VOLUME 58 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 5, 2021 P41
for 250 class supremacy. We enlisted six sharp-
shooting testers ready to mount these gasoline-
burning steeds and ride off into the sunset. Time
to lock and load, the 2021 Cycle News 250
Motocross Shootout is here.
It should be noted that Suzuki did not come
to the fight this year. As with our 450cc shoot-
out, Suzuki did not have product for us to use
and could not lock in a date when a '21 RM-
Z250 would become available to us, so we
went on with the show Suzuki-less. Last year,
the excellent-handling RM-Z250 brought up
the rear in our 2020 250F shootout, held back
by harsh forks, too much weight and no push-
button starting. The bike received no changes
for '21. In fact, the RM-Z250 hasn't seen any
changes since getting a significant update
in 2019. The '21 RM-Z250 carries the same
$7899 price tag as it did in 2020, making it the
least expensive 250F in this group. It's also the
heaviest at 238 pounds (wet) and is now the
only one that relies on manual starting.
STANDOFF
BY RYAN NITZEN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
SMALL-BORE
LATEST CROP OF 250F MOTOCROSSERS TO THE TEST.
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