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/128010
iding Impression 2000 S kiR 125Y uzu M ~ 1/ [I~ [fU@ol!:o@[fU (Left) A smoother power delivery enhances the Suzuki RM125's already-potent motor for the year 2000. (Above) Suzuki made a number ' of refinement to the new RM, which translates into subtle improvements on the track. (Left Ins et) New spring rates smooth out the RM's suspension. throu gh th e turn s in d ee p. loam y d irt, can leave you boggin g. In othe r wo rds, don 't let the motor fall off the pipe and you' ll b e jus t fine , which IS pretty much th e case wit h an 12Sec MXers. Otherwise, the new RMl25 's m ot or screa ms fro m b ott om to t op just lik e it used to, w hich is a good thing . Th e r e ' s s t ill plenty of p o w r th r ou g h ou t th e p o w erba nd , a nd its even easi e r to wo rk with - m ain l d own low . Our in itia l im p ressi on o f the new RM's sus pension and chassis is a good one, which comes as no surprise, really. Aft er a ll, we ha d n o real co m p lai n w ith las t ye ar's chassis, except for its perhaps bein g a little undersp rung, bu t ~ 2000 Suzuki RM125Y Specifications Engine type Llquid-cooled. crankcase reed. 2.strok,:_ . Bore x stroke 54mm x 54.5mm Displacement 124.8cc Compression ratio 9.1/11.0:1 Carburetor Kethin PWK 38PWJ Clutch : Wet multi-plate type; Transmission .. 6-speed cons tant mesh Primary ratio Final ratio Drive chain Ignition 3.368 (64:19) .4.083 (49: 12) 520 chain. 112 links CDI Suspension Front By Kit Palme r co Cii E a CI> en 28 ook behind the new graphics / / f;, 0od loo kin g ones we mi ght --y add - and you'll be hard -p ressed to d istin gu ish th e 2000 Su zuki RM125 from the 1999 mod el. Bu t d on 't let that fool yo u - the 2000 RM125 is a changed ma chine. As yo u can see by th e long list of mod ificat ion s, man y of the u pd ates to the 2000 RM125 ha ve to do with increasin g the bik e's d ura bility and streng th, en ha ncing low-t o-mid engine p erformance, and p olishin g off an a lread y solid handling and sus pension package. No dramatic cha nges here, bu t, th en again, the RMl25 didn't really need any anyway. The '99 machine wa s a strong un it and one of ou r favori tes her e at the office all year long. We applaud all of the mod ificati on s Suz uk i ma d e to the new RM125, especially the cha nges to increase the bike's lon gevity and reliabili ty. The more you can do that to a bike, the more appeal ing and less costly it is to own an d operate. Okay, so on the track you mig ht not no tice the new rein forcement tubes on the fram e, or the relocation of the pis ton locating pin an d the ignition's COl box, But yo u will most likely feel it in you r wallet in the long run . As for the ma n y refin ed p erformance-minded changes made to both the engine.and the chassis, well, you can actually feel so me of these on the track however subtle they might be. Most of our test riders came bac k af te r rid in g th e new RM fo r th e first tim e say ing they cou ld feel a smoother tra nsiti on from bott om to mid , just like Su zuki's engi neers sai d they w oul d. This smoother tran sition, the riders said, also improved the bike's trac tability out of the turns and simply mad e it a littl e easier to ride tha n the '99 RM. Still, they cautioned, "Keep a finge r on the clu tch at all tim es, " for a small mis take ....Twin Chamberinverted. 16-way compression & rebound damping Rear Link-type. adj. preload. 26-way compression . & 20-way rebounddamping Wheel travel Front 12.2 in. Rear 12.6 in. Rake/trail 27"45ยท/40in. Brakes Front .Dtsc Rear . . . . . . . . .Disc Tires Front Rear OIA length . . . . . . 0/ A width 01 A height Wheelbase Ground clearance Seat height . Fuel capacity Claimed dry weight MSRP 80/100-21 51M 110/90-19 57M . 84.6 in. 32.1 in. .49.2 in. 57.3 in. 13.8 in. 37.4 in. 2.0 gal. 194 lbs., $4949