The 2007 Suzuki RMZ250 is waiting to get dirty. Shortly after this photo was taken, Ryan Orr obliged by laying it down nicely in a muddy berm.
The 2007 Suzuki RMZ250 is here and it's been a long time coming.
In 2006 the Suzuki RMZ250 was the black sheep of the 250F family. With a fresh crop of potent competitors, the dated '06 model saw more DR garage time than track time. In fact, we even started robbing parts off it for our RM125. That says a lot! But thanks to a ground-up redesign, Suzuki is back in the mix for 2007 with their brand new RMZ250.
Our first impressions of the bike were formed at the long and loamy Zaca Station MX park located just north of Solvang, California (www.zacastationmx.com). The track features a great mix of high-speed elevation changes and tight, technical turns. Some of the jumps on the track are wide open and others are more short and lofty. Basically, the track is a good testing ground because it starts out nice and deep and ends up hard, full of rocks and a little rough. Needless to say, we put the new RMZ through a wide range of conditions on the course.
Ryan Orr liked destroying berms with the RMZ and once he figured out how to do them without crashing we took cool photos like this one.
From our first ride on the new RMZ a few things jumped out as highlights. First being the new power plant and its impressive performance up the power-robbing hills and high-speed sections of the track. The new RMZ motor rips with plenty of low-end for the rutted-up tight corners and a top end that is endless. No longer do RMZ pilots have to shift after a mid-range boost. The power coming out of the RMZ stays on long and strong until you finally hit the rev-limiter. Actually, neither DR test rider Ryan Orr nor I found the rev limiter and we had downhill straights that would've had other 250F's motors begging for an up shift.
When Ryan Orr finally let DR editor Jesse Ziegler ride the RMZ; he had a hard time getting it back. Both of our testers feel the RMZ is going to make some green, red, blue and orange waves in the 250F class.
Also nice was the fact that the aluminum frame seems to retain traditional Suzuki cornering characteristics--if you set it up properly. That is, the bike turns awesome, but with the alloy frame, it's much more sensitive to race sag settings in order to get ample grip on the front tire. Initially the RMZ was pushing into turns and we fixed it at the Zaca Station track by cranking down on the rear spring. The problem was quickly solved and we continued on in our journey in search of the rev limiter. We'll let you know when we find it.
Landing from big jumps (even coming up way short on some monster step-ups) failed to phase the bike and it handled the small braking bumps and occasional bowling-ball-sized rock well. In all, we were never too concerned with the suspension after we set the sag.
Ryan Orr lofts the RMZ over one of the great Zaca Station jumps. The bike handled jumping big and small obstacles superbly and also won over a fan with our versatile test pilot.
As you read this, we're taking the bike to a couple different tracks to dial in the sag and clicker settings. Also, we're looking for a straightaway long enough to find the top of the gear box. When we do, you can read about it in the pages of an upcoming issue of Dirt Rider. Until then, you have to look at these awesome photos of the RMZ in action