Posts
8
Joined
6/18/2025
Location
Hammonton, NJ
US
Whats up guys
Just scooped up this 88RM250. Got it off marketplace for 300 and the rolling lift jack stand. Had little to no compression but did turn over. Was told it was a 87, but after running the vin and checking some differences in frames, I figured out it is a 88. Going to be doing a restoration build on this bike. Turns out it is almost a 1 year bike so parts are looking tougher to find, but not impossible. Will be sending the cylinder out to get cleaned up and resurfaced. Thats where I will start and keep posting updates from there! 
Definitely an 88, many 1 year only parts, like seat, gas tank, rad shrouds….keep an eye on powervalve parts, they like to snap off and drop into top end…transmissions gears were very soft, and new gears are non existent …I would do a full teardown and assessment before committing to the project….cool find! This was mine when I brought it home 11 years ago….many parts were still avafrom Suzuki back then, I ordered all oem plastics from Suzuki, now NLA..
Sand man. You bike is clean bro! Looks like a solid base for a resto
Well guys was able to tear the motor apart. Everything in the bottom end looks solid. I didnt split the cases yet. Connecting rod has no up and down play and the crank seals look fairly new. Clutch looks like someoke replaced it not too long ago as well. Cylinder is going to be sent out to see if it can get fixed. I may just scoop up a different used one thats a little cleaner on the outside. Mine is fairly rough. Anyway here are some pics
Great bikes in the day,please keep the updates coming.
I picked up a '88 recently as well. Have not decided if I want to keep it or build at this point.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/bike-builds/1988-suzuki-rm250-out-storage-after-29-years
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Keith, just checked yours out! Alot cleaner than mine. But also i did find a site that makes pipe for these bikes still. Didnt take long to google it. Might be worth some research for you. But you should totally build it. With the 88 being pretty much a 1 year bike, restoring it would be a awesome project
I have been collecting parts, just missed a Pro Circuit pipe on ebay last week ;-(
Stay away from FullFloater.com parts wise as never got parts ordered and had to file a dispute with my CC company.
I did find one company that will build a pipe, just not sure if I want to go that route or fix the pipe I have myself.
Awesome find! I resto'd one a few years back as I love the Blue motor era Suzuki's. The 88 is a pain in the ass to do, very hard to find one year parts. I had to send off to get my gears shaped and the swing arm was cracked as most are. I had a local welder do it and it turned out fine. I was fortunate enough to grab NOS plastics while they were still available from Suzuki. Bike ripped when I was done with it and alot of fun. Ended up selling it after a while, and then started another project...😁. Ask away for any info and would be glad to help. I even remember asking "sandman" a few things while I did mine. Enjoy
Wow. Thats a beautiful bike scorps. Hoping mine will turn out that good. Have a break in my race season after this weekend so hopefully will tear back into this thing!
Here's a link to my build. Explained some of the issues I had. The last page has a link to video that you can hear it 🙂
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Bike-Builds,46/88-RM250-Rebuild,1355359?…
Sandman you always do nice work!! 👍
Here’s one a mate just saved![]()
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