31-Year-Old 125 vs Modern Race Bike! MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- This beautiful 1991 Suzuki RM125 goes head to head against a modern day, race-tuned YZ125. Which 125cc dirt bike is best? Stay tuned to find out! :-)
The RM125 of the late 80's and early 90's really was a great machine. Stefan Everts, Donny Schmit and Pedro Tragter each won motocross world championships on this bike. But nowadays it seems like this awesome little tiddler has become somewhat overlooked in favor of the CR125. So we are on a mission to discover what makes this bike great and to find out how well she holds up against modern competition. This is the Retro Shootout!
Let us know what other MX bikes you'd like to see us try in future videos. A big thanks goes out to Sean for helping us make this film and for building such a beautiful ride. - กีฬา
The sound makes my hair stand ! Love it ! 2-stroke for life !
What a nice crisp sounding engine on the RM. Brought me back to my race days
She's such a sweet little bike and the PC pipe makes her sing! Thanks for watching Chris :D
Love them Suzuki RMs.
@@999lazer and can you explain exactly in great detail the entire process of why that PC pipe makes that two-stroke sing and so far of my last 10 years of surfing TH-cam no one has ever been able to do that to explain exactly what it does..
As I have been through high School shop classes and on into automotive schools small engines diesels and graduated with an associate degree in applied science with a doctor of motors degree that isn't even applied today and numerous service schools for trucks cars and motorcycles but it wasn't until 5 years after graduation attending a Honda service update as the R&D facility in Milwaukee Wisconsin ironically right across the street from the old Harley Factory.... I was introduced to a man by the master ceremonies that claims our new instructor could tell you what you had for breakfast by reading your spark plug.... And his name was none other than popular the world's greatest tuner of motorcycles ever past present future and the inventor of the two-stroke Honda Elsinore and also the one who designed the oval Pistons of the NC 500 22,000 RPM four-stroke Honda with eight valves two connecting rods for each oval piston.... And was also the only man in my years of study and informed information whoever explained how an expansion chamber design for a two-stroke creates horsepower and it's nothing that you think it is it has nothing to do with physical back pressure measured in PSI as if there is one ounce of that it won't run it all.... So tell us and let's see if you're one out of a million who actually knows what's going on
Made me think of cherry scented two strokes lol!! With the neon colours, the good old days
Acoustic scavenging.
That RM is a beauty! I'm a sucker for the older bikes and would love to be able to own 1 eventually and do a few races, great video 👍
Thanks for watching dude! I couldn't recommend vintage racing enough, so much fun! :D
@🍉MelonCannons🍉 for sure. I had a 95 yamaha with a purple frame and back then i turned it black and white but now id rock it! I loved the neon bikes in the 90s!
Great video!!! Guy Cooper also won a US National Championship on it in 1990. Add to that a couple of 125 SX Titles. That generation RM was and is an extremely capable motocross weapon.
I have a fully restored 1991 RM125 sitting in my living room if you can believe that!!!
A lot of the reviews I read from the time said that the RM was really built for Supercross. The way it could turn tight and the punchy motor combined to make it a serious indoor weapon. I hope that bike of yours gets to see the dirt every once in a while... ;-) Thanks for watching as always!
Politics killed 2 strokes but seeing the 2 stroke series growing gives hope for the future! When the Riders in the Top Series Finally DEMAND the BEST then the Corporate Masters will be forced to return to the BEST RACE BIKES and 2 STROKES will RETURN. The problem with the whole program is Rider Capabilities! The BEST Riders In The World On Identical Factory Works Bikes, 2 Stroke vs 4 Stroke Will Always Be Won By The 2 Stroke. Lighter And Equal Or Greater Power = Win, it just simple physics.
89-91 was the highlight of motocross for me and I chose a 1989 Rm250. I'm over 6ft tall and the Honda's chassis was a detriment, the Suzuki was perfect for me I love them !
Had one too! Great bike, the footpegs were pretty bad, (they bend and they wreck boots, I had to modify them)the kick-start would break easy, but good bikes otherwise.
I’ve been riding dirt bikes for 20 years and it really comes down to the rider.
90 percent rider. 10 percent bike
Great video Max, you are a pioneer doing these type of new vs classic MX bike's , you put so much effort and skill into you're video , I loved it start to finish, please keep doing your top quality videos max, their fantastic.
I'm really enjoying making these videos, so we'll definitely have more coming this year mate. We shot a very special video today that'll hopefully be ready for next weeks upload! :-D Thanks for the support as always dude
Retro to me is 70s-80s steel tanks ect. I got to ride a 92 yz250 with a pro circuit motor and holy shit it was scary fast.
Well for sure when you get back into 70s and early 80s bikes where they had steel tanks and rear suspension was the two springs one on each side not really unlike a street bike they are night and day different from like mid to late 80s when they got plastic tank and the modern one big rear spring suspension
I use to race a YZ250 in the 80's. The sound of the 2 stroke engine is beautiful. I swear I can smell the exhaust watching this video. Now near retirement, i ride a trx400ex quad.
Awesome, used to have a two stroke Toro. Would put my race gas and Motul in cut lawn.
A quad? Bugger that. Get a proper bike again.
Max, what a bad ass video, that Sazook was Barking like no other, goes to show, you can still be competitive on that bike after all these years....you guys Rock..
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment Darren! :D I think it just goes to show it's all down to how hard you twist it. It might be a more comfortable, easier ride on the modern bike, but if you grit your teeth and pin it these old girls are very capable!
@@999lazer I was surprised to hear the side-by-side video and the motors sounded nearly identical. Great comparison !!
Very well done!! Thanks for the video my friend. The results of your analysis give hope to all of us out there holding on to the old machinery. My 1986 CR125 can still give a good time aye? Cheers
I had an RM 250 and a Cagiva 125 in the very early 90's.They were both great bikes and had so much fun at Joyce-Green mx track on them.I was never a professional rider and nor did i pretend to be but did it purely for the big grin they put on my face.Happy memories.Sadly, now both bikes and the track are gone
I had an 04, I loved every second I spent on that bike.
I loved all the RM's I owned. I loved the power band hit and loved the uncontrollable feeling. I had an 88' RM 80, 93' RM 125, and a 2003 RM 250 which was my favorite out of all of them. I should have never sold that bike. It is a shame that Suzuki quit making 2 strokes after 2008. I prefer 2 strokes over 4 strokes any day. Old school for the win in my opinion.
We appreciate you Max. I love to see the passion you have for dirt bikes
Thanks a lot dude, the support from you guys means a lot! :-)
I ride and race a 1997 YZ125 and it still keeps up with the modern bikes. Love it
So rad! Sounds like you're doing it for team 2 stroke there Hayden. Thanks for watching dude
Team 2 stroke :)
I had a 91 rm125 when I was 15, so 23 years ago. Loved it. Great all rounder, good bottom end, had the head shake a few times at high speed. Very sketchy at full speed over corrugations, having said that, I don’t know how but it always recovered even when it literally ripped your hands off the bars after about 7 full tank slappers. The rake, trail and castor angles were definitely aimed at good turning rather than high speed stability. Ya can’t have it all.
Hey John, thanks for watching! That's an interesting theory on the headshake, i'm not too keen to go out and test that though! ;-D haha
Incredible it's 30 years ago! I had the 250. Great bike.
It's amazing how much dirt bikes had improved between 1980 and 1990.
Take a look at a 1980 RM compared to a 1990!
The development seems to have slowed down a fair bit since though.
Love the retro shootouts!
Had me worried for you Max in that mud section! OMG. Your a big guy and you ride that thing with good momentum.
love the video mate, the rm's are amazing bikes! Got a 07' rm125 I'm building currently. Cant wait to compare it to my mates yz125's
Thanks for watching Dylan! Oh man, that's gonna be sweet. There's nothing that handles quite like a Suzuki!
Sazuki 2 strokes were some of the best. Too bad their modern 4 strokes suck these days
Nice dude I’m building a 2004 right now
@@hayden6119 nothing wrong with the late 450's you probably just suck at riding them 😂
Another awesome video!!! I love your delivery...you can really feel your passion!!! Great job!!!
Wow, that brought back good memories. I owned a 1978 RM 125. It was bullet proof, I raced it once but mostly just rode bush roads with the boys and the only addition was a 4.50 knobby on the rear. It was faster than a CR125 at that time. Great video, loved the familiar sound.
Mine was a '76 B model.
When those came out they were Elsinore eaters!
I was like you to ride the fire roads in the local hills and did not race as much.
I love these old Suzuki with the blue frame and yellow plastic is my favorite such a timeless look.
Totally agree. The 91 actually had a yellow frame back in the day, but Sean thought that blue would look better and he was absolutely right in my opinion! Thanks for watching Michael
Something Ive known for a long while- with virtually everything built from '92- present, the bike has more capability than the riders. Sure, bikes have gotten easier to ride and more forgiving, but there really hasnt been anything earth-shattering in development aside from suspension refinement. Remember, even Yamaha *reduced* suspension travel for the '94 model year. My Big CR is more than competitive with just heavier springs and Gold Valve suspension revalving. My KX5 and YZ490, along with my RC500 replibike will all be getting the same treatment.
Totally agree Doc. For the most part bikes are only receiving minimal upgrades/gains each year and as we just saw even over a 20 year period that doesn't add up to much on track when the stopwatches are out. I don't think a bike 20 years older than the RM would have a hope in a lap time showdown!
Yes, but that's just with 2 strokes. With 4 strokes it's completely different...
Motocross bikes peaked out in the early eighties as soon as all of them were water cooled ... Like this 91 Suzuki makes it 38 horsepower for a 125 and this newer Yamaha only makes 33 horsepower and today the new Husqvarna TC 125 two stroke makes 40 horsepower... The very first 1973 Honda CR250 Elsinore made 29 horsepower at 8500 RPM.... Allow me to clue you in the secret about liquid cooling as it is not designed to get rid of more heat to make more power the engine is actually run hotter than the older air-cooled motocross engine.... But that is the magic as more heat you can hold the more horsepower you can make and the big kicker here is the fact that with a liquid cooled cylinder it stays perfectly round at all RPMs under all conditions and an air cool cylinder does not..... Smokey Yunick famous stock car builder turned the NASCAR upside down when they discovered that he would machine his engine blocks with water and antifreeze running through the system at the same time under the same temperature he would operate the car on the track and that was way up there around 210 Fahrenheit or better ... This guaranteed Smokey that those old Chevy engines that he was massaging we're running perfect tolerances and perfectly round cylinders through the whole race while engine blocks bored cold do all kinds of weird things when you're screaming 9,000 RPM making 800 horsepower and getting hotter by the second... Another Factor you guys should look into is the process of making cash Pistons under what they called high pressure extrusion cold die casting.. this is the process where the aluminum is almost cold enough to become a solid again so it takes hundreds of tons of pressure to push this Play-Doh into a diecast mold that's a diecast itself is made within tens of thousands of an inch torrances and the Piston needs no machine after it's extracted from the mold this does a number of things.. one the extreme high pressure cold die casting piston is damn near as tuff as a forged piston that would that was way more advantages over a forge piston for a toMotocross two-stroke engine. ... A catfishing for Motocross 2-stroke engines are your only choice as they barely expand much at all under heat and pressure for a forest fishing grows like a weed and just as fast and soon become junk very quickly destroying your whole engine stay away from forged pistons..
And the big kicker here is you can fit these high pressure extruded Pistons much tighter at only 0.001 inch of piston skirt too cylinder wall Clarence.. Andy's new high pressure extruded Pistons are 6% less friction than anything else before. As as it is Honda car company has been using these types of pistons in there 4 cylinder little Honda cars since 2006 as Honda was looking for gas mileage savings and I do that also but who cares on a motocross bike but it could make a difference between winning a Enduro run or not
@@levisylvester Today a brand new Husqvarna TC 125 two-stroke produces 40 horsepower and the whole bike only weighs 192 lb... Something that none of you understand or have ever thought about or have ever been shown how it does it but two strokes are self supercharging engines making boost with intake boost ports forcing the air and fuel into the combustion chamber at higher pressure than the atmosphere we call that supercharging. Show me a four stroke that can even come close and you only see about half the performance and much harder to ride and a piece of crap of a money pit ...as two strokes make boost four stroke suck
@@donniebaker5984 thx for writing a book for me🤣 I did know all that already but it was still interesting. All I mean is that an 90s 450 Has no Chance against a modern 450. I wasnt comparing 2 to 4 strokes.
Good old yellow zooka, luv the 90,s rm 125s. Mines 3 years newer than that, tried a kx of that era i was gonna buy then tested my rm, bought it there n then. Rather than being a sheep with the cr, everyone always comes to talk to me about it because its different. Great vid lad keep up the hard work.
Thanks for the kind words Lukke! Those RM's really are legit head turners, much more so than the CR's i think. Keep it pinned dude
Awesome little buzzer! Brought back some great memories!
there's a sea of red for two reasons - 1) honda reliability. i mean cmon 30 years later and these bikes wont die. had two rm's and they had screaming motors but it seemed like everytime i had a simple fall over the bike would explode in broken parts 2.) the 90's honda platforms are imo more comfortable than modern bikes. the dip in the big foamy seat. the oem clutch and break were easy to find a size 13 boot. Bike just felt like a couch on wheels. and the usable honda power band. i mean get out of here. You could go head to head with a better bike but if you're not comfy and the powerband requires more effort that bike is going to wear you out and slow you down over laps.
Older mx bikes have a certain feel that modern bikes don’t have, my 99 cr 250 has a lot of vibes but the feedback off the bike makes it feel like it’s alive, I’ve never ridden another bike like it, makes me smile and I love riding it.
My friends used to have Suzuki 125s like you tested above and they were so good and nimble especially in enduro where they did so well, great vid max 👏
Thanks for tuning in Gazza! I have to say i really enjoyed riding that little RM, it was definitely more effort to wrangle around the track but the smiles were huge :-D
i can see how much you love 2 strokes really good that MAX keep these great vids coming, smell the power. great
2 Strokes for life brother! Thanks for watching Franco :D
I grew up on a RM125 and this video really brought me back. I wish I still had it, the sounds of a 2 stroke are 2nd to none. 👍👍
Great video max. Thank you 👍👍👍
Brilliant comparison and excellent info.
She sounded great when you was ringing her neck.
Nice riding Skills lads.
Was a pleasure to watch
Always killing it with these videos!
Thank you guys!
Took my dad's friends 91 RM 125 for a rip when I was 11, 24 years ago. It was basically driving solo because I was so small and light back then. Great bike, great times.
You look very FAST on that '91 RM125. Suzuki by far an away made some of best 2-strokes in the world. Own an 06 RM85 now... my son & I enjoy. -OhioUSA
Lovely video here Max.
Very close times there for such a lot of years.
I bought a new 'Old stock' RM125- x or f (89)from Eddy Grimsted's shop at the end of 1989 because they were discounted.
It was a great 125 but very mid range revs like you discovered here. I px'ed it for a YZ250W halfway through the season because I was not getting decent starts.
1st race I tried the YZ250W n, I was blown away by the lad who bought the RM from the shop I px'ed at. Well embarrassing!
Very pretty bikes too, at least as pretty as the Car's back then.
Only Suzuki Mx'er I owned apart from a worn out scary RM370 and a bunch of TS trail bikes.
Thanks for your work here, very interesting.
Awesome vid cheers lads love seeing the old bikes out firing their guns in anger!
Cheers Tim, thanks for watching
I raced moto long ago (including a KX125 and CR125), and there is no better sound on the planet than those two-strokes to me ... and I write music (80s synths are a close 2nd though for my favorite sound). Appreciate the video!
Crazy to think that the dirt bike hasn't changed much in 30 years. Better suspension, different angles, very similar power. I've only seen big advances in Enduro 2 strokes and electronics on bikes. That Suzuki is a sweet bike.
The RM was so fun to ride! You'd think that the small gains made each year would add up to more on track, but at the end of the day i think it's mostly just down to how far you want to twist it! lol Thanks for watching dude
Yeah its crazy. I come from snocross and snowmobiles have had TREMENDOUS changes in 30 years, almost entirely different. The snowmobiles they used to race with 30 years ago were really shit. But motocross bikes were way ahead of snowmobiles I guess back then.
I have a new GasGas EC 300 and a 30 year old Suzukin RMX 250. The old Suzuki have no problems hanging with the new bikes. I kind of prefer the ergonomics of old bikes. To be honest it’s all rider, not the bike.
@@Checkyoursix77 Very interesting! Isnt the new bike lighter and have better suspension though?
@@swedish_sadhguru3854 The weight is about the same because the newer bike have electric starter and a battery. The suspension is better on the new bike but in my opinion the right setup with right springs is more important. The biggest problem with older bike is the spares parts.
I think this is your best so far - props to Shawn for some great laps and putting together a sweet bike.
Thanks for watching dude! This was a real fun one to make, i'm loving this format :-)
@@999lazer Don't call me dude........ LOL!!!!
I owned a 1991 RM 125 with the funky seat cover and it grew on everyone. (great bike) best handling bike ever-out of 12 bikes ive had. Some one might want to check it could be the lightest bike ever stock.
I had an early 80s water cooled Suzuki RM125 many years ago (Nearly 40 years) , it was well used and tatty but it was a truly awesome little bike for a short arse like me lol. It remains one of the best bikes I have ever played!
I have a Suzuki RM 125 1992 so mostly the same as this 1991 one. There is Showa front forks in my 1992 and this 1991 has KYB forks. I have Öhlins after market rear shock. Engine mods are more modern Keihin PWK 36S AG carburetor, Boyesen Rad Valve, VHM cylinderhead, ported cylinder and Arrow pipe and silencer. I can’t wait that snow melts from southern Finland and I can ride it. I have also Kawasaki KX 125 1992 and it has quite strong engine for a almost stock setup. It has also a more modern Keihin PWK 36S AG carburetor (the stock one from my Husky TE 250 2015) and Messico Moto pipe. KX is more stable than RM but RM turns better. KX for faster tracks and RM for smaller/tighter tracks.
Just came across this and as a 60 year old who used to race Norton Wasp sidecars I really enjoyed it. Not a fan of two strokes and when I packed up racing they were making an impact on the chair scene with Maico,s but I shall be watching more. Great stuff guys and its made this grumpy old git think back. Cheers
Growing up in the late 70s and early 80s I had a couple bikes and was lucky enough to get to ride all kinds of great racers like Bultacos Rickmans and countless RMs and YZs plus CRs
Nice video mate but the one that must be done is the Megalodon vs the 700 Maico, thats a shootout for the ages!
Trust me, I'm working on it! ;-D Thanks for watching dude
This brings back memories... I stepped into my local B-class on the 1992 RM125 and really well. My 1998 RM 125 was the best 125 I've ever ridden.
Agreed. My ‘98 RM was a ripper right out of the crate. It could be taken to the track and capable of winning local A class races with no modifications.
@@johnseaark8706 Yes sir... I turned Pro end of 97', and started my '98 season on the' 98 model. I had Cernics mod the engine. It was a badass bike.
I’m a massive fan of the rm brilliant bike good fun to ride 👌🏻
Such a sweet little bike! Thanks for watching Johno
@@999lazer brilliant video mate loving the old school 👌🏻
I raced the RM125 from 1988 to 1997 in the USA. The thing people had an issue with was that you had to keep that RM wrapped out. Hold it wide open. We use to port them and add flywheel weights
Sounds great.
That little bike rips!
As a teenager, early-'80s RMs and YZs were my dream. That '91 is too modern for me 😄. Great vid. Thanks.
Great video! I loved this one.
Thanks Tony, an honor to have you watching again :-)
Ripped the crap out of that little beast. 🔥 My first 125 was the RM late 80s model bored 40 over wiseco piston borison reeds jetted carb FMF pipe hands down funnest ripping bike I owned growing up. I jumped that thing literally thousands of times and never broke anything and the motor never failed me and left me stranded in the woods like other bikes did 😂 Good times good times 😁
Awesome vid guys that was really fun to watch 🔥👍✌️
Defo enjoying the retro shoot outs . The rm and yz sounded rev matched in some wierd way or was it me ? cool vid as always
Thanks for watching as always dude. I think that might just be the way I layered the sound in the edit there, the bikes sounded very different from each other in person
I had 1980 RM-250 that was a beast! It’s all about gearing the bike to your weight! A few teeth differences and the bike would scream… I can’t remember if it was a 14 or a 15 tooth on front and a 49 in the back? The 51 on back gave more power but the 49 gave a higher speed. I did mostly trail riding with it. Road a few times with a few groups. I ran circles around a newer yz 450… the yz seemed to have a lot less power than my RM. Mine wasn’t a stock bike either. I loved the compression release!
I loved to trail ride but I joined the United States Navy and was hurt after I was forced to take a needle in 1991. This needle has caused fusion in my SI joints and my spine all the way into my neck. My riding days were over long ago because of the pain…
Thanks for the memories…
Hell yeah I would like to see more videos like this one.
When the exhaust and gear box is hiding your cylinder, and you can see through the whole bike. Perfection.
Awesome RM man! That baby is tuned to perfection
That was awesome Max
Great video 📹 Max
Awesome.love it.
Early 90s bikes are the go.
Thanks for watching dude! :D
Another excellent video 👍
Thanks for watching dude! :D
Awesome videos 👍
I have an 89 rm250 I race vmx on. Rebuilt top to bottom and it’s my favorite bike I’ve ever ridden, screams for days! Even holeshoted against some 500’s. The boyesen rad valve really broadened the powerband too I highly recommend them!
Grew up on the farm riding a Honda SL 70 4 stroke. Never raced. A friend had a new RM 250 and let me ride it. I’ll never forget that feeling. Took jumps like they weren’t even there. Acceleration was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, (even to this day probably). I can smell the Castrol gas mix just by watching the video. Thanks! Sounds like you were have a lot of fun yourself. 🙂
Great vid i owned a 89 and 90 rm125 and loved those bikes. I think the turnaround came when Bob Hannah rejoined Suzuki with the testing. Great video long live the 2 smokers keep up the great work 👍
"The Hurricane" and Brad "Bad Brad" Lackey were my MX heroes as a kid. I loved the RM125 through the 80's.
Yes bob and Brad were awesome back in the day. There is a vid on you tube of the hurricane talking about the 89 rm if you just type in 89 rm125. And check out the motocross files here on u tube they have all the greatest riders on there lackey Hannah ward ect. Take care 👍
Simply love the two stroke sound!
Always comes down to suspension with older bikes, the engines were often well capable of modern performance, but it's the sproingers that win races.
Having raced a 91 RM125 I can say back in the day the handling was good but soft and the power was very low compared to the CR and YZ, and a bit less than the KX, the 86-89 CR would pull 3-4 full bike lengths over the RM at the start and my 84 YZ125 was faster at the top end, we had to cut the pip down about 20mm and advance the timing 3-5dg and send the head & barrel off to Stan Steves for porting and head skimming, then it had much better mid-top end. This RM has clearly a lot of tunning work, you can mainly hear it on pipe and on the over reve. Would like to know what the innards of the forks look like ;)
Oh that sound ! I miss Indian Dunes in the late 70's & 80's . My last dirt bike was a 79 RM 250. It was a tank bunt never broke... Great times.
Great Video great job 👏👌👍
Thanks Chris
Love the video but I believe its a 1990 RM125 because of the blue frame. The 1991 RM125 had a yellow frame. I owned a 1990 RM and a 1992 RM125 and loved them.
Maybe the yellow frame was powder coated blue??? Also in 1991 they went to showa front forks and I believe the 1990 had KYB
Sean predicted that someone would pick up on this, so he armed me with the right responses! lol You're right the yellow frame was powder coated blue just because sean thought it looked nicer and the KYB stickers on the forks are literally just stickers. It's definitely a '91, but Sean restored it with his own twist. Thanks for watching Mike :-)
@@999lazer Very cool I love the look of the 1990 better. I noticed it had showa forks with KYB stickers. My daughter now races my old 1990 RM and hauls AZZ. Keep the 2 smokers alive!!!! The world of MX isn't the same without them.
90 engine by the looks of it 91 had the a clutch cover in two pieces I have an 89 and this is identical
Great video though 🤘🤘
Had a 91 rm 250 that was killer tons of bottom end light fast I'm sure that yr 125 woulda been good as well.put a good rider on these old 2 strokes and they're still competitive
As we've just seen ;-D
First 125 I ever bought was a ‘91 RM125 and my first ever AMCA race number was 121??? How weird……what a sound…..great memories 👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻
brought me back to my racing days in the 70's.
250 class DeAnza league.
Raced Yamaha until Malcolm Smith approached with team Husqvarna.
Still have my Heike Mikkola CR250 factory setup bike.
My RM125 was an RM125T , from 1980....; although old school air cooled, loved it! New motocross bikes went for about $1350-$1399 in those days, and I got mine early in 1981 as a closeout from last years model, $999 , plus a $100 rebate...total, $899!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome!
I had the 89, 90, 92 and 2001 RM 125. Loved their handling.
Looks a lovely lovely machine. Seems like a lot of fun.
Excellent show. Really well done and enjoyable. I thought both bikes sounded great. Elsinore 125 cr 1973 to 75 vs RM 125 73to 75 is what I'd like to see. Yz same years if you can.
Sounds great!
Back in the day, I used to race Junior A grade lites MX. I had a worked 2004 KTM125, which was actually a national championship-winning bike the year before.
I was good enough to be in the class, but not winning that much.
I had a friend who had an immaculate stock standard (I think 1994) KX125, and wanted to trade it for another of my bikes (it had a similar value), so I said yes.
I took it down to my practice track for a quick ride, and found it so hard to ride. The powerband was like a switch, and hit you at full force - no powerband, no power. Only way to control delivery was the clutch.
There was a rhythm section I could blast through pretty quick on the KTM. Tripling wasnt even a consideration, no-one in their right mind back then would even attempt to do that.
I rounded the corner before the rhythm section on the KX, riding on the pipe and I reached the point where I would normally back off and I suddenly had an oh-shit moment "if I back off here, the power will die completely and I will probable eat shit into the next double, or go over the bars" as having no powerband on this thing was like being in neutral. So I held it open and prayed for the best. I cleared the first triple, and stayed on the power to clear the next 2.
I pulled over, looked at the rhythm section, and did it again. And again. In about 10 minutes of play riding the KX, I had shaved seconds off one section that I didnt even think possible because it forced me to ride it hard and at full power. I learned to charge harder into stuffers and whoops I ever had before, because the meaty power was right on the top end, and if you werent in that range, you were dead meat. You rode on the pipe 100% of the time, gear selection and clutch control were critical, and you adapted your rider positioning and style to be far more aggressive, over the bars and over time, you got used to it.
The KX became my practice time most of the time, as riding it well made my riding on the newer KTM great.
I even took it to a few club races and got a few wins on it, and definitely gave me an edge in my main classes.
1990’s RMs were top to- draw. Won many races on them. Always best chance for the hole shot. Great video Max
Great film 🤩
Thanks for watching Martin!
This is awesome because I’m racing a 2000 cr125 in an open class this year gives me some hope haha
Had a brand new one back in 91 loved that bike I ride a 2013 yz125 now and that old RM was just as good and maybe even handed better
The old RMs went like the clappers. Even the RM80 was a weapon, band came in like a light switch.
I love the RM’s. Have a 89’ RM250 I’m making a restoration series right now
Oh, great memories of riding my RM125 bought for the grand sum of 80 pounds around my dads fields when we were about 15 years old.
its almost time to get my old 74 yamaha ready for summer fun... these bikes are like comparing a biplane to a modern fighter jet, from my bikes perspective. or rather two fighter jets, one that is older than the other.
Always have owned Zukis. Gonna get my headphones and relisten to that beautiful vintage RM barkin
Another great video ................
Thanks for watching Scott! :D
Remember when the RM's came out. I was riding a YZ400 and a buddy got a new RM250. Dude ate my lunch. Man that 250 was so strong out of the hole. Wicked sweet bike.
I had one of these rm 125 and rode it hard for years. Being over 200 lbs it kept up. I miss that bike.
You are totally right Max, the Suzuki is overlooked. I always thought that was a great bike and I would like to own one
It isn't that they are overlooked. It is Suzuki always had trouble producing the bikes in big numbers.
Pretty impressive! Now I don't feel bad for having a 99 ktm🙃 now I want to keep my 87 kx 126!
You be proud of that old girl my man! ;-D As Sean proved, age is just a number right?! Thanks for watching always bud
Beauty! , never had a 125 as too big and heavy 😁
I really liked this modern vs retro comparison. Please continue with this kind of test.
It would have been interesting to compare the actual YZ 125 with the winner of Motocross Action Magazine among the 125s of 1991: The Kawasaki kx125.
More stable at Speed than the Rm, not as good in short, twisty track but decent overall, with a blasting mid-range Power to a solid and higher top-end than the Rm. (May be front brake was the only drawback).
Keep up the good work guys, you're great...but: it's a 1989 Suzuki Rm 125 not a 1991, so it's 33 years old. In 1990 the Rm was quite like 1989 (different RM fonts and minor updates). The 1991 was the year of so-called 'Splash & Dash' graphics, in 1992 even more Splash & Dash' in the rear fender and for 1993 they changed the ergonomics with the well-known 'Bulky' feeling.
I had this 1991 RM 125! It was awesome.
Such a sweet little bike! Thanks for watching dude