Retro is all the rage, and it has been for some time. Yamaha is crushing it with the XSR900, and no one will attest to this more than RideApart's Daily News Writer, Enrico Punsalang. But no area of motorcycling is crushing the retro game harder than motocross.
Take Yamaha's retro lineup, which the manufacturer launched last year. I was lucky enough to throw a leg over its retro-styled off-road machines last year, and it took me back to my very first motocross bike, which happened to be styled with the exact same graphics kit.
It's one thing to launch a color scheme to match a retro year, but it's another entirely to launch five to celebrate 50 years of racing motocross. And that's exactly what Suzuki has done to honor the RM.
Anyone who buys a new RM-Z250 or RM-Z450 can choose to kit their bike out with one of five graphics kits, and each represents a decade of RM graphics that's sure to ignite the passions of racers both past and present. And it all starts with the current graphics kit
The modern graphics might not hold the swag that the rest of the options do, but they're by no means uncool. And if Ken Roczen rocked up to your local track on a production RM-Z, these are probably the graphics he'd be rocking. But if your hero is Ricky Carmichael, which for many motocross fans it is, then the 2000s graphics are where it's at.
Carmichael is the GOAT, but Travis Pastrana is my hero. He's who I grew up watching, and not just when he was racing professionally, but the home videos of him doing crazy shit as a 12 and 13-year-old. So, it'll come as no surprise that if I picked up a new RM-Z, I'd opt for the 90's graphics, no questions asked.
I don't think the 1980s kit will get the love that the rest of the options will, but if you're a Mark Barnett fan, this was made just for you.
Finally, the kit is savage, it's where it all started, and it represents the man it all started with—Roger DeCoster. The 1970s graphics kit is sure to be a fan favorite.
I'm going to say the 1990s kit will be the best seller, but I want to hear from you. What do you think will sell the most, and what would you pick personally?
