Will there be a new RM85?

Tom711
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Tom711
My son will likely be moving up to a 85 later this year so I'm already thinking about what way to go. There seems to be lots of news around changes to the rmz bikes for 2018 so I was wondering (hoping) that With Liam Everts now riding suzuki there maybe a chance they will make significant changes to their 85?
We've had no luck with KTM, not with the small bikes anyway so I'm wanting to try something different when we go to 85. Kawasaki is my first thought but he's not excited about it haha.
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dadofagun
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dadofagun 2/20/2017 6:30am
2/20/2017 6:30am
As much as I'd love to see a new 85, I wouldn't hold my breath..... The RM 85 has essentially been untouched since its last overhaul in 2002. If they can go another 1 or 2 years on this platform, they probably will. Sad, but true....
hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 2/20/2017 6:34am
2/20/2017 6:34am
(patiently waiting for Tyler)
GER_shortymx 2/20/2017 7:58am
2/20/2017 7:58am
I think that they're more worried about the big bikes, so 450 this year and probably 250 next year. But then again, maybe they've got something planned.

I also had no luck at all with KTM, especially the 85cc years were horrible. Tried the RM and didn't like it as well, but the Kawi was amazing, the best handling bike I've had so far. I didn't feel a big difference in power compared to the KTM.
The quality was not really amazing though, it started to rust in a few places just after 2 months, I never had that on any other bike since I always powerwash them.

At the end of the day, just phone a couple of dealers and ask them for a test ride and let your son decide on which one he likes best. TM 85 might be an option as well, if it is available for you!
loftyair
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loftyair 2/20/2017 8:05am
2/20/2017 8:05am
Depends on his skill level, and supporting funds. KTM for a fast dude, with lots of money. Kawi for mid speed, some money. Yami for mid-fast, some money. Suz good for mid or less speed, some money. Honda 2-stroke, fast, some money.

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Tracktor
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Tracktor 2/20/2017 8:36am
2/20/2017 8:36am
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my older boy a few years ago and settled on blue. My younger boy just moved up so i bought a new KX to try. Poor handling and impossible to work on. The forks are crap even the 2003 Yz forks are more advanced. No removeable subframe and it takes an act if god to change a top end.
Sold it and bought a Ktm. From first ride he was faster and happier. Easy to work on. Top ends take under an hour. Bottom ends are easy also. Fast & smooth right out of the box.
I get wanting to be done with KTM after minis but they have the 65 & 85's figured out from my experience.......
MR. X
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MR. X 2/20/2017 8:51am
2/20/2017 8:51am
hvaughn88 wrote:
(patiently waiting for Tyler)
I just don't feel like you'll get a good honest answer from him regarding the RM 85.
mjr119 2/20/2017 8:54am
2/20/2017 8:54am
Tracktor wrote:
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my...
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my older boy a few years ago and settled on blue. My younger boy just moved up so i bought a new KX to try. Poor handling and impossible to work on. The forks are crap even the 2003 Yz forks are more advanced. No removeable subframe and it takes an act if god to change a top end.
Sold it and bought a Ktm. From first ride he was faster and happier. Easy to work on. Top ends take under an hour. Bottom ends are easy also. Fast & smooth right out of the box.
I get wanting to be done with KTM after minis but they have the 65 & 85's figured out from my experience.......
What would be slowing you down on the top end of the Jap bikes?
bsharkey
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bsharkey 2/20/2017 8:58am
2/20/2017 8:58am
Tracktor wrote:
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my...
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my older boy a few years ago and settled on blue. My younger boy just moved up so i bought a new KX to try. Poor handling and impossible to work on. The forks are crap even the 2003 Yz forks are more advanced. No removeable subframe and it takes an act if god to change a top end.
Sold it and bought a Ktm. From first ride he was faster and happier. Easy to work on. Top ends take under an hour. Bottom ends are easy also. Fast & smooth right out of the box.
I get wanting to be done with KTM after minis but they have the 65 & 85's figured out from my experience.......
So true. We were on yz85s and they were good bikes but the new ktms are off the hook good. Unfortunately my son outgrew it in 6 months and we were on big bikes next. Biggest issues on the ktms are the brakes. Most guys will upgrade to the big bike brakes in the rear. Just be prepared to upgrade because you will lose the brakes at some point. Still a cheap upgrade and great bike
Tracktor
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Tracktor 2/20/2017 9:25am
2/20/2017 9:25am
Tracktor wrote:
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my...
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my older boy a few years ago and settled on blue. My younger boy just moved up so i bought a new KX to try. Poor handling and impossible to work on. The forks are crap even the 2003 Yz forks are more advanced. No removeable subframe and it takes an act if god to change a top end.
Sold it and bought a Ktm. From first ride he was faster and happier. Easy to work on. Top ends take under an hour. Bottom ends are easy also. Fast & smooth right out of the box.
I get wanting to be done with KTM after minis but they have the 65 & 85's figured out from my experience.......
mjr119 wrote:
What would be slowing you down on the top end of the Jap bikes?
The YZs were cake. The KX is a total pain. You have to remove the head stays, radiator, electronics,etc to even get to the barrel ( going from memory here). Everything is so packed in there you cant work. Just look at a KX vs the KTM/Husky and you will see what i mean. .....
tylermx967
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tylermx967 2/20/2017 10:37am
2/20/2017 10:37am
WOW I READ ON HERE THAT SUSZUKI MAKE ALL NEW BIKES NEXT YEAR I HOAP THAT MEAN A NEW RM85. I THINK IT ALREADY THE FASTIST 85 I ALMOST GET TO BIG FOR MINE. ONE GUY TELLED ME ABOUT THE RM100 THAT HE SAYS THE RARIST SUSZUKI THEY EVER MAKE.
JWACK
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JWACK 2/20/2017 10:40am
2/20/2017 10:40am
tylermx967 wrote:
WOW I READ ON HERE THAT SUSZUKI MAKE ALL NEW BIKES NEXT YEAR I HOAP THAT MEAN A NEW RM85. I THINK IT ALREADY THE FASTIST...
WOW I READ ON HERE THAT SUSZUKI MAKE ALL NEW BIKES NEXT YEAR I HOAP THAT MEAN A NEW RM85. I THINK IT ALREADY THE FASTIST 85 I ALMOST GET TO BIG FOR MINE. ONE GUY TELLED ME ABOUT THE RM100 THAT HE SAYS THE RARIST SUSZUKI THEY EVER MAKE.
I'm sorry Ty. This is going to be rough but, What if we told you that an RM100 was a yellow Kawasaki?
hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 2/20/2017 10:44am
2/20/2017 10:44am
brocsdad
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brocsdad 2/20/2017 12:07pm
2/20/2017 12:07pm Edited Date/Time 2/20/2017 12:08pm
Tracktor wrote:
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my...
Ktm 85's are the best mini out there. Yeah they have their issues but notnearly like any of the rest. We tried all colors with my older boy a few years ago and settled on blue. My younger boy just moved up so i bought a new KX to try. Poor handling and impossible to work on. The forks are crap even the 2003 Yz forks are more advanced. No removeable subframe and it takes an act if god to change a top end.
Sold it and bought a Ktm. From first ride he was faster and happier. Easy to work on. Top ends take under an hour. Bottom ends are easy also. Fast & smooth right out of the box.
I get wanting to be done with KTM after minis but they have the 65 & 85's figured out from my experience.......
mjr119 wrote:
What would be slowing you down on the top end of the Jap bikes?
Tracktor wrote:
The YZs were cake. The KX is a total pain. You have to remove the head stays, radiator, electronics,etc to even get to the barrel (...
The YZs were cake. The KX is a total pain. You have to remove the head stays, radiator, electronics,etc to even get to the barrel ( going from memory here). Everything is so packed in there you cant work. Just look at a KX vs the KTM/Husky and you will see what i mean. .....
The KX is harder to work on and the suspension does not offer the adjustability of the KTM. I will agree with that but the KX handles way better and offers more stability than the KTM. It is also cheaper and they offer Team Green Support where support at KTM is non-existent.

You are not going to lose a race because you are riding a Kawasaki.

Though the RM is dated the bike can still win. Crocket Myers pulled a huge holeshot at Loretta's on his RM and finished 2nd in the nation behind Jeff Reynolds on the Kawi.


kzizok
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kzizok 2/20/2017 12:17pm
2/20/2017 12:17pm
Funny, everybody's experiences can be so different. I liked the Yamaha 85's the best, but my son didnt gel with it. He liked the Kawasakis but I wasnt thrilled about it. But, besides the common nikasil issue, they were bullet proof and didnt lack in the hp dept to any of them (before the new gen KTMS). I also liked the ease of buying the 100 as OEM. Man, I could work on those things with my eyes closed.
Question
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Question 2/20/2017 12:31pm
2/20/2017 12:31pm
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good amount of cash, pick 3 or 5 really fast riders, then go for your big shopping with the people you feel the best. You will get 2 bikes that are rebuilt every 5 or 10 hours and tons of parts and gears. The kid will love it! That can be an economical way to go fast.
mjr119 2/20/2017 12:47pm
2/20/2017 12:47pm
Question wrote:
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good...
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good amount of cash, pick 3 or 5 really fast riders, then go for your big shopping with the people you feel the best. You will get 2 bikes that are rebuilt every 5 or 10 hours and tons of parts and gears. The kid will love it! That can be an economical way to go fast.
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike. Get a full tilt supermini for a little more than a stock one!

hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 2/20/2017 12:50pm
2/20/2017 12:50pm
Question wrote:
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good...
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good amount of cash, pick 3 or 5 really fast riders, then go for your big shopping with the people you feel the best. You will get 2 bikes that are rebuilt every 5 or 10 hours and tons of parts and gears. The kid will love it! That can be an economical way to go fast.
mjr119 wrote:
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike...
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike. Get a full tilt supermini for a little more than a stock one!

Can someone explain to me how this claiming thing works? I've heard it explained a few different ways and I was never fast enough to go race any of the big races where this would have been done.

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Question
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Question 2/20/2017 1:02pm
2/20/2017 1:02pm
Question wrote:
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good...
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good amount of cash, pick 3 or 5 really fast riders, then go for your big shopping with the people you feel the best. You will get 2 bikes that are rebuilt every 5 or 10 hours and tons of parts and gears. The kid will love it! That can be an economical way to go fast.
mjr119 wrote:
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike...
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike. Get a full tilt supermini for a little more than a stock one!

True! But if I were a dad willing to buy bike, I would avoid controversy lol. Also, a 1 or 2 weeks kid exchange to ride all the tracks in your area then his area can be a way to improve very quickly, as a mini mentor, and more importantly that can help him to potentially have a life long friend and someone to look up as a teen. That is why it can be important to find the right people, more Dungey than J law ! Laughing
chump6784
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chump6784 2/20/2017 1:03pm
2/20/2017 1:03pm
I cant understand why none of the jap companies invest in mini's like ktm. Now that I'm back in the racing scene with a kid on a ktm 50, the amount of other parents I have talked to that can't wait for their kid to be off ktm's is crazy.

I don't know about the rest of the world but over here a ktm 65 is $1000 dearer than the kx 65 and the ktm 85 is $1700 dearer than the yz 85, list price. Still, the mini gates are a sea of orange and white. People are spending the money on the latest bikes.

If a jap company released a fast 50 today our ktm would be gone tomorrow. Same goes with the 65 class.

Before ktm came along there probably wasn't much incentive for the other mfg's to keep updating their bikes but now with the premium price of the ktm's you would think there would be some incentive to jump back in and steal some sales
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bsharkey 2/20/2017 1:56pm
2/20/2017 1:56pm Edited Date/Time 2/20/2017 2:00pm
Question wrote:
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good...
The best advice I can give you, if you are in the budget to buy a new bike, is to go to LL with a good amount of cash, pick 3 or 5 really fast riders, then go for your big shopping with the people you feel the best. You will get 2 bikes that are rebuilt every 5 or 10 hours and tons of parts and gears. The kid will love it! That can be an economical way to go fast.
mjr119 wrote:
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike...
OR you can get fast enough to make it to LL. Go there. Protest the top rider in your class and try to claim his bike. Get a full tilt supermini for a little more than a stock one!

hvaughn88 wrote:
Can someone explain to me how this claiming thing works? I've heard it explained a few different ways and I was never fast enough to go...
Can someone explain to me how this claiming thing works? I've heard it explained a few different ways and I was never fast enough to go race any of the big races where this would have been done.
its a unwritten rule that NO ONE does. they all stretch or cheat the rules as much as possible. plus you have to strictly say which part is illegal not just say "the motor"
C-Rock
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C-Rock 2/20/2017 2:17pm
2/20/2017 2:17pm
Heard from good euro sources there actually IS a new RM85 in testing phases...
No clue yet if it'll be a 2018 or 2019.
Moto331
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Moto331 2/20/2017 2:54pm
2/20/2017 2:54pm
(Clear throat) *80..
brocsdad
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brocsdad 2/20/2017 2:57pm
2/20/2017 2:57pm
C-Rock wrote:
Heard from good euro sources there actually IS a new RM85 in testing phases...
No clue yet if it'll be a 2018 or 2019.
What about the new RM 125?

Europe has been modding the RM 85's for some time with new plastic, exotic pipes. I even saw a kit with an aluminum frame somewhere.
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rrjr 2/20/2017 3:20pm
2/20/2017 3:20pm
GuyB wrote:
http://www.vitalmx.com/news/press-release/We-want-YOU-Suzuki-now-Enlist…
kzizok wrote:
Very interesting and surprising, in a good way. Things are beginning to fall in line as it appears some rumors (125) may be getting real teeth...
Very interesting and surprising, in a good way. Things are beginning to fall in line as it appears some rumors (125) may be getting real teeth to them.


Fail
mx836
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mx836 2/20/2017 4:19pm
2/20/2017 4:19pm Edited Date/Time 2/20/2017 4:23pm
bsharkey wrote:
its a unwritten rule that NO ONE does. they all stretch or cheat the rules as much as possible. plus you have to strictly say which...
its a unwritten rule that NO ONE does. they all stretch or cheat the rules as much as possible. plus you have to strictly say which part is illegal not just say "the motor"
Claiming a bike has nothing to do with stating if you think a motor is modified. That is a protest. Completely different.

The claiming rule is to prevent people from spending a ton of money and having an unfair advantage. I don't recall exactly what it takes money wise to claim a bike. It's all in the rule book.
malachi177
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malachi177 2/20/2017 4:32pm
2/20/2017 4:32pm
My son raced an RM85 for four years. Fast, reliable as hell and he still says it was the best cornering bike he's ever rode. Only issue we had was the impellor seal going and getting some coolant into the gear box. Super easy fix though. We also ran the Boyesen super cooler kit and the bike never once over heated.
Aceofspades 2/20/2017 5:20pm
2/20/2017 5:20pm
hvaughn88 wrote:
(patiently waiting for Tyler)
I CANT WATE TO HEAR FORM HIM!

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