Just picked up a 2018 Rmz 450 w 1 hour, suggested mods?

stone881
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stone881
Edited Date/Time 6/15/2022 9:40pm
As the title says, had to add another bike, the price was to good to pass up.

I know that there were a lot of suggestions on the mods for these bikes. But since it has been a number of years, was hoping that I could get some updated suggestions from guys who have been riding these for the last few years.

Is the longer linkage, re-valve and exhaust still the consensus for bare minimum mods?
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McG194
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McG194 6/6/2022 12:29pm
6/6/2022 12:29pm
Squats, leg curls, leg extensions.
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Cayden Thompson 6/6/2022 12:37pm
6/6/2022 12:37pm
Def a revalve and that's it. Not worth putting more money into the bike IMO.
How much did you pick it up for if you don't mind me askin?
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kNewc
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kNewc 6/6/2022 12:41pm
6/6/2022 12:41pm
A Yoshi pipe and graphics.
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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 6/6/2022 12:44pm
6/6/2022 12:44pm
Play with suspension and adjust it to get it as good as you can/then decide what you want to do as far as revalving (Had an FC revalved stock shock & fork...loved it!).

Ran a Yosh pipe, VP T4 and the White ECU plug.

Enjoy
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stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 12:51pm
6/6/2022 12:51pm
Cayden Thompson wrote:
Def a revalve and that's it. Not worth putting more money into the bike IMO. How much did you pick it up for if you don't...
Def a revalve and that's it. Not worth putting more money into the bike IMO.
How much did you pick it up for if you don't mind me askin?
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stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 12:51pm
6/6/2022 12:51pm
McG194 wrote:
Squats, leg curls, leg extensions.
Check, what else you got?
stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 12:53pm
6/6/2022 12:53pm
TeamGreen wrote:
Play with suspension and adjust it to get it as good as you can/then decide what you want to do as far as revalving (Had an...
Play with suspension and adjust it to get it as good as you can/then decide what you want to do as far as revalving (Had an FC revalved stock shock & fork...loved it!).

Ran a Yosh pipe, VP T4 and the White ECU plug.

Enjoy
Did you test the longer linkage arm?

I think I saw that FC stayed with the stock length, but PC and some other tuners went longer.
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GrapeApe 6/6/2022 1:00pm
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Once the '23s hit the dealers you will likely be able to find a deal on a zero-hour Yosh SS full system
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suspensionguy
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suspensionguy 6/6/2022 1:19pm
6/6/2022 1:19pm
Love my 19’. Here’s what I did

Use the kawi chassis torque specs, Suzuki’s specs are pretty tight and transfers to the chassis feel/rigidity IMO. I always take bikes down to the chassis when I get them, new and used, to grease and torque everything, blue loc-tite.

Revalve it, she’s valved stiffer then the cr and kx(same forks) rmz250 shock if you have it in the budget($500)

I have motor mounts and pc link on mine and love the way it handles.

Turn the idle up a few clicks to decrease engine breaking and help reduce any chance of flame out.

I like the stock and rich/mud mapping. The lean is too much tire spin, more bark then bite.
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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 6/6/2022 1:27pm
6/6/2022 1:27pm
TeamGreen wrote:
Play with suspension and adjust it to get it as good as you can/then decide what you want to do as far as revalving (Had an...
Play with suspension and adjust it to get it as good as you can/then decide what you want to do as far as revalving (Had an FC revalved stock shock & fork...loved it!).

Ran a Yosh pipe, VP T4 and the White ECU plug.

Enjoy
stone881 wrote:
Did you test the longer linkage arm?

I think I saw that FC stayed with the stock length, but PC and some other tuners went longer.
Ran the Stk Linkage per FC
Had too much fun on that bike (the Vital MX 2018 Shootout bike).
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stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 1:35pm
6/6/2022 1:35pm
suspensionguy wrote:
Love my 19’. Here’s what I did Use the kawi chassis torque specs, Suzuki’s specs are pretty tight and transfers to the chassis feel/rigidity IMO. I...
Love my 19’. Here’s what I did

Use the kawi chassis torque specs, Suzuki’s specs are pretty tight and transfers to the chassis feel/rigidity IMO. I always take bikes down to the chassis when I get them, new and used, to grease and torque everything, blue loc-tite.

Revalve it, she’s valved stiffer then the cr and kx(same forks) rmz250 shock if you have it in the budget($500)

I have motor mounts and pc link on mine and love the way it handles.

Turn the idle up a few clicks to decrease engine breaking and help reduce any chance of flame out.

I like the stock and rich/mud mapping. The lean is too much tire spin, more bark then bite.
Thanks for the tips!
Rotaholic
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Rotaholic 6/6/2022 2:07pm
6/6/2022 2:07pm Edited Date/Time 6/6/2022 2:08pm
Respring and revalved is a must, KYB rmz250 shock if you can afford it. Kroozetune do the cheapest lowering link and it is 4 way adjustable. Over tighten the steering stem to stop it from being twitchy, run the wheel as far back in the swing arm as you can for stability. A slip on does wonders for the rmz, drops a heap of weight really wakes the motor up. A RM250 filter cage or cut out the backfire screen. A vortex ECU will make the bike absolutely rip, see if you can find a second hand one.
Works connection clutch perch. If you need to soften the chassis you can remove 1 bolt from each top engine hanger.
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stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 2:38pm
6/6/2022 2:38pm
Rotaholic wrote:
Respring and revalved is a must, KYB rmz250 shock if you can afford it. Kroozetune do the cheapest lowering link and it is 4 way adjustable...
Respring and revalved is a must, KYB rmz250 shock if you can afford it. Kroozetune do the cheapest lowering link and it is 4 way adjustable. Over tighten the steering stem to stop it from being twitchy, run the wheel as far back in the swing arm as you can for stability. A slip on does wonders for the rmz, drops a heap of weight really wakes the motor up. A RM250 filter cage or cut out the backfire screen. A vortex ECU will make the bike absolutely rip, see if you can find a second hand one.
Works connection clutch perch. If you need to soften the chassis you can remove 1 bolt from each top engine hanger.
CHeers!
McG194
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McG194 6/6/2022 2:43pm
6/6/2022 2:43pm
McG194 wrote:
Squats, leg curls, leg extensions.
stone881 wrote:
Check, what else you got?
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If I didn't race Hare Scrambles a Suzuki would definitely be on my short list. My problem is we go from a dead engine start and worse than that when I crash I automatically revert to two stroke life and slap at the kickstarter and wear myself out.
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stone881
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stone881 6/6/2022 3:03pm
6/6/2022 3:03pm
McG194 wrote:
Squats, leg curls, leg extensions.
stone881 wrote:
Check, what else you got?
McG194 wrote:
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If...
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If I didn't race Hare Scrambles a Suzuki would definitely be on my short list. My problem is we go from a dead engine start and worse than that when I crash I automatically revert to two stroke life and slap at the kickstarter and wear myself out.
Haha, no worries. I had a Yz 400 back in the day, so this bike certainly can't be harder to start or heavier!
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suspensionguy
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suspensionguy 6/6/2022 3:16pm
6/6/2022 3:16pm
McG194 wrote:
Squats, leg curls, leg extensions.
stone881 wrote:
Check, what else you got?
McG194 wrote:
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If...
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If I didn't race Hare Scrambles a Suzuki would definitely be on my short list. My problem is we go from a dead engine start and worse than that when I crash I automatically revert to two stroke life and slap at the kickstarter and wear myself out.
I’ve raced scrambles, and GP’s on my rmz. Was able to podium in the A class Kickstarter and all. For dead engine starts kick starts are where it’s at, most of the time they fire quicker. And they restart first kick if you happen to stall it. IMS makes a tank. They are extremely reliable, well handling and predictable bikes so they actually make into killer off-road’ers.
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Ted722
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Ted722 6/6/2022 3:48pm
6/6/2022 3:48pm
I went the Ride link route on stock suspension for a long time. I could run somewhat normal sag settings and just liked the overall feel vs stock link.

Go with your favorite front tire asap.

When it came time to re-valve/re-spring the suspension, went the RMZ250 shock route and had a local tuner (Roth Racing) re-valve / re-spring the fork. Overall, it's much more confidence inspiring. I still run the Ride link with with the new shock.

Exhaust? Certainly helps the power delivery, but I wouldn't call it a bare minimum mod for an amateur. Bike has plenty power stock. My Yoshimura just makes everything a little better (including high rpm). Find one 2nd hand.

I still enjoy riding my '18 and I'm sure you will too. Congrats!

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stone881
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stone881 6/7/2022 6:07am
6/7/2022 6:07am
Ted722 wrote:
I went the Ride link route on stock suspension for a long time. I could run somewhat normal sag settings and just liked the overall feel...
I went the Ride link route on stock suspension for a long time. I could run somewhat normal sag settings and just liked the overall feel vs stock link.

Go with your favorite front tire asap.

When it came time to re-valve/re-spring the suspension, went the RMZ250 shock route and had a local tuner (Roth Racing) re-valve / re-spring the fork. Overall, it's much more confidence inspiring. I still run the Ride link with with the new shock.

Exhaust? Certainly helps the power delivery, but I wouldn't call it a bare minimum mod for an amateur. Bike has plenty power stock. My Yoshimura just makes everything a little better (including high rpm). Find one 2nd hand.

I still enjoy riding my '18 and I'm sure you will too. Congrats!

Thanks for the feed back!

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Rickyisms
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Rickyisms 6/7/2022 6:16am
6/7/2022 6:16am
stone881 wrote:
Check, what else you got?
McG194 wrote:
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If...
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If I didn't race Hare Scrambles a Suzuki would definitely be on my short list. My problem is we go from a dead engine start and worse than that when I crash I automatically revert to two stroke life and slap at the kickstarter and wear myself out.
suspensionguy wrote:
I’ve raced scrambles, and GP’s on my rmz. Was able to podium in the A class Kickstarter and all. For dead engine starts kick starts are...
I’ve raced scrambles, and GP’s on my rmz. Was able to podium in the A class Kickstarter and all. For dead engine starts kick starts are where it’s at, most of the time they fire quicker. And they restart first kick if you happen to stall it. IMS makes a tank. They are extremely reliable, well handling and predictable bikes so they actually make into killer off-road’ers.
One of our local AA guys raced an RMZ for a year or two and laid it to everyone else almost every race.
1
yz133rider
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yz133rider 6/7/2022 6:19am
6/7/2022 6:19am
Two best changes I made to mine were removing the judder springs in the clutch, and installing a ride engineering front brake caliper with cm46 brake pads.

The stock clutch dragged even fully pulled in, enough to cause stalling under heavy braking, and the stock brakes suck.

Those two changes made a massive difference.
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McG194
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McG194 6/7/2022 6:42am
6/7/2022 6:42am
McG194 wrote:
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If...
Sorry, it was low hanging fruit. I actually don't hate the bike and 99.9% of us cannot use the bike to its potential myself included. If I didn't race Hare Scrambles a Suzuki would definitely be on my short list. My problem is we go from a dead engine start and worse than that when I crash I automatically revert to two stroke life and slap at the kickstarter and wear myself out.
suspensionguy wrote:
I’ve raced scrambles, and GP’s on my rmz. Was able to podium in the A class Kickstarter and all. For dead engine starts kick starts are...
I’ve raced scrambles, and GP’s on my rmz. Was able to podium in the A class Kickstarter and all. For dead engine starts kick starts are where it’s at, most of the time they fire quicker. And they restart first kick if you happen to stall it. IMS makes a tank. They are extremely reliable, well handling and predictable bikes so they actually make into killer off-road’ers.
Rickyisms wrote:
One of our local AA guys raced an RMZ for a year or two and laid it to everyone else almost every race.
Yeah, that guy starts on the row behind me.

I start on the last line in the morning, and he starts on the first line in the afternoon. lol

I'm not saying you can't haul ass on one, I'm saying I can't. For some reason I lose my mind when I crash and it takes me forever to kick a bike to life. I either need to learn to stop crashing or calm myself down when I do.
Project 2501
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Project 2501 6/7/2022 6:49am
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I would add 99 more hours to it as a primary mod. That may spell out other areas you want to spend time/money. Plus the hour accumulation mod is pretty fun on a dirtbike.
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Steve125
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Steve125 6/7/2022 7:30am
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X-Trig bar mounts to soften up the chassis feel a bit.
Revalve / Respring to your ability and weight
Link
FMF System mostly to lose a little weight.
Dunlop Tires.. My18 came with Bridgestones I believe.
I also put a Rekluse Auto Clutch in mine so If I tipped over or locked up the rear wheel it wouldn't stall, causing me to be at a disadvantage trying to restart.
yz133rider
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yz133rider 6/7/2022 7:55am
6/7/2022 7:55am
Pirelli mx32 tires have the softest sidewall feel and make everything a bit plusher. 14psi front and rear. Also lighter than dunlops Or Bridgestone so an easy way to get a softer feel and lose 3 lbs or so.

Go to a 110 rear not the 120.
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 6/7/2022 8:29am
6/7/2022 8:29am
Run the Kawi torque specs on the engine mounts if you feel an issue with the chassis being to rigid.
Ride it a bit to break the suspension in and find out what you do and don’t like about it, then send it out to your tuner of choice to have it setup for you.
A slip on makes a massive difference and really wakes these bikes up like Rotaholic said.
The clutch can fade a bit easy, but I haven’t experimented with different clutches or springs to mess with it. It’s not enough to really mess with me.
They really are great bikes that received a reputation they don’t deserve. And even with a kickstarter, they start super easy.
Sandusky26
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Sandusky26 6/7/2022 1:59pm
6/7/2022 1:59pm
Ted722 wrote:
I went the Ride link route on stock suspension for a long time. I could run somewhat normal sag settings and just liked the overall feel...
I went the Ride link route on stock suspension for a long time. I could run somewhat normal sag settings and just liked the overall feel vs stock link.

Go with your favorite front tire asap.

When it came time to re-valve/re-spring the suspension, went the RMZ250 shock route and had a local tuner (Roth Racing) re-valve / re-spring the fork. Overall, it's much more confidence inspiring. I still run the Ride link with with the new shock.

Exhaust? Certainly helps the power delivery, but I wouldn't call it a bare minimum mod for an amateur. Bike has plenty power stock. My Yoshimura just makes everything a little better (including high rpm). Find one 2nd hand.

I still enjoy riding my '18 and I'm sure you will too. Congrats!

Did Roth revalve your 250 shock?
crc245
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crc245 6/7/2022 11:45pm
6/7/2022 11:45pm
Recently had the chance to spend some time on a 22' RM-Z450 and came away impressed. As others have mentioned, a few bare-bones are tires and shock revalve. Really think a Dunlop MX3S front and a 110/90-19 MX33 would've been the ticket for winter/spring SoCal testing. Rode our test bike last week after a RaceTech service/overhaul, and they did an excellent job with the BFRC. Didn't have the chance to play with gearing, but would be curious what long-time owners prefer...Would probably start with 14/52 and tinker from there. Tested an FMF assembly on our project bike, and would prefer either a Yosh or PC unit, personally. Lots of bark for a bike that already has good torque/bottom, but the increased dB's were instantly apparent (and I'm an earplug guy). Don't forget on your 18', I believe it had a one-year only stiffer shock spring. That can only increases balance issues, just to note it.

Congrats on the new scoot and enjoy!


Long form: https://www.dirtrider.com/story/tests/suzuki-rm-z450-review-2022/
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Rotaholic
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Rotaholic 6/8/2022 12:28am
6/8/2022 12:28am
Forgot to mention, you need to short shift it. Revving it out will go no where, it has a truck load of torque and bottom end. Lug it and you will be rewarded.
CPR
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CPR 6/8/2022 12:35am
6/8/2022 12:35am
Best looking bikes of the last decade in my opinion.


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