With the 2-stroke motocross platform all but abandoned by the Japanese manufacturers the day was going to arrive for Joe and me to come to terms with the 4-stroke. Our 2009 RM-Z250 bikes arrived late last week.
Virgin through and through
I had been doing some research on how to minimize what Joe and I consider as the four main issues with making a woods bike out of a 4-stroke motocross bike. Those issues are stalling, difficult hot starts, loud pipes, and top-heavy handling. The maintenance cost and complexities (compared to the 2-stroke) are a different conversation.
But to keep this post positive, which for me it very much is, today was my first ride on a bike I’ve been planning for a while. The RM144 bike was truly an experiment. The RMZ250 is more likely my future race rig, or at least an alternative to the RM250.
In March Joe and I started talking to the guys at Rekluse about their auto clutch. Ty Davis used Rekluse products on his race bikes last year so we polled him about his experience and I raced that ice bike with a Rekluse last January. The Rekluse guys were generous with supporting our program and Joe has been loving the set up on his RM250 for several races now.
In my world the Rekluse was going to reduce the stalling and hot start problems associated with 4-stroke bikes. Plus I hoped to benefit from other auto clutch aspects like added flywheel weight and reduced left hand fatigue and smooth power delivery.
So, today was my maiden outing on the RM-Z that so many others have helped me piece together. Mark at Vesrah helped me with the bike and supporting Suzuki parts, Dean at R&D helped me with a float bowl and remote air screw, Rich Doan at Yoshimura Makita Suzuki helped me with exhaust and wheels, Patrick at Rekluse for the clutch, Steve and the gang Factory Connection did the suspension and AJ at VCG provided graphics.
I stayed close to home for the first ride by going to Homann’s farm. Recent rains put some moisture into the ground so the grip was stupendous.
3rd gear single track heaven.
The fit and finish of the RM-Z is damn good. It’s been several years since I was on a 4-stroke and it seems to me they’ve come a long way. It runs cleaner, starts easier, sounds tighter and looks tidier. I’m stoked.
The third issue on my 4-stroke hit list is the ear-popping noise. I know the only way to get power out of them is to be uncorked so I’ve given in on this front. I dig Yoshimura products and secretly like the sound when I’m alone in the woods or on a big MX track and will cope with the ridicule JD’s dad will dish out at the next race. The Yosh pipe makes good power and believe it or not is actually slightly quieter than the stock pipe. The stock pipe won’t pass AMA sound checks, so I’m told.
There’s an odd option that a Rekluse clutch offers you, if you so choose. Because you aren’t relying on a bar-mounted level to actuate the clutch mechanism, that frees up that space for a hand-operated rear brake lever. Rekluse sells a hydraulic lever, line and instructions on how to optimize the set up. I’ve been riding mountain bikes with the rear brake on my left hand for 20 years so I wasn’t afraid to give it a try.
Is the clutch cover more or less prone to damage without the brake pedal?
The big lever is now the rear brake, the small lever is the clutch override and the barrel adjuster is the key to the whole thing.
After several laps to get a feel for the terrain I started picking the bike’s tendencies apart. I spent a little while dialing the leak jet setting on the bottom of the carb and tuned the air screw setting some. That got ride of the just-off-idle lag. This was critical since I prefer to run a low idle. I don’t like being pushed through turns with high idle although running a high idle definitely would reduce the chance of stalling. Then I messed with the clutch engagement point. The barrel adjuster on the small manual clutch lever makes it easy to fine-tune how the bike acts at every low engine speeds. After fiddling with some of the setting options on the carb and clutch I felt like I had a handle on what it would take to tune the bike to suit my riding style or terrain. Cool stuff.
But I have some habits that need rewiring. While weaving and ducking down the trail and approaching turns I have no problem using my left hand (rather than my right foot) to scrub speed, steer with the rear wheel or stop in a hurry. It felt intuitive and natural. But in the middle of a turn or on the exit if I felt a little off line or off balance I instinctively cover the clutch, only that’s not the clutch anymore. I repeatedly stalled or even fell over after inadvertently, yet effectively, jamming on the rear brake. After I figured out what I was doing to myself I learned to point my braking finger skyward after I was done braking. Might have looked a bit funny with me pointing at nothing when I was coming out of turns but it worked for me.
The last concern I had is 4-stroke handing, especially compared to 2-stroke handling. For most of the time when I rode 4-strokes years ago I didn’t notice the top-heavy yet reluctant to change direction tendencies of the bike. It wasn’t until a series of turns I had done on a practice loop a million times finally put me and the bike into peril. I’d been slowly getting faster through that section until the day came when I was going faster than the bike could turn. I didn’t fall but I could feel how much effort it took to get the bike to change direction. Later I learned that the 2-stroke didn’t take so much effort.
But after riding the 2009 RM-Z250, I’m elated to discover neutral and responsive handling. It’s a real treat.
I’m super stoked with the set up. I have no ambitions to be speedy on the bike for a while but I’d like to make it my primary race tool after some practice and tuning. The Homann farm is about as tight as we see here in Wisconsin so it was a good measure of one extreme. I’m excited to get the RM-Z up to speed on a more flowing trail. Next stop: Dyracuse.
Some of my favorite things.
