'08 Suzuki RMZ450 - Getting It SortedMy '06 Suzuki RMZ450 had done three seasons and it was time to update. I was keen on an '09 model and was just waiting for them to be released here in Australia. In the meantime Suzuki Australia were running a deal where they were giving away $1500 worth of goodies with every sale of the last of the '08 RMZ's. I did a bit of research and found that the '09 Suzuki RMZ450 model was basically unchanged from '08, just some graphics updates and revised settings. With a local dealer offering me a pretty good price on the second last model he had on the floor plus the extra freebies I decided to buy an '08 instead. ) First up before I even rode the bike I stripped it down and greased everything that could be greased, this included all the swingarm bearings, headstem bearings and some other bitsand pieces like brake lever pivots etc. I also changed the radiator coolant and brake fluid with a good quality product (Motul in both cases).That done I bought a complete set of black plastics and fitted the One Industries graphics kit and seat cover that Suzuki Australia were nice enough to throw in as part of the freebie deal. I stripped the wheels and had the hubs polished and anodised black, I also had the rims done in gold. I also fitted an hour meter to keep track of when service intervals are due. All that being done the bike looked pretty enough so it was time to actually start riding the thing. My first impressions of the suspension was that front and rear it was a big improvement over my '06 Suzuki RMZ450, the rear end tracks well and the bike turns with a lot more confidence than the old one. The forks are a bit soft for me, I'm planning on getting them revalved for a start and then possibly fitting heavier springs if the revalve doesn't fix the problem. I also took the Faast bar weights off my '06 bike before I sold it and fitted them to the '08 machine. A couple of minor gripes, some of the welds on the frame look like they left the apprentice to do while the welder went off for lunch, they look terrible. I'm sure they're structurally sound but they're certainly not neat. Also air filter access is less than perfect, on my '06 bike I would take off the seat and left hand seat cover to access the air filter. By reaching in from the side you could remove and replace the air filter without hardly touching the frame or plastics on the bike. On my '08 the air box sides are filled in to halfway up the depth of the air box so the only way to get to the filter is between the subframe rails from above. This space is too narrow to get the filter through without turning it sideways and dragging it past the rails, you end up smearing filter oil and muck all over the rails. A small complaint but still a bit annoying when they seemed to have the whole thing sorted on the earlier model bikes. If you want a lesson in air filter access take a look at a KTM, they've got it well sorted. As I make modifications and fit various accessories to the bike I'll put some info about it up on this page so keep an eye on this space to see how the '08 Suzuki RMZ450 project shapes up. Click here to take a look at the '06 Suzuki RMZ450 I owned and raced before my current bike Please note that to protect our younger visitors to Motocross 101, SafeSearch is turned on in these search results.
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