It seems that when people hear the name Suzuki, they automatically stamp the bike as being unreliable and requiring a lot of maintenance. I have had firsthand experience with this old-school Suzuki problem, but so far with the new RM-Z450 my impression has been quite the contrary
Back in January, just before the first round of SX, I started out with a fresh set of Bridgestone tires, a Fasst Company Flexx Bar, a Two Brothers pipe, Oury grips and ASV levers, and then I cleaned up the bike with some custom Factory Effex graphics. Of course, after my crash at the first round of SX, I destroyed just about everything I put into it. So when I was almost ready to get back into the saddle, I went ahead and started fresh again. Since I had to replace my subframe, I wanted to make one of the same mods to the new one that I had made to my Honda last year. I had Steve Drew down at Two Brothers lower the RM-Z about 10mm. It gives the bike a squatted feel that I really like. With my SX season over, I had my suspension converted back to a motocross setting by MB1. Finally, my bike and I were ready to ride.
Those first couple of rides were just some easy trail rides up in the high desert, including one up in the mountains that my buddy from England won't forget (bears hibernate during the winter, Fin!). After that last ride, I decided I was ready to get back to the track. I stuck mainly to the dry, sandy, hard-packed desert tracks I train on, combined with putting in some good motos at a lot of the prepped local tracks in the good dirt. I'll be back racing in no time. The riding conditions (choppy, hard-packed) of the desert tracks gave the bike quite a beating. I drag the brakes a lot, especially out at the desert tracks, and am usually hard on the clutch, but I haven't needed to replace the brake pads on either the front or the rear. Just now, I'm actually getting ready to replace the clutch. A screw came up missing off the bottom of the chain guide, but that's about the extent of the wear and tear the bike's had. Something that I'm really liking are these new Oury grips that I'm running. I am very particular about grips and seem to go through them a lot. With these Ourys, I have only gone through two sets, I'm getting twice the life compared to the soft Renthals I used to run.
Regular maintenance has been effortless, and I've been changing the oil every three, sometimes four, rides. Also, I've been throwing in a clean air filter when the other one gets dirty and maintaining fluid levels, being especially mindful of the coolant. By tightening the spokes and checking the occasional bolt, I've essentially made this bike bulletproof.
Running Tally #1
Hours on Bike: 40
Modifications: $1543.88
Fasst Company Flexx bar: $299
Two Brothers pipe: $349.98
ASV inventions levers: $230
Factory Effex graphics: $239.90
MB1 suspension mods: $425
Maintenance and Repairs: $626.07 (not including tires)
Oil changes (8 changes, 3 oilfilters):
11 Liters of Torco T-4MXR Oil: $8.75 per liter (1300-1500 ml per change)
3 Stock Oil filters: $8.95 ea.
2 sets of Oury Grips: $7.95 ea.
12 Ready Filters: $9.95 ea.
Stock Subframe: $367.67
Bridgestone 401A front tire: $92.97
Bridgestone 402A rear Tire: $116.42