Garage in stock

2013 RM-Z 450

By David Pingree

This bike was my special project. I love the 2013 RM-Z450 but every bike has its weak points and our goal with these projects is to improve upon the things we think could be better. The very first thing we had to do was improve the looks of this machine. I'm not a fan of the red/black/yellow/white/silver look of this bike in stock trim. I thought it would be cool to create a retro look and when I mentioned that to our friends at One Industries they told me they were working on a 1990 RM replica kit. I loved the clean blue and yellow look back then and I still think it looks amazing. They made the Full Floater stickers special for me but if you are under 30 you probably don't understand what that is.

Our power plant was massaged courtesy of Pro Circuit. They polished the head and installed an Air 4orce air boot. They coupled that package with their newest Ti4 exhaust system with a carbon tip. The Suzuki engine is great stock and I didn't want to change the characteristic of it, just enhance it.

Pro Circuit also resprung and revalved the suspension and mounted their new aluminum triple clamps. They also mounted a Pro Circuit radiator hose kit in blue.

The wheels were supplied by Dubya and include Kite hubs, spokes and nipples and Excel A60 rims. We mounted some Moto Master rotors to that wheel setup and included a steel braided front brake cable from Ride Engineering for increased stopping power.

The carbon fiber chain guide, fork lug guard disk guard, skid plate and case guard are all LightSpeed Products. The skid plate in particular fits like a glove, provides great protection and is completely rubber mounted.

Bars, sprockets, chain and grips are all Renthal. Dunlop provided MX51 tires front and rear. To complete the look, Works Connection set us up with full line of products: Radiator braces, clutch perch/lever, brake reservoir caps, engine plug kit, chain adjuster blocks and throttle tube.

On the track the bike was amazing. The power was improved everywhere but still very useable. The suspension was plush and settled into turns perfectly. Bones does a great job setting things up over at Pro Circuit. The turning on this bike is incredible, too. This thing fits me like a glove and is, without question, the best 450 I’ve ever ridden.

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Graphics- RM Retro Kit: ONE Industries www.oneindustries.com

Exhaust- Pro Circuit Ti4 www.procircuit.com

Suspension- Pro Circuit

Radiator hoses- Pro Circuit

Head porting- Pro Circuit

Triple clamps- Pro Circuit

Wheels- Dubya [Kite hubs/Excel rims] www.dubyausa.com

Fat Bars/sprockets/grips/- Renthal  www.renthal.com

Carbon fiber disk guard/chain guide/lug guard/Skid plate/case guard- LightSpeed www.lightspeedcarbon.com

Air Boot- Moto Tassinari Air4orce  www.mototassinari.com

Engine plugs/radiator braces/brake caps/clutch perch/clutch lever/chain adjuster blocks/- Factory Connection www.worksconnection.com

Yellow plastic- Acerbis www.acerbis.com

Brake rotors- Moto Master www.motomaster.com

Clutch basket/hub/pressure plate/fibers/steels/springs/outer cover- Hinson  www.hinsonracing.com

Dunlop- MX51 FA front, MX51 rear tires – www.dunlopmotorcycle.com

Air filter- Pro Filter- www.Maximausa.com