Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

First Ride 2000 Yamaha YZ125 By Chris Jonnum Photos by Matt Freeman "Change the VZJ25I Change the VZJ25I"u e re yo W am ong the peop le voicing that stead y chant all '99-seaso n long? Nei ther were w e. In fact. with th e blue tidd le r topp ing jus t about every major magazine s hoo to utand th e 12Sec Eastern Regional Supercro ss Series this yea r, about the onl y people uttering those words were proba bly the competition. Still, th e yea r 2000 has inspired a see m ing ly un iv ers al frenzy of selfimprovement (or a t least se lf-mod ification), and even Yamah a ca n' t be blam ed for going with th e flow . Hen ce, the new model year find s the YZ with a surp ris- (Above) Yamaha has pretty much ruled the 12Scc class for a few years, but it cont inues to make updates to its VZ12S. Will they be enough to stay on top? (Left) Among the updates for 2000 is an aluminum subframe (replacing steel) , which is slightly lower than last year's unit. Pro Pers ective W hile the YZ is thus far pretty popular with our I ovice and Intermediate testers, we thought it prudent to gel the input of more advanced pi lots , Pros Dan-O Legere a nd Don Burke p u t the bike through its paces on Glen H elen'srough , high-speed track and gave us thei r feedback. . . en en en N N ~ Cll .c E Cll Ci. Cll en 38 Leger e and Burk e noticed the puwer bias toward low end an~ m~drt1nge, but unlike the other riders, they wanted mo re top-end pull. In order to keep the bike JI1 th e meaty pari {If the powerband . they found themselves upshifting early ~ strange on ~n eigh th-lit~r bike: The pros ",1"'0 pronou nced the s us pension soft co m pared to last year; O IW rid er complamt.J. ot a tendoncy for the bike to sq ua t down excess ively into ~ h.trp, sand y co~ners, robbing d .blt of mOIl1~n. rum . On the other hand, th e YZ's excellent high -speed tra cking wa s appreciated . Braking power wa-, applauded. as were the general ergonomics , whi le shifting was chastised for its slight ly notch y feeling . . . . . Likely l"pdat('~? Lt'gcrc is an xiou s to t:i' an afterm;lr~d pIpe and sl l~n(' r. alon~ w l~h ~ xi:1fied suspension. At the most extreme. he d haw the cylinder ported . It s hard to find a bike m the Pro ('1..1 __5 without those mods. . in-depth (see 2000 Updates bo x). The question of th e millennium is, Did Yamaha ' s cha nges rui n th e best bik e? Th e a nswer is No; th e YZ is s till a top-notch motocrosser, and frankly, we would have been su rprised if it w asn't, Yes, i t di d get m or e twea kin g th an wou ld se em log ical fo r suc h a s trong per fo rm er , but most of the changes we re pretty sa fe. For example, it's har d to ge t a rid er co mpa r t men t th at ' s too flat (Yamaha lo wered the rear su bframe by a fu ll centimet er ), and a lo t of people were mimick ing th e factory tea m 's cl u tc h-lever setu p a lrea dy (now they wo n't have to). When di scu ssing 125cc MXers, th e most important topic is power, 'and the Ya maha has it. W e rode th e bike at hard- packed G len H el e n and sa n dy LACR, and the YZ seemed comfortable in both loca les . Our tes ters a p preciated the broad, adaptable powerband, w hich allows the bike to be lu gged down or revv ed ou t as conditions require. Lazy ride rs can rid e the YZI 25 a bit like a 250, w hic h we d iscover ed nea r the end of a 45-minute grand prix in plus-1DO-d egr ee heat. Suspension ac tio n is stellar, with the YZ refusin g to kick to th e si de d own rou gh stra ights . Th e bik e does land hard from long, high jumps, however, a trait no ticed more by faster pilots (see Pro Perspecti ve sideba r). That said , w e really appreciate the option of ind ividually adjusting high- and low -speed compression damping - a feature a va ila ble to o nly the factory riders until recently . Yes, it 's o ne more knob to tw ea k, but separa ting the adjustment s a ctua lly mak es it easie r to u ltimately di al in your suspens ion. Just tak e your time and concentrate on on e aspect of th e s hoc k' s performance a t a tim e. As u su al , Yamaha ge ts high marks for a co mfor ta ble package, with plenty of atte n tio n to d et ail. Movin g the handl eb ar forwa rd and lowerin g th e sea l's rear su ccess fu lly o pened up th e p ilo t co m p a rtmen t, and there 's noth in g to

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