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/128626
d o ub le s w ith a lim it e d approach . Again, S ides we nt richer, sw a ppi ng th e Ke ih in' s stock 45 powerjet for a 5 0 . Wit h the s e cha nges , th e Suzuk i was considerably impro ved , and m ost of our riders loved it. The only exceptions we re those who wa nt a n engine tha t is high -rpm-bias ed . T hese riders complained tha t the RM te nds to fall a bit flat up on the top end. Th is is a tr a it that midrange rid e rs we ren' t able to detect unless they rung the bike out on a sta rt straight, but that top-end riders complained about vehe mou sly. S ides tried re placing the stock 160 ma in jet with a rich er 16 2 , b ut whereas he was a ble to dial in the rest of the powerba nd, the far -upper reg ion re ma ined so me wha t flat. Bas ic ally , t h e RM ha s d on e a n a bo ut -fac e in t e rm s o f p owe rba nd c h arac te ri s t ics . In t h e 2000 Cycle News 250cc MX Sh oot out, we pra is ed the RM for a "motor that re vs to the m oon, " but comp lained th at it "c o uld us e more low -e nd power. " For 2001 , the exact op posite is true. The mill's strong po int is e ve ryth ing from lowend to the upper m idrange , b ut top end is lack ing co m pa re d to some othe r bikes. Aga in, most of o ur rider s were qu ite happy with the post-jetted perfo rmance ; it was onl y the scream ers who went home unsat isfi ed . It should be no ted that Suzuki wan ted more of a low -to -mid motor on th is b ik e , and that this type of Su per c ro ss -s t y le grunt mot or is exa ct ly wha t most riders want a nd like . O nly t hose wh o p r e fe r o ut d o o r -sty le sc rea me rs will have ca use for c om pla int , a nd they'll no do ubt ha ve the o ption o f a ft e rm ark e t p ip e build ers and performan ce s ho ps , which us ua lly ha ve mu ch le ss tro ub le find ing ext ra bo os t o n to p th an th e y d o in ot he r portion s of th e pow e rba nd . At o ne p o int , w e s us pe c te d a faulty pow er val ve , but a n inspe cti o n p rov ed the me ch an ism to be work ing fine . As we we re about to tu rn in o ur stor y , we go t wo rd th at a couple of RMs ma y h a v e co me w ith kin k ed e xhaust -v alv e ve n t ho s e s , a g lit ch t h a t would b e easily re ct ified , and tha t co uld theor eti ca lly affect to p -e nd p ow e r. We im m e d ia t e ly ra n d o wn stairs to our ga ra ge a nd inspected o ur te st bike , a nd our hose seem e d to be fine , but we 'll keep you posted. Miguel DuHamelwon his23rdcareer AMASuperbikeraceatBrainerd. RM=R IDE, M AN! S uzu k i finished right in the m idd le o f our 2000 s hootout. It wa s our top pic k in th e Su s pe ns io n category , and was second everywhere else ex cept for Control s a n d Erg on om ic s. Well , the su spens ion is still a wesome , a nd th e e rgono m ics ha ve taken a big step forward fo r 20 0 1. Of co urse , the ot her m anu fa ctu rer s have als o ma d e im pro ve me n t s ( th o u gh n on e hav e im p le m e nte d su c h a tho ro ug h o ve rha ul as Suzuk i), a nd yo u ca n neve r te ll how these th ings will pan o ut. We c a n te ll yo u t h is , however: We b e t Alberty n's sorry he won 't get to ra c e the new RM250. eN ey e I e n e _ s • AUGUST 1 6 , 2000 35