 / A lenvtt> 84 .0 in. 32 .1 in. 0 / A width 0/A height .49.2 in. Wheelba 57.3 in. Ground durance Seat height 37.4 in. Claimed dry weight Fuel capacity MSRP 13.8 in. 184 lbs . 2.0 ga l. $4899 t-, 0"0"- ,..... 0\ N .... IJ) .g .... U o 25

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