Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128307
2004 125cc MX Shootout SPECIFICATIONS 2004 Yamaha YZ 125 LIST PRICE ENGIN E TYPE $4999 124cc. liquid-cooled two-stroke w/reed-valve induction BORE x STROKE 54 x 54 .5mm COMPRESSION RATIO 8.7-10.8:1 CARBURETION 38mm Mikuni TMX IGNITION Digital C DI TRANSMISSION Clo se -ra tio five-speed FU EL CAPACITY 2.1 gal. WHEELBASE 56 .6 in. RAKE/TRAI L... 25 .36°/4 .3 in. SEAT HEIGHT 39. 1 in. FRONT TIRE Dunlop D739 REAR T IRE Dunlop D739 FRONT S USPE NS IO N Inverted 48mm Kayaba for k wI 16-way compression and rebound damping and hydraulic bo n o ming-re sistan ce system FRONT-WH EEL T RAVEL I 1.8 in. REAR SUSPEN S ION ......Kayaba sho ck wlseparate high- and low-speed compression and 16-way rebound damping REAR -WHEEL T RAVEL 12.4 in. FRO N T BRAKE 250mm disc 245mm disc REA R BRA KE C LAIMED DRY WEIGHT 192 Ibs. §U5pen5ionlHandling For the most part, the beauty of 125s is that they all hand le pretty well - especially when compared to 250s o r 4 50s. They're light a nd nimble, quick and agile. But that doesn't mean some aren't better than o thers. The CRI25R didn't re ce ive many changes to its chassis, which in Little Red 's case is a good thing. Hondas rarely handle poorly, and the 125 does everything so well in this department that you can actually just fo rge t to pay attention to it . The forks and shock do their job really well. The bigges t com plaint about the Honda he re is t hat . if anything, it's uninspiring. Kind of bori ng. It turns well, tracks straight, jum ps neutrally but somehow does it in such a fashion that you hardly notice how good it is. Perha ps the somew hat uninspiring motor has som eth ing to do with this. Basically, yo u do n't leave t he t rac k with an ear-to -ear grin. but the laptimes are probably on par. Ha nd ling is the 10<1 25's fo rt e . Th is department- along w ith a st ro ng motor - basically won the green machine this shootout a year ago . Now, the /O('s handling is inspiring, thanks to a new rear linkage system, a longer swingarrn, an upgraded shock, and a new, semiseaJed cartridge Kayaba fork. The th ing just goes where you want it to go . You can steer it with the back wheel or weight the front wheel to turn it; it's really Ilickable , and it' s stable. It' s arguably t he best in this department. last year, we had a fe w issues wit h the KTM 125 SX's handling - especially w he n attacki ng th e potholes a nd sq uare-edges of Glen Helen Raceway. We would find o urselves hauling some pretty serious bu tt , tha nks to the near-cheater mo tor, but hit a ho le and the bars would almost rip out o f our hands . It was pretty scary stu ff so me times. That being said, as we new around Race tow n 395 on the first day of o ur test, many o f us were surprised that the KTM was near the top in this department, and because o f last year. many o f us were skeptical about the true characteristics of th is machine. We figured that, once we got it to Gle n Helen, it would suffer again. T his time, however, it didn't . Since last year. KTM has worked hard on the SX's chas sis, and the resu lts are ob vious. T he KTM t urns mo re neu trally t han be fore and absor bs bumps better (although st illwith more of a "th ud" tha n the Big Four). and it jump s as well as any o f the m. Th e WP PDS shock has had a workout this year. and the steering angle has bee n lesse ned - bo th of w hich he lp w ith the bike's overall feel. The only issue we had was , when whi pping the bike , you 'd hit the stops way earlier than you wou ld on any of the Japanese bikes , whi ch was unnerving at times. As far as the Suzuki, it took on so me significant chassis changes for '04. The fo rk has been updated, and the rear linkages have been completely changed , and the seat position has been lowe red 10m m. At first, our teste rs generally like the RM's chass is, but after a w hile, some of them started talking about a " funny" feeling the y had o n the bike . We decided to do some intense clicke r 18 JANUARY 21, 2004 o.;", GYGU NEWS adjustments , and Suzuki's technician en ded up slow ing down both the fork's rebound and com pression damping. and he fidd led around w ith the RM's ride he ight . Once we got the bike balanced a litt le be tt e r. most o f our test riders said that that the RM handled muc h be tter and tha t the funny feel w ent away. Still, a cou ple of tes ters neve r fe lt co mpl etely at home with the RM's tradition al quick han dling. Overall, we had fairly w ide differences of opinion when it came to the RM's suspension and handling . It just seemed like, w ith our testers at leas t, they either liked the way the Suzuki handled. or they didn't. The yz 125. however, had no such problems. Everyone Ielt right at home on the YZ. It seems to sit taller than it did last year, and the suspension is extremely well balanced, and the new 48mm Kayaba cartridge fo rk seems to soak up anyt hing. To put it simp ly, t he yz 125 just feels right. It co rners real ly well (although not as well as the 10<), and it's pro bab ly t he most sta ble o f the bunch in a straight line. Basically, the chassis package makes ho lding th e th rott le wide open for extended periods of time seem safe. HONDA "Exce lle nt chassis ; co uld be the best handling bike of t he group. " "Very fo rgiving on har d land ings. in othe r wo rds. m istiming th e do ubles ." "Very predictable flie r; jumps extremely well:' "First-rate suspension, floats right over the braking bumps." "Suspe nsion kind of has a dead feeling, but it tracks straight and rarely swaps." " Neve r thought about the fo rks, and that's a good t hing." "Doesn't quite feel all tha t pred icta ble off a lipped jum p:' KAWASAK I "Turns rea lly well but absolu tely loves the be rms - Bub ba-style ." "Nothing really stands ou t; it just works:' "The chassis is e xtre me ly sta ble and inspires co nfidence ove r the w hoops." "Like the Hon da, the Kawasaki is good jumpe r." S UZ U KI "Doesn't qu ite feel as balanced as it did last year." "Handles quick - perhaps a little too qui ck for me." "The RM is very flickable and tu rns well." "The Showa shock is rea lly, rea lly good: ' ''A little unpredictable ove r the jumps; I never really felt com fortable in t he air o n the RH." KTM "Th e new PD5 shock is much better than last year·s." "The KTM loves the big. fast rollers, but it' s a rough ride ove r the squar e -ed ge s." YAMA HA "Is there anyth ing the yz doesn't do well?" ''Aw esome forks." " Feels as co mfo rtable as an o ld boot: ' "Very stable and co nfide nce-i nspiring." 40th Anniversa ry _ _ --:.= ;.";,,,,; ~..;..;;,,;, = ~