2004 Yamaha YZ125
By
STEVE COX
PHOTOS BY KIT PALMER
t's easy to forget how much fun riding a good 125 can be. Riders can
get spoiled on all the four-strokes and
250s, where you have all the power
you'll ever need to clear the obstacle
in front of you, and you can sacrifice
corner speed, knowing you have the
ponies to get up to speed quickly on
the next straightaway.
Well, riding the new YZ125 can
make you wonder what all the fuss is
about the new (and not-sa-new)
I
250cc four-strokes. After reacquainting yourself with 125cc techniques,
you just feel like a total hero as you
rip around the track, your right wrist
locked and feathering the clutch for
"throttle" control. Well, it's safe to say
that riding the littlest big YZ around
Southern California's Starwest MX
Park for a day really left an impression on us.
The YZ 125 is the most changed of
all of this year's Yamaha two-strokes,
featuring a slew of internal motor
changes, all designed to bring joy to
the Tim Aliens of the world - more
power! It's a screamer, and the best
part is, it seems to have power every-
where. We were able to get over
every jump on the Starwest track
from the inside by the end of the day,
both by virtue of corner speed and
the snappy power. Actually, we felt
faster on the YZ 125 than on the new
YZ250 at the tight and twisty track,
although nobody put a clock on us.
Despite all the new ponies, the
best part of the new blue tiddler has
to be the forks. Whereas last year's
bike wanted to blow through the travel and deliver impacts straight into
your hands, this year's bike seems
'lte YZ125 keeps coming back
stronger titan before
like it can handle anything you throw
at it. If you come up a little short on a
double or land with your front wheel
in a hole (both normally causing you
to tense up before landing in anticipation of a painful impact), the forks
just soak it up for you. It's the type of
improvement that can change the
way you ride completely.
We literally didn't touch the forks
all day, they just worked right off the
bat. And the shock isn't bad either.
The shock was good last year, but
this year it feels even better although it could just be that the
forks make the shock feel better
because the bike is much more balanced now on the racetrack.
