VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P155
from their own works' bikes,
giving everyday motocross Joe
a chance to make believe they
were Gaston Rahier, Suzuki's
125cc World Champion. Long
travel, spring air forks up front
and "remote reservoir nitrogen-
fluid Kayaba" rear shocks helped
the Suzuki soak up the bumps
and lumps found on '70s race
-
tracks. A rough track in the old
days didn't boast of the kind of
cavernous holes and deep ruts
that bring racers close to the
Earth's lithosphere in today's MX,
but they were still mighty rough
in their own right and CN's staff-
ers said, "the gnarlier and the
nastier the course is, the better
this RM 125 will shine. It eats up
whoop-de-doos and bumps that
should be bone-jarring."
The term "riding" isn't really
an accurate way to describe the
job being performed by humans
aboard a 125cc two-stroke mo-
tocross bike. The racer is simul-
taneously a gymnast, a physicist,
an engineer and a horse jockey.
Whereas a more powerful ma-
chine needs only more throttle to
move more quickly, the diminu-
tive little motor on a 125 needs
more of everything. Want to go
faster down the straights? Scoot
back over the rear end, pull back
on the bars, and push the soles
of those Hi-Point boots into the
pegs! Now, straddle that fuel
tank in the loose loam, mak-
ing that rear wheel light! Shift,
shift and shift again, feather-
ing that clutch until you reach
two-stroke Valhalla, a land
somewhere between engaged
and disengaged. Your brakes are
there—but do you really
want to work so hard to
reawaken the precious
and few ponies inside
the engine? Wouldn't it
be easier just to keep
the throttle on, whip
that beast in the flank
and rail through that
upcoming corner?
CN testers were up
front about the RM's
demands, suggesting
that it will take "a fairly
expert rider to realize
the potential of the
RM 125B." Their only
complain seemed to
be with the tightness
of the beefy gearbox,
which was reluctant to
get through the gears
without the use of the clutch,
though they acknowledged that
time would likely help loosen
the cogs up and thus allow for
clutch-less movement through
the gears.
That was it! Everything else on
the RM earned the praise of the
test crew, which should not be
taken lightly. This was still the
1970s, a time when magazine
staffers treated motorcycles the
way Pete Townsend treated his
electric guitar. The Suzuki shined
on the gnarly tracks and noth
-
ing broke. In a hint of things to
come, they did opine that there
was a noticeable drop in power
after the engine had "been run-
ning for a long time and got-
ten nice and hot." Four years
later, the Suzuki RM125 became
liquid-cooled.
The 125cc two-stroke racer
was everyone's bike. On the
national scene, up-and-coming
racers cut their teeth on them,
but they would occasionally
have to do battle with MX vet-
erans who would swing over to
the little bikes every now and
then. Harry Everts, Jim Weinert
and Billy Grossi were just a few
of the seasoned pros who had
made their names on 250s and
500s, then jumped on 125s later
in their careers.
A sweet little 125cc two-
stroke is a rare bird in today's
MX aviary. But not so long ago,
they ruled the roost—and in
1977, no 125 flew higher than
Suzuki's RM125B.
CN
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Suzuki had several MX models
that out-performed all others in
the 1970s, when motocross
bikes improved exponentially
every year. The 1977 RM125B
was one of those bikes.
