SuperBike Magazine

Sheffield World Indoor Enduro

When the world championship comes to town you don't expect to take part. Probably the world's best indoor specialists didn't expect me to be taking part either. Still they seemed pretty entertained by the sight of a dozen or so clubmen hitting the Sheffield Arena Indoor World Cup course. And when I say hitting I mean hitting.

We clubmen were the first out on track and the first to ride the 'sections'. Naturally the mighty fine gathering of World and National championship riders all stood watching in the stands at this fine display. Quite what we must have looked like collectively shambling around the twelve obstacles I can only assume, judging by their faces, must have been bloody entertaining.

I stopped right in front of them waiting for a clear run through a bank of four long logs lain horizontal across the track. Naturally the logs were just far enough apart to be perfectly awkward. Just short of a bike length, you know the type. An innocent rev-out to clear the RM-Zs lungs made the baying crowd (Blazusiak, Lampkin, Cervantes, Edmondson, Jarvis, Sagar, Knighter's, et al) think I was some sort of a motocross boy giving the enduro lads the hurry-up and jeered me. I felt terrible, embarrassed even and wanted to get off and shout; “I was just clearing the motor a bit. It's a mild-mannered trials rider under here you know.” Humbled by the sight of them all I nailed it and cleared the logs in a blink. Phew.

I was embarrassed more than anything, so much so I hadn't noticed how I'd done it. A fact which came crashing home next lap around. A couple of riders were piled-up on the left so I went to the right. This was mistake one. Mistake two was hitting it slower. The logs got fatter on the right you see which meant they threw me up in the air and, being slower anyway I hit the last log square in its face, the bike stopped instantly and I did one almighty handstand. I took the oooooos and aaaahhhhhs from the crowd as acceptance of my bravery in the face of danger and, after gathering myself to my feet I gave a dutiful bow before getting the hell out of there.

The thing about the Sheffield Indoor Enduro course is not that it was particularly hard to ride but that you needed to be fast and accurate. Fast quickly proved too knackering so I adopted a moderate and smooth technique (which to be honest is just about how I do everything in life).

Entering on a whim suddenly seemed like a bad idea when one bloke told me; “You're on exactly the wrong bike” he said. Great. “It's the taking part that counts right?” I asked myself. My hasty and frankly blind faith that it would be ok came crashing home.
Exactly how do you prepare for an event like this anyway? With everything cleaned and oiled, some new tyres and heavy duty tubes, three yellow number plates fitted the RM looked ready but not entirely unlike it wasn't about to do a motocross not a night of indoor enduro. A quick and fairly sheepish wander around the paddock showed I wasn't the only 450 but there weren't many among the two-stroke 250s.

The 5am start to get to Sheffield was bleak but not as bleak as the scrutineer who spotted (within ten feet) my missing sprocket guard. I haven't done many actual enduros on this bike so the sprocket cover issue had never reared its head.

Where the hell was I going to find a sprocket guard? Phone Yellow Pages for a Suzuki dealer? There seemed no option but to sheepishly wander around the paddock asking if anyone had a spare. The legendary Paul 'Fast Eddy' Edmondson thankfully came up trumps and loaned me one. Phew, again.

Riding trials when I was younger stands me in good stead no matter what I do on two wheels and to be honest that's mainly what allowed me to just turn up with “exactly the wrong bike” and not worry too much. That and the blind faith I mentioned. I was pretty sure the RM-Z450 would be broadly capable but as I walked the course I had a growing list of questions in my head; will the tyres be any good? Will they puncture easily? What pressures should I use? Will the suspension be too hard? Someone had said “soften everything off” but by how much? Will the gearing be too tall? Will a 450 be too heavy? Will I be fit enough? The trouble is you never really know until you've done it and the it I was about to do was a World championship event in front of a large enough Sheffield Arena crowd.

The biggest issue (handstands aside) was the gearing. Among the twenty or so spare random sprockets in my shed gathered from years of competition on so many different bikes I can't remember which is which any more only a couple fitted and none were going to lower the it. So I had to go with standard MX gearing.

I ended up doing every lap, all night in first gear. That was fine for about 70 percent of it but the rock sections needed at least one, if not two gears less. I tried to ride around it and the clutch was certainly taking the strain but from the first to the last I couldn't stop stalling the bastard. And trust me I was calling it a bastard (actually I was calling it worse but my mum might read this).

Thank heavens then for the massive amount of practice. Every one of the four practice sessions was a learning curve for me with drastic alterations to the bike making it feel different each time. The problems were feel, grip and gearing. I couldn't do anything about the gearing but grip was easy – drop the pressures on Dunlop's new Geomax tyres I was using. Actually they were a surprise and really didn't make a jot of difference in the conditions. In some ways I felt safer on them with less chance of puncturing the stiff (stiffer than enduro tyres at least) sidewalls.

Suspension was the key to feeling better on the bike though. The “soften everything off” tip was right so with virtually no compression or rebound front or rear it began to feel good. With that suddenly I had feel and control through the rocks. It was a bit sloppy over the jumps but the trade-off was well worth it. With that dialled in the course started to feel good fun and I was enjoying the ride (apart from the stalling bit).

Of all the hurdles I'd ignored, overcome or created for myself in entering the event in the first place nothing compared to the sheer incompetence which nearly brought a premature end to the whole outing. A nice long break in the afternoon while other classes took to the track gave me chance to check out lines and sit up in the stands with a cup of tea. Organisers had warned us to check back at the office regularly. I'd like to say I didn't because I was so busy with the bike but I can't lie, it was because I forgot.

I was having quite a nice time with my warm tea when I noticed the yellow plates on the bikes lining up through the door way across the arena. Yes, that's right, I was about to watch my own qualification session. Arse.

Cue frantic scrambling across seats, spilt tea, running out the arena, down nine thousand flights of stairs and across the massive carpark to the van. Cue very frantic getting into riding kit. Cue some make-shift practice getting out the van without a ramp and to hell with the 'no riding in the pits' as I razzed across to the assembly marshall with his clipboard and a single fast lap.

A blue-ish tinge was hanging in the air and there was a constant hissing noise, not a white noise but something a bit like the rushing sound you get in your ears after a really loud rock concert. Despite that I felt relaxed as I rolled out into the middle of it all expecting, well I didn't know what really. I guess I just see what happens.

A couple of riders got the jump, one had a squirrelly moment into the sand section and pushed someone else wide and I bounced up and off the first giant tyres section in second place. Twenty feet later the leader hit the rocks, stumbled, and in what seemed like a blink, I was in the lead, relieved to be clear and out of everyone's way.

There was no real story to the five lap race. After that one lap dash in qualifying I knew what I needed to do so tried to match it. If only I could have stopped stalling the bastard I might have stayed at the front. Once was annoying, once every sodding lap was downright infuriating. The fuel injected RM-Z motor fires-up sharpish but it kept costing time. Ultimately it boiled down to one rock section in the corner where I stalled the bike on each lap and it was here, on about lap three where I lost the lead.

I lost count of the laps and suddenly started to get pretty knackered hanging on to the mighty 450. The clutch suddenly seemed heavier, I started to hit the logs rather than skip over them, my arms felt tired and I began to pray for the chequered flag. That small prayer was blessed upon me as I rounded the next berm and the chequered flag was waving in the distance. For the last time that day, phew.



Older tests
I've been up to Apex MX this week testing the 2010 RM-Z450. The story on the new bike is up on news section of the site.

The gist of it though is finding the new bike felt stronger in the engine department than my termer. I figured they'd be about on par with the Yoshimura pipe on mine and the engine updates to the new model. But that ain't the case.

The 2010 RM had a bit more fire in its belly off the turns but especially up the hills from the bottom-end of the Apex MX circuit.

Elsewhere though the changes were harder to notice on this test. The front forks felt slightly more progressive and plush you might say. The headstock should be higher but I'll confess with the bars set-up too far back for me (on the new bike) I couldn't spot it.

Apart from the power though I was pretty pleased to get back on my bike each time. The thing is you get bikes set up for yourself don't you? The levers, the bars are obvious but spend any amount of timeon a bike and it naturally grows on you, gets all familiar like. Which is exactly the case with mine.

Or it was until I came up short on a short stutter jump, skipped off the top with the front wheel turned a bit and when down like Drogba in the box. It was nothing really but the helmet-testing head plant served as a timely reminder that my motto is and always will remain "don't crash" (or should that be "operor non fragosus").

Quad Action

Quad bikes hey? Did you think they were the preserve of weirdos competing in a sport falling down the same drain as Supermoto? Admittedly it's not on the BBC on Sunday afternoons like MotoGP but there's apparently a growing tendency towards four wheels again and not those tin coffins with roofs either.

Suzuki tell me Quads are doing a Take That/Blur/Blue and making a come-back. Did I want a go to try out the RM-Z450 motor with two extra wheels attached? Of course I do.

Suzuki invented the quad way back the 80's. At the time my old man worked for an off-road mag, DBR, and helped inflate the initial quad bubble. He did a few races including a the demo in front of thousands of F1 GP spectators on the grass inside Clearways at Brands Hatch. I can't remember much about it (you'd think I would standing in the middle of all those people inthe middle of Brands!) but I do remember he crashed and didn't win. Twenty (something) years later and I'm doing a good impression of my dad, although thankfully not falling off in front of so many people.

Another fact I learnt on this test was the LT-R450 has been using the 450 fuel-injected engine for a few years now, longer than the RM-Z450. So the design and development that went into the two-wheeler was tried and tested on four before-hand.

A growing trend for quad sport, which I didn't know about, is the enduro or cross country events which the MKM 'Rocketmen' Suzuki team is doing pretty well at. This is MJM's 'superstock' bike complete with 3,000 quids worth of Fox suspension and a wider wheel base to separate it from standard.

Riding a quad bike is an alien experience if you're used to two wheels. The technique requires commitment and body movement to get the best out of them. Sit bolt upright and try to ride 'normally' and they want to go straight and not steer.

There's an element of uncertainty to, which I didn't lose all day. What happens if you jump and land on one wheel? It always turned out alright but I couldn't carry anywhere near as much speed into jumps as I could on my RM-Z. With a small amount of speed and some belief that a bit of slide won't kill you, it's hard not to enjoy yourself.

The most surprising thing was how physical it all was. The race bike I tested was a sharper tool than the DR-Z400 engined LT-Z400 with standard wheels, suspension and geometry but both need plenty of body movement to get the best from them.

I made the mistake of thinking sitting down more would be easier but I reckon it was harder work than the solo, even on the very quad-oriented (flat) track. The effort to steer and getting the best grip, front or rear, needs plenty of body shifting one way and then the other.

Using the throttle is tricky in corners too. Standard quads usually have a push button throttle, which is easy to use until you start leaning off in corners and find you can't get your thumb on it. For that reason plenty of racers switch to a conventional twist grip.

More details on Suzuki's quad range is on the Suzuki GB website

GBXC Enduro
What's that you say? Enter a competition? You mean use my RM-Z properly for a change?

Hard as it might be to believe I did actually ride the 450 in anger at the weekend, all the way down in sunny Devon. The call came from the boys at Wheeldon Farm a couple of weeks ago to come down for the weekend, stay over in one their cottages and take part in round four of the GBXC series which they were helping to organising.

I'm pleased to say I made it around, albeit in the "Sportsman" class (rather than taking it seriously in the experts) and I think I made it into the top ten. Considering I was possibly on the heaviest bike there, I'm not in any sort of physical shape for this malarky and I had no idea how to prepare, I didn't think that was too bad.

The RM-Z being a motocross bike has it's obvious drawbacks in an enduro - hard suspension, small tank and the wrong tyres for a start. But I think otherwise it stood the test well. I lost time right at the start by getting caught up in a first corner crash (they did warn us it was very slippery, we didn't listen). I stopped about 100 metres later to turn the tickover right up as well (to help stop myself from stalling in the turns). But after that I just plugged away at my own pace, trying to keep it smooth and not knacker myself.

Pit stops were a bit of a mystery to me. I had no idea how long I could last on a tank full of fuel and without a reserve I couldn't risk running out (it would've been a very steep uphill push to the pit area!). Plus I had no pit "crew" like some of the more serious-looking riders. It doesn't add up to much, but one pit stop too many probably cost me some places.

Ultimately who cares. I had a great time to be honest. The 450 was feeling pretty heavy by the end but I think overall having the big fella helped me. It was fast across the fields/flat sections and damn good at chugging through some heavily rutted woods.

Another time, and I plan to do some more of the brilliantly run GBXC rounds if I can make it, I'd fit some enduro tyres and soften the suspension right off.

Short Track
I'm fresh back, well slightly soiled in Norfolk dirt at least, from the Pozzani Silkolene UK Short Track championship launch at the Norfolk Arena.

Britain's answer to the fabled flat track racing which has taught so many an American GP racer has cut his teeth on, is alive and kicking in the UK.

Supported by Suzuki GB, series promoter Pete 'Boasty' Boast brought along a couple of his bikes including a brand new 2009 RM-Z450 short tracker and a mighty looking hand-made beast with an SV1000 engine slotted in.

Former British Superbike champion John Reynolds rocked up for a go claiming it was “always something he'd wanted to try” and also admitting to being “a bit nervous” before getting on a bike and taking to it like duck to water.

The bikes, and the means to take part are straight forward and about as cheap as any motorsport you'll find. Around £2,000 should see you out there according to popular reckoning.

Converting a spanking new RM-Z450 Suzuki motocross bike (as an example) won't break the bank either, you need a set of flat track rims (available from Talon UK), flat track tyres and The hardest part will be paring a set of forks and yokes from and R6 or SV650 which slot straight in to an RM-Z to give the bike shorter front travel suspension and accommodate the 19 front wheel.

Oh yes, and one final thing, you'll need to remove the front brake. Which does make riding a bit tricky.

The UK Shorttrack series runs across the summer and autumn, kicking off at the mighty Norfolk Arena Kings Lynn on May 3rd.

Check out the Shortrack website for more info

One of the reasons (or bargaining tools I used!) for Suzuki for lending me the RM-Z450 in the first place was to show jus how versatile the bike could be. Not just a motocrosser but enduro, supermoto and this weirdness, Short Track racing.

Converting an RM-Z450 to Short Track-spec won't break the bank, you need to ditch that front brake an snaffle a set of flat track rims (available from Talon UK http://www.talon-eng.co.uk/) and tyres.
The hardest part will be paring a set of forks and yokes from and R6 or SV650 which slot straight in to an RM-Z to give the bike shorter front travel suspension and accommodate the 19 front wheel.


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.