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/141037
.... N " ~ ~ w The Updated Japa ese otocrosser Lightweight Review #3 By T o m Cu lp The No guchi motocross mach ine, -' while not a familiar name to most o >- riders, bears a very familiar look: o Yamaha. That 's because , Mr . Noguch i sta rted with the 125 Yamaha and made his changes from there. A limi ted n umber of the specials will be marketed in the U.S. through Dirty Distributing. Mr. Noguchi is a familiar face a t th e Yam aha fac to ry in J apan , h aving done co nsiderable R & D for them over the p ast fe w years. His dealership subs tantiates h is close ties with Yam ah a as no fewer th an 20 Yamaha 250 and 350 roadracers sit on the sh owroom floor. In 19 71, a few of his sp ecial 250 an d 3 60 m otocr oss p ro to typ es showed up arou nd th e country , having been in by various b ro ught comp e tit io n-o riented Yam aha de alers. The Noguchi sp ecial tested w as basically a stock Yamaha 125 MX (th e sam e AT :\I te sted in C]\"W a few issues back) with the following external mods: sh orter , less-pad d ed seat, fiberglass fenders , redesigned 'glass side covers th at dou bl e as n umbe r p la tes, Alloy rim s, and a redesigned high ex pansio n chamber. The frame , tan k an d tripl e clamps remain stock Yamah a items as do the hubs and oth er misce lla neo us runn ing ge ar. The real "tric k stuff" th at updates the Yamah a to No guchi specs is o ut of sight, given away onl y by th e larger 28mm Mikuni carb o These int ernal changes in clude a ligh ter mag o f Noguchi design , modified combustion chamber , a chrome and allo y cy lin der for better he at dissap atio n , a new p isto n and reed and manifold changes. The oil injection is also elim in at ed. All this required new rod and bearings. The stock suspension h ad been rew orked with an eye toward beefing up the componen ts, Now ; those of you with 125 Yamahas needn't get upset because y our Orien tal MXers have been one-upped. All this come s in a kit form so you can do the number on your machine. Riding this little number bears out the efficiency of all these chan ges. While the weight saving of th e mods is not gre at , every lillie b it helps and at 169 dry pounds, y ou 're gettin g down to com peti tive weight fo r a 125. A claimed 30 h orsepower is quite op timistic. I'll just say th at it h as a gan g o f p ower whil e o n the pipe. The m ach ine is very pipey and has no low en d to speak of. As with mo st reed valve setups, it goes flat on the top end . You just h ave to keep it in tha t narrow power b and an d fly. Z w Fast and a bit pipey. Keep it singing and go fast . - Redesigned air cleaner all ows deep breathing for th e hopped-up engine. If you h ave the abiliry to ride over rough ground keeping it on th e fro n t sid e of that p ower' cu rve , you 've got a winner. On sm oo th courses, it cou ld m ake a w inn er o u t o f mo st any ride r. Rem ember, the stock Y amaha w as p retty go od . No gu ch i has just R & D'ed it ahead a few years to what future Yam aha lightw eights might be. The lim ited supp ly o f these bik es is yo ur ,majo r pro blem . You ' re no t likely to pop d own to a d ealer and get it. For in fo on preparing you r 125 MX to i'\ ogu ch i sp ecs, write Dirty Distributing Co. 3 125 Marj an Dr .. Atlan ta, G a. 3 0340, with a name like that, you kno w th ey h ave to have th eir hearts in bi kes. T he who le thing has a sugges ted retail o f 5995 in Atlanta , wh ich sounds a bi t steep un til you The shape of th ings to come . An honest-toiloodness lightwe ight motocross machine hom Japan. reco nside r that a lot of racers have , eit he r in tentional ly o r n o, th at mu ch in a Yamah a getting it co mp etitive , race-ready , e tc . A Stage I kit go es for 165 plus about $ 45 fo r th e pipe . Stage 11 , which is abo u I all th e goodie, mention ed above, is 52 14 . (T he pipe is sti ll ex tr a.] If yo u wan t the fastest " fac to ry " 125 Yam ah a on th e course . better make it a. ·oguchi.