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rm was twice the bike the kx was
Your words, not mine!!
You obviously weren't racing (I mean
racing not fanging around a paddock somewhere fantasizing!) in 1980/81.
The RM was
the 125 to own in 1981/82. If my memory serves me correctly it won far more shootouts than the KXs! ( I think the KX only won one; the 1981 Dirt Bike shootout from memory, simply due to it's faster motor.)
The (1981 on) Full Floater suspension was the first truly
progressive suspension system, unlike the Unitrak which was exactly the opposite!
The RM was fast too!
Suzuki sold sh..loads of them!
Kawasaki struggled with the KX125. The A6 was slow, then the faster air-cooled A7 came out when all the other Jap bikes were watercooled!
I remember lining up with
at least half to 2/3 of the field being yellow, a few less on YZs, and even less on CRs, and maybe me and a few other diehards on KXs or Huskys/KTMs.
The 1980 KX125A6 was slow, a bloody dog of a bike. Kawasaki improved their 125 in 1981 (the A7 model) by raising the exhaust port among other mods to increase top end power. (BTW For the record I owned and raced both.)
Sure, the KX steered well, but so did the RM when set up correctly.
One thing they didn't manage to do much with was the KX's tendency to snap in half. The headstock would break completely away from the rest of the frame. I saw it happen to two KX's myself!
This issue was more predominant with the 250 and 420, but still happened from time to time with the 125.
I know from period experience that the 1981 RM125 was a better bike than the KX. Race results and the way I had to struggle at some tracks (Dargle with it's huge whoops springs straight to mind) to stay on the KXs had me totally convinced back then!
Sure, I won a number of races on those green meanies, both Club and Open, but I lost count of the number of times I wished I'd been less pig-headed and bought a Suzuki!
Greg