Shootout
2000 125ccH
onda vs. Kawasaki vs. KTM vs. Suzuki vs. Yamaha
And we thought it was tough choosing a winner last year
Suzuki RM125
.
g:
~
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By the Cycle News staff
Photos by Matt Freeman
It' s
beg inning to s ou nd a lot like a broken
record, bu t, every year, it just keeps' getting
~
tougher and tou gher to choose an ou tright wino ner in our annual 125cc MX shootout. Up un til the
20 last min u te, the eN editors and "hired" test riders
1:
were still trying to commit to an outright favorite
amo ng the Honda CR125R, the Kaw asaki KXl25,
the KTM 125SX, the Suzu ki RMl 25 and last year's
cham p, the Yam aha YZ125, but when the gun was
finally held to everyone's head, we mad e that final
decision.
Muc h to everyone's su rp rise, w hen th e votes
came in, one bike had actua lly gra bbed the majority
of fir st -place votes. This wa s very su rp rising,
because early in our testing sessions, it seemed as
though each bike was at least one of our testers'
"favorite," but opinions changed reg ula rly as we
spent more time on the bikes, rode them on different tracks, experienced a variety of riding elements
and tried different adjustments and settings. But, as
mentioned earlier, opinions often changed right up
Introduction continued on page 25
