Making an RM 85 competitive

NSP139
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NSP139 6/15/2021 3:52pm
6/15/2021 3:52pm
NSP139
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NSP139 6/15/2021 3:54pm
6/15/2021 3:54pm
NITRODOG wrote:
Talk to Bill or Jeff at Bill's Pipe, they can make that thing sing!
Jeff did one of our bikes it was a rocket ship Dean's Motors at R&D we're a little quicker
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luke11
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luke11 6/16/2021 5:05am
6/16/2021 5:05am
It’s not the bike, put the kid whos winnning his races on his bike and he would still win.
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Thisusernameisavailable 6/16/2021 5:47am
6/16/2021 5:47am
The kid has raced 9 times and you think the bike is holding him back?? Right....

The sad thing is, you will only find out its not about the bike AFTER you've bought one and he's still finishing in the same position.

The KTM is without doubt a better bike than the RM, but it won't turn a Novice in to an expert.
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UpTiTe 6/16/2021 9:00am
6/16/2021 9:00am
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique and good habits on the bike.
5
NITRODOG
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NITRODOG 6/16/2021 9:05am
6/16/2021 9:05am
NITRODOG wrote:
Talk to Bill or Jeff at Bill's Pipe, they can make that thing sing!
NSP139 wrote:
Jeff did one of our bikes it was a rocket ship Dean's Motors at R&D we're a little quicker
yes, Dean is awesome on them also.....Bill did a RM Supermini for Mike Metzger years ago...Be cool to find it.
piscokid
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piscokid 6/16/2021 9:57am
6/16/2021 9:57am Edited Date/Time 6/16/2021 9:58am
luke11 wrote:
It’s not the bike, put the kid whos winnning his races on his bike and he would still win.
As evidence, we raced Redbud this past weekend for our RQ. We watched kids on 125's in the top 5 in a couple of the 250 classes. Granted, they were the 250c limited and 250c limited Jr, but still, if HP was the only factor, the 125 kids wouldn't have stood a chance in the deep stuff at Redbud
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NSP139
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NSP139 6/16/2021 10:09am
6/16/2021 10:09am
NITRODOG wrote:
Talk to Bill or Jeff at Bill's Pipe, they can make that thing sing!
NSP139 wrote:
Jeff did one of our bikes it was a rocket ship Dean's Motors at R&D we're a little quicker
NITRODOG wrote:
yes, Dean is awesome on them also.....Bill did a RM Supermini for Mike Metzger years ago...Be cool to find it.
That would be an awesome find Bill and Jeff always do amazing work!
Hammer 663s
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Hammer 663s 6/16/2021 10:39am
6/16/2021 10:39am Edited Date/Time 6/16/2021 10:44am
UpTiTe wrote:
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique...
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique and good habits on the bike.
That's what we did on the KX85. When he got fast on that, we bumped it to a 105. He got 4 top 3 starts last weekend (in 4 motos) on a 20 rider supermini gate, many of whom were on Austrian hardware. Those starts were due to comfort and confidence in the bike, and good technique. Some of it was due to a motor that rips pretty good tho.

The gap between him and the 4-5 local kids that are REALLY fast has nothing to do with the bike.

Hammer 663s
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peelout
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peelout 6/16/2021 11:35am
6/16/2021 11:35am
sell it and get a KTM or Husky
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UpTiTe 6/16/2021 12:27pm
6/16/2021 12:27pm
UpTiTe wrote:
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique...
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique and good habits on the bike.
Hammer 663s wrote:
That's what we did on the KX85. When he got fast on that, we bumped it to a 105. He got 4 top 3 starts last...
That's what we did on the KX85. When he got fast on that, we bumped it to a 105. He got 4 top 3 starts last weekend (in 4 motos) on a 20 rider supermini gate, many of whom were on Austrian hardware. Those starts were due to comfort and confidence in the bike, and good technique. Some of it was due to a motor that rips pretty good tho.

The gap between him and the 4-5 local kids that are REALLY fast has nothing to do with the bike.

Hammer 663s
There’s something to say about a bike you’re comfortable on. Broc Glover told me the reason he went so fast on his 490, was that he knew exactly what that bike would do on every bump it hit.
4
dadofagun
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dadofagun 6/16/2021 2:36pm
6/16/2021 2:36pm
UpTiTe wrote:
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique...
If it’s my son, I’m jetting the bike right, spring and valve for his weight and doing the best I can to teach him nice technique and good habits on the bike.
Hammer 663s wrote:
That's what we did on the KX85. When he got fast on that, we bumped it to a 105. He got 4 top 3 starts last...
That's what we did on the KX85. When he got fast on that, we bumped it to a 105. He got 4 top 3 starts last weekend (in 4 motos) on a 20 rider supermini gate, many of whom were on Austrian hardware. Those starts were due to comfort and confidence in the bike, and good technique. Some of it was due to a motor that rips pretty good tho.

The gap between him and the 4-5 local kids that are REALLY fast has nothing to do with the bike.

Hammer 663s
UpTiTe wrote:
There’s something to say about a bike you’re comfortable on. Broc Glover told me the reason he went so fast on his 490, was that he...
There’s something to say about a bike you’re comfortable on. Broc Glover told me the reason he went so fast on his 490, was that he knew exactly what that bike would do on every bump it hit.
Yes Sir. And he and that old Maytag whipped up on Bailey, and his full works HRC CR 500 one summer, along with everyone else. So cool to hear that old pinging bastard running around the track, but funny to see what was chasing him, looked to be built by NASA.....
2
Mr. Afterbar
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Mr. Afterbar 6/16/2021 3:24pm
6/16/2021 3:24pm
How to make a RM85 competitive. Remove from crate. Add fuel.
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kage173
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kage173 6/16/2021 6:49pm
6/16/2021 6:49pm Edited Date/Time 6/16/2021 6:51pm
I feel for the op. You want your son to have a fighting chance but this moto thing is expensive and you want to be financially responsible. But dumping $ into a Suzuki isn't responsible and won't give him a fighting chance.

Let him keep riding ut as is. It'll build character and teach him the value of a dollar. Mean time save up for that KX 100
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JoePit
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JoePit 6/17/2021 9:23am
6/17/2021 9:23am
Need video of your boy riding. If he's not railing that it won't matter what you put him in or how much money you dump into your motor.
Spudnut
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Spudnut 6/17/2021 9:43am
6/17/2021 9:43am
Keep throwing money at it, no way in hell it could be the rider!!
2
Bennett59
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Bennett59 6/17/2021 9:45pm
6/17/2021 9:45pm
RGaede wrote:
I don't have any personal experience with the rm frames, but the Suzuki service rep did. He said it was common mainly because the forks would...
I don't have any personal experience with the rm frames, but the Suzuki service rep did. He said it was common mainly because the forks would be installed in the plastic for 19" front wheels on the 17" wheeled model. Part of his dealer inspections was to make sure any 17" rm 85s had the forks installed correctly. Potentially fast kids could make the problem worse where it would pop up on correctly built bikes, i would think at least.
My brother raced them in the supermini class a few years ago, we had frames crack but that happens almost on any of the bikes we’ve ran, we had more issues with bending axles. We had a built R&D motor we liked the bills pipe but we had to run fmf. There at a slight disadvantage just makes you have to carry more speed and ride it harder.

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