2020 YAMAHA YZ125X REVIEW
R I D E R E V I E W
P92
O
nce again, we applaud Yamaha for not ignoring the
two-stroke. Yamaha has never really given up on the
premixers despite being the manufacturer having the
distinction of starting the beginning of the end of the two-
stroke off-road motorcycle when the YZ400F was released
in the late 1990s. But you can't blame Yamaha, though. If
they hadn't done it, someone else would have. While all of
the other Japanese manufacturers eventually gave up on
the two-stroke, Yamaha stayed true to the blue smokers,
keeping the YZ250 and YZ125 motocrossers in its YZ lineup
while keeping yearly updates to a minimum (if at all).
Despite the four-stroke revolution, two-strokes remained
popular in the off-road, or enduro, world because of their
light weight, snappy power and simplicity. After all, off-road-
ers are simple people, right? And us off-roaders are proud
of that. Yamaha noticed how so many racers were switching
back over to two-strokes in the woods and introduced the
YZ250X, an off-road version of the YZ250, in 2016. And
Yamaha expanded its camless offerings in 2020 with an
The Yamaha YZ125X might be
a "small-bore," but it packs a big
punch of two-stroke fun
BY THE CYCLE NEWS STAFF
Yamaha expanded its
off-road two-stroke line
with the YZ125X.
TWICE
The
FUN
