We are used to 50th Anniversary celebrations, like those of Yamaha or Kawasaki, or other important dates. But the truth is that the special RM 50th Anniversary version goes off the scale when it comes to originality. We all know the extensive legend of Suzuki’s RM saga, and how over the years they painted all the motocross grills on the planet yellow.
They were not, at least in our country, the most desired motorcycles in recent decades. The truth is that although their engines, as they came from the factory, may not have been the most powerful in the category, they more than made up for it with their lightness and a chassis section that made the motorcycles enter the curves perfectly. Obviously, if we talk about the prepared versions, the ones used in the World Championship or in the AMA, things were very different, but as amateurs the Suzuki RM were undoubtedly grateful motorcycles.
The fact is that they have been adding years until they reach their 50th Anniversary and although they are not in the best moment and, it is fair to say, they have been a big step behind the rest of the competition, the commemorative versions go one step further (or five).
Suzuki celebrates the 50th Anniversary with 5 different graphics
The RM-Z250 and RM-Z450 models will have not only one special graphic but a total of five, one for each decade: the seventies, eighties, nineties, two thousand and the “modern” version. With the exception of the last one, which we could say is the current version, all of them recall iconic moments or decorations.
If we start from the 70s in these 50th Anniversary versions, the first one remembers the first model, which was the precursor of the saga and the pilot who was its icon in those times: Roger DeCoster. The graphics combine green with blue and yellow in one of the kits that combine style and simplicity.
The same thing happens to the eighties version, where we only find the blue in its three stripes that was so characteristic on their street motorcycles with the yellow that has always been present in the offroad. A design that is reminiscent of Mark Barnett’s time, but that could perfectly pass for current.
We get into the nineties and what happened in the nineties? That people lost their fear of fluorescent colors and their taste for mixing them, which gave rise to versions that were marked by everyone and that, currently, are the retro versions that attract the most attention.
To finish with these classic versions we couldn’t miss one in tribute to Don Ricky Carmichael. Although he is now linked to Triumph and before Suzuki he rode for Kawasaki, the image of the American with the Suzuki Makita fighting against Reed and Steward remains in the retina of SX lovers. For many, that was the peak era and Carmichael was one of the standard bearers.
The last of the versions, as we said, is the current one and it must be recognized that although on a mechanical level it does not stand out, it can be one of the most striking decorations of the moment. Although, as we always say, it depends on the colors.
