RM-Z450 August 2008 up-date

New stuff, new stuff, new stuff. The glory that is a Yoshimura exhausts system had me bunking off home early yesterday and getting the spanners out. Flicking though the Yoshimura parts list for the RM-Z is like being a kid again. I want one of those, and one of those, and that, and two of them...the list goes on.

B&C Express have very kindly sent through some renthal sprockets and chain. It's not that the stock one were worn out at all but the sprockets were heavier and the chain was made from monkey-metal so some better quality kit was in order.

My other major purchase (yes, I bought these) was a pair of hand guards. They're far from essential but I've had one too many stones hit me square on the knuckle lately so they've become essential in my world. They were 15 quid on eBay by the way so don't worry, I didn't break the bank.

Pics of all the new recruits are on SuperBike gallery

June 11th 2008
Not being able to ride the RM-Z sitting in my shed has taunted me daily. It's been like a giant yellow carrot at the end of the stick which is my garden path. But at last I've sneaked a day's riding at my local track while everyone else in SB towers seemed to be off up to the midlands for some pictures on their long termers.

Golding Barn raceway is my nearest MX track and while I'd never been before it seemed bizarrely familiar when I rocked up. I don't know if it was just the nice sunny day or not but a friendlier run MX trackday you'd be hard pushed to find. Mid-week ones are always quieter (when the kids aren't on school holidays!) but even so I quietly and merrily went about my business getting to know the four-fiddy.

I can't tell you how refreshingly normal it felt skipping around a track without the words SuperBike written all over me and without any pressure to perform in some way or other.

So what of it? The bike is still bedding in, so after what probably amounted to an hour and a half riding it's time for a filter and oil change. It's progressively feeling healthier on its boxfresh suspension. It was harsh at first but was beginning to feel more progressive towards the end of my four sessions (I left early but I could have had twice that many).

Turning into corners is the biggest thing I'm going to need to get used to I reckon. The 450 motor is not as fierce as I expected it might be on Golding Barn's very hard-packed chalk mud. The RM-Z450 launch was at the power-sapping deep sand Valkenswaard GP track in Belgium.

I came away from Valkenswaard thinking the power felt progressive off the throttle (the more I opened the throttle the more power I got – it sounds obvious but not all MX bikes have always operated in such a forgiving way). But that still means it's capable of getting a heck of shift on when you open it all the way.

I'm glad to look through my launch report and see I mentioned the front end didn't duck into corners enough for me then, just as it did today at Golding Barn. Phew.

I've left everything standard except the front compression and the front fork position in the yokes. I've dropped them through another 5mm, to 10mm through the yokes to try and feel better about the way it turns into corners. The same goes for the compression which probably needs some more but for the time being I've given it two clicks off to help get it more accurate and confidence inspiring.

The pic here shows me winding the rear brake lever down as far as it will go. It might be my out of practice riding technique hindering me but I spent the first session constantly stepping on the back brake in corners and stalling it. The front brake bedded in some too and needed adjusting for more lever pressure after two sessions.

The stock chain appears to be made from copper, or possibly cheese. Either way I can already pull it away from the rear sprocket like a chain which has done ten times the work. The quality of the rear sprocket is pretty crappy too, which is a bit disappointing because the rest of the bike looks so damn well made. I'll be on the look out for a new chain and sprockets asap.

Apart from that I'm well chuffed and can't wait for my first race.

If you missed it in the mag my launch report words from Valkenswaard went something like this…

No doubt the newly crowned world championship winning team had travelled enough in 2007. Holland in November does not usually deliver bright warm sunshine, on this day it delivered persistent rain. Holland does guarentee guarantee deep, soft sand tracks however. Chuck a decent amount of rain on those bottom-less pits and you have something closely resembling wet cement to ride on. That meant I was going to be busy getting very knackered very quickly on this ground-breaking new bike from Suzuki. The K8 RM-Z450 is the equivalent of the GSX-R1000 for us road riders. It's ground-breaking because, ladies and gentlemen (cue fan-fare) I give you the first fuel-injected motocross bike in the world, ever. Like the introduction of water-cooling, monoshock suspension or disc brakes this is a big deal.
Off-road dudes are a sensitive lot and Suzuki knew very well replicating the carburettor with electronic fuel injection was a tough job. Nothing gets shorter shrift from a serious dirt bike boy than a dodgy throttle response. Because you fight control of the bike so much and subtle movements make so much difference, any delay, cough or hesitation when you open the throttle can quickly make it the worst bike it the world. The reality is if I were blindfolded I couldn't have told you this bike had no carbs (although I might have fallen off slightly sooner).
The Valkenswaard circuit sand sapped the power as much as my muscles which made judging engine performance tough, especially with no decent straight to get through the now five-speed gearbox (it was four). But the motor did seem to rev more cleanly. Despite the extra cog the gears were longer than I expected, helping me slump into corners in the wrong gear and get away with it more. Overall I'd say that makes it more novice friendly than the previous model.
My only complaint? The forks were too stiff. No doubt for my meagre skills it could be dialled out by adjusting the stock settings but too little movement up front meant braking and turning in to corners was a vague business with not enough feel or grip from the front tyre. The talk from the professional racers who test for UK off-road mags was the forks might need a bit of aftermarket attention. The net effect for me was not being able to get the bike to bite without a decent berm to rail round, most the steering came from the throttle and the back tyre on this sandy track.


Verdict
It's been a while (a little over a year) since I last rode an RM-Z450 but my memory serves me well enough to say the 2008 bike is a step forward. Better power, better brakes, better suspension in fact all those things you'd expect from a new Suzuki, on or off road. Importantly it looks the bomb too (and looking good is strangely important for a sport which spends so much of its time covered with mud).
Bearing in mind the MX1 world champ Steve Ramon and the legendary US star Ricky Carmichael were on the RM-Z450, developing this model for us you could say Suzuki ended 2007 not only successfully but knowing it already had a decent bike.
Despite the very short (two x 25mins) sessions, there were no teething problems like we had to sit through after the first fuel-injected road bikes hit us. Nothing but smooth throttle response and progressive power all the way. The fact that it also manages to look fresh as well as being a “milestone” should just give it the edge on its rivals for another year.



Specs
Suzuki RM-Z450
£4,649
l/c, four-stroke, DOHC, 4v single
449cc
96.0 x 62.1mm
12.2:1
Keihin fuel injection, 43mm throttle bodies
five-speed
semi double cradle aluminium twin spar
(F) 47mm USD forks, compression and rebound adjustable (R) monoshock, compression and rebound adjustable
(F) single 250mm wavey disc, dual piston Nissin caliper (R) single 240mm wavey disc, single-piston caliper
aluminium/spoked Bridgestone (F) 80/100-21, (R) 120/90-18
1,480mm
6.2litres aluminium tank
101.5kg (claimed)

Suzuki GB
0500 011959
www.suzuki-gb.co.uk/bikes/offroad/



First report of the new arrival
To say the man has a smile on his face today is the understatement of the year. JP's a man of the dirt, so to speak, so getting his hands on Suzuki flagship 'crosser, the RM-Z450, as a long termer is like giving sweets to kids. Lots of sweets.

It's something of a diversion for us here at SuperBike to get our hands on an off-roader but it's a welcome addition to the fleet and should provide some great features in the magazine over the coming months.

The RM-Z450 was launched what seems like age ago back in November 2007. The reigning world MX1 champion Steve Ramon helped develop this all new machine. Apart from looking like a peach (a yellow one, but still a peach) only the extremely rare and now defunct Cannondale MX bike has featured fuel injection previously, so Suzuki has pulled a bit of a scoop by getting ahead of its rivals, developing this bike and putting it into mass production.