Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Cosmetically there Isn't much changed on the new VZ125, but Internally, well , that's a different story. (Bottom left ) Yamaha left a good thing alone when It came to the VZ's suspension. The on ly difference is the addition of a mid-speed valve In the Invert ed fork. (Below) A new Mikuni carburetor, a redesigned airbox boot, reshaped exhaust ports, a repositioned YPVS valve and a new exhaust pipe combine 10 give the VZ better bottom-enil performance, wilhout sacrificing power on lop. sho rter and at an angle, creating bigger holes, and haven't had any hassles since. One problem we had with our '94 YZ test bike was its transmission - it would put up a fight while trying to up-shift under a load, very notchy . According to Yamaha, this was an isolated case. We have no reason to doubt this because our '95 YZ shifted flawlessly, and Yamaha made no changes whatsoever to this year's six-speed gearbox . Yamaha pretty much didn't mess with an already good thing - the suspen- sion. Th e only real complaint in this department that Yamaha heard from '94 YZl25 own ers was that the fork sagged too much, giving the YZ "that sin king fee lin g." Yamaha remedied th is by recalibrating the valving and installing a mid-speed valve assembly in the fork . This valve is designed to help keep the Kayaba inverted fork from drooping into mid-stroke but not prevent the fork from diving under hard braking or while cornering, where a little bit of sagging is beneficial for carving quick lines. We had high expectations of the YZ's sus pe ns ion and we ren't disappointed one bit. The little YZ plows through the whoo ps and rou gh stuff like a dream, just like it has over the past few years. Predictabjlity is one of the YZ's stronger points, very rarely does the bike sneak in an unexpected kick or swap. Generally, the YZ stays straight as an arrow and goes where it's pointed. We fid dl ed around with the damping se ttings at each end and came up with a combination that we were completely happy with, and we still had many " clicks" left over. In other words, the suspension has a wide range of adjustments. , One thing we noticed right away were the YZ's strong brakes. Not that last yea r's binders we re weak, but the ' 95 brakes are much more progressive than before. Now, not only are both front and rear brakes strong and powerful, bu t they are far less grabby and more predictable, as well. This is a result of using new brake pad material. That's about it, for the most part, the rest of the bike performs and feels identical to last year's YZ, and that is, by no means, a nega tive sta tement. So, what we have here is, in fact, an imp roved motorcycle. It's not radically different from last year's YZ, but it is better nonetheless, thanks to an even harder-hitting yet more user-friendly powerplant. Combine that with its already p roven suspension an d han dling package, and this bike could very well be the best out-of-the-crate 125cc MXer of '95. ex 1995 Yamaha YZ125 Specifications Engine Type Liquid-eooled, 2-stroke, singl~linder [Hs~~nt ...•.•• .• ..• .•• •.. . . 124cc Compression Ratio 9.0-11 :1 carburetor Mikuni TMX36 Ignition system , ...... . . •.. .. ... . .. COl Transmission .0'. • . .. . ... . . . . ... 6-speed Suspension Front. Inverted telescopic fork, adj. compression and rebound damping Rear Single shock, rising rale link, adj. preload, compression and rebound damping Wheel travel Front 11.8 in. Rear 12.4 in. Brakes' Front 245mm single disc Rear 220mm single disc TIres Front 801100-21 Dunlop 490 Rear 100190-19 Dunlop 695 CIA length ;' 84.6 in. OIA Width ... ... . .. . .•,~ ' .. .. . .•.. 33.5 in. OIA height 47.8in. Seat height 39 in. .3 Wheelbase 57 in. .2 Ground cleerance 15.2 in. Claimed dry weight . .. ... . . .. . •• 193 Ibs. Fuel tank capacity. . .. . . . . . . . •. . . 2.0 gal. Coior . . . . . . .. •. •. . . . . . . Purple and white IISRP $4249 2~

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