Since the shootout took its toll on a few cosmetic and high-wear parts, I called up the gang at ridePG.com and had their graphic geniuses develop a cool theme of custom Gripz goodies. The Gripz material is my favorite, and the custom look is always nice compared to the same old stuff. I even plugged my sponsors with graciously applied logos for supplying parts for the bike. Next time, I'll request the entire bike be printed in the Gripz material. The stock plastic in "cool" black looks old and beat quicker than Angus from AC/DC after a night of partying. Thus, I recommend covering up the black plastic with graphics.
The only other parts in dire need of replacement were the chain and front and rear tire. I immediately went back to stock with the Bridgestone M403/404 front/rear combo. These meats are easy to love. RK racing chains got the call and provided its ultralight MXZ3 racing chain, and then I was done. What I got out of this project was simple: I managed to take the best 250F bike of 2008 and make it faster, quieter and better looking. Encore!
Parts List
Pro Circuit Ti-4 GP full system with quiet tip and spark arrestor
PC Jetting
RK Excel Works MXZ3 racing chain
RidePG.com custom graphics and preprinted backgrounds
ProTaper forged top triple triple clamp assembly
Reed/Henry-bend Evo handlebar
Pillow Top grips
Instant grip glue
Tires
Bridgestone M403/404 tire combo
Rotten Eggs And Fire-Works
Modified Suzuki RM-Z250
You know the face people make when something smells really, really bad? Whether it's rotten eggs or dirty moto socks, we, as humans, are automatically programmed to wrinkle our noses and half-open our mouths in disgust at the slightest trace of stink. Well, that's the face most of our test riders were making when discussing the performance of the 2008 RM-Z250's fork after our last day of shootout testing. Yes, the RM-Z is a great bike and, no, the suspension isn't bad fresh off the showroom floor, but after several days of hard testing on some seriously rough tracks, the Suzuki's front end had seen more break-in than a hotel room full of O.J. Simpson memorabilia. The bottoming resistance went out the window, and the bike's original vote of confidence was beginning to dwindle right along with the ride height. Something had to be done.
Barely cooled down from one last day of evaluations with our schoolboy testers (see the featherweight impressions in the March issue of Mini Rider), the Suzuki was dropped off at RG3 Suspension for a pick-me-up. Along with fresh oil in both ends, the suspension was revalved to accommodate heavier pilots, with the end goal being to maintain the original settling in turns while doing something about the awful clank-clank that resulted from landing a bit off target. To complement the new setup, an RG3 rear link was also installed to reduce the dead blow to the shock on hard hits.
After tooling with the suspension, I found it prudent to try to fix some of our other complaints about the yellow thumper. Since I feel that the stock Renthal Fatbar has a cramped bend that doesn't complement the rest of the Suzuki's ergos very well, it was off with the old and on with the new 997 Twinwall bar and half-waffle grips. The tires were fairly well burned after all the testing, which meant that some new meat was in order-I went with the Maxxis Maxxcross IT on both ends. Next, I turned my attention to the motor, mostly out of curiosity rather than complaining since engine performance is actually one of the RM-Z's high points. Personally, I like my four-strokes to run a tad stronger on the mid and top-end, so I got my mitts on a pair of Leo Vince exhaust systems to see what they could do as far as boosting the power. I then bumped the gear ratio from 4.00 to 3.92 with a fresh 47-tooth Renthal rear sprocket and installed a Twin Air Dual Stage filter, which is designed to increase airflow and enhance the overall response. To finish things off, I slapped on some fresh Throttle Jockey graphics and a gripper seat cover, just so the 'Zook didn't feel left out next to Jimmy's howling death-monkey stickers.
It took about half of a lap aboard the RG3 suspension to realize how much better the RM-Z was working. Two more days of riding confirmed that even with some break-in, the new setting had the machine riding higher up and using more of the stroke without all the bottoming hassles seen previously. Due in part to the RG3 rear link, the suspension took on a plush feel with quick-acting resistance in all the right places. The change was just what I was hoping for-not drastic enough to botch the original strengths, but super improved all the way around.