Rm370

[nephron]

Alright guys--don't make fun.

Would like to get your "expert":eek: opinions on the historical or "in its own time" value of an RM370. I had one a long time ago, and at least as a 15-year-old, I really loved that bike. I bought it from a shop foreman who had it sitting around in a hundred pieces. I bought a new jug and piston for it, put it together, and it ran like a champ everyday thereafter until it was stolen:(

Sure, it was an ugly bike, but probably not for its time. I kept riding it through high school (82-85) whilst everyone else was getting new 125's (whimps :p --no offense 125 owners). We were all friends, no one made fun of it, probably because I could make them eat roost @ will. The one thing I remember about it was the incredible powerband, would almost throw my little ass off everytime. I don't know if this was some sort of age/experience bias but it seemed to run like a bat out of hell. I never used it for motocross--few could probably have handled it on the MX track besides DeCoster :p , but I rode the xxxx out of it and never had a problem. Not once.

I saw an old picture of one the other day, and my ol heart went pitter-patter. I think I've got to have one. :)

Question is, how were these bikes, really , in their own time? Were they known for anything specifically? Were there many Championships won on these things, and if so, when? (I would assume yes, DeCoster). Thanks guys.

Jack

 

[dirt bike dave]

Never rode one, but the RM370 was well received by the magazines back in '76. I think the forks got changed in '77 or '78. Suzuki sold a lot of them and they were pretty successful on the track.

In '76, Dirt Bike did a big open class shoot-out with the YZ, RM, CZ, Maico, Husky, KTM and Bultaco. I believe the Suzuki won it or came in second despite being much cheaper than the euro bikes. At the time, there were still a lot of euro die-hards in the open class, and the 370 was Suzuki's first decent open class bike (the TM400 Cyclone was foul).

The RM370 had a reputation as a decent all around bike; better than average in just about every category so it was a very effective machine. Lots of them were put to use on the trails after their moto days were done.

At the time, the factory was racing full on 'works' bikes, so Roger's bikes were a lot different than what Joe Average got from his Suzuki dealer. But the RM line was clearly derived from earlier works bikes.

Steve Stackable raced the open class for American Suzuki and did pretty well, but I don't think he got a championship.

I once saw a good web page devoted to the early RM's. You should search on Google.com or check through some of the motolinks pages on DRN.

 

[nephron]

Thanks Dave.

Just what I was looking for.

Jack

 

[Norm]

Early RM site

Nephron,

Check out www.suzukionly.net I think this may be the page DBD was talking about. They have alot on the early RMs. The guy that runs the site seems to be really into the RM400s, but they may be a good resource to find out about the 370, as well.

Norm

 

[dirt bike dave]

That's the page! It is a lot of fun. There is a mag test of the '76 RM250 there that you can look at, and I think it had the same suspension as the 370. BTW, thinking about this last night, I was probably wrong about the fork updates. The RM125 and 250B got new forks with more underhang but I don't think the 370 got them.