We rode the brand new Yamaha YZ125X off-road two-stroke for the primary time this week. This motorbike has huge adjustments for 2023. It’s based mostly on the YZ125 motocross bike which had huge adjustments final 12 months, so it follows in these footsteps with a principally new motor, and fully new bodywork. The suspension can also be up to date simply because the YZ125 motocross bike was. The truth that this bike even exists is a giant win for us. It’s exhausting to think about how that even happened. There’s no large demand for 125cc off-road bikes within the U.S.–by no means has been. There’s definitely a really loud base of cranky two-stroke followers, however they’re infamous for being extra speak than motion. Nonetheless, these guys are proper! All 125 two-strokes are fantastic bikes. This one particularly.
Evaluating this motor to final 12 months’s YZ125X would present that the crank, cylinder, circumstances, energy valve and piston are all completely different. These adjustments got here to the motocross model a 12 months earlier. With the intention to make that motor appropriate for off-road driving there are a handful of additional adjustments. The combustion chamber has a 7% improve in quantity and the compression ratio is completely different. It’s 10.21:1 when the reshaped energy valve is closed, which is a 5% discount. With the facility valve open, it’s 7.81:1, which is a 1% improve. The facility valve governor can also be designed to open sooner. The ignition mapping is completely different and the jetting is a contact leaner in most zones.
The suspension is similar to the motocross model’s proper right down to the spring charges (that are stiffer than these of final 12 months’s X). The valving is softer at each ends in comparison with that of the MX bike. Then there are the usual badges of off-road membership: an 18 inch rear wheel, a kickstand, a petcock with a reserve place, an O-ring chain and barely decrease ultimate gearing within the rear (50 tooth versus 49). Issues which are the identical because the motocross bike embody the gasoline capability, the gearbox, the pipe and the silencer.
The perfect facet of the YZ125X is that it’s preposterously straightforward to experience. It’s gentle and has excellent suspension at each ends. That shouldn’t shock anybody. The Yamaha X bikes usually have one of the best suspension within the off-road world. The YZ125X additionally has significantly extra low-end energy than the motocross model. That’s particularly good as a result of the MX bike misplaced slightly low-end with the brand new motor final 12 months. The X regained that and extra. On high, the X would possibly endure slightly. It’s not as quick because the MX bike, which isn’t fairly as quick because the Austrian 125 two-strokes. This 12 months represents a giant shift within the 125 class as a complete, although. The KTM and Husky 125s have new motors with throttle physique gasoline injection. They’ve significantly extra low-end than older KTMs and Husky 125s, however not as a lot on high. That provides new life to each the Yamaha 125s, which all of a sudden discover themselves extra aggressive within the energy recreation. The GasGas oddly sufficient, is now the top-end energy king just because it makes use of the older carbureted motor. We could have a full check of the 2023 Yamaha YZ125X within the August, 2024 print version of Grime Bike.
SUPER HUNKY AND THE AMA HALL OF FAME
Rick “Tremendous Hunky” Sieman served two stints because the Editor of Grime Bike Journal. He helped form motorbike journalism as we all know it at this time and was instrumental in making Grime Bike the icon that it’s. Todd Huffman (of The Motocross Recordsdata) has been spear-heading an effort to get Rick on the AMA Corridor of Fame poll for 2023. He’s within the non-competitive class which is fairly stacked with the likes of Travis Pastrana, and so forth. They’re taking two. In the event you bear in mind Rick and what he did for motorcycling within the U.S., lend your voice to the motion. Right here’s the hyperlink: https://americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame-class-of-2023
THE BETA 300RR RACE EDITION
We’re at present testing the 2023 Beta 300RR Race Version. It is a premium model of the traditional 300cc two-stroke off-road bike. It doesn’t have oil injection, however it has a protracted listing of upgrades, together with KYB suspension at each ends. The motor can also be in a extra aggressive state of tune, between a bigger exhaust port, completely different energy valve timing and a better compression head. Below all of it is a standard design with a Keihin carburetor and a mechanical energy valve. Try our check of the bike on the paths round Glen Helen Raceway with Sean Lipanovich behind the bars. Extra on the Beta subsequent week!
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