any issues with the 2005 RM 250's??
- Thread starter stroker
- Start date
Clapham.........What about the dirt mag's recent comment regarding 2nd to 3rd gear shift difficulty after a few hours on the bike?
I mean this as a serious question. I'm getting off an 01 RM that misses this shift a lot and would love to get a new RM but be really hacked off if it did the same thing.
Your comments will be very helpful.
I mean this as a serious question. I'm getting off an 01 RM that misses this shift a lot and would love to get a new RM but be really hacked off if it did the same thing.
Your comments will be very helpful.
- Thread starter
- #5
Hey bclapham,
I thought I saw a post of yours looking for a piston for your bike and you mentioned maybe next time trying a YZ? am I mistaken or was that you??
I have ridden the 2005 YZ250, I thought it had a great motor (especially compared to my 2004 CR250) But the Honda handles better.
My hope is that the RM will give me the best compromise for offroad racing, with the good suspension and handling (more like my CR) combined with the strong low end power (more like a YZ).
Have you tried the RM offroad? What do you think of the RM as an offroad race bike??
Is the clutch better now? (then past RM's that require a Hinson set up pretty much right away...)
Having been a Honda guy for a long time I am pretty spoiled with durability and resale on my CR's....
Thanks for the input!
I thought I saw a post of yours looking for a piston for your bike and you mentioned maybe next time trying a YZ? am I mistaken or was that you??
I have ridden the 2005 YZ250, I thought it had a great motor (especially compared to my 2004 CR250) But the Honda handles better.
My hope is that the RM will give me the best compromise for offroad racing, with the good suspension and handling (more like my CR) combined with the strong low end power (more like a YZ).
Have you tried the RM offroad? What do you think of the RM as an offroad race bike??
Is the clutch better now? (then past RM's that require a Hinson set up pretty much right away...)
Having been a Honda guy for a long time I am pretty spoiled with durability and resale on my CR's....
Thanks for the input!
Seems like the YZ's have the best rep. as an offroad racing bike. No doubt the RM steers quicker, but they're also supposed to be much less stable at high speeds, and are prob. a more tiring ride due to that and the engine snappiness.
I hare scramble race my YZ, and it's great. I hope you didn't base your judgment on an OEM-tired YZ, b/c the stock rubber sucks!
I hare scramble race my YZ, and it's great. I hope you didn't base your judgment on an OEM-tired YZ, b/c the stock rubber sucks!
d36RM racer
Member
- May 26, 2004
- 123
- 0
I race my 03 RM250 in cross country and overall its a good bike it can get a little scarry at high speeds but you get use to it. as far as the tranny goes the 01-03RM's shifted real easy my bike sometimes shifts when you barely touch the shifter but they fixed that in 04. also the RM has the #1 plate in gncc
Someone has one and has said nothing but good things about them. He has won four SXs in a row on his 05 RM250 and looks unstopable! Ricky somebody....................
I have a 03 and I love it to bits, jetted with boyesens pro reeds and a scotts triple clamp and damper with pro tapers and a sdg gripper. Its not an 05 but god is it nice to ride.
You wont regret getting one, you might not have as good as resale as a honda, but the only reason you would ever sell it would be to get an 06 RM
I have a 03 and I love it to bits, jetted with boyesens pro reeds and a scotts triple clamp and damper with pro tapers and a sdg gripper. Its not an 05 but god is it nice to ride.
You wont regret getting one, you might not have as good as resale as a honda, but the only reason you would ever sell it would be to get an 06 RM
I have had my 04 for just over a year. I stripped a shock bolt when I first got it - stripped it when I took the bike apart to grease the linkage. That's the only problem I've had. I ride/race MX every weekend. I've never ridden it off road, but my Suzuki has been very reliable. I changed the piston after about ten months and everything looked great inside.
Like the mags said, the clutch is very grabby in the pits, but feels perfect out on the track.
Like the mags said, the clutch is very grabby in the pits, but feels perfect out on the track.
I''ve got a friend trying to sell me his 01 RM250. I'm wondering if the 2000+ RM's still have a finicky clutch? Also this is the first I've heard of gear shifting problems. It would be nice if someone could go into more detail on which bikes seemed to be the most problematic of the 2000+ RM's.
Micah
Micah
bclapham
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Nov 5, 2001
- 4,340
- 0
OK- just to let you guys know, i am really hard on the clutch and mine has been fine. I raced a 02RM144 for over a season and the clutch held out fine, but i did replace the basket after a while- that bike had been ridden hard for 3 years by that point.
ive had no problems with the gearbox on either bike- on the 144, i never even shut off or used the clutch to shift- that bike got ridden up them massive Glen Helen hills every week.
as for turning and stability- life is a comprimise- you cant have one without the other. Ive not had any issues with stability that i havent had on other bikes, or that couldnt be tuned out. With the stock springs i would get head shake going up hills in 3rd and 4th, but it can be tuned out by dropping the fork tubes in the clamps.
as for turning, you will never get a bike to turn as well as the RM. A pro friend of mine has raced the CRF450 for 3 seasons, on saturday we went to test with a suspension tuner- the pro rider jumped on my bike and hated most about my setup (i am a bigger guy and only race beginner so it was all out of wack)-, but he could corner much better on my bike after just one lap!
As for the YZ, i dont know why that thought came into my head- unless they start making them with Showas, i probably wont bother.
ive had no problems with the gearbox on either bike- on the 144, i never even shut off or used the clutch to shift- that bike got ridden up them massive Glen Helen hills every week.
as for turning and stability- life is a comprimise- you cant have one without the other. Ive not had any issues with stability that i havent had on other bikes, or that couldnt be tuned out. With the stock springs i would get head shake going up hills in 3rd and 4th, but it can be tuned out by dropping the fork tubes in the clamps.
as for turning, you will never get a bike to turn as well as the RM. A pro friend of mine has raced the CRF450 for 3 seasons, on saturday we went to test with a suspension tuner- the pro rider jumped on my bike and hated most about my setup (i am a bigger guy and only race beginner so it was all out of wack)-, but he could corner much better on my bike after just one lap!
As for the YZ, i dont know why that thought came into my head- unless they start making them with Showas, i probably wont bother.
Just getting time to see comments..........Thanks guys for your comments.
Here's the detail you asked for....
MXA ( yeah , yeah, I don't believe it all ) says in the latest issue that after getting some hours on the bike that 2nd to 3rd didn't shift right.
This is the problem my 01 has had since it was new. I've split the cases and changed the forks and gears involved......helped for about a month....
You grab third and either get a neutral or it holds for 1 second and then goes between gears. I'm a RM lover ( like the cornering ) and want to get my 05 now ....but reading that one little line....well, you know I should take it with a grain of salt.....but it caused me concern.
Knowing that others are not having problems is a big help.
Thanks
Here's the detail you asked for....
MXA ( yeah , yeah, I don't believe it all ) says in the latest issue that after getting some hours on the bike that 2nd to 3rd didn't shift right.
This is the problem my 01 has had since it was new. I've split the cases and changed the forks and gears involved......helped for about a month....
You grab third and either get a neutral or it holds for 1 second and then goes between gears. I'm a RM lover ( like the cornering ) and want to get my 05 now ....but reading that one little line....well, you know I should take it with a grain of salt.....but it caused me concern.
Knowing that others are not having problems is a big help.
Thanks
I have never missed a gear on my 03 and ride it hard all day long. To be honest by the end of the day my hands are to sore to use the clutch so I just up shift with out it. (dunno how bad it is for it lol) But I change my oil every other ride.
No gear box problems here
No gear box problems here
NO HAND
~SPONSOR~
- Jun 21, 2000
- 1,198
- 0
There are a few issues with them. I have read in the suspension forum a few tuners think they are not quite up to the showa stuff. If I remember well the Kayaba TC has a weird design for the base valve piston that traps air and is very hard to bleed completely, and also a premature wear on an aluminum part somewhere...it was very interresting. It's worth a search I tell you.Satch0922 said:
bclapham
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Nov 5, 2001
- 4,340
- 0
Satch0922 said:
1. they are copies and to get around the patent they have had to make several comprimises.
2. they are only 1 season new- showa twin chambers are well known and well dialed.
3. ive taken all types of forks apart, and the KYB is nowhere near the quality of the showas.
2-Strokes 4-ever
~SPONSOR~
I have on '03 and couldn't be more happy. Some people choose to be stuck in the past about Suzuki's reliability issues. It' true their week link is still the clutch. But every other aspect of this bike rocks! And from what I hear they get better every year. Just watch...Suzuki is growing...
bclapham
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Nov 5, 2001
- 4,340
- 0
like a trooper. But dont forget RMs have crap resale-expect to see used 04s and 05s going for $3000-4000......this means you need to make sure you dont pay much over $4000 for a new 05 otherwise you will take it in the shorts when its time to sell it.
'05 RM250 owner here with some admittedly biased thoughts:
My last bike was a '00 YZF426. Going from that bike to the '05 RM:
The RM feels like a 125 compared to the YZF. The RM is a lot less tiring to ride because of this. I cannot believe how well the RM corners. The YZF cornered like a river barge in comparison. I've heard about the straight-line stability or lack thereof but i must not be a fast enough rider to notice. At any rate the cornering ability of this bike more than makes up for it but i guess it's all personal preference.
After 5 years on a thumper, i struggled with the RM engine a bit when i first bought the bike. The throttle response and mid-range surge scared me a little. I felt like i was always one second away from killing myself. But now that i'm used to it, it's actually very easy to ride and i'm definitely back on team 2-stroke.
I've had zero mechanical problems. What a great bike.
My last bike was a '00 YZF426. Going from that bike to the '05 RM:
The RM feels like a 125 compared to the YZF. The RM is a lot less tiring to ride because of this. I cannot believe how well the RM corners. The YZF cornered like a river barge in comparison. I've heard about the straight-line stability or lack thereof but i must not be a fast enough rider to notice. At any rate the cornering ability of this bike more than makes up for it but i guess it's all personal preference.
After 5 years on a thumper, i struggled with the RM engine a bit when i first bought the bike. The throttle response and mid-range surge scared me a little. I felt like i was always one second away from killing myself. But now that i'm used to it, it's actually very easy to ride and i'm definitely back on team 2-stroke.
I've had zero mechanical problems. What a great bike.