The husaberg 70 degree motor bikes are no featherweights, but they handle well. I suspect the Suzy will have that magic suzy handling, and they will sell well. The rmz450 is the heaviest 450mx bike, yet it handles well. Time will tell.
I bet if you threw a 450EXC, TE450, CRF450X, WR450F etc... on a certified scale, they would all weight pretty close to 272lbs.
Definitely. If it's not street legal then what's the point? If you live in an Eastern state you can't ride on public land without a plate. Evantually, it will be everywhere in the US that you need a plated bike to ride off-road. The Japanese aren't getting it. Registering/plating issues are one of the reasons that KTM and recently Husky are popular with the off-road crowd.
There is alot of their biz logic stuck in the Ca market, we have the Red/green stickie deal. Seasonal use of motos, with a green you can ride in any ohv area anytime of year. The big 4 are very Cal centric in their biz logic. In Ca technically you cannot ride your MX machine in OHV parks (for most of the year, dry season) as they are all closed course/track only red sticker bikes. That is why they make these green sticker "enduros" and if the CRF-X line is any indication they will sell the heck out of them. But you guys are correct they should have just gone the xtra mile and did the DMV thing and built some "race ready" DS machines (the DRZ is a good DS buuuut a tank). That would have been very smart biz. Suzuki is the the most conservative of the big 4 and things roll slowly there (directly from a long time Japanese employee in the WSBK world). So they will probably only follow the others into the racer/DS line. R
I'd agree with that. I went back to some mfr site and noticed that 2009 Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha now all use ready-to-ride curb weight (well, Yamaha says "wet" weight) Taking varying tank sizes into account the RMX is right there with the others.......and about 15-20lbs lighter than what a fueled up top heavy DRZ400 actually is
The only reason I bought my te-450 is because it's street legal, I applaud their efforts but why bother if it can't wear a plate?
Did anyone else compare the top gear to 1st gear? That gearbox is slightly wider than the TEs (buy a few percent). It's not like a crf450f or TC on the trail. Yes I know that is not much of a positive... but it is something.
Thanks for confirming my (wobbly) mental arithmetic. I can live with a 5-speed (and did for a long time) - although I guess it depends on the engine characteristics - the bore / stroke and compression suggest that it's not an all-out rev monster) A sixth gear would be nice on a DS as an overdrive though. Tank capacity is a disappointment - and the tank is aluminium. Rear tyre is a 110, which seems unfashionably skinny for a biggish bike that would see tarmac as well as dirt. Doubtless European bikes will be very different to U.S. spec ones. I've always got on well with Suzooks so I certainly would give one a try if I was in the market for a new bike - but not 'til the bugs had been shaken out and there was a larger tank option. And yellow bikes are sweet IMO.
My '00 WR250 with a 2.9 gal tank full of fuel, full Baja Designs DS light kit, bark busters, aluminum skid plate, shark fin and more was 256 lbs on a certfied scale.
+1 for Norman's info. My 06 WR 250 was 252 lbs with only 2.5 gallons in it and set up the same as Norman's. Walt
Sorry guys, I really have no idea how I got that number from this. http://www.dirtybikes.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=271&p=1484&hilit=phat#p1484
Good to see another bike in the DS category, even if it seems to be somewhat inferior to the Husky TE. Competition will be good.
