Posts
15
Joined
5/3/2018
Location
Kinde, MI
US
Edited Date/Time
7/22/2018 2:34am
The topic on here about vet guys and their 125 why would any vet rider chose a 125 over a 450? I raced a yz125 for 5 yrs I got a new crf450 this year much better lap times and for some reason my legs don't hurt the next day. So is there any reason to keep the 125? I think I am just not very good at clutching and shifting all the time. Maybe the maintence on 4 stroke changing oil and filters all the time is a pain
I can understand getting bored with a 450, especially if lap times and race results aren't top priority, but I'd take a 250 2 stroke or 250f over a 125 any day.
As far as the maintenance goes, 20 hours on a piston on a 125 is pushing it. I'd rather do oil and filter changes every 5 hours
For ultra-aggressive and determined riders like myself, switching to the 125 was a great way to improve my skill and consistency. I never allowed the 125 to be an excuse, but instead used it as a reason to step up my effort.
I raced a 125 from 2013 through 2015 in the Vet B classes. I purchased a 450F at the end of 2015 and moved to A.
After six months on the four stroke I went back to an old YZ250 two stroke and was able to run right up front, even win some motos in 30A and 25A. The 125 was the key in learning how to carry more speed and be efficient on the bike for me.
I think a lot of the guys in the vet class don't want to ride on the edge. The two strokes make you do that.
If you make a mistake on a 450, you just deal with it, then twist the throttle and you're back up to speed.
On a 125, if you make a mistake, you cannot shut off. You have to stay wide open and work the bike to overcome the mistake, or you'll lose momentum and get passed. You have to carry speed through the places where the four stroke riders can take it easy and make up for it with power. For some riders, that's a deal breaker.
Starts are the other big issue. It's pretty tough to get a start on a 125 against a line full of 450 riders.
The Shop
Mostly I ride my 450 though, the races ive done on it, i would have done a lot better on my 125, im blowing starts on my 450 anyway.
Just persisting with it and slowly getting it setup to suit myself...this is my first ever 450
I have it to race the mx1 class, i have an older 250f for the mx2 class but next year I'll race my new 250 two stroke in that...
Honestly....when my riding improves to where it was before my long break from riding...I'll probably race the 125 in the vets class just for the pure fun of it!
And I should be pretty competetive..
Plus there is the odd actual 125 class at a race sometimes
Call me crazy, but I was wondering if that guy wasn't having more fun at the back of the pack on his 125 than I was at the front of it.
From a racers stand point think about it in terms of average speed around the track...The start dictates your position, however if races were controlled for the start the person with the highest average speed around the entire track during the entire moto would win. We are nowhere near being able to consistently utilize the entire spread of power a 450 produces. There may be a jump here or there, a big hill, or a long straight...but you have to let off in the corners. A 125 lets you stay on the gas longer, and get back on it sooner...hence "working" the engine as some guys say. I weighed over 200lbs and had good success racing a 250F against 450s, it was fun and I honestly felt like what I lost on the start I could gain back on lap 4 or 5 whenever people started getting tired.
Someone made a good point earlier about vet guys on a 125 not getting hurt so much, I'm one of the people who totally agrees with that...I've jumped things easily on a four stroke that took me a little thinking and a little soul searching to jump on a 2 stroke. When I got on a 250F from a 125 in 2005 it was a game changeover. At this point I ride a 2017 KTM 350 SXF and I honestly don't know that in a 1 lap race if I'm THAT much faster than if I was on a 250 two stroke. I've got a few years before the 350 gets replaced and it very well could get replaced by YZ125 with dialed in suspension.
Pit Row
As a vet rider who rode a 125 the very best part was coming off the track at the end of a moto and seeing the looks of all the guys on their built 250's 450's, 500's even 610's back in the day and them realizing that some fat slow bastard on a 125 kicked their butts.
I might not be able to put that look onto my trophy shelf at the end of the day, but it still made all the effort worth it.
If you're not getting tired on the 450 , then you're not riding it hard enough. A 125 let's you ride it hard , for a longer period of time once you get it down. A lot easier to reel back in if you get out of shape too.
It's not " what " you're riding.....as long as you can push it hard on the machine you're on , instead of lugging it around in 3rd gear all day. It's a totally different type of a ride then a 450.
I still like to try and ride aggressive when I ride. My 125 and 250 2 strokes let me do that to a certain extent. A 450 , felt like it was going to kill me every time I rode it like that. With that being said , I may get a 450 next spring. Mainly because I feel like getting a little lazy again.
I hold the throttle WFO and over ride it and wad myself up bad.
People can slam 125's all day......but to me , they are the best damn training took a guy can get. If you can get a 125 around the track at a decent pace.....you can get anything around the track fast.
Just my $0.02.
The downside of course is starts and probably about two seconds a lap when I am in "squirrel mode" at the beginning of a race. Over a longer moto, I'm pretty sure it would balance out, but unfortunately we don't do long motos in local MX any more since we have to have 23 different gates.
I moved to a YZ 250F this year, which I am truly enjoying as a good blend of aggression and the good qualities of a four stroke. It is an efficient race weapon, but not very exciting. And funny story, at my last race I got second in +40 A/B to.... you guessed it... a guy on a YZ 125! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krcm4szS8bc )
That being said, I don't plan to go back. I got lucky in that PNWVMX just created 125 classes for bikes up to 1996 this season. So now I'm getting my 125 fix on a 1993 RM and still racing the 250F in modern. I think that's the best of both worlds!
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