VOL. 52 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 P77
fourth gear.
Chassis-wise, Suzuki made a
number of changes to the RM-Z's
aluminum frame, most of those
changes were to alter rigidity and
feel. It now has the same steer-
ing head pipe as the RM-Z450
to increase strength and durabil-
ity. The side beams, however,
have new gusseting (or ribs),
and the forward downtube has
been modified as well, as has the
rear subframe; Suzuki says the
subframe is similar to the '15's but
has revised mounting points, so
the two aren't interchangeable.
All of these changes were made
to give the RM-Z better overall
balance and feel; base dimen-
sions and geometry, they say,
have not been changed.
The RM-Z has always been
known to be a quick-handling
machine, and it still is. Suzuki
did not want to change that. It's
still very flickable and gets in and
out of the turns probably better
than any bike in its class. Our
test rider was always a fan of the
RM-Z's quick handling but not
the way it felt in the air, but that is
no longer the case. He said the
bike feels more solid overall and
a lot more predictable in the air
than before; he had tons more
confidence on this bike than he
did on the '15.
From what we can tell so far,
the new KYB PSF2 air fork is
a huge improvement over last
year's Showa SFF units. Not
only does it work better it is also
2.2 pounds lighter. Right out
of the crate, the new KYB fork
was set up pretty darn close for
our 160-pound, expert-skilled
test rider, and he felt no need
to make any immediate adjust-
ments. He rode it all day just
how it was and just concentrated
on putting down the laps.
The 48mm PSF2 unit has
identical legs; each one holds
air in a single chamber (in place
of a steel coil spring) so you
don't have to worry about what
chamber does what compared
to other multi air chamber forks
out there. This one is rather
simple to work with. At the top
of each leg, on the fork cap,
you find one Schrader air valve,
and one high-speed and one
low-speed rebound damping
adjustments (aka "clickers"); on
the bottom of each leg is the
The RM-Z250 gets
air forks. Not just
any air fork but
KYB's latest PSF2
air fork.
