1981 Suzuki RM125-X Classic Motocross Review 

I'll never forget the '81 because my dad bought me a 1980 RM125 and like three months later this awesome '81 machine came out. I was so pissed lol

I had a 1980 RM125, then my brother ended up getting the 1981 RM125. His was so much better than mine I found every excuse I could to ride his. Bottom end on his was almost non-existent, but it was better than the ‘80 in every other way. I love that era of bikes.

The RM 125 was so good and set the standard and in deep sand was so much better than the rest.

I had the same bike. One of the best 125’s I’ve ever owned. My 84 kx was bad ass too

Had a 83 rm125 in 84 as a 14 year old, first mx bike, loved it! Water pump seal always failed making the clutch fail. Full floating suspension was awesome but a mantance nightmare with all the bushings and heims. I miss it.😞

One of my all time favorite race bikes. Incredible package stock, break it in and go racing... Floaters RULE!!!

I raced an 82 RM125 and it was awesome!! The 1981-83 RM125 is a LEFEND!!

Great summary! I have one minor difference in opinion to offer. I owned a 1982 RM250 back then and it had an air filer box that was conceptually the same as the ‘81 RM125. I appreciated its quick and easy air filter servicing. Remove both filter box side covers and there were the filters, behind hinged screens. They were quick to open for easy filter servicing. The flat filters were super easy to clean and cheap to replace. This was a major leap forward from my 1980 YZ465 cone-shaped filter which soiled itself quickly and then I thought was a hassle to service. The big YZ was also way ahead of its time, but that’s another story. I agree with a previous poster that mentioned that the full floater needed frequent servicing or the heims and other components would quickly wear out. Again, my ‘82 250 had conceptually the same system, and I remember thinking that the problem was that the seals were inadequate. I guess it is all about perspective, as most trophy trucks and long travel kits these days feature heim joints, also called uniballs, with no seals! It is accepted that they will need frequent replacing. That Suzuki gave us any seals at all for their heims was a great effort.

In 81 I thought I was a good rider because I was doing well. Not until years later did I realize it wasn't me. It was my bike choice. My 81 RM was so much better than the other 81s it was almost like cheating

Memories! My buddy's dad bought him a brand new 125x when we were in 10th grade and we spend many hours riding. I have a 78 YZ125E and Jeff his new 125X. I remember that Full Floater as being amazing, I would just stare at it in action as he would jump up and down on it, just amazing how the Shock 'floated'. I carried that amazement years later when I bought a brand new CBR954RR and that rear suspension was totally encased in the Swingarm. Jeff and me ended up blowing up his RM and I my YZ, my main Bearing went south and his top end went south. I never fixed my YZ but Jeff's dad payed to get his bike back up and running after a new Cylinder and Piston. I then bought a 1980 RM250 which was a beast to me when in HS. Thanks for this video!

In 1981 you were either on one or wish you were on one. This bike dominated in 1981. Awesome video!!

my first 2stroke was this bike. my uncle gave it too me when it needed a top end... he ported and polished the ports and the bike had no low end and was all top end only, it was like a light switch when the power band hit. I loved that bike

My all time favorite bike👍 I felt like I had a true works bike after my 1980! Akira Watanabe and Mark Barnett were my absolute Suzuki factory hero’s! I loved these bikes, I owned 1979, 1980, 1981 & 1982 RM125’s. The 1979 and the 1981 bikes were the absolute best of the bunch; the 1980, the most disappointing (given the advances by everyone else that year). Things changed so fast during that period.

This was my first motorcycle. You did a great job of covering the bike. I recall using 7.5 weight fork oil and playing with the oil level for weeks to tune the suspension. I also drilled the air box to let it breath better and also swapped in boysen reeds as they were two stage and woke up the bottom end a bit. Thank you for the great video.

such was this bikes dominance here in nz virtually no vintage moto bikes from 81-83 in the 125 are left around but the rm125.

Loved that bike! It truly was a game changer 🔥👍🍻

Great review (as always). I’ve owned two of these ‘X’ models over the years, and still love the way they work. Actually, I have nine bikes in the garage now, and this is still my favorite way to nail a berm. Considering setting up for AHRMA, not sure it could be beaten...

Great channel- Im building an 82 RM250Z, the first watecooled Suzuki 250. would love a review on it.

My dad had the 81 rm125x and also an IT 175. I love looking at mum's old photos of the.

I agree, I hope Suzuki stays in off-road/Mx. I’ve owned four of them to also include the ‘85 RM250 which was the last of the original FullFloater design. Bought it with less then 15 hours on it for 900.00 in early ‘87. The bike did not have a scratch on it and looked brand new. The guy I bought it off of called a few days latter after I purchased it and offered me 1200.00 to buy it back. I said no👍. It was an awesome bike for the 16 year old version of myself. Maybe I’m looking back with a sense of nostalgia, but that Floater rear felt better than my late model shock on my Husky. Ok maybe not, but I’d love to run both bikes back to back to see which has better rear suspension. BTW, the ‘84 and ‘85 had a single sided air-box design. Thanks again Tony, you are making quarantining bearable👏🏻

I still think the 1978 RM 125 was the best looking and sounding mx bike ever made, just beautiful.

My friend “Top Cover” still has a 1981 RM in his motocross collection.

very nice vid mate, i had an 83 and it a absolute joy the rear suspension was so good i remember it saving me many times and on the track after 10min you were at the front just because that rear system was easy to use. kx and cr would beat you out for speed and power but that rear system came into play always at end of moto's and i always loved picking off the cocky honda boys at in the last few laps. i remember riding a cr in 83 and being dumbstruck with its power but its rear suspension may have well been dual shock soo pain full. cheers, mate.

Loved this episode.....was always a Yamaha fan....had 2 YZ80's and always thought of Suzuki as the enemy. Then as i turned 16 i traded the YZ for an 81' Suzuki PE175X and then it was Suzuki all the way for the last 40 years. Had a RM125T, I restored an RM125C 10 years ago which i still have sitting in my lounge room....never been started after the resto. Then years ago i picked up an 85 RM125F in bits.....engine destroyed....so began the retrofit of a PE175 engine into that frame. It was the first introduction to a full floater......always knew they were good, but always thought yeah...so are other suspensions. My first ride was......Holy cow!! The Floater really is fantastic. I had an 05 WR450F at the same time and the floater being 20 years older...still felt better than a modern bike.

My second bike, after and Honda’s XL70. I was 13. I couldn’t even touch the ground. I idolized it - it was awesome!

Most informative motocross channel on the internet. keep up the great work!

I really enjoy your channel & this one brings back good memories of my start as a mx racer , at 16 l was on a year old 77 RM125B , then bought a new 79RM125N , wore it out & bought a new 82RM125Z , somewhere in their l sold my 77 to a friend who had a PE 175 & he put his torquey 175 motor in the RM & had himself a nice woods bike , that 82 RM125 fit me so good l bought a mint used one in 83 off some guy who got spooked learning to ride it so l had 2 of them to wear out , after my 82`s l changed brand but right now in my garage sits a good condition 1978 Suzuki RM250C waiting to be restored , my Tony D replica . Thanks Tony

I love your channel. We had a 1981 RM 125 -a break through bike. So glad you did a review. My second fav bike we had...my fav was the 1986 RM 80...look forward to your next installment

I had an 83 rm250 and that full floater rear end was fantastic for climbing really gnarly steep trails. I never raced it on a track just beat on it on trails. The cylinder sleeve must have been made of some soft steel. We rebuilt it almost every month. My neighbor who would rebuild it promised me it was not designed to run wide open for minutes at a time just corner to corner.😂

I wanted this bike so bad but ended up with the 80. Great video!

My 79 was my favorite then 81 came 👊 and it was next level 💪 Great memories of my years on Zooks .. Appreciate ya TB ✌️😉

👍 Tony with the mid night save!

ive got one im restoring.. bored out to a 175.. eyewaterer..lol.. great clip!! im a subscriber! cheers!

RIP Marty Smith and his wife Nancy.

Another great video Tony. A+ Job with all the historical photos, schematics and commentary. Love your channel!

I had the 81 YZ 125. LOVED AND MISS THAT BIKE

I loved this video Tony, really my time of mx . I worked at a Suzuki/Honda mx dealer in the uk back then and love the Zook . I remember getting my first brand new bike in 84 , an RM125E. It was a great bike ran it for a couple of seasons. Wish I still had it now.

I had one, fantastic bike!!!!!!! Loved it!

Great bike. My next door neighbor had the 82 model.. terrible airbox. When he sold it some yokel came for a test ride and refused to wear a helmet. Between our properties we had a massive jump. The yokel hit it flat out and went over the bars and ripped his ear off !! He went away in an ambulance and his family loaded up the RM.. You crash it, you bought it ! LOL !!

Love the Suzuki history Tony! Thanks.👍 -Ohio

Such a great bike

I'd love to find an 81' RM 125 and restore it

Excellently done! I very much enjoyed. Thank you 🙏🏼 😎

I love Suzuki.

Incredible bike for 81. Still good enough for 82. But Suzuki blew it in 83 trotting out this bike again.

My friend got one of these in late 1980 and we thought it was so trick, but my old 1979 YZ125 would eat it alive in a drag race to the first turn. The suspension on the RM was good though- really good for the era.

1978 C is best air cooled Rm125 and 1981 is best drum braked one . Probably it was best of all time

Love the 81 rm awesome thing

The air box was not a big deal. In fact other than having a few extra screws it was great in that the elements were flat so a proper clean and oil was easy to do. Pretty much no chance of ripping anything or having redo it because it was not still full of grit. Opening up the box? Was something of a hobby and artistic statement, looked works trick too.

Back in the day, I had new a 1978 RM125c & a new 1982 RM125z. The 1978 had a better motor and handled better than the 1982.

I spent endless hours staring at the RM lineup in motorcycle mags.!!

From what l remember an American guy sent Suzuki his design of the Full Floater. They sent it back to him saying "not interested ". Not long after this his rear suspension started to appear on Suzuki mx ,enduro & road bikes .He sued & was paid $13 for every motorcycle produced with a floater rear end . Millions

Fantastic Tony!! ThankU

Very interesting and well done. I always wondered why they dropped the original Full Floater.

I loved mine!!!! Thanks

Hi Tony! Just to let you know the 1983 KTM 125 also used a "Power Reed" system. Cheers!

Great discussion.

My brother had one and it was awesome. On the flip side, My mate had the YZ125 H. What a piece of junk that was! One lap and I couldn't wait to give it back. So top heavy and flighty that you could barely feel where your wheels were. Incredible how much difference there was. Humongous shock up high and the rads on forks was terrible.

You should do a video on the Hodaka, they are a pretty cool bike

I still own my 1979 rm125 since 1980 and my 1981 rm125 since 1982.

Imagine if Suzie got the mono shock the early 70s🤔👍

I had a 81 yz 125..and I lost to rms every week!..

I had the 81 CR 125 was not happy with the handling,took awhile to get used to. Possibly the front fork rake?

There is still patents on the full floater shock position as I modified a Giant Reign mountain bike and modified the shock to have a linkage at the bottom and with the original top linkage it worked so much better but Giant where not interested.

Great as always wasn't a great fan of rm myself other people love them but I watched this all interesting as always

This story is bought to you by the Suzuaki lovers network. 1982 comes along and Suzie is put out to pasture, DeCoster Hondas Baby..😂😂👍🕺🕺🕺

Can you do A video on the history of the YZ80/85?? I’m restoring an 84, my first race bike when I was a kid!!!!

I wish I had built a 81 RM instead of my 83 KX125 for vintage racing.

Are these like the new rm that you have to do the motor after certain hours of riding?

pls,pls,pls do the 82 RM lineup?thank you

No mention of the cdi units on many of them that went berserk and would over advance ignition timing destroying the piston? DNF IN every desert race I entered.

Imagine the poor kid who bought the 1980' model right before the 81'came out..

I have one RM250 1981, missing the piston, cyl and head. hard to find these parts for it.

Exellant video cheers

I’m confused I don’t see anything online about the 1997 cr250 having single rad? Did I hear him wrong or something?

The previous owner of my 81 RM250 drilled holes on each air box cover.

This probably isnt the best video topic to INQUIRE ABOUT subject matter but i think you should do a whole video on 2 stroke POWER VALVES....as far as the big 5 different approaches/history of the implementation and development of these modern components...like first u can quickly explain the 4 diffrent types and what they promised/offered ( HONDA- ATAC-HPP-RC VALVE.... YAMAHA YPVS.......SUZUKI AETC.....KAWASAKI KIPS...ETC ETC....). Then maybe show diagrams and cross sections about the general function of them....how each company evolved their particular type....and your individual and experiential exploits of what type u think delivers the best performance and anything else you can think of..i know alot of newbies to 2 strokes are extremely devoid of any k owledge that these technologies offer and i think the younger generations can appreciate an informative tutorial about the history and functions of such technologies and possibly there shortcomings as emissions and developmental techniques couldnt be adapted to make 2 strokes epa friendly and viable in the current national sense of the word and how 4 strokes have negated 2 strokes in that regard....even though power valves werent geared towards emsissions and were more geared toward performance and even w auto lube direct injection sysyems still cant pass federal EPA expectations in the legal realm so maybe you can share your thoughts on what type of system could eliminate the harmful effects of burning oil and still maintaining the 2 stroke ethos and becoming adapted to be a mainstream contender again and not just nostalgic smaller events such as vintage racing and 2 stroke only events that are always overshadowed by the main events with 4 stroke technology becoming the mainstay in the sport.....Can 2 strokes still evolve in this landscape of modern ingenuity and progress???????

Have you ever been to barbers vintage festival outside of Birmingham Alabama

Please get Gastons name right - at 3.10 - Renyay???? - It's Rahier

Dam tony you really hit a cord here..with me..in ealy 1983 i gotta a new 1981 yz 125..my friend a 1981 rm125. While my bike was faster his was better..the mono-X I. had felt like a bag of "Marshmallows"his floater soaked up everything keeping him going straight and fast..our forks were even though my steering was sluggish 'though dirt bike magazine called they yz a hawk in the corners' AUGUST 1981 ISSUE..IT WAS WAY MORE STABLE THAN THE RM..the rm a world class in '81..in '82 they got the motor rite..the honda125 in 1981 was a total dog ..the kaw125 was laughfable. in fact at my local. Track they sold bumper stickers saying" i would rather eat worms than ride a green bike ' yes in fact if your were not on a yellow bike in those days u were in the back of the pack period..but fact is those rms were poorly put together and rattled apart and blew up after a few years of riding while the yzs and crs we're bullet proof..go to a vintage race today you seelots of yzs even quite a few crs ..even though the crs sold alot less a were far inferior..great review once again tony..I luv dirt bikea

Can you do 1982 KX125?

Better to look good than to feel good...Elsinore Rules...ride red !!

my sons 1999 YZ 80 had more power and the same front fork tube size as, say, Bob Hannah's winning bikes from c1980. It weighed less and so did the brat. thus at age 12 I got a great picture of him getting an honest 100 feet at Hollister's Elevator Shaft! 12 years old. 5 other kids were doing it too.