MOTOCROSS seems like a simple concept: line up. Go when the gate drops. Lead into the first corner. Turn faster laps around the racetrack. And beat the other riders to the finish line. In reality, just riding around a motocross track at speed is anything but simple. And winning requires a motorcycle with the right combination of engine and chassis performance. Strong acceleration, and smooth braking.

Quick throttle response, and a broad powerband. Nimble cornering, and confident handling through hoops. Tractability, and sure landings off jumps. A motorcycle with The Winning Balance. Nobody understands that better than the passionate group of Suzuki engineers who have dedicated their lives to motorcross, men who are as at home in the paddock and in the race shop as they are working at computer design stations or overseeing dyno tests.

Their work combines practical technology and engineering imagination, science and instinct, experimentation and testing. Mixed in with the experience that comes from winning races around the world, in rutted mud and whooped-out sand, on loamy soil and rocky dirt, in freezing cold and blazing heat. The goal is to build the finest motocross racebikes, reliable machines that help riders get around a racetrack faster, lap after lap, moto after moto, race after race. The key is to make the motorcycle easier to ride faster.

The 2005 RM250 has a powerful, torquey 249cc reed-valve-intake two-stroke engine, liquid-cooled with bore and stroke of 66.4mm x 72mm. The bore of the aluminium cylinder is electro-plated with Suzuki's own race-proven nickel-phosphorus-silicon-carbide coating, called SCEM (Suzuki Composite Electrochemical Material). The RM250 has electronic CDi, a 5-speed transmission, a 38mm carburettor and an advanced exhaust valve system to deliver a broader powerband.

What really sets the RM250 apart is Genuine Suzuki Engineering, including innovative asymmetrical crankshaft balancing, with crankshaft flywheel balance slightly offset on each side. On a micro level, the result is a slight imbalance, producing a tiny variation in the phasing of the power pulses reaching the rear tyre. On the macro level, the rider doesn't feel any additional vibration above idle, but can feel significantly improved traction when accelerating.

The concept is similar to the big-bang uneven firing order once used to improve traction for two-stroke V-4 road racers, and works because the tyre is less affected by torque changes and has more time to regain traction between power pulses. Suzuki has the race wins to prove its worth in motocross, and the only production motocrossers in the world to use the pioneering concept are the RM250 and the RM125. The RM250's race-proven chassis starts with a single-backbone, dual-cradle tubular chrome-molybdenum-steel frame, with rectangular cross-section rear downtubes and a bolt-on aluminium rear sub-frame/seat-rail section. The rectangular-section swingarm is made of aluminium alloy.

Wheelbase is 1,470mm (57.9 inches) with 27.5 degrees of rake and 115mm (4.53 inches) of trail. For 2005, a new cap seal is added between the upper steering head bearing and the upper triple clamp, improving sealing. A new bridge tube is positioned between the arms of the swingarm, just behind the pivot shaft, improving rigidity for better tracking over whoops, and the redesigned chain guide is lighter. There's no mistaking the 2004 Suzuki RM125, but there's more to the plastic bodywork than good looks.

The transitions between the fuel tank and the radiator shrouds, between the fuel tank and the seat, and between the seat and the sidecovers and rear fender are all made as smooth as possible, to make it easier for the rider to shift their weight while riding. New aluminium spacers make it easier to reinstall the plastic bodywork. New seat foam is more durable and more resistant to compression, and the sides of the two-tone seat cover feature higher-traction vinyl, making it easier for the rider to stay in position while standing on the pegs or cornering.