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/1528619
T o begin with, the Suzuki TM400 mo- tocrosser of the early 1970s was not a great motorcycle. That much is known. The bike's foul handling traits became downright evil when its schizophrenic powerband came alive, transforming it into the Mr. Hyde of moto- cross machines. This was a race bike that, in the wrong hands, was likely going to get somebody hurt. Suzuki's marketing team unwittingly helped the bike attain its bad rep when, likely after a few highballs, they came up with an ill-conceived name for the bike: the Cyclone. An uncontrollable, violent act of nature, twisting and spinning as it pleases, causing destruction and death as it lays down a trail of terror—at your lo- cal Suzuki dealer now! A bad reputation, however, seems to have the power to increase exponentially, and the TM400 has likely received more negative vibes than it really deserves. Before he was a Team Suzuki racer, MX star Billy Grossi actually had good success aboard a TM400. "In 1972, I was working at a Suzuki dealership here in Santa Cruz," Grossi remembers. "I raced a TM400 several times lo- cally and did quite well on it!" While acknowledging that the bike "was a straight line machine, with a light switch powerband" he added that "it never threw me off or intimidated me. I would get the holeshot and never look back." The TM400 wasn't the only Suzuki getting a good beatdown from the powerful motorcycle media. In their August 14th, 1973 issue, Cycle News gave us the lowdown on the middle brother of the TM lineup, the TM250 Champion. A few sentences into the story, the reader quickly gets the impression that the staffers would have rather spent the day sampling experimental IBS medications. The team went straight for the heart early in the test. "The motor," they wrote, "like its 400cc rela - tive, has an insignificant amount of flywheel effect. A full throttle twist will result in little more than flying dirt. Toy with the throttle for a few seconds and finally some power gets to the ground." Unfortunately, that good feeling didn't last long. "Then, shift from first to second and gas it. No go, just wheelspin." The TM250 seemed to disap - point the test crew with every foot that it moved down the track. The Suzuki was an unreliable shifter, especially for riders with larger feet. And when a successful shift was completed, the bike re- warded its rider with a boggy and doggy two-stroke letdown. "Third gear is so much higher than second that the engine won't pull after the shift." The staff blamed CNIIARCHIVES P132 THE CHAMPION THAT WASN'T the lowdown on the middle the TM250 Champion. A few sentences into the story, the reader quickly gets the impression that the staffers would have sampling experimental IBS for the heart early in the test. "The motor," they wrote, "like its 400cc rela tive, has an insignificant A full throttle twist will flying dirt. Toy with the throttle for a few seconds gets to the ground." BY KENT TAYLOR WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE FAMOUS FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS TM400, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SUZUKI TM250? The tale of the Suzuki TM400 is legendary, but it's not a good one. What about one of the two brothers of the 400s, the TM250?