My New Ride

M

Mark Rossi

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
This is my new ride for the next 2 months. A 2011 Suzuki RMZ 450. The bike has RG3 modified suspension, a T4 Procircuit pipe and the computer remapped.
P1010011.jpg

Rode the Suzuki yesterday for the first time. Amazingly smooth engine, and great suspension. I struggled being comfortable, it has been a long time since I have ridden a 450.
I spent today personalizing the bike, I hope to try tomorrow to ride, also hope to be more comfortable. Fingers crossed, plan to race on the weekend.
Have some old boys to settle a score with and some young one to try and keep up with.
 
it would depend on the track phil, something like what mark has in mae rim the 250 would prob be quicker, however chuck in a few long straights, uphill climbs and a bit of sand, then a 450 would most likely be quicker.

how much did u get the bike for mark? + were the mods already on it?
 
Brought it for 8,250aud, The mods where already done by Jay Foreman of the Suzuki Race Team.
Phil: If the track has some hills or straights and you hit 3rd gear or higher in the 450 is much faster. To give you a idea, on my track in Australia in 2004 the 450 was 15 seconds faster over a 2minute lap then the 250f.
However if you are talking a highly modified 250f, which increase the HP by around 15% then the difference is arguable for most riders.
 
As I mentioned personalised the bike on Sunday and rode today. I am a mile more comfortable on the bike.
The bike was running a 48 tooth rear sprocket I switched back to a 50. It was amazing how much this change the engine characteristics to my liking and made the bike feel lighter. The larger sprocket also shortened my bikes wheelbase by about 8mm helping the bike feel more balanced for my riding position

I also increased the shock pre-load and raised the rear 5mm. I raised the front forks through the triple clamps thus lowering the front 3mm, this load the front wheel a little more, balanced the riding position to my liking and helped with earlier acceleration out of the corners.

I was having a hell of a lot of trouble getting good control of the clutch and front brake. The front brake was really strong but had to small of movement between starting to brake and full power, making it difficult for me to feather the brake. The funny thing was the clutch had the same lack of feel.
As the handle bars allowed me to do this, a easy fix was to slide the brackets inwards 10mm, this increased the radius where my fingers contacted the lever from the levers pivoting point, fixing the feel problem.
The only issue left apart from the rider, is a vague feeling from the forks under hard braking into a turn, although they feel a lot better than when I first rode the bike. Hope to work on the fork next ride and fix this.
It was amazing how such simple and free mods improved the bike to my liking. She is one amazingly fast yellow banana now.
 
Hi Jon
No haven't raced yet, we have had a lot of rain here lots of MX cancelled, unbelievably wet year.
To wet even for the Australian 4 day enduro to be held in Mackay QLD over the last weekend. The A4DE had to be postponed. New date is now July.
It has been to wet to track ride, so we have had a couple of forest rides in the last week. The bike feels great in the forest. I still haven't ridden the bike one time with decent traction yet!
Hoping later this week I will be actually enough grip to ride aggressively. I will let you know how it goes.
 
Sorry to hear about the wet weather. My Dad and sister are in Brisbane at the moment and reckon they have brought the wet miserable Northern Irish weather with them. They had stopped over with me and brought a pile of recent Motorcyclenews over with them. I was just reading how Steve Ramon won this years Le Touquet beach race in France on a RMZ 450. 102 miles (160k ) in deep, soft and shifting sand. Sounds like a nightmare, but a good indication of how well the bike can go.
 
Been out of touch for awhile and trying to get caught back up on things. Interesting buy Mark. So how does it handle compared to the KTM 250 EXC you had over there? Are you doing more trail or MX time on yer trip there? Does your RMZ250 exhibit the same traits as the 450 in terms of handling?
 
The engine is amazingly smooth and easy to ride, It is super fast in the bush but you need a little earlier line selection as its much harder to throw around like the EXC 250.
I am still struggling with braking and slow corners. It has been a long time since I have rode a 450 so I guess I am still trying to compare the bike to a 250f, and as you know the 250f is much better in those 2 areas.
At this stage I enjoy riding the 250f more, personally I get more fun riding a bike a can push further to its limits. Feels like I need a couple of months lifting weights so I can push the 450 a little harder, however we will see how it goes with a little more traction.
Today is looking good for a dry track :D
 
Great info thanks mark.

Just curious, have you compared lap times with your RMZ450 to other bikes you've ridden on the same track?
 
No, no lap times. Rode in fair traction last week, The bike felt better but still not 100% comfortable for me.
I havent had a chance to scratch myself the last fortnight, have been working on the house and property. Staying up at the track easter weekend if fingers crossed it doesnt rain. Hope to sought the bike then.
Are you back in the land of smiles Justin?
 
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