Posts
8780
Joined
7/20/2011
Location
Leesburg, VA
US
Edited Date/Time
1/25/2020 9:54pm
I get a lot of questions all the time on what I think of certain bikes and I thought people might enjoy hearing my personal experience with the many bikes I have owned. Because there are so many (upwards of 50 at this point) I decided to divide these up into separate vids based on displacement. This first one covers all the 125s I have owned over the last 40 years.
Reading the petty stuff people on Vital dislike about a bike really makes me sick.
Today all bikes have power and they all are reliable.
The only characteristics and traits bikes have today are:
Suzuki’s turn sharper than others.
Yamaha’s are more stable on straits than others.
Did not realize you have owned that many bikes.
My hats 🎩 off to you sir!!!!!
1985 KX125
1987 KX125
1985 CR125
1989 RM125
1990 RM125 (would like to find one again to restore)
1992 RM125 (first new bike!)
1993 RM125
1996 RM125 (told myself this will be my last bike, I'm getting too old...)
2000 RM125
2002 RM125
2003 RM125
2013 150SX (putting it on the 125 list...darn fourstrokes took me a way for a bit...)
2005 YZ125
2006 YZ125 (still have)
I bought the 01 brand new in summer of 00 after wrestling with the jetting for months i finally got it running correctly. I took my brother out with me and let him ride my 86. During a top speed drag race down this long gravel road.
My brother who hadn't ridden a bike in like 3 years started to pass then pulled like 4 bike lengths on me. I traded it in right when the 02 yz's came out for a yz125.
I remember the first lap on the yz at the local track there was this double out of a corner. On the 01 cr125 i had to setup just right and scream it for everything it had in 3rd gear just to get over it.
I did this same thing on the yz125 on the first time ever on the track with it and the yz had so much more power. I almost looped out my brand new bike it was amazing how much better it was.
1986 RM125
1988 RM125
1990 KX125
1994 RM125
1997 YZ125
1999 YZ125 (2 of them)
2000 YZ125
2001 YZ125
2003 YZ125
2005 YZ125
The Shop
80 YZ125
82 YZ125
83 YZ125
08 Husky CR125
16 Husky TE125
19 Husky T 125
19 Husky TE150
The 80 aircoled was .060 over and ported. Damn it was fast. Wish I still had it.
1984 KTM mx 125 great bike
1987 KTM mx125 jack hammer
2005 ZY 125 fun bike, though the forks sucked.
2005 KTM 125SX converted to 144
2010 KTM 150 xc- converted to a 163
2017 KTM 150 xc-w with sx head insert. Bike rips
125 Hodaka combat wombat
1973 Elsinore
2 - Penton 125 Berkshires. Red one & a green one, they wouldn't break ... or shift.
1976 Elsinore
1980 Kawasaki 125
1981 Yamaha YZ 125
1982 Suzuki RM 125
All were glorious for varying reasons & their own way ( except the Kawasaki )
1977 RM125 first real mx'er
1979 CR125 worst handling bike ever = 23" front wheel
1981 YZ125 the RM"s were so much better that year
1987 CR125 loved this bike
1989 YZ125 loved this bike also. slow short shifter
1999 KX125 I enjoyed it!
2005 RM144 fast and fun
1978 RM125 partially restored. so far haven't gotten started
2014 KTM150 still riding as woods bike
1977 cr 125 elsinore
1981 cr 125
1983 cr125
1984 cr 125
1986 yz 125
1996 kx 125
1997 kx 125
1998 kx 125
1999 yz 125
2000 yz 125
2001 yz 125
2006 yz 125 ( bought sh about 3 years ago,still have)
2009 yz 125
At 54 years old..what I want right now is a new 125!
I really wish I would have stuck with 125's for a lot of my years. But when I was a teenager , I only got too own two of them.
1982 RM 125
1985 KX 125
2017 Husky TC 125.
Fast forward over 30 years of 250 2 strokes and 450 4 strokes......in 2017 , one of my best riding buds ever ( Wardy! ) Talked me into trying a 125 again. Frustrated the first few rides , but then things started coming back to me. And holy crap..... I'm kicking myself so hard for not doing it sooner. Even at my age , I re-learned a lot , stuff I got lazy about and the 125 forced me to bring certain things back into my riding. Probably the most fun bike I've ever owned.
1972 yz 125
1973 suzuki tm 125
1976 ktm 125
moved to Europe 1978 to expensive to ride
moved to Canada 1982
1982 rm 125
in 84 one more 82 rm 125
1986 cr 125 best bike ever
1988 to 2010....250s
2005 cr 125
2005 cr 144
2015 yz 125
Graduated from an XR75 to a ‘75 KX125 at 12 years old. Just trail rode and had a blast.
When it came time for another bike (15 yrs old / 5’ 11” 145 lbs), I was hell bent on getting a 250. Got an ‘83 CR250 Honda. Trail riding / off road until my first MX race at 17 years old. A new 125 would have been a better choice, but I didn’t know any better.
After graduating college, bought a new 1991 KX125 (to go with my ‘88 KX250) to scratch that itch. I was that 23 year old racing against the 16/17 year old crowd and it was a lot of fun. Plus, racing two classes was well worth it!
Fast forward to 2010 and I picked up an ‘05 YZ125 that I still have today. 125’s are awesome! Can’t believe I’ve only had (3) 125’s over that 40 year span.
1971 Yamaha AT1
1973 CR 125 Elsinore
flash forward for USAF
1981 CR 125
1983 CR 125
1984 CR 125
1985 CR 125
1986 CR 125
2003 CR 125
2006 YZ 125
Pit Row
My 125's were:
1978 RM125C
1980 RM125T (broke my leg really bad, and quit racing for awhile - college, life, etc.)
1986 YZ125S
then I switched to a 1989 Yamaha 2 fiddy. I liked the 125's better.
Had a few smaller bikes before the 125's
1978 XR75 (first bike I raced - raced it once, got second place against a bunch of kids on two-strokes and all the other moto dads told my dad he HAD to get me a "real" race bike. lol Which he did that next week.)
1978 YZ80
1979 YZ80
1978 YZ100
1980 RM-125
1981 RM-125
1983 CR-125
2006 RM-125
- me in ‘81 at 15 years old
85 KX125
89 CR125
91 CR125
93 CR125
95 CR125
‘91 CR125
99 YZ125
‘01 YZ125
91 CR125 (restore)
For some reason I’ve had three 91 CR125s
Past owned 125's
1981 CR 125
1978 YZ 125
1980 YZ 125
1987 CR 125
1990 KX 125
1995 CR 125
1997 CR 125
2000 CR 125 What a slow bike, I knew i should have gotten the YZ this year lol
2003 KX 125 still own
1996 KX 125
2007 CR 125 still own
1982 RM 125 still own
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