Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Turning t he KTM is simple and precise, b ut braking for the turns can be tricky - front disc isn 't very strong. ing fas t; maybe no t q u ite as fa st as la st 's - but impressi ve. n onetheless. The KTM 's lillie m o to r th rives in th e middle a nd th e top of th e powerband ; it lik es to be revved o ut to the maximum in eac h gear, a nd the rider will be rewa rded with tren ch -digg in g hor sepow er good for ma ny hol esh ot s. Down low in th e po werba nd . rhough. we found o urse lves a lways reach in g for th e cl u tch lever. especia lly w he n blast in g o ut o f tigh t turns. T he KTl\I ca n pull itself o u t o f th ose si tua tio ns with out help fro m th e cl u tch. but barel y. Wh en it co mes o n th e pipe. it hits ha rd a nd doesn 't sto p pulling until th e rider backs o rr th e th rott le - it 's definitelv a revver a nd must be revved o u t a ll th e time to ge t th e mo st o u t of th e engine. Even wi th its hard -packed punch . th e KTl\I isn 't very hard to m anage for th e Novice racer ; th ere is enough m id -range for a mana geable transition into th e sur p lus o f power o n top. Even th ough th e cl ut ch must be used a lmost a ll th e lime whe n exi ting ha irpin turns. it held up very well we never encountered a n y h int o f p robl em s lik e slippi ng or dr aggin g . One th in g we didn 't like. th ough. th e clutch lever is too hard to reac h . even for size II hands-Iuck iIy,the clu tch has a ver y ligh t pu ll. O ne finger is usuall y a ll th a t's needed. Un like th e transm issi on o n th e KTM 250. th e o ne in th e 125 works. a nd wor ks qui te we ll. The 250 we tested di dn ' t lik e to be sh ifte d with th e power o rr o r with th e use o f th e cl u tch ; m issed sh ifts were a dime a dozen . but o n th e 125 we rar el y fou n d a fal se neutral. It will shi ft wi th . or withou t. th e ai d o f th e clutch ; power o n o r power o ff. T h e shi ftlever is ea sy to find a nd has a very short throw, un common for Europea n I25s. The KTM 's suspension is o ne o f the best in the bus iness; tha n ks mostl y to the fro nt fork. U p fro nt , we co uldn ' t find much to co m p lai n a bo u t - th e fork a bsorbed a ll th e bu mps a nd jumps very smooth ly a nd p ro gressively. Som etimes th e front end would twitch at hi gh speed, but th e overall feeling' was exce lle n t. " . The engine has 8 square-bore config u ration (54x54mm) and produces good power. (Below left) White Power handles suspension duties. (Bel ow right) Profile is narrow. T he back was ni ce, too, but could n' t mat ch th e front en d in perform an ce. Over roll in g wh oop-de-doe s. th e back en d wo u ld stick to th e gro un d an d m ainta in a straigh t lin e at speed but would so metimes kick har d over little. sha rp-edg ed bumps. Our 1"25 ca m e se t up a tad o n th e soft side for a 160-p ound rider but j ust a bo u t righ t for a 155 p ounder. Bouomin g was never a p ro blem. We were disa ppointed wi th th e front br ak e - th e pow er j us t wasn 't strong enough for ou r likin g. In stead o f a ligh t pull o n the lever , it took a strong sq ueeze with a t least two fingers to ge t th e front brak e working proper ly; we didn 't ever have to worry a bo u t th e front wh eel lockin g up, th ough . Si nce th e front brak e wasn 't the best . we found o urse lves havin g to re ly more o n th e rea r brake; luck ily. it is strong a nd on ly needs a slig h t p us h o n th e pedal to ge t th e job don e. It is a lmost o n th e ver ge o f bei ng too strong, because th e rea r whee l will lock up if th e rider isn' t ca refu l. We lock ed up th e rear wheel a number o f tim es, bu t never stal led th e m otor, even o n dry gro und. Turnin g th e KTM is super easy it carves th rough a ny berm with ease. a nd , lik e the 250, it won 't try 10 rid e u p a n d d rift ove r th e berm s.-Even if th ere a re no berms aro und. the 125 w ill go wh ere it is pointed and wi ll sti ck 10 th e grou nd. And a ta ll rider wo n ' t ge t h is knees ta ngled wit h th e handleb ar s wh en leaned ove r since th e bik e itse lf is ta ll , T h e o n ly mech a n ical problem we enco u ntered was a serious o ne - th e thro ttle stuck wide open a n um ber o f times. We ch ecked th e thro u le ho using a nd ca ble ro uti ng, a nd to re apart th e ca rbu retor but found n o obvi o us problem. We bel ieve th e slide spring was overla ppi ng whe n th e th ro u le was h eld a ll the wa y open , bu t we co u ld n ' t ca tch it in the act. T he n we co n tac ted KTM , a nd were to ld th at th e compan y ha s never hea rd of th e p roblem before o n a ny o f th eir bi kes. The side panel s never fell o rr, th e sea t s taye d firm ' a nd -rhe -n ut s a n d bo lts d id n' t come loo se. One reason for th at is th at the KTM doesn 't vibra te excessively - everythi ng sta ys right a nd doesn 't ra ttl e. Even th e littie chai n h eld up well a nd requ ired liule adjustme nt. T he new I25cc KTM has a lo t goi ng for it - it has a fas t engine , suspen - sian right up th ere wit h th e Japanese bikes; it' s ligh t, reliab le a nd has th at European -bred feelin g . It is expe n sive, of co u rse, but th e $2 114 price lag isn 't O U I of th e ball park: it cos ts a few hundr ed dolla rs more than a J apanese bike. but th at 's abo u t rhe on ly big d ifferen ce. • KTM 125MX Eng ine type . . . . . Uqu id-cooled. reed-valve two-stroke Bore x stroke . . . . . . . 54x54mm Displacement 123.6cc Compression rat io 16:1 Carburetion 36mm De ll'Orto Ign ition CO l Motoplat Lubrica tion Pre- m ix Gear ratios Primary , 3.050 Fina l 3 .875 6th 0 .05 0 5th 1 .190 4 th 1 .3 6 8 3rd 1 .64 7 2nd 2 .066 1st 2 .750 Fra m e S ing le down t ube. split c rad le Rake _. . . . . ... .. . . • . 27° Trail. N/A Front suspension Wh ite Power 4054 (inve rted ) Fork tube diameter 40mm Front wheel travel . _ 11 .8 in. Rear suspension . . S ing le shock swingarm Rear wheel travel 1 2 .5 in. Front brakes . .. 9 .4~ i n . floating disc Rear brak es 5 .1 -;n . dru m Fro nt w heel 2 1 -in. Rear w heel. 18-in. Fro nt t ire Metzeler Rea r tire Metzeler 19 2. 2 Ibs . Dry weight Wheelbase 5 8. 4 in. Fue l capacity 2 .5 ga l. Ground clea ra nce 1 4. 5 in. Seat height 37.4 in. Co lors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wh ite Retail price $2114 t. " l l\' l . " ~ l l ' ." 1." " 7 •

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