This week's Classic Steel is a look back at the awesome 1982 Suzuki RM250Z

tblazier
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tblazier
Edited Date/Time 12/26/2014 10:29am
Classic Steel #96 - The 1982 Suzuki RM250Z

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Wandell
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Wandell 12/19/2014 8:04am
12/19/2014 8:04am
Among the best MX bikes of all time. Top 10 easy.
CamP
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CamP 12/19/2014 9:33am
12/19/2014 9:33am
Still a great bike, even by today's standards. I race mine 5-6 times a year.



Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 12/19/2014 11:54am
12/19/2014 11:54am
CamP wrote:
Still a great bike, even by today's standards. I race mine 5-6 times a year. [img]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/clpotter/Burl2010-1.jpg[/img]
Still a great bike, even by today's standards. I race mine 5-6 times a year.



That rear end was in-effing-credible! Would love to see a project bike based on an '82RM...fit a more modern fork with disc brake, modify the swingarm to accept a disc, bigger pegs, etc.

The Shop

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1911
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1911 12/19/2014 1:05pm
12/19/2014 1:05pm


Wish I still had mine, 1982. To be 16 yr old again.
StephanieMitchell789 12/19/2014 1:08pm
12/19/2014 1:08pm
I remember reading old tattered issues of Dirt Bike magazine talking about this bike.

Fastest 250 they'd ever thrown a leg across, if I recall correctly.

I had a hand-me-down RM80 of the same year, also tattered.
fulltime wrench 12/19/2014 1:29pm
12/19/2014 1:29pm
1911 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/12/19/74408/s1200_image.jpg[/img] Wish I still had mine, 1982. To be 16 yr old again.


Wish I still had mine, 1982. To be 16 yr old again.
So much style!
Wandell
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Wandell 12/19/2014 1:36pm
12/19/2014 1:36pm
Like I said, easily one of the top 10 MX bikes ever produced. If it had been equipped with a set of good 43mm forks and a well performaing front disc or even a double leading shoe front brake, it may have been the best ever.
CamP
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CamP 12/19/2014 2:28pm
12/19/2014 2:28pm
Wandell wrote:
Like I said, easily one of the top 10 MX bikes ever produced. If it had been equipped with a set of good 43mm forks and...
Like I said, easily one of the top 10 MX bikes ever produced. If it had been equipped with a set of good 43mm forks and a well performaing front disc or even a double leading shoe front brake, it may have been the best ever.
I have a set of 43mm '84 forks, with the DLS brake. With gold valves and stiffer springs, they work great, and the DLS front brake works well too. It's so much fun to ride that old RM!
GeorgiePorgie 12/19/2014 2:40pm
12/19/2014 2:40pm
1911 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/12/19/74408/s1200_image.jpg[/img] Wish I still had mine, 1982. To be 16 yr old again.


Wish I still had mine, 1982. To be 16 yr old again.
Someone was loaded in that picture. There's a MOTÖRHOME in the background and not stationwagons!!!
Ted722
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Ted722 12/19/2014 3:26pm
12/19/2014 3:26pm
What a refreshing diversion from all the chatter lately. What a bike. Thanks Tony.
Donny O'Slow O'Hara 12/25/2014 4:02am
12/25/2014 4:02am
Tony great write up as usual ! I was very lucky, the 82 RM 250 was my first 250 and I loved it !
Here are a few pictures of me on my 82 BITD.















MXVet261
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MXVet261 12/25/2014 5:51am
12/25/2014 5:51am
Always enjoy the articles!
olds cool
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olds cool 12/25/2014 8:45am
12/25/2014 8:45am
Had one with Fox Factory Forx. Seem to remember a little bit of head shake but other than that, it handled light years ahead of anything I had ridden up to that time and most since. I was at the peak of my riiding ability (which admittedly wasn't as good as I would have liked) on that bike. If I could have only one of my previous bikes back, that would be it hands down. Some day..
Tokyo_Tiddler 12/25/2014 10:38am
12/25/2014 10:38am
Around 2002, at a local race in Fukushima, Japan, a couple of Suzuki factory mechanics pulled a brand new, never ridden '82 RM250 out of their van that they had sitting in the back of the factory warehouse. They were in my class and I was running a very healthy 2001 CR250. The start had a long steep uphill and I was a good starter and knew the track well. I was fairly certain I would be one of the top 3 bikes at the top of the hill. I remember getting a good start and heading up the hill in 2nd place, when about midway up the hill, that old RM250 came motoring alongside me and gradually started pulling me up the hill. I was quite shocked at how fast that 20 year old motor was. It made me realize that motocross technology hasn't made that big of a stride over the years as we think.

mike
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jeffro503 12/25/2014 10:48am
12/25/2014 10:48am
This was my very first race bike! Gawd I had a bunch of fun on that thing. Picked it up used from a racer buddy of mine in late 83'. Rode / raced it until about 86'. That bike was incredible!

Pit Row

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notme
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notme 12/25/2014 10:50am
12/25/2014 10:50am
I now want one of these to restore! Back in the mid 90's a buddy bought a mint used one and raced it in a local thursday night series at Hannegan Speedway. We all laughed at him, even the announcer got in on it. But he ended up winning the series and shut everyone up.
Rabbit Run 41 12/25/2014 12:32pm
12/25/2014 12:32pm Edited Date/Time 12/25/2014 12:34pm
Owned an '83 RM250. I was working at Suzuki of California in El Cajon at the time. The cylinder had the same part # as the '82. The difference was the head had a bigger squish pattern. I put an '82 head on and the power was back! I had Tony Smith Racing gusset the frame and powder coat it blue.
The brakes were high maintenance. One of my all time favorite bikes. Burned a lot of laps at Palm Ave. and rode Ocotillo. The '83 was better because Suzuki went to a larger fork diameter.
Frog #1
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Frog #1 12/25/2014 6:09pm
12/25/2014 6:09pm
My buddy got new one when he was 15, total death trap for anybody but an expert rider. 1/4 turn throttle/ first flat side Mukuni and wicked powerband. My buddy was never the same after that bike-LOL. I can still hear the way that bike sounded.

JustMX
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JustMX 12/25/2014 8:51pm
12/25/2014 8:51pm
I had an 82 cr 250 and was at a race and discovered a crack in the frame. I looked around for a bike to borrow and a guy offered to let me use his 82 rm. I took it back into the far reaches of the pit are and did a couple of burnouts and took it back to.him and said I would probably be better off taking a chance on my frame. That zook was so unbelievably faster and his soooooo hard I think I would have lawndarted off the gate. Had a power curve like most 125s butan it shot.up. Just brutal in how hard it hit.
wow123
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wow123 12/25/2014 9:12pm
12/25/2014 9:12pm Edited Date/Time 12/25/2014 9:29pm
Bigfoot wrote:
That rear end was in-effing-credible! Would love to see a project bike based on an '82RM...fit a more modern fork with disc brake, modify the swingarm...
That rear end was in-effing-credible! Would love to see a project bike based on an '82RM...fit a more modern fork with disc brake, modify the swingarm to accept a disc, bigger pegs, etc.
all those 82 rms were great bikes

i'd match a ohlined shocked full floater against any rear suspension on offer today.

i put the last gen right side up forks off a cr250 on an 82 465, amazingly easy bike to ride

here i am thinking its good idea to start doing freestyle at 36. (i few close calls put an end to that malarky)



if they put that bike out today, air cooled 465/full floater, disc front cart forks for $4-5k i'd buy it tomoz.

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mx12boy 12/25/2014 11:06pm
12/25/2014 11:06pm
That bike was my first 250. I got in trouble on that bike more than once because of the power. I wish I had it back.
Digger29
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Digger29 12/26/2014 7:05am
12/26/2014 7:05am
Frog #1 wrote:
My buddy got new one when he was 15, total death trap for anybody but an expert rider. 1/4 turn throttle/ first flat side Mukuni and...
My buddy got new one when he was 15, total death trap for anybody but an expert rider. 1/4 turn throttle/ first flat side Mukuni and wicked powerband. My buddy was never the same after that bike-LOL. I can still hear the way that bike sounded.

I loved my 82 and I think I won my 4 of my first 5 races in 83 in the Novice class and was promoted to the B class. He's right though the thing had a wicked quick revving and unforgiving type of power (I loved it though) It was a great bike for some and a nightmare for others.
wm741
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wm741 12/26/2014 8:24am
12/26/2014 8:24am
My dad had an 82 when I was younger. I loved that bike. We held onto it until 2006 becasue we always wanted to restore it. Long story short, we gave it to the guy who did my motor and suspension work for years, Bruce Sass and it ended up in the hands of lostboy819. I think the below is a picture of it when he was done with it. Damn I wish we would've held on to it.

Wes

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jimmie 12/26/2014 10:29am
12/26/2014 10:29am
Interesting, I had the "81" then the "83" RM 250.... As Maxwell Smart would say, "missed it by that much" Wink





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