1981 rm 250

Online parts fishe (partzilla, RMMC...) show the stock jetting. Sites like fullfloater.com and vintage suzuki are also pretty good. Join the facebook vintage rm groups, there are some folks on there that can help also.
Funny I downloaded the old mx magazine articles on my 82 RM and yea the realization that we collectively didn't know much compared to today about what makes dirt bikes work is apparent.
Many parts are still available from Suzuki, some are priced ridiculous others are very reasonable. I've sourced most everything for my Georges Jobe replica now and plan to get cracking when the weather turns bad here.

Seems like the aftermarket parts suppliers are not as aggressive about Suzuki parts as they are for Hondas...but there are swingarm bearing/bushing kits, steering bearing kits that get rid of the stupid ball bearings, pistons from wossner... All the stuff not available from Suzuki. The usual suspects have all the suspension parts to overhaul and modernize the forks and shock.

Not 100% sure about 81's but the 82's apparently suffered from poor fuel flow due to a undersized fuel petcock and the fix was and is a Yamaha petcock. That and opening up the airbox or replacing it with a single sided box were the hot soup-ups of the day.

Seems RM parts don't fetch the same prices as some other brands on EBay if your patient you can get big stuff like tanks, seat bases... very reasonable.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Go to the search box & type in " 1981 rm250 slow build thread" I restored one not too long ago. I have the MXA magazine with the 81 RM updates in the thread, it mentions some jetting updates. If you cannot read the articles I can just list them for you. The biggest issues you will run into are worn out shock bodies, worn out NLA transmission gears and worn out main bearing pockets in the cases. Pull your mag cover off & grab your flywheel, if it moves up& down & side to side, it is likely the inserts that they used for the main bearing pockets are loose. They can be repaired, but you have to find a motorcycle specific machine shop and it will likely be more than you want to spend. I still have mine, I am a Suzuki RM collector...I had to have an 81 for my collection. Let see some photos of your bike!

Nice! The 81 was a great bike and pretty unique. It was the first RM250 with the Full Floater and the last air cooled model.

Lol! Yeah, I'm old.

I like mine......Put a 1984 RM500 Front end on it..43mm forks

I don't know about you but I always thought those full floaters worked really great. Maybe it's old man memory

if you ride it at over around 2,000 feet in elevation, the stock jetting will be a little too rich.