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4/1/2008
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US
Xracer
12/31/2017 9:32am
12/31/2017 9:32am
The thread about the broken RM250 swingarm, coupled with the VMX Pastrana feature this week got me thinking...how is Pastrana keeping those RM250's healthy? The bike hasn't been made in 10 years...aren't parts getting sparse? As someone mentioned, steel and aluminum have a finite number of flex cycles, and there's probably nobody on earth flexing and cycling an RM250 like Pastrana. I have a relative in San Diego who commuted to work 26 miles each way on a bicycle for years, then did 100-mile rides with buddies on weekends. He was pedaling along on flat ground one night on his way home and his frame snapped between the crank and rear wheel. Perfectly clean break, nowhere near a weld. It was bizarre to me but he was nonchalant...said in his world of high-mileage bike riders it was fairly common.
The Shop
You're probably thinking of brand new 2008 RMs that collected dust at various dealers a few years after they stopped production. I think the last RM 250 in Finland got sold in 2010 or 2011 (left over 2008 RM 250).
Speaking of RM parts.....I would pay money just to walk through Travis's or RC's shop. I know RC has a big pile of parts as well , or at least did.
I had a 2007 RM 250 2 years ago(you can find it here on Vitals bike check). I regret that i sold it. Good bike indeed, but far off the latest gen KTM.
I'll tell you what bums me out a bit when I think back on it....I jumped on the 4 stroke train in 2002 when that CRF450 came out. I rode those until 2005 and then got hurt real bad , and stepped away from the sport for 6 years. I kick myself for not getting back into it sooner , but kick myself even harder for not trying one of those 03' - 08' RM 250's. I really think I would of fallen in love with one back then. By the time I came back ( In 2011 ) I didn't know anything about them. Until 3 years ago when I picked mine up , and after the first day of riding it I said " SHIT!!......why the hell didn't I try one of these before!!??"
That RM is what not only got me stuck on those , but back on 2 strokes in general. It's all I want to ride any more.
Pit Row
https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/suzuki/motorcycle/2006/rm250
The bike is so good I put a KX500 into one of mine instead of going the af conversion route.
Set the suspension up, add a pipe, bars, pegs, and seat to fit YOU right. Hard to beat fun factor of it unless you are riding fast trails. Then stuff a 500 in it and run more sag.
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