R
ating the all-new Suzuki near the tail end of our
shootout just goes to show you how competitive—
and good—these six bikes are. Without question, the
2018 Suzuki RM-Z450 is a much-improved motorcycle
over its predecessor, and we like this bike a whole lot. It
has a user-friendly engine, wonderful suspension, pinpoint
handling and is still the clear leader when it comes to
cornering (though the Honda, Husqvarna and KTM are
getting close). But the buzz kill here is—it doesn't have
electric starting and it is the heaviest bike of the group.
Okay, it might be only a pound heavier than the Honda
(252 vs. 251) but the Honda has electric starting! And so
does the KTM that is 16 pounds lighter than the Suzuki.
These two strikes against the RM-Z weighed heavily on
our test riders at the end of the day and played a major
factor when it came time to rate these bikes.
The Suzuki's suspension rated high with our testers,
the faster riders wanted stiffer springs front and rear but
mostly front. Still, everyone thought the Suzook's spring
fork is a big improvement over last year's air fork, as
is the RM-Z's new BFRC shock, which does a great job
soaking up the smaller bumps. Metcalfe said, "I thought
the Suzuki handled great and the rear end handled the
square-edge chop better than anything else."
SUZUKI
RM-Z450
Place
VOL. 54 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 24, 2017 P87
