The progress of man - Let's get heavy!

I remember fondly my 1982 YZ250. It was really heavy compared to the competition. Riding that bike is what made me move to the 125cc class in 1983. I went from riding a bike that weighed 240 pounds to one that weighed 190 - or so the manufacturers say in their specifications. Every year, there is talk of how improved a bike is from the previous year. They talk of the innovative ways to shave weight. By 1984, the YZ250 had shed enough weight to make it competitive with the rest of the brands. I can say for sure that the 1984 RM250 is a lot lighter than that 82 YZ becasue I now own one.

In fact, I own three RM250s now from three different eras so I decided it was time to pull out the bathroom scale. The results of this test is a bit enlightening.

The scale showing that the stand weighs 18 Lbs.

First on the scale is my 2001 RM250 fresh from a rebuild with not much gas in the tank: Weight: 228 Lbs.

Second on the scale is my 2013 RMZ250, pretty much stock, a few light parts added on: Weight: 244 Lbs

Third on the Scale is my 1984 RM250, as close to stock as possible with a bit of gas in the tank Weight: 217 Lbs!!!

Year after year of trimming the fat and the mighty RM gains 11 pounds. The '84 has a steel brake pedal- they were hardly even trying to save weight. In 2001, the now obsolete RM two-stroke had it's final major redesign, this bike is nearly as good as they can get and it weighs 11 pounds more than an '84.

When the industry moved to four-strokes, weight gain was inevitable. My 2013 RMZ250 weighs 244 pounds. This is the class of bike that killed off the 125cc class. It is safe to say that this bike is about 50 pounds heavier than it's 1984 counterpart and 27 pounds more than a 250 from that era.

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