Suzuki’s first attempt at a 250cc four stroke motocross machine came as a joint venture with Kawasaki. In fact up until 2007 the RM-Z 250 came with a sticker on the frame saying “Made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries”. Both the Kawasaki and Suzuki were identical bikes apart from the plastics. You could actually change your Suzuki into a Kawasaki and your Kawasaki into a Suzuki if you pleased. Here’s the things to look out for if you’re buying a 2010 – 2013 Suzuki RM-Z 250.
From 2010 onwards the RM-Z got fuel injection being the first 250cc machine to be fuel injected just like the RM-Z 450 was the first 450cc to receive fuel injection. The motor is a twin overhead cam engine with shim and bucket type tappets. The valves are titanium coated and were much more durable than the previous models but once the titanium coating had worn through the valves would continually just keep wearing until they had to be replaced.
The common fix to rectify this problem was to fit stainless steel valves and then replace the valve spring with the upgraded dual spring system to compensate for the heavier valves. This would result in a slight drop in performance but a much more durable engine. The other option while being much more expensive was to fit full titanium valves with copper beryllium valve seats. This would keep the performance but be much more durable.
When looking at buying a 2010 – 2013 Suzuki RM-Z 250 second hand check to see if the bike starts and idles smoothly. A dead give away with a valve issue on these bikes is they would be hard to start and would either idle really high, up and down or not at all. As with any second hand bike, be sure to check all the suspension linkages are moving freely without any excessive play or tightness and check to see the brakes all work correctly before test riding it.
Ride the bike and make sure the gearbox selects all gears and the clutch isn’t slipping. Any gearbox repairs will likely extend into the thousands of dollars to repair as will any bottom end noises or vibrations so be sure to check for any strange noises coming from the engine. These bikes performed well if kept in good condition. They were very light and nimble to ride and were a great race bike if looked after well.
Mat Boyd
