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Yeah, but nobody but Kenny and top pros need that much power. It still makes as much peak hp as the Honda and within 1 hp of the KTM and GasGas according to MXA'a dyno. It is at the bottom of the list for torque, but its a 450 so no worries.
out of the box no its not the best.Its certainly the least refined and ready to go but it has the foundation to be awesome.
really the production bike just needs a better shock, a hc piston and electric start to catch up.
the 2009 Rockstar Makita Suzuki....
Reed and RC both said that bike was the best bike they raced and handled like a scared rabbit.
Most people say the current gen is actually worse than the previous gen, or at least that's what they said in shootouts when it came out. Suzuki overhauled the chassis on the current gen which was already good, rather than the engine which was where they were lacking
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Not relevant to 99.999% of RM-Z 450s buyers. Unless you think the average B/C rider has skills equivalent to Reed or RC. In which case, you may be a candidate for mandatory institutionalization.
ohhh my bad... So, Its like the B/C class guys who turn up to race days with Ohlins suspension and all the goodies on their bike. 99.999% not relevant or needed for their skills set and most of them should be a candidate for mandatory institutionalization.
The point of manufacturing a motorcycle is to sell it, nothing more. If you have to discount it $2000 or more from an already inexpensive platform to accomplish that goal then I would say no, it is not successful. If you are 14 yrs old and see it winning races while being heavily modified and being ridden by one of the best of all time you may think it is the greatest bike ever though, much like you may think Captain Crunch and Pop Tarts is the greatest breakfast ever.
The shoot outs said it needs "updates" and not worth mentioning anymore.
Best of all time? Kenny has never won a 450 SX championship and he is on a team that is only a few years old and has never won any championships at all. It is not a factory team and is probably the least modified bike in the top 5.
Pipes team has been around since 2018 or so. Other than boutique brands no 450 sells as poorly or is as deeply discounted to even sell the few they do as Suzuki, hardly a success story. By hiring a great rider and modifying it can result in the machine winning for sure, but it appears this can be accomplished by any brand.
The 14 RMZ450 performed the best off-road over any other bike I’ve owned. If only it had the newer 18+ spring forks over the dreaded SFF. Still think the shock was better than the BFRC found on the current gen RMZ450
Must get some serious hours out in the bush with that rig's stock tank.
….or is it that Ken Roczen is the best RM-Z450 rider ever?
I've ridden/raced Suzukis since the 80's. Still have 6 of them (at one point I had 12 RM125s in the garage).
But getting older and having multiple knee surgeries I just couldn't get my leg on that super long kicker anymore. I had to reluctantly switch to a button brand.
I would love it if they would re-design, lose some weight, and add the button. There is such a huge Suzuki following lingering around out there waiting for this to happen. I'm starting to think it's like waiting for the Browns to go to the Super Bowl.
Except Kawasaki.
Pretty certain Kawasaki was the World Champion last year.
You can really detune the yzf with your phone if you like going full throttle all the time. How do you tune the RMZ, do they still use couplers?
I rode an RMZ of this gen a few years ago that was tastefully modded and still refer to it as my favorite 450 I’ve ridden. Such a forgiving chassis and engine, but more than capable for 99.9% of riders.
I have an old Factory Suzuki GNCC 450 engine sitting in my garage, I’ve thought about piecing together the “ultimate” RMZ with it, I don’t have it all off the top of my head, but I know from 2008-2017 the chassis looked similar, but some had different gussets throughout the frame which translated to a stiffer chassis feel. I think the 08-12 is the preferred chassis for “comfort”.
Pit Row
Suzuki had a hell of an offroad program at one time, didn't they? Murderers row of champions.
WiFi App by GET. Similar to Yamaha's
I'm a pretty big fan of the RMZ just the way it is. Sure, they're little dated but, they're a good, dependable, user-friendly bike. Not to mention the fact that you can catch them pretty often for 6000-7000 new.
Yeah, comes with 3 couplers and their tuner, which really isn't that hard to use. Of course it's not as simple as connecting your phone like a YZ, you have to plug connect their box to the bike and a batttery, but not hard to create 3 maps and then just plug them in as wanted.
The RMZ has had a phone tuner app for many years now.
If its the same as the 22 I had, you still had to have couplers and the relay box and then you would make changes via the phone app. Again, not that complicated but also not as simple as other systems.
It needs a button. Tech these days are so light and reliable it wouldnt take much for Suzuki to knock it out. Given it hasnt changed much in nearly 20yrs serious riders and pro teams have a massive base or predictable development to be competitive.
Imo, if it had a button, lots of the soon to be ex husky riders would jump on one.
Suzuki has given up on this bike
Yes, actually ride up to 40 miles up in Wrightwood on the stocker. On occasion would need to rely on an extra water bottle full of fuel to make the loop. Just an all around great bike for track & trails.
I hope that this creates a bit of a change in mindset where the mfg’s dont think they HAVE to change the bike just to change it. Like when ktm went from the previous gen to the new gen, by all accounts the previous bike was near perfect and its taken a while just to get back to baseline.
On top of that though I think engineering wise were also at a point where you cant get as huge advancements each generation as you could 10 years ago. The high revving, race, off road 4 stroke is a mature platform now like the 2 stroke was at the end of its race life. The motogp stuff has basically all been brought over by this point into mx.. fingers followers, downdraft intake, centerport exhaust, dlc coatings..etc. Its hard to jump as far each gen now so maybe they can not have to change as much.
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