The 1989 125 Motocross Shootout

1989 CR125 was my first brand new off the showroom floor motorcycle after saving my money bagging groceries and flipping burgers at Mcdonald’s when i was 15! 

I wanted that '89-YZ soooo bad but none in stock, then they offered me a "can't pass up" deal on an '88 they had on the floor. I switched to the '90 KX with the perimeter frame after that and never rode the 89-YZ.

Picked up a slightly used RM125 in ‘89 and went on to have great luck with the bike. So much that I ended up getting the ‘90, ‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘96,’00, ‘02 and ‘03 versions. 

Some pics throughout the years, always got good starts on the Zuks. 
Bottom picture my ‘90 that I picked up late in the year because my ‘89 had its first failure. Power valve stem snapped and part was back ordered. Needed to stay in the C class points championship 😂. ‘89 is in the background. Top picture is my ‘92 and the ‘91 in the background that I sold to my brother to get the ‘92.

My ‘90 that I “tricked out” during the WI winter in the basement. Yellow frame, Tuf seat, pipe, porting by Eric Gorr. Wish I would’ve kept this bike! 

Always got the jump on my RM (bottom pick with all my old gear on for a mud race, today they would’ve canceled…)

Early 90s, tiger seat covers, cars and trailers in pits instead of RVs, friends had all colors of 125s

The new bikes (‘92 & ‘93), again wish I had these still in this condition! 

My '89.  I put sooooo many hours on this bike, and it was roached by June. 

Excellent work as always tblaz . I agree bikes had more variation and "personality" back then . No you younguns I'm not saying everything was better then .... just that I liked it better lol .

What a great year. This was one of the closest groups of 125's ever. A good rider could win on any of them. I have ridden them all.

The Honda and Yami where the fastest. The Kawi and Zook where the easiest to ride.All had distinctly different way of doing it.

Wish I was in ‘92/‘93 condition myself. 

Got my senior HS pictures taken with my 89 CR125…damn I need to dig up those pictures!

Me and two buddies had the late 80’s. CR125’s covered. One with an 87, me with the 88 and the other with the 89.  Best time was a 4 hr drive with all 3 in a Mitsubishi might max regular cab p/u for our first race.  We finished 5th, 6th and 7th I believe.  Good times!

Loved my 89 YZ - not as fast as the Honda but it could still get it done. Rode the crap out of that bike for two years with no major issues, just kept the top end fresh.

Found a roached one last year and have rebuilt it, the second I got back on it was like I never left! Love that little bike, it still gets a lot of attention every time I take it to the track!

89 cr125 was futuristic with the low pipe & diff silencer. Fast bike stock & modded there Rockets. I posted a NSR 89 cr125 article from 89 in the old school thread. 90 I think I practiced with Chad Parker he had 1. He won c class then went to 125a. He was 14 or 15 real  deep dry sand track in town.  We really went at it my 87 NSR cr was better in the mid.  Larry Ward & Doony Schmidt 89 cr125 pics in MXA where Great.  Check out Mike Brown the last 2 yrs at Fox Hills on the 89 cr125. He is flying. 

Had been riding a 250 only for 3 years and dropped back down to ride the 125 int class. Had so much fun I had 2 of the 89 yz 125's that year 😂 

Great thread

How was the 88 ? I heard it was a off yr.  The 87 wrist pin bearing was smaller & it had a reputation of blowing.  I did top ends every 8  or 10 hrs like my manual said. So I never had 1 blow.  The 88 had a larger bearing & Honda detuned it. For reliability then the 89 comes out . And whoa it had a similar mid as a 87 but had more topend .  Donny got 4th on a stock ported pc cr125. A lot of Hondas in the top 10. Larry Ward won Southwick not bad being a 1st yr pro.

I'm still smoking an '89 and it's my most fun bike to ride.  Nothing beats the sound of a wringed out crisp 125.

I picked up a honda several years ago and restored it. bone stock aside from a 01 cr250 frond end swap and the thing ripped.

The Honda is the best bike but I would be happy with any of them.

Tony you are the man! Excellent work as always!. 

Do you have this build in the bike build section by chance? I want to see more of it. It looks awesome! Or just post some more pictures!?

I think I had a partial build thread going but maybe never finished it.  I've posted these here before somewhere:

The cool thing back then is it seemed like every year at least one of the brands had some significant technological changes to their bikes.  Disc brake in the rear, disc in the front, upside down forks, safety seat, liquid cooling, etc.  

Now, the bikes generally don't seem to change very much.

I guess a good rider couldn't win on the Suzuki.  Looks like nobody won any SX or MX races on a 125 Suzuki in 1989.  Though Ty Davis had two second-place finishes in SX.

The difference between a 1980 model and 1989 is phenomenal. I doubt we’ll ever see that level of progression again.

I was speaking to the club level. I don't think I said National Pro.