Ride Engineering Billet Clamp Set 22mm Offset

As testers across the board have said, the 2019 Suzuki RM-Z250 has a rigid chassis and unforgiving stock suspension. What some testers don’t agree with is if they can deal with this or not. As the one tester that put down the fastest lap times on the yellow bike in our 250F shootout, I like the bike overall and it really works well when a track is groomed and smooth… But what bike doesn’t? When the track gets rough, the stock KYB fork starts to display an ugly set of traits - harshness, deflection, chattery-ness, and sharp-impact transfer all come to mind.  

While aftermarket triple clamps normally address handling with different offsets, Ride Engineering wanted us to try their clamps because, on the RM-Z450, rider feedback has been very positive and they were saying the clamps help with comfort up front. Since these same clamps fit the RM-Z250 and we want the same response, we thought we’d give them a go.

Features of the Ride Engineering Triple Clamps

• 22 mm offset (stock is 21.5 mm)
• More clamping area
• Stronger and lighter than stock

Installation

These clamps reuse the top steering race in the RM-Z250 but they come with a bottom steering race that has to be used, so this isn’t just a plug-and-play stock replacement. First, you have to remove the stock bottom steering race from the frame, which isn’t hard - it just takes patience and a bit of finesse. Then, after throwing the replacement race in the freezer for an hour or so, I tapped it into the frame no problem. Quick Tip: you can use the stock race to help you pound in the new one.

After that, it was as simple as packing the bearing with grease (not just putting grease lightly on the outside of it) and mounting it up. Fitment is great and there were no issues with bar clamps or plastics bolting on. The only complaint with the installation is that you have to use a provided brake line bracket that is drilled into your front number plate rather than the stock bracket that mounts to the stock triple clamp. The stock set up looks a lot cleaner in my opinion.

On The Track

Overall, I really like the way the Suzuki handles and out of the six bikes in the 250F shootout. That being said, the fast lap time was at Milestone early in the day. That means it was a very smooth track without much in the way of braking bumps, chop, holes, or square edges. Once I spent more time on the bike at other tracks, I was losing some of my love for the bike. Mainly, the fork is harsh and it is hard to get the front wheel to stick to the line I want it too in any sort of roughness on the track. I can back out the compression, but then the fork dives too much and I’m riding too low in the stroke. The obvious thing to do is get the suspension worked on which is already in the works. But I wanted to try out these clamps first to really feel what they can do to the stock setup.

First off, going from the stock 21.5mm offset to 22mm offset with these clamps, the corning and steering isn’t affected, at least not to the degree that 99% of riders could ever feel. The RM-Z250 already handled very precisely and has a sharp turning characteristic, and it still felt as easy to turn with the RE clamps on there. But, I did feel that the tiny increase in offset helped with straight line stability. The stock RM-Z250 could get some head shake and dance around on long, fast straightaways. The was a little less of that going on with these triple clamps.

Secondly, the feel of the front end overall felt more comfortable. Basically, these clamps seemed to blunt and smooth out the harshness of the fork. This did a few things. One, it added much needed comfort to the bike. Two, this made the bike more planted and predictable. It was dancing around much less (but still some) in super rough sections of the track. Both of these combined increased my confidence and ability to take all the lines on the track. I trusted to front stay more planted when entering flat, choppy turns and I wasn’t being shaken to death through breaking bumps.

Overall

Who should buy these clamps? I think as part of a build (which they will be here shortly) the triple clamps are a great addition to the 2019 Suzuki RM-Z250. I think it is one of a few chassis and suspension mods that can make this quick-handling and nimble bike also have some comfort and compliance. As a stand-alone fix to a rigid chassis and harsh fork, it helps but it isn’t night and day different. Starting with suspension work would be a good way to go, and then add this clamp after to further sweeten the ride.