Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

After taking a real liking to bikes like Yamaha's YZ250F over the last year, and spending plenty of time muscling other four-stroke behemoths around, I was looking forward to experiencing the impeccable handling of the tiddlers again. Not only do the 125s give you an instant refresher course on riding precision, but they're also a hell of a lot of fun. Nothing sharpens your skills better than keeping a 125 on the pipe, and all the shifting that goes with it. You also don't have the luxury of much torque exiting the corners, so momentum is paramount - it helps take away those lazy habits. The KTM is a really impressive bike - it's really giving the Japanese bikes a run for their money. The motor is the strongest in the group - the only thing keeping the bike from challenging for the top of the podium is the bike's slightly funky feeling chassis. There's not that much wrong with the chassis, it's just a bit on the harsh side. For me, the battle came down to two bikes, the Suzuki RM and the Yamaha YZ. The bikes are really close, running neck and neck. Both bikes ~ave great motors - they're not too far off of the KTM - and although they go about making their power a little differently than each other, they are both very effective. The Suzuki felt really crisp coming out of the comers requiring much less clutch work than any of the other bikes, and then just screamed through it's mid-range and into it's top-end_ The Yamaha has a similar character with perhaps more low-down to mid-range power, but it just doesn't have that killer top-end. What sets these two bikes apart from the rest is their ability to do everything well as a package. It's the Suzuki that does this the best, however, with an almost perfect recipe of handling (best of the bunch), brakes, transmission (slickest of the bunch), suspension (even though it's a bit soft), and power. It has just the right amount of everything, and in this group that makes it the most enjoyable to ride - and the easiest to go fast on - you can practically set it on autopilot, and then sit back and enjoy the ride. Blake Conner I immediately fell in love with the RM. The machine made me feel like a real 125cc hero. I could stay standing up and on the gas through a couple of the rutted turns that had me sitting down and pedaling for speed on some of the other bikes, and it had more than enough power - even for my 200-plus pounds. You see, it's not the most powerful bike on the track, but the power it does have, when combined with the handling characteristics of the machine, make it easily the fastest machine in the bunch for me. I felt like a gunman on the Suzuki - just point and shootl As you know by know, the KTM is all motor. I mean, it feels and sounds like it displaces 150cc or more. It's brutal fast. And when the track is smooth, the Katoom could very well be the best 125 on the track. Its only major flaw came when the track roughened up. First off, when the comer exits got rough, the KTM's power, combined with the less-than-plush rear suspension, caused the bike to want to skip the rear wheel on top of the bumps and lose trac- tion, making it a bit more of a handful to ride than the others. Plus, on a couple of occasions, I got some pretty serious headshake at the end of a fifth-gear sweeper - and that can be disconcerting, to say the least. There isn't a thing wrong with the Yamaha that I could find. The thing handled well, had really good power and was real easy to keep on the pipe. It actually has better power than the Suzuki down low, and it's comparable in the mid and high rev ranges, but you can carry so much speed through the comers on the RM that you hardly use the bottom end anyway. In short, the YZ is a very good machine, it's just not as good as the RM. The RM just plain rips. My podlum is Yellow, Blue and Orange, in that order. But, I must say, watching the holeshot pictures at most of the nationals, Yamaha still does make the fastest bike in the 125cc class, it's just not a 125. If only we could fit the KTM motor in the RM chassis... Steve Cox This one was a fairly easy choice for me this year, though I did have to spend a little extra time on both the Suzuki and Yamaha toward the end of our shootout just to be sure. But, just as I thought, the Suzuki resides at the top of my chart as my favorite 125 of the '02s. Both the Suzuki and Yamaha have outstanding motors and chassis, but the defining difference between the two bike for me was the Suzuki's featherweight feeling and outstanding agility around the motocross track. This bike goes where it's pointed without a hint of resistance or hesitation, whereas the Yamaha requires just a hint more persuasion to make it do what you. want. Yes, I know, I'm splitting hairs here, but that's what you have to do these days to determine a bike favorite. I also feel that the Suzuki has just a tad more power than the Yamaha from midrange on up, but the Yamaha certainly has more grunt down low. Usually, I'm a low-end kind of guy, but the Suzuki has just enough to keep me happy. There were times I thought about making the KTM my top choice. After all, how could you not with that unbelievably powerful motor? But the bike's girthy suspension and rock-solid seat just beats me up too much when the track gets rough and dry. I fiddled a little bit with the KTM's shock adjustments but couldn't get it as cushy as the Suzuki or Yamaha. Still, the KTM's suspension is good. It just needs a Grant Langston-type rider to be able to use it to its full potential. The Honda and I got along well, too, but it just doesn't quite have the get-up-and-go of the other three aforementioned bikes. (Again, I'm splitting hairs here.) I do, however, very much like the eR's improved handling. suspension and ergonomics_ The same holds true for the Kawasaki - a great-handling machine that would benefit with more bottom-end and midrange power. But, for me, the Suzuki just does everything well. I never wanted to get off the bike, even when my arms and lungs were demanding that I head back to the pits and a chair. Kit Palmer though you can do anything on it, @w@O@ OO@l!D[0 James Dobb), and it has a brawny chassis to hold up to the Pros' abuse, but for us, the KTM's unyielding suspension is just a bit too excessive for us to rate it higher than the more well-rounded Yamaha and Suzuki. But what a motorl The Honda and the Kawasaki did not make our podium this year, but they both gave it a hell of a try. Their motors hold the Honda and Kawasaki back. It's not that either bike is a dog; it's just that the others' are so good. In the suspension/handling department, both the Honda and Kawasaki rate right up there with the other bikes, but aren't overwhelmingly better in any certain area to make up for their shortcomings in the motor department. Still, both the Honda and Kawasaki are good bikes, but when it comes to splitting hairs, the Suzuki, Yamaha and KTM come out on top. especially when it comes to the turns - deep ruts, no problem; deep soft berms, no problem. The Suzuki can !P@@DGf][fiJfJ When we first rode the '02 YZ125 before any of the other '02 125s - we handle anything well. The Yamaha can too, but just not as effortlessly as Cycle News 125cc MX Shootout winner. were already predicting that the YZ The RM was a unanimous victor, was going to win our yearly 125cc too, though everyone who rode our MX shootout - again. After all, the test bikes agreed that it was a close new YZ is a better machine than last battle for the top step on the podium year's Cycle News Shootout winner, between the Suzuki and the Yamaha, delivering better bottom-end power our runner-up choice. In fact, it was without sacrificing any of the mid- so close that we finished up our the Suzuki. If you're a bottom-end freak, however, you might prefer the YZ's motor to the RM's, but from mid-range on up, the RM has the clear edge over the YZ. The Suzuki also shifts better when you're hard on the gas, and it also has better feel when you're hard on the brakes. Rounding out our Cycle News Podium for the second year in a row range and top-end power that made shootout by taking just the Suzuki is the KTM, a bike clearly designed last year's YZ famous, but little did and Yamaha to the track and con- for the Pros. It certainly has the we know that Suzuki was hiding an centrating two horsepower to keep the Pro riders ace up its sleeve. machines for a full day, riding them happy (just ask Grant Langston and Really, though, we should not back to back to back to ... Undoubt- soon-to-be 125cc World Champ have been too surprised about the RM's success, since the RM wasn't edly, both motorcycles have outstanding motors and top-rate sus- all that far off Yamaha's mark last pensions, but the Suzuki just has a on just those year, but Suzuki addressed whatever slightly more agile and nimble feel deficiencies the RM might've had about it that we all liked a lot. As a last year and produced our 2002 Cycle News would like to thank the five manufacturers represented for their test units and technical assistance, Renthal for providing aluminum handlebars for the bikes not so equipped, N-Style for supplying the number-plate backgrounds and numbers, and Maxima for furnishing the lubricants. And, of course, a big thanks goes to Glen Helen Raceway for providlng the battleground. result, the RM makes you feel as . cue I e n e vv S • AUGUST 29,2001 25

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