RM 250 / Motocross

frostage · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 14 Mar 2012 Karma :

Hi all,

Been on this forum for a little while now, mainly in the general streetbike side of things, and I'm newish to the motocross scene, owned a little aprilia 50cc crosser in my early days but nothing bigger than that.

I've owned a few street bikes since then, a GT250R, VFR400, ZX-6R, and now a gixxer 750 which is great fun to ride, but you can't really mess around a bit and be a bit silly when you know you've got nearly 3 grand between your legs! Especially not on the road (not the kind of silly I mean anyway).

So I decided to look at some crossers, I've got my eye on (and actually won an auction on ebay for) a 1998 RM 250. This one -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/suzuki-RM-250-2-stroke-motocross-field-bike-/200895940702?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=1yjHNomC2BqbcIp%252FN74Pr6fpvAY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Now first things first, I've been to look at the bike and there's a few more problems than he states; fork seals both gone, exhaust rusted and not a good fit (possibly different year model), kick start a bit dodgy (either kick gear or lever joint itself), and as he says, it doesn't hit the powervalve well. I am fairly keen to have a go at all this and have worked out that at £600 I may just about be able to make a bit of money, if not break even when I sell it on, if I inject some cash into it first. So what do you guys who ride them / fix them all the time think of this as a *moderately engine-savvy* amateur's first project?

*I say moderately because I've had all the bikes I've owned in bits all except the bottom end

On to the second question then, the bike is not road registered, and I was wondering if people use 'off-road' bikes in green lanes etc without road registering them? I know its frowned on by the law/councils, even illegal I believe, but we can all confess to doing silly things occasionally.

I ask mainly because I do plan to road register the bike when the base work is done, but until then I have to fix a powervalve problem which could be caused by a million things like fuelling, backpressure, dodgy governor, dodgy valve, blown rings.. (any others to suggest?), and therefore I will need to take the bike for a little ride after each attempted fix, so if I were to take it into a green lane near my house for 10 minutes and were seen by a copper, would I be likely to be ignored or maybe receive a slap on the wrist and a 'your a naughty boy' cetifacate costing roughly £60, or is it more of a police-station-cell-anally-raped-by-the-law sort of offence?

Finally (sorry for the heinously long post) I like the idea of eventually getting myself into a bit of amateur FMX (obviously once I've gained a firm ground in the lanes), is this something thats easy to do in this country? I mean are there many places with jumps etc where you can turn up as a complete noob and not be laughed at/hurled stones at?

Not something I would want to take to a professional level of course (unless I find some undiscovered FMX talent), I'd just like to give it a go.

Again, sorry for the long post and thanks for any advice!
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2000 Gixxer 750
1995 RM 250

dangerousdave · Traffic Copper Joined: 22 Apr 2011 Karma :

frostage · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 14 Mar 2012 Karma :

Thanks a lot Dave, bit of great advice there.

I'm picking up the bike tomorrow, we agreed on £500 because of the problems. I think I'll do a bit of a narrative over the course of the project with pictures etc to hopefully help anyone who does similar things in the future.

Any input from anyone on the other points in the original post would be great.
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2000 Gixxer 750
1995 RM 250

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

suzukirider19... · Nova Slayer Joined: 30 Jan 2013 Karma :

you will be able to reg it very easy. will be classed as a enduro all you would have to do is get a dating cert from suzuki or suzukiownersclub think its around 20 quid. as its old than 10 year wont need a SVA test. not sure how much it would be to get a reg from dvla but im sure its around 150.
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husky sm610

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

It must have numbers on engine and frame.

These need to be dated with a certificate to get an age related plate. It didn't look too bad when I was going to do it, £100 at your local DVLA inspection office, min height of 900mm, ground clearance over 310mm

Fit bigger wheels/over inflate tyres if you are having clearance issues Wink

Fowlersrs · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Mar 2012 Karma :

If your going to green lane it then u need a road registered bike, you will need tax and insurance etc as all green lanes are recognised as public roads, and ul be riding between lanes anyway. If it where me I'd get a bike that's already road registered. I don't think registering them is as simple as people are making out.

suzukirider19... · Nova Slayer Joined: 30 Jan 2013 Karma :

frostage · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 14 Mar 2012 Karma :

Again thanks for the solid advice guys, its all invaluable.

I've already bought a full gasket set in anticipation of the rebuild which I can't wait to start!

I am currently trying to get hold of a certificate of newness from Suzuki, after which I can apply for the V5 I think and then once he's fixed up and MOT'able it'll be on the road!

Pictures will be up tomorrow
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2000 Gixxer 750
1995 RM 250