Want more content like this?
Join the PowerNation Email NewsletterVideo Transcript
With 52 strokes to choose from who has this year's best 125 motor Crosser.
Will it be from Japan or Austria? Find out in our 125 shootout
and Tommy G's in a clutch, he'll show you how to get more bite in our sport bike project of the week.
Hey guys, welcome to Top Dead Center. I'm all neighbors.
Now, whether it's in a stadium or outdoors, nothing is more exciting to watch or harder to ride in the tiny but potent 125
question is which one will be this year's best?
It may be the hottest class of motor trucks
this year, 20,000 riders from beginners to pros will step up to a new 1 25 2 truck.
But with five to choose from which one is best.
Each year, the editors of cycle news sort out the pack in their annual 125. Shoot out
the job of testing the Honda Yamaha Kawasaki Suzuki and KTM 125 Falls on editor Kip Homer and his team of test drivers.
All right, here we are. We're uh race town
and we got all five of the manufacturers here. Today.
And, uh, we just gotta
ride all the bikes until we can't ride anymore.
So we'll start off, uh,
uh, everybody hops on a bike doesn't matter
and, uh, put about, uh, five or six laps on them until you're feeling fairly comfortable and
don't ride them too much until you get tired
and then, uh, hop on another one and work your way down the line
before they get them too dirty. Here's a quick look at this year's contender
Yamaha brought their new YZ loaded for bear with upgrades to the carburetor, power valves, ignition and exhaust plus titanium foot peg
and a new 48 millimeter plunge fork.
Looking for a better midrange. Honda showed up with a totally reworked cr
new cases, cylinder head, intake valve, carburetor ignition and electronically controlled exhaust valves.
KT MS SX 125 won the world championship in 2003, but the Austrians aren't sitting on their
Laurels
their
pot
last year's shootout winner. Kawasaki supplied the new Bubba Stewart inspired KX with more mid range cylinder tuning, new exhaust and a new unit track rear suspension.
It's the lightest 125 at 191 pounds
for 04 Suzuki up Gunn their RM with a new cylinder
piston and longer connecting rod plus new front brake, a new exhaust system and new rear shock linkage.
It's a super tight field finding a winner won't be easy. All five of these thoroughbreds are within six pounds of each other in weight and only $100 of each other in size.
The beautifully prepared race town track in Atalanta host the action.
There's more at stake here than bragging right in big business. Nearly $100 million will be spent on new 125 from a marketing standpoint, winning a shootout is huge. It proves to the consumer in a even comparison. If you win a shootout, you're better than the rest shootouts are important
because you get to show how good your motorcycle is.
These tests give a good indicator to the consumer which are the top bikes for their particular riding style. So they definitely help sales
as the testing progresses, all of the riders get plenty of seat time on each of the five new bikes.
Factory reps are on hand to ensure their entries run well, but only up to a point
shoot out rules require the bikes remain bone stock, no tuning except jet changes and no suspension modifications beyond a click or two.
Our theory is, is just
we test them the way you're going to buy them.
We like to ride the bike stock.
We want to ride the bikes exactly how a
customer would walk into
his local Honda shop, buy AC R 125 put it in his truck and take it to the track and ride it.
That's pretty much what we do
and they'll do it for hours on this. Blasting burns, attacking jumps and pounding roots in search of the subtle strengths and weaknesses of each bit.
It'll take hours and see time to determine who's got the best suspension. The most usable power band and the best Ergonomics,
the most balanced overall package will be the winner.
And when you compare their specs, these bikes are so close on paper, there is no clear winner.
It's gonna take a lot of laps to find out who's number one
next part. Two of the cycle news 125 shootout.
Ok. Now you've read all the sales literature, the raised results and you're ready to pick out a new 125. But you might want to wait till you see this before you decide.
Yeah,
selecting the winner of the cycle news 125 shootout falls on a
diverse test team.
The pro rider is looking for something completely different than say, a beginner in August.
So we do try very hard to have a mix of riders.
We try to list ror riders in their, in their level and their, and, and a lot of times their, their sizes and stuff because that, that matters.
My name is Dano.
Um I'm 510, 180.
I ride uh
intermediate Pro level. I'm Steve Cox. I'm uh 26 years old
and I weigh about 100 and 90 pounds. Um about an intermediate motor crosser in California.
My name is Jason
Abbott. I'm 25 years old,
I ride, uh, expert, uh, class and I weigh approximately 100 and 65 pounds. I'm Kit Palmer. I'm 42 years old.
I weigh 100 and 70 100 and 75 pounds. So, we're right in there.
I am 6 ft one
and, uh, I race,
I guess that intermediate,
their job, bring out the new 1, 20 fives and report which factory got it most. Right.
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
The KTM
was a big surprise because in the past
they've had a few little handling quirks and stuff where you hit, uh,
you know, if you were to hit square edge bumps or anything like that, you know, it would have a tendency to really shake its head real hard.
Um,
but it doesn't do it anymore. It feels like a 150 or something. It's, it's kind of almost a cheater by
motors. Just
unbelievable. It's got so much
power off of it. You know, it's,
I really like the motor and the brakes and the hydraulic clutch, the Suu
handles. I think the best of any of the bikes as far as cornering is concerned. The thing is unbelievable. It really, really corners. I'll tell you, the Suzuki
still has the same problem
they had last year, which is when you pull the clutch in,
you put in first gear to go to take off. It has the Naches clutch.
The suspension
is quite good.
Um
uh, the motor is good. It's better last year.
And um,
it, it went up but I think some of the other bikes
also improve. It used to tend to fall off the pipe a little easy,
but now it really
stays on the pipe well and, and it revs to the moon.
As far as the Yamaha goes, it worked all around. Good package. Suspension works excellent. Motor was excellent.
Um, everything, corners,
everything all around was good.
Yeah, the
truck special
Yamaha
is just gotta be the best fork of its class right now.
The Yamaha is a solid package. It's got power everywhere. It, it turns. Well, it, it, it's stable in a straight line. The forks are really, really good on it
and the shock is as good as anybody's. The power on the Cali was, was really good.
Um, all the way through,
uh, better than, uh, better than the past years. The Kawasaki is strong. It handles really well. It's got a good motor.
The biggest surprise for me is the fact that how close they are, they're all excellent bikes. They all work really well.
It's gonna be pretty tough deciding which one's a winner, but I have a pretty good idea.
All right, welcome back to T DC. In our 2004 125 shootout.
We've shown you the behind the scenes testing.
Now, let's see which bikes make the podium,
they call them shootouts because they're so tough to come,
we come out here basically totally open minded
and we just ride the bikes
and like I said, we just don't make too many changes. We just ride them and ride them and ride them
by now. The factories are used to media comparisons where winning or losing comes down to splitting hairs. All the bikes are, they're so close now. They're just,
they're making them so good. It's harder for us test riders
to uh
to ride them
in capable hands. All of the entries are winning.
Question is which one does everything better?
The two that most stood out for me was the Yamaha YZ 125
and the Kawasaki kit 125
there was actually a lot of surprises. Uh Number one,
I mean, Kawasaki won our shoot out last year.
Uh but it, it was just a touchdown on power, but it handled so well that it made up the difference a little bit on the, on the other bikes.
Um This year though. Uh One of the surprises is KTM that KTM is so good.
Um It's really hard for me
to
touch it, you know, to figure out
where it's gonna be uh placed in a shootout with the ballots in and after a lot of back and forth consensus is reached and the powerful KTM 125 sx gets the bronze
heading to the podium for third place
in recognition of excellent handling and midrange power. The silver goes to red green
with the KX 125 taking second place for Kawasaki
and finally in the coveted number one spot. Yamaha mounts the podium with the YZ taking first place in the cycle news shootout.
Congratulations to Yamaha Kawasaki and KTM for their podium finishes in our cycle news shootout.
Next, Tommy G continues our sport bike project of the week.
Hey guys, welcome back to top dead center. I'm Tommy G here with part two of our Honda CBR build up.
We're bringing this 900 RR back from the dead after one sick crash.
So far,
this baby's sporting some trick rims and rubber,
new rotors and pads
and we dressed it up with a new body kit
while it's off at the paint shop. We're gonna add some performance parts and horsepower to the motor.
First. A new clutch from Barnett.
It features Kevlar friction material bonded to T six alloy disks
plus high temperature springs.
I got a good tip for you guys.
Take a plastic bag,
put some oil in it
and then drop your disk in it.
This is gonna allow the disc to swell
to the right thickness,
do this for about 10 minutes.
And then that way when I get the clutch back together,
I can properly adjust it.
Replacing the clutch is no big deal. Basic hand tools will allow you to pull the clutch cover
followed by the spring bolts,
the pressure plate
and the old friction plates.
You can see the clutch basket is starting to show some wear.
It's got some life left in it.
So we'll leave it alone for now.
After your new fibers have soaked for a good 10 minutes,
you can start putting them in,
start with a fiber
followed by a steel and so on.
After we put on a new oil filter,
I'll top off the print case with Royal Purple's new max cycle synthetic.
It's designed to improve performance and reduce engine wear.
We're going to swap out the old rear sets
with these new competition ones from yo yo
dime.
They're machined from billet aluminum and anodized to prevent them from oxidizing.
The brackets have relief cuts to remove unnecessary weight.
Plus the ball bearing pivots will make for some precise shifting
and breaking feedback,
correct
for a 10 to 12% horsepower game. We're gonna go with this muzzy system we picked up from exhaust direct.
It features manual bent stainless steel tubes with an oval high flow canister made of carbon fiber.
We're making progress
but in a few weeks, I'll bring the CBR back
for new clip ons and grips, a new battery
and put on a chain.
But wait till you see the paint job.
It's nuts.
All right. Let's check out this week's new products. First. We have this awesome new street helmet from Showy. The RF 1000
shy
used wind tunnel data to create the helmet's wedge shape. This one has the optional
Duhamel replica graphics from Troy Lee design.
Oh, inside, it has removable and washable cheek pads and chin strap covers.
Now, this cam lets you adjust the visor position and then lock it closed.
This shutter controls, lower air intake and these switches let air and higher up on the helmet
circulated, air exhaust out through these ports in the aerodynamic wing. And the new showy RF 1000 delivers a lot of technology starting at $340. Now you Harley guys will like these next custom products from RC components. First, their chrome belt drive pulley
machine from Ford aluminum. They're available on 61
65 and 72 configurations
and come in 21 different styles to match R C's custom wheels. This one's called the Outlaw.
These boys will transform the look and personality of your stock bike and R C's matching disc brake rotors complete the outlaw look. These are 11.5 inch diameter, polished stainless steel and ready to bolt on suggested retail on these fronts and rear rotors 199 each.
And you're gonna need good breaks with this next set up. It's a nitrous oxide kit
that will double your horsepower nitrous express ships. These kits with polished aluminum bottles, mounting brackets, fuel pump, braided fuel and gas lines and all the hardware. It's bolton
that'll make you hold on, it makes a lot of power and it retails for about $1000.
Now, if you've ever loaded a big bike like a Harley into the back of a pickup, you know, it can be dangerous for you and your bike solution. Oxide's modular aluminum ramp system.
It's three ramps in one with a center section
and two side panels. Each ramp has two short, easy to store sections that lock together with a patented hinge design,
serrated braces and a tread mesh, give better traction
and handle up to 1500 pounds capacity.
Oxides. Retail on the new ramp system is a deal at $400. Well, that about wraps up T DC for today, but join us again next week when they're racing in the streets at Steve mcqueen's favorite event. The Elsinore Grand Prix.
Don't miss it. Ride safe. We'll see you then.
Show Full Transcript
Will it be from Japan or Austria? Find out in our 125 shootout
and Tommy G's in a clutch, he'll show you how to get more bite in our sport bike project of the week.
Hey guys, welcome to Top Dead Center. I'm all neighbors.
Now, whether it's in a stadium or outdoors, nothing is more exciting to watch or harder to ride in the tiny but potent 125
question is which one will be this year's best?
It may be the hottest class of motor trucks
this year, 20,000 riders from beginners to pros will step up to a new 1 25 2 truck.
But with five to choose from which one is best.
Each year, the editors of cycle news sort out the pack in their annual 125. Shoot out
the job of testing the Honda Yamaha Kawasaki Suzuki and KTM 125 Falls on editor Kip Homer and his team of test drivers.
All right, here we are. We're uh race town
and we got all five of the manufacturers here. Today.
And, uh, we just gotta
ride all the bikes until we can't ride anymore.
So we'll start off, uh,
uh, everybody hops on a bike doesn't matter
and, uh, put about, uh, five or six laps on them until you're feeling fairly comfortable and
don't ride them too much until you get tired
and then, uh, hop on another one and work your way down the line
before they get them too dirty. Here's a quick look at this year's contender
Yamaha brought their new YZ loaded for bear with upgrades to the carburetor, power valves, ignition and exhaust plus titanium foot peg
and a new 48 millimeter plunge fork.
Looking for a better midrange. Honda showed up with a totally reworked cr
new cases, cylinder head, intake valve, carburetor ignition and electronically controlled exhaust valves.
KT MS SX 125 won the world championship in 2003, but the Austrians aren't sitting on their
Laurels
their
pot
last year's shootout winner. Kawasaki supplied the new Bubba Stewart inspired KX with more mid range cylinder tuning, new exhaust and a new unit track rear suspension.
It's the lightest 125 at 191 pounds
for 04 Suzuki up Gunn their RM with a new cylinder
piston and longer connecting rod plus new front brake, a new exhaust system and new rear shock linkage.
It's a super tight field finding a winner won't be easy. All five of these thoroughbreds are within six pounds of each other in weight and only $100 of each other in size.
The beautifully prepared race town track in Atalanta host the action.
There's more at stake here than bragging right in big business. Nearly $100 million will be spent on new 125 from a marketing standpoint, winning a shootout is huge. It proves to the consumer in a even comparison. If you win a shootout, you're better than the rest shootouts are important
because you get to show how good your motorcycle is.
These tests give a good indicator to the consumer which are the top bikes for their particular riding style. So they definitely help sales
as the testing progresses, all of the riders get plenty of seat time on each of the five new bikes.
Factory reps are on hand to ensure their entries run well, but only up to a point
shoot out rules require the bikes remain bone stock, no tuning except jet changes and no suspension modifications beyond a click or two.
Our theory is, is just
we test them the way you're going to buy them.
We like to ride the bike stock.
We want to ride the bikes exactly how a
customer would walk into
his local Honda shop, buy AC R 125 put it in his truck and take it to the track and ride it.
That's pretty much what we do
and they'll do it for hours on this. Blasting burns, attacking jumps and pounding roots in search of the subtle strengths and weaknesses of each bit.
It'll take hours and see time to determine who's got the best suspension. The most usable power band and the best Ergonomics,
the most balanced overall package will be the winner.
And when you compare their specs, these bikes are so close on paper, there is no clear winner.
It's gonna take a lot of laps to find out who's number one
next part. Two of the cycle news 125 shootout.
Ok. Now you've read all the sales literature, the raised results and you're ready to pick out a new 125. But you might want to wait till you see this before you decide.
Yeah,
selecting the winner of the cycle news 125 shootout falls on a
diverse test team.
The pro rider is looking for something completely different than say, a beginner in August.
So we do try very hard to have a mix of riders.
We try to list ror riders in their, in their level and their, and, and a lot of times their, their sizes and stuff because that, that matters.
My name is Dano.
Um I'm 510, 180.
I ride uh
intermediate Pro level. I'm Steve Cox. I'm uh 26 years old
and I weigh about 100 and 90 pounds. Um about an intermediate motor crosser in California.
My name is Jason
Abbott. I'm 25 years old,
I ride, uh, expert, uh, class and I weigh approximately 100 and 65 pounds. I'm Kit Palmer. I'm 42 years old.
I weigh 100 and 70 100 and 75 pounds. So, we're right in there.
I am 6 ft one
and, uh, I race,
I guess that intermediate,
their job, bring out the new 1, 20 fives and report which factory got it most. Right.
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
The KTM
was a big surprise because in the past
they've had a few little handling quirks and stuff where you hit, uh,
you know, if you were to hit square edge bumps or anything like that, you know, it would have a tendency to really shake its head real hard.
Um,
but it doesn't do it anymore. It feels like a 150 or something. It's, it's kind of almost a cheater by
motors. Just
unbelievable. It's got so much
power off of it. You know, it's,
I really like the motor and the brakes and the hydraulic clutch, the Suu
handles. I think the best of any of the bikes as far as cornering is concerned. The thing is unbelievable. It really, really corners. I'll tell you, the Suzuki
still has the same problem
they had last year, which is when you pull the clutch in,
you put in first gear to go to take off. It has the Naches clutch.
The suspension
is quite good.
Um
uh, the motor is good. It's better last year.
And um,
it, it went up but I think some of the other bikes
also improve. It used to tend to fall off the pipe a little easy,
but now it really
stays on the pipe well and, and it revs to the moon.
As far as the Yamaha goes, it worked all around. Good package. Suspension works excellent. Motor was excellent.
Um, everything, corners,
everything all around was good.
Yeah, the
truck special
Yamaha
is just gotta be the best fork of its class right now.
The Yamaha is a solid package. It's got power everywhere. It, it turns. Well, it, it, it's stable in a straight line. The forks are really, really good on it
and the shock is as good as anybody's. The power on the Cali was, was really good.
Um, all the way through,
uh, better than, uh, better than the past years. The Kawasaki is strong. It handles really well. It's got a good motor.
The biggest surprise for me is the fact that how close they are, they're all excellent bikes. They all work really well.
It's gonna be pretty tough deciding which one's a winner, but I have a pretty good idea.
All right, welcome back to T DC. In our 2004 125 shootout.
We've shown you the behind the scenes testing.
Now, let's see which bikes make the podium,
they call them shootouts because they're so tough to come,
we come out here basically totally open minded
and we just ride the bikes
and like I said, we just don't make too many changes. We just ride them and ride them and ride them
by now. The factories are used to media comparisons where winning or losing comes down to splitting hairs. All the bikes are, they're so close now. They're just,
they're making them so good. It's harder for us test riders
to uh
to ride them
in capable hands. All of the entries are winning.
Question is which one does everything better?
The two that most stood out for me was the Yamaha YZ 125
and the Kawasaki kit 125
there was actually a lot of surprises. Uh Number one,
I mean, Kawasaki won our shoot out last year.
Uh but it, it was just a touchdown on power, but it handled so well that it made up the difference a little bit on the, on the other bikes.
Um This year though. Uh One of the surprises is KTM that KTM is so good.
Um It's really hard for me
to
touch it, you know, to figure out
where it's gonna be uh placed in a shootout with the ballots in and after a lot of back and forth consensus is reached and the powerful KTM 125 sx gets the bronze
heading to the podium for third place
in recognition of excellent handling and midrange power. The silver goes to red green
with the KX 125 taking second place for Kawasaki
and finally in the coveted number one spot. Yamaha mounts the podium with the YZ taking first place in the cycle news shootout.
Congratulations to Yamaha Kawasaki and KTM for their podium finishes in our cycle news shootout.
Next, Tommy G continues our sport bike project of the week.
Hey guys, welcome back to top dead center. I'm Tommy G here with part two of our Honda CBR build up.
We're bringing this 900 RR back from the dead after one sick crash.
So far,
this baby's sporting some trick rims and rubber,
new rotors and pads
and we dressed it up with a new body kit
while it's off at the paint shop. We're gonna add some performance parts and horsepower to the motor.
First. A new clutch from Barnett.
It features Kevlar friction material bonded to T six alloy disks
plus high temperature springs.
I got a good tip for you guys.
Take a plastic bag,
put some oil in it
and then drop your disk in it.
This is gonna allow the disc to swell
to the right thickness,
do this for about 10 minutes.
And then that way when I get the clutch back together,
I can properly adjust it.
Replacing the clutch is no big deal. Basic hand tools will allow you to pull the clutch cover
followed by the spring bolts,
the pressure plate
and the old friction plates.
You can see the clutch basket is starting to show some wear.
It's got some life left in it.
So we'll leave it alone for now.
After your new fibers have soaked for a good 10 minutes,
you can start putting them in,
start with a fiber
followed by a steel and so on.
After we put on a new oil filter,
I'll top off the print case with Royal Purple's new max cycle synthetic.
It's designed to improve performance and reduce engine wear.
We're going to swap out the old rear sets
with these new competition ones from yo yo
dime.
They're machined from billet aluminum and anodized to prevent them from oxidizing.
The brackets have relief cuts to remove unnecessary weight.
Plus the ball bearing pivots will make for some precise shifting
and breaking feedback,
correct
for a 10 to 12% horsepower game. We're gonna go with this muzzy system we picked up from exhaust direct.
It features manual bent stainless steel tubes with an oval high flow canister made of carbon fiber.
We're making progress
but in a few weeks, I'll bring the CBR back
for new clip ons and grips, a new battery
and put on a chain.
But wait till you see the paint job.
It's nuts.
All right. Let's check out this week's new products. First. We have this awesome new street helmet from Showy. The RF 1000
shy
used wind tunnel data to create the helmet's wedge shape. This one has the optional
Duhamel replica graphics from Troy Lee design.
Oh, inside, it has removable and washable cheek pads and chin strap covers.
Now, this cam lets you adjust the visor position and then lock it closed.
This shutter controls, lower air intake and these switches let air and higher up on the helmet
circulated, air exhaust out through these ports in the aerodynamic wing. And the new showy RF 1000 delivers a lot of technology starting at $340. Now you Harley guys will like these next custom products from RC components. First, their chrome belt drive pulley
machine from Ford aluminum. They're available on 61
65 and 72 configurations
and come in 21 different styles to match R C's custom wheels. This one's called the Outlaw.
These boys will transform the look and personality of your stock bike and R C's matching disc brake rotors complete the outlaw look. These are 11.5 inch diameter, polished stainless steel and ready to bolt on suggested retail on these fronts and rear rotors 199 each.
And you're gonna need good breaks with this next set up. It's a nitrous oxide kit
that will double your horsepower nitrous express ships. These kits with polished aluminum bottles, mounting brackets, fuel pump, braided fuel and gas lines and all the hardware. It's bolton
that'll make you hold on, it makes a lot of power and it retails for about $1000.
Now, if you've ever loaded a big bike like a Harley into the back of a pickup, you know, it can be dangerous for you and your bike solution. Oxide's modular aluminum ramp system.
It's three ramps in one with a center section
and two side panels. Each ramp has two short, easy to store sections that lock together with a patented hinge design,
serrated braces and a tread mesh, give better traction
and handle up to 1500 pounds capacity.
Oxides. Retail on the new ramp system is a deal at $400. Well, that about wraps up T DC for today, but join us again next week when they're racing in the streets at Steve mcqueen's favorite event. The Elsinore Grand Prix.
Don't miss it. Ride safe. We'll see you then.
