2004 125cc-class Shootout

MXracer's murderers row

Over the last few years there has been a lot of talk about what the future will bring to motocross. Will four-strokes rule two-strokes? This year marks the true beginning of the four-stroke revolution in the 125cc class. Now Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki are all big players in the 250cc four-stroke class. We often hear rumors of 125cc two-strokes vanishing in the near future, but all the manufacturers have plans to keep developing their two-stroke programs. With three new four-strokes added to the shootout, 2004 was MXr's biggest 125cc shootout ever. Eight bikes made up this year's comparison--four two-strokes and four four-strokes. Missing from our test was the CR125R. Honda claims the CR125R was the last bike to hit the assembly line and it was unable to have one in time for our test. For 2004 nearly all the bikes got a good going-over. When all the testing was completed it was hard to pick a winner and a loser.

Click to visit the full story on each bike.

After our test riders spent countless hours on all the bikes it really came down to picking apart each bike. The bottom line is that all the bikes are better than they ever have been and all have strengths and weaknesses. This test really came down to personal preferences for each test rider. We believe everyone is different and each bike is made for a certain type of rider. As you can see from the lap times, all the bikes are competitive with each other, and some of our test riders didn't have their best times on their favorite bikes. Yes the four-strokes are easier to ride, but it's all about what your needs are.

An aerial shot of pit row at Piru Motocross Park.

Dennis Patracca diving into a corner on the KX250F.

Corey Neuer on the CRF250R

OVERALL RANKING

Sean Collier
Collier earned more than seven amateur titles racing at the World Mini, Ponca City, Loretta Lynn's and Lake Whitney. He has made the jump to the pro ranks, and the 2004 season will mark his first full year of supercross and Outdoor nationals. With years of valuable experience, Collier played a big role in our 125 test. He reminds us of the beautiful supermodel Paris Hilton: His speed and style are unmatched against the fastest riders in our crew, but his attention span is shorter than an arenacross lap time. Expect to see a lot more of MXr's new trophy tester.

Matt Armstrong
Armstrong has been a part of Mxracer's test staff for two years, and his drive to ride anything with two wheels has made him irreplaceable. He made a bit of a name for himself racing the local pro class. Unfortunately he is thinking about turning in his 125 pro license for a professional 50cc license. Armstrong is a true victim of the XR50 craze. In his off-time he works for his family-owned clothing company, Focus Athletics.

Lap Times

We conducted the lap-time portion of the test at Castillo Ranch. This is a horsepower-demanding track with big uphills and big downhills. The track also features both smooth and rough sections that really brought out the best in the bikes.

Dennis Patracca
We like to call Dennis Patracca Double Dip or Mr. Copenhagen. After spinning countless laps throughout our testing one would think that water would soothe the body. Instead of water, Double Dip's body runs on pure Copenhagen. He tried to confuse some of us into thinking he was really out on the track putting in moto after moto, but we were able to tell the truth because he had tobacco in his teeth instead of dirt. Patracca has a long and successful history in the motocross community. He worked for Honda and Yamaha of Troy as a factory mechanic for Casey Lytle. He still wrenches on the side when he has time away from his hardwood-floor company.

Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor is the brains of the operation here at Mxracer. When he first arrived in L.A. from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, in a lifted Dodge packed with only a suitcase and his CR250, his front brake lever was so low it looked like a thumb throttle. Since then, our boy AT has dropped most of his desert-rat ways, but you still might catch him out at the track wearing Fox gear with an AXO kidney belt. Along with trading in the Dodge for a more compact Nissan pickup, he's trying to trade the Dick Burleson look of wearing glasses for eye protection and now makes a conscious effort to strap on some goggles before he leaves his truck. As the old saying goes: You can take Taylor out of Arizona, but you can't take the Arizona out of Taylor.

Corey Neuer
Corey Neuer has been with MXr since the early days and he has become a jack-of-all-trades, specializing in motocross, supermoto and roadracing. He is easy to spot at the races because it looks as if he is wearing a helmet all the time. Don't be fooled, that is just his internationally known chinstrap. He is also the only dude cruising the boulevard in a 15-passenger van that's dropped on dubs. The biggest problem we face when working with Neuer is catching an eyefull of the five-o'clock shadow that creeps out the side of his little white man panties when he's changing in the back of his van.

125cc Class Dyno Test

The dyno test shows the smoother delivery of the four-stroke 250s; they put more power to the ground from low to mid-range. But surprisingliy, the most peak horsepower came from one of the two-strokes. The KTM 125 SX puts out 36 ponies at 11K RPM.