The 1972 TM250J Suzuki Champion
The 250 Champion, produced by Suzuki in 1972 was the factory’s answer to the race winning works bike Joel Robert campaigned to the world championship in the 1971 season. While the 250 looked like a copy of the works RH250, it was actually based on the 250 enduro of that year, right down to the motor and frame. While not as bad as the TM400 Cyclone, the TM250J did have some quirks that put the bike into the “entry level” category in MX circles of the time. 
As mentioned, the Champion motor was based on the 250 enduro of that year, right down to the motor internals, outside cases, and oil-injection. Painted black, with a sinuous low expansion chamber, alloy rims, and a spiffy “works” paint job, the bike looked the part of a serious motocrosser, but looks aren’t everything, especially once you fired it up and took it out for a few laps. 
In 1972 the Champion was known as “the race bike you wanted to race if you didn’t want to race it”, and with good reason. A soft power hit, along with less than stellar suspension components made the stocker more of a play bike than serious motocross machine.
Before the Honda Elsinore came out in 1973, the Suzuki Champion was the Japanese MX bike to have, and Suzuki sold boat loads of ‘em. It seemed everybody had one, with the aftermarket folks selling everything from whole frames to motor kits, along with tuners roto-rootering the motors into high horsepower hand grenades, since the enduro based lower ends and transmissions couldn’t handle all that power.
Many the used 250 Champion sat on the pages of Cycle News to be bought for a song, after the Elsinore came out. The bike stayed pretty much the same, and in 1973, the clutch actuation got changed from the enduro motor, and a newly designed top end with a single ring piston was fitted for more power. Different foot pegs, and gear ratios made their way into the later TMs too.
The bike stayed about the same through 1975, when in 1976 the stellar RM250 came out, and Suzuki finally started seeing the winners circle. I personally bought a 1976 RM370 a year after it came out, and it was one of the best handling dirt bikes I’ve ever owned, period. Suzuki finally had a winner, stock. 
1976 RM370
Sure, some were raced, but to make a ’72 Champion competitive, you had to bolt on a set of Konis, get the front fork damper rods re-drilled, with a new set of springs, a new pipe, bigger carb, dump the restrictive air box (that looked like something off a submarine) port it and even cut the frame for better handling. And after all that, you had spent enough money to buy a Husky or a Maico anyway, so why do it in the first place? Because Joel rode one, that’s why. 
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