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/128366
A. Suzuki borrowed some of the RM·Z450's aluminum·frame technology fram its GSX-R street-bike line. B. The cylinder head fea· tures a shim-under-bucket valve train. C. A narrow 26·degree included valve angle equals shart frant-to-back cylinder head length. D. The RM features its SASS lubrication system - separate crankshaft and transmission oil chambers. GETTING' DIRTY Admittedly, our excitement quickly dissolved into disappointment the first time we rode the new RM-Z4S0. Turns out our test bike came with some pretty wacky suspension settings from the factory, and when we went to make adjustments to the shock, we found out that we couldn't because someone at the factory had forgotten to install a spring in the shock's adjustment mechanism. high-speed Ooops! Back to Suzuki it went. Our second outing on our repaired RMZ went much smoother - literally. By the end of the day, we had the RM-Z's suspension working like a charm. Originally, our RM-Z just felt unbalanced, and the back end had a harsh feel and would hop around too much for our liking. The front end worked okay, but we knew it could be better. Our first move was to set the ali-important ride height. With the RM-Z, the sag should be set in the 103 to 10Smm range. (Ours came set too stiff - not enough sag.) And after numerous laps around Glen Helen's National track, we eventually got the RM-Z handling like it should have in the first place. With the shock, we ended up going two clicks out (from eight clicks to 10 clicks) on the compression damping, and going in five clicks (from 17 to 12) on the rebound. And we found the high-speed adjuster worked best at I 1/2 turns out. As you can see, those were some fairly drastic changes. Up front, the adjustments weren't quite as severe as at the back. We softened things up a bit by going out four clicks (from eight to 12) on the compression and three clicks (from seven to 10) on the rebound. Tada! With these settings, the RM-Z felt more balanced and less bouncy over the stutters and chop, yet it maintained enough absorption to soak up the big stuff without sacrificing an overall cushy ride. The bike also felt more stable overall, resulting in our test riders getting their confidence back. Still, most of our testers said that the bike still felt a little on the "busy" side. But they all agreed that, without a doubt, the RM-Z's best handling characteristic is turning. Simply put, the RM-Z turns really, really well. The bike is ridiculously easy to get in and out of the corners quickly - just turn the handlebars and go. And we found the RM-Z to work just as good in the sweeping turns with big, loamy bernns as it does cutting to the inside on the hard-pack stuff, or committed in a rut or groove. The RM-Z just doesn't feel like a big four-stroke in the corners but more like a 12Scc two-stroke. And getting the RM-Z slowed down for the turns is no problem at all. It has good, strong brakes at both ends. Even though the RM-Z4S0 is a big motorcycle by nature, it doesn't really feel that way when you're in the cockpit. In fact, the RM-Z felt a little cramped for our taller riders, but that feeling went away when we reversed the handlebar mount and bought ourselves 3mm more space. Overall, the RM-Z4S0 is very comfortable and super easy to move around on, and the handlebar/seat/footpeg relationship is pretty darn close to perfect. And to top things off, the seat padding has just the right amount of cush, the tapered handlebar provides good feel, and the controls work super smoothly, including the clutch lever, which needs just one finger to operate. Unlike the suspension, we loved the RM-Z's motor right off the bat. No problems here, that's for sure. The RM-Z CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 23, 2005 23