125 practice bike pros and cons

profeshenal125
Bike is a 04 cr125 mod bike will get the 05 engine. Another 04 I would have a spare engine also. I have a lot of parts for a 04 pistons, clutches, gaskets, cables,etc when pistons r used up use oem pistons there cheaper. I could match everything chassis wise except the rg3 triple clamp. Just ride the mod bike a little bit during the week. Practice 04 would get porting to run 50/50 or less 110 leaded I can get it at the pump. Basically ride the practice bike a lot and save the race bike for the weekend. Suspension rebuilds is just 1 of many reasons .
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dedi684
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dedi684 5/4/2022 11:12am
5/4/2022 11:12am
Worked great for me. Had a yz 250 to ride at my personal track all week and roll out my basically stock yz 250 race bike on the weekend. Kept the hours way down I was able to ride it for years
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yz133rider
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yz133rider 5/4/2022 11:15am
5/4/2022 11:15am Edited Date/Time 5/4/2022 11:15am
All pros no cons. Probably should just set the practice up for pump gas tho. Even half and half adds up quickly if you’re riding a lot.
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Richy
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Richy 5/4/2022 11:15am
5/4/2022 11:15am Edited Date/Time 5/4/2022 11:16am
I don't know man, the guy from that thread the other week was pretty upset about leaded fuel...

But honestly I can't see any cons either, are there any?
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profeshenal125 5/4/2022 11:47am
5/4/2022 11:47am
Richy wrote:
I don't know man, the guy from that thread the other week was pretty upset about leaded fuel... But honestly I can't see any cons either...
I don't know man, the guy from that thread the other week was pretty upset about leaded fuel...

But honestly I can't see any cons either, are there any?
Yeah I guess there isn’t many cons. Besides matching everything but the engine. Example I had a mod bike with a pc aluminum throttle tube. The practice bike got a moose aluminum t pipe. It always felt weird. Match the pegs and seat cover I know that sounds odd. But if one bike has lower and back pegs and the other has cheapo pegs . Your in a slightly diff position on the bike and hunting for the shifter. I,m a little touchy like I don’t like seams on a seat cover it slows down your moving around on the bike.
. Basic stuff has to match. It would b great to go play ride also and hit trail loops.
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Brent
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Brent 5/4/2022 11:47am
5/4/2022 11:47am
profeshenal125 wrote:
Bike is a 04 cr125 mod bike will get the 05 engine. Another 04 I would have a spare engine also. I have a lot of...
Bike is a 04 cr125 mod bike will get the 05 engine. Another 04 I would have a spare engine also. I have a lot of parts for a 04 pistons, clutches, gaskets, cables,etc when pistons r used up use oem pistons there cheaper. I could match everything chassis wise except the rg3 triple clamp. Just ride the mod bike a little bit during the week. Practice 04 would get porting to run 50/50 or less 110 leaded I can get it at the pump. Basically ride the practice bike a lot and save the race bike for the weekend. Suspension rebuilds is just 1 of many reasons .
We go the other way.

We use a larger bike for practice days, so when race day comes the smaller displacement bike feels like a mini bike and you can ride it WFO to its full potential.

We use 450 and 250 though, so it may be different with two strokes..
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Johnny Ringo
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Johnny Ringo 5/4/2022 11:48am
5/4/2022 11:48am
Pro: you get to shred a 125
Con: all the women throwing themselves at you gets tiresome
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Richy
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Richy 5/4/2022 12:49pm
5/4/2022 12:49pm
Yeah I know what you mean, but would you really need it to be a dead ringer?

I mean as long as the bars / pegs / controls feel familiar and the mechanical setup is close so it's not a total culture shock, is it not more about the time on a bike than time on a total clone?

Brent's point sounds a good and pretty commonly done too, CR250 that feels familiar could be beneficial and cool to have both as well, in case you go somewhere mega deep or want to race a different class. Like 250 guys riding four fattys through the week.
T-Fish
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T-Fish 5/5/2022 3:22am
5/5/2022 3:22am
Sell the pair and buy a modern 125/150. Engine will be better, brakes will be better, chassis will be better suspension will be better, and extra parts are everywhere you look. Thank me later.
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ElliotB16
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ElliotB16 5/5/2022 3:40am
5/5/2022 3:40am
This would have been a great idea 17 years ago. My advice is get something more modern
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INeedaNewUsername 5/5/2022 6:22am
5/5/2022 6:22am
Supertrucker isn't trying the EMX series... he has parts and bikes(doesn't need more modern), ride the hell out of them and let the thumbsdown crew keep 'em coming.
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profeshenal125 5/5/2022 9:55am
5/5/2022 9:55am
ElliotB16 wrote:
This would have been a great idea 17 years ago. My advice is get something more modern
Nah the 04 chassis is the best it’s super stable yet corners without any effort perfect in every corner. I called a porting shop 30 day turn around. Looks like I,ll b racing the 04 with a stock engine. And stock pipe since hgs pipes r back ordered. Oh well I have 30 hp we,ll see what I can do with it. My rad valve finally came in after 6 months. I hope it works
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rohleder644
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rohleder644 5/5/2022 10:30am
5/5/2022 10:30am
I know practice bikes are plenty common. My experience led me down a different route. The only year I tried it, it was a money pit. I wanted the suspension to match, as that has a pretty profound effect on how you ride. That wasn’t cheap. I’m a woods guy, so I had to do the big tank and all the guards. Plastic, graphics, and seat cover because my shit gotsta be on point. I think that’s all I really did to set the bike up, but damn that was a hefty chunk of change in and of itself. What really ended up happening was I was constantly robbing and swapping parts back and forth. I ended up with two broken bikes more often than I liked. And at the end of the year, I sold a bike with 30 races on it (plenty roached) and a bike with a fuck ton of hours on it.

I tried it different the next year. I bought a bike, set it up, stocked up on spares (which I already had thanks to Yamaha leaving my beloved YZ250 alone), and just repaired everything the second it came up. There was some rush jobs due to one off accidents. And I had to do my own suspension rebuilds to avoid lead times. But I kept that bike for half a year and did it again for the second half. Swapped all the bolt on stuff, put the stock suspension from the new one on the old one to sell. I came out way better dollars and cents-wise and it was way less stressful than having two broken bikes constantly.
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Rickyisms
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Rickyisms 5/5/2022 11:09am
5/5/2022 11:09am
My two bikes are 2016 KTM 125s. One has a full mod motor from PC that is an absolute rocket for a 125, and the other one is pretty much bone stock other than similar suspension work as the mod bike. It was really nice to have the stock 125 for a practice bike because the intervals were way more spread out for actual engine work, I could rob parts off one another for a day if I needed to, and worse comes to worse I could save one of my friends days if his bike Peter’d out on him.

It was really nice to keep the hours off the mod bike. Nowadays I don’t race very seriously so I’m rebuilding the old practice bike into a woods/GNCC type of bike and will keep the mod bike strictly for winning practices at the local tracks.

I know the Hondas are dear to your heart Profeshenal, some of me agrees with the above posters saying to get a modern bike but I miss my 2006 CR125 everyday, outhandles my KTM or any YZ I ever rode. Slow as a dog though.

Keep on Truckin.
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profeshenal125 5/6/2022 8:45am
5/6/2022 8:45am
Rickyisms wrote:
My two bikes are 2016 KTM 125s. One has a full mod motor from PC that is an absolute rocket for a 125, and the other...
My two bikes are 2016 KTM 125s. One has a full mod motor from PC that is an absolute rocket for a 125, and the other one is pretty much bone stock other than similar suspension work as the mod bike. It was really nice to have the stock 125 for a practice bike because the intervals were way more spread out for actual engine work, I could rob parts off one another for a day if I needed to, and worse comes to worse I could save one of my friends days if his bike Peter’d out on him.

It was really nice to keep the hours off the mod bike. Nowadays I don’t race very seriously so I’m rebuilding the old practice bike into a woods/GNCC type of bike and will keep the mod bike strictly for winning practices at the local tracks.

I know the Hondas are dear to your heart Profeshenal, some of me agrees with the above posters saying to get a modern bike but I miss my 2006 CR125 everyday, outhandles my KTM or any YZ I ever rode. Slow as a dog though.

Keep on Truckin.
I,m not worried about being down on hp more worried about my neck,back and knee. 2 anti flamatories and a muscle relaxer just knocks me out . All I,m doing is pt twice a day to the pool, whirlpool, stretching,etc. Great example of a 04 on yt - old video- 2004 cr125-2015 ltm. No bike is more inconsistent or more fun coming on the pipe or sounds better. Closely watch the vid that is a fun bike to ride. 2nd place on a nearly full gate. iL. Riders r pretty fast too. Tara Gieger holeshot a few races in 04 her 1st yr. I had the same engine .
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profeshenal125 6/16/2022 10:40am
6/16/2022 10:40am
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine needs a replate and has a hot rods crank, clutch basket is notched. Replate 200+, port 500, Hinson 350, ignition 500. 05 engine is quite a bit better than a 04. But the 03 hgs kx pipe is sold out for the 05. A 05 hgs pipe is available tho. Or deck and port the 2hr 04 I had this done to a 04 b4. It’s quite an improvement ovr stock aprox 36-37 but has wide and strong mid and sounds better than a 05-07. It took yrs to find a 05. What would you mod ? Ps going threw everything on the 2 04,s is really time consuming.
yz133rider
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yz133rider 6/16/2022 10:43am
6/16/2022 10:43am
profeshenal125 wrote:
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine...
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine needs a replate and has a hot rods crank, clutch basket is notched. Replate 200+, port 500, Hinson 350, ignition 500. 05 engine is quite a bit better than a 04. But the 03 hgs kx pipe is sold out for the 05. A 05 hgs pipe is available tho. Or deck and port the 2hr 04 I had this done to a 04 b4. It’s quite an improvement ovr stock aprox 36-37 but has wide and strong mid and sounds better than a 05-07. It took yrs to find a 05. What would you mod ? Ps going threw everything on the 2 04,s is really time consuming.
The 05-07 is the better base.

Sell me the low hour 04😊
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profeshenal125 6/16/2022 11:24am
6/16/2022 11:24am
profeshenal125 wrote:
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine...
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine needs a replate and has a hot rods crank, clutch basket is notched. Replate 200+, port 500, Hinson 350, ignition 500. 05 engine is quite a bit better than a 04. But the 03 hgs kx pipe is sold out for the 05. A 05 hgs pipe is available tho. Or deck and port the 2hr 04 I had this done to a 04 b4. It’s quite an improvement ovr stock aprox 36-37 but has wide and strong mid and sounds better than a 05-07. It took yrs to find a 05. What would you mod ? Ps going threw everything on the 2 04,s is really time consuming.
yz133rider wrote:
The 05-07 is the better base.

Sell me the low hour 04😊
Sorry Bro I can’t sell that 1. It makes more sense to build the better engine the 05. I,m 55 it’s not like I,ll hv another chance 4 yrs from now. It’s only money right. Expenses getting there and race fuel is not cheap. Forgot I need a 05 stock crank there 200 bucks. A 05 is easier too ride also racing 2 or 3 classes would b easier
. Then hv a spare 04 engine. 05 engine is quite a bit lighter also.
Mick 22
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Mick 22 6/16/2022 11:29am
6/16/2022 11:29am
profeshenal125 wrote:
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine...
Update 3 bikes is too much even tho the 05 is just for the engine and to use the wheels the rear is lighter. 05 engine needs a replate and has a hot rods crank, clutch basket is notched. Replate 200+, port 500, Hinson 350, ignition 500. 05 engine is quite a bit better than a 04. But the 03 hgs kx pipe is sold out for the 05. A 05 hgs pipe is available tho. Or deck and port the 2hr 04 I had this done to a 04 b4. It’s quite an improvement ovr stock aprox 36-37 but has wide and strong mid and sounds better than a 05-07. It took yrs to find a 05. What would you mod ? Ps going threw everything on the 2 04,s is really time consuming.
yz133rider wrote:
The 05-07 is the better base.

Sell me the low hour 04😊
profeshenal125 wrote:
Sorry Bro I can’t sell that 1. It makes more sense to build the better engine the 05. I,m 55 it’s not like I,ll hv another...
Sorry Bro I can’t sell that 1. It makes more sense to build the better engine the 05. I,m 55 it’s not like I,ll hv another chance 4 yrs from now. It’s only money right. Expenses getting there and race fuel is not cheap. Forgot I need a 05 stock crank there 200 bucks. A 05 is easier too ride also racing 2 or 3 classes would b easier
. Then hv a spare 04 engine. 05 engine is quite a bit lighter also.
What do you weigh Profesh? At 55, you are clicking on that 125 !!!
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profeshenal125 6/16/2022 12:00pm
6/16/2022 12:00pm
yz133rider wrote:
The 05-07 is the better base.

Sell me the low hour 04😊
profeshenal125 wrote:
Sorry Bro I can’t sell that 1. It makes more sense to build the better engine the 05. I,m 55 it’s not like I,ll hv another...
Sorry Bro I can’t sell that 1. It makes more sense to build the better engine the 05. I,m 55 it’s not like I,ll hv another chance 4 yrs from now. It’s only money right. Expenses getting there and race fuel is not cheap. Forgot I need a 05 stock crank there 200 bucks. A 05 is easier too ride also racing 2 or 3 classes would b easier
. Then hv a spare 04 engine. 05 engine is quite a bit lighter also.
Mick 22 wrote:
What do you weigh Profesh? At 55, you are clicking on that 125 !!!
Reg weight is 172, sat to teus I weighed 165 not dieting just really busy. I think that’s my weight now. What would someone pay to race the low hr 04 ? It has fmf, Rad valve , hv a heavier set of springs
Available.

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