125cc enduro bikes, bad idea? « Singletrack Forum

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125cc enduro bikes, bad idea?

82 posts & 30 voices | Started 2 years ago by thisisnotaspoon | Latest reply from thisisnotaspoon

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thisisnotaspoon - Member

After convinceing myself that I wanted a wr250f*, this forum told me I actualy wanted a wr450f as I'd rev the nuts off a 250 and it would die.

The local yamaha* dealer pointed me towards the R versions, and even a WR125r

Who's right?

Will I not kill a 125 even quicker?

Does he have a huge stock of bikes that are impractical on road and a wet blanket off it?

All I want is.......
To get to work without killing myself
Green lane's and the odd bit of enduro
Occasional trips to MX tracks.

Full test at the end of the month so getting itchy feet!

*other 4stroke off road bikes are available

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

mx track on 125r would be. um. interesting.

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

No idea what the wr125 is like but a ktm125 will be more than competitive in an enduro, competitive on an mx track and capable* of taking you to work. The ktm200 is the bike to have for enduros though. Get that.

*Race bikes are horrible on the road.

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

wr125r is NOTHING like a ktm 125sx or ktm 125exc (IMO)

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

wr125r is NOTHING like a ktm 125sx or ktm 125exc (IMO)

I suspected as much. Get a KTM.

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

have you ridden one?

same engine as the yzf-r125 so shouldn't be too limp wristed?

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

ohh, and not interested in 2strokes, my experience of them is;
-noisy
-blow up

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

yzf-r125? think that cant be right... you dont want a 4 stroke 125 buddy!

besides its road spec innit?

expect crappy road yres, completely different suspension and monstrously tall gearing at least.

cant imagine it would be much fun on an mx track...

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

have you ridden one?

same engine as the yzf-r125 so shouldn't be too limp wristed?

Ah... right. Get a KTM.

Assuming you really want to race enduro and use MX tracks. If you really just want to pootle to work, the WR is fine.

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

hang on... so the wr125r IS a 125 four stroke?

will be poor offroad. like proper poor.

Posted 2 years ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

YOu ant a bike to do two totally different things A commuter 125 will not be any good as an enduro bike ( assuming you mean proper enduro racing). A proper offroad racer will be a lousy commuter bike. Even a proper offroad trail bike will be a lousy commuter, The tyres needed are too different as are the brakes and power output.

IIRC the WR125r is a learner legal off road styled bike - OK for the commute so long as there are no dual carriageways but their are far better commuter bikes out there.

So - want a commuter - buy one. want a real offroad bike - buy one. Trying to have one bike to do both will be a horrible compromise.

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

hang on... so the wr125r IS a 125 four stroke?

will be poor offroad. like proper poor.

15bhp vs 40bhp. It's a low strung commuter.

Probably why the sales guy pointed you that direction. Race bikes on the road are no fun. If you don't mind top end strips every 50 hours then it's possible, but they're still horrible to ride 'normally'.

Posted 2 years ago #
Marge - Member

wr125 is an enduro 'styled' bike no? The YZF-R125 is defintely no Aprilia RS125...
WR250 & 450 are actual race bikes with some (limited) on-road ability.

The 450 still sounds the best compromise for your plans. I can only guess you visited a dealer with little off-road experience?
(and I agree about the KTM200 - great m/c)

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

Every review seems to be at least complimentary, or are motorbike reviews like MBR with everything scoreing 9/10?

hmmmmmmm..........
I'll see how my test goes and then decide, sat on the 250 at the weekend and felt a very long way up and intimidated! Maybe I'm just out of practice!

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

i rode a ktm 250exc-f in full on road guise, which should be similar to the wrf.

was pretty good actually, fairly smooth etc. so i should imagine ok for road use. will be windy as hell mind, and proper tiring over some miles.

also in stock guise the gearing would have been appalling for enduro use...

i honestly think 2 bikes would be easier for you.

Posted 2 years ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

If you are dead set on a trail bike how about a TW 200. Decent commuter, low seat, decent for gentle trail riding.

A proper enduro bike will be a nightmare on the road. thin hard high seat, knobbly tyres that are not very grippy on wet tarmac.

Posted 2 years ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

The 125 gets good reviews because it is a good leaner legal 125 trail styled bike - so it is good in its class but it is not an enduro bike.

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

Every review seems to be at least complimentary, or are motorbike reviews like MBR with everything scoreing 9/10?

The problem is you say you want a race bike for enduro and mx AND a commuter.

The review of the commuter you're looking at is reviewing it as a learner-legal 125 commuter, which I'm sure it's very good at. It would get 1/10 as a race bike (if they were being generous).

Posted 2 years ago #
al - Member

If your "getting to work" is offroad, fine, otherwise a commuter and an enduro and an MX are never going to all work in one bike. By a scooter for getting to work, then buy a proper bike for playing about offroad on. Oh, and make sure you have a large garage first, they breed you know

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

wrf125r

ktm125exc

just not the same. ktm is an awesome enduro machine, but probably not good on road. vice versa for tother i'd guess (never ridden a wr125r)

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

If you do look at the WR250 have a look at the service schedule (
this might be interesting).

top end @ 1600Km (32hrs)
bottom end inc top end ie whole motor @ 4000km (80hrs)
and a service every 800km (16hrs)

1hr=50km

Do you really want to be tearing down engines every 1000 miles?

This is normal for all enduro bikes, 2 stroke or 4 these days.

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

i'd consider stripping and inspecting rings on a 125 2T every twenty hours. loss of compression sucks the life out of them like you wouldnt beleive.

ride it for an hour a day for commuting and that a strip down every month!

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

Yeah, I always raced two-strokes because they're low maintenance. 25 hours on the 125 (my lads) and 50 on the 300 (mine). Similar intervals as the four-strokes but take less than half the time to do.

Posted 2 years ago #
neilforrow - Member

have owned a Husky wr125, fast, geat for enduros, not so good on mx tracks and GL's

owned a KTM200 exc (2002) great bike, gest of both worlds, great enduro great GL'er and not too bad on the mx traxk

owned several big 4 banger's : not so good for enduros, to heavy, over powered, good GL'er depending on how technical / rocky or muddy your lanes are.

Dont get the WE125, it is a dressed up moped, the older dt125r's would be a better bet. the 250 is a totally different bike, but the 450 is a great bike, depends on where you are going to ride it.

As a race bike, the 125 / 200 is your best bet. the 250 would be great but you have to be on it to get the best out of it, but it would make a better GL'er

200 wins for me - best of eveything. (or the wr250)

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

true stroy.

i vote for a service honda 500 2T. that'll give the boy racers something to think about.

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

There's always TBEC.

They have classes for trail bikes. That way you could get a DR400 which is ideal for commuting and green laning and race competitively (without having to deal with a race bike on the road).

Posted 2 years ago #
neilforrow - Member

5th elefant - you race the TBEC's ?

I havent raced them since i moved to devon, but they are a good set of races. A group of mates still do them.

Rendlesham is a great track.

Posted 2 years ago #
5thElefant - Member

Nope, I raced Mid West, Reading MCC and (a very long time ago) MEC. I stopped racing 3(?) years ago.

TBEC used to race at Ashdown and so did Reading MCC so I was aware of them and knew guys who raced both.

Posted 2 years ago #
gavtheoldskater - Member

have a look at thumpertalk, you'll get some sensible advice.

Posted 2 years ago #
mattsccm - Member

The 125 yam is a trail bike and an expensive one. Want to race a 125 in H&H then its a KTM or GasGas or Husky unless you want odd then go TM. Nice and light and easy to ride in H&H. Try a 200 by the first 2 for easier still. 250 4strokes rev like buggery and are dead popular for H&H. 450's are for those with small willies. Hard to ride and no easier on servicing if racing. Neither are sensible second hand buys as they will be shagged and pricey to refurbish to new. If you want to trail ride only then you don't need an enduro bike as they are ALL less sociable and give us a bad name.Get a CRF230. A nice quiet 250 4t eg a WR would be good if you wanted to do H&H and trail riding. Real enduros need much the same as H&H but fuel consumption needs considering maybe.
Whatever 450's are becoming less popular as they are too fast for 75% of riders who race and no one should be riding that fast on the green lanes. Where are you? Go to a club meeting. Finally try the TBM forum for the m/c version of this place. Lots of good advice plus the usual crap. Just like here.
I've just been banned

Posted 2 years ago #
dontdropthesoap - Member

ohh, and not interested in 2strokes, my experience of them is;
-noisy
-blow up

Do you not mean 4T? as that describes them better. Although I have a 250F with a 290 head on it.

Posted 2 years ago #
alwyn - Member

Do not buy a 125 4 stroke. You will hate it before a week. Even my race tuned 125 wr Husky is horrible to ride on the road and just has enough power for a decent off road session.

I have ridden 125 4 strokes and you'd go faster and have more fun on your bike. If you something fast and fun get a Husky, if you want it to work all the time buy a Yamaha or Honda but it won't be half as fun when it's working.

I seriously recommend a 250 2 stroke, the are cheap and easy to fix and so much fun off road.

Posted 2 years ago #
Zedsdead - Member

I have a lovely old RM250 with a few upgrades. I would not want to ride it on the road at all - it would be scary as hell!!!

As for noisy - yes.
Blow up - not if you know what you are doing. They're fantastic.

Posted 2 years ago #
Iain Gillam - Member

If you want something to ride for enduro and mx tracks get a propper bike for the job, if your set on Yammaha buy a wr250f and use your car/ bicycle to commute. Or buy a second hand wr250f and a cheep bike for commuting. A 450 for your first bike might be a bit much despite the fact that the enduro versions are quite tamed down compaired to the mx versions the bigger displacement makes them feel a lot heavier than the little 250's add that to the fact that they are heavier makes them a bit of a pig to handle in the trees.

You also might want to think about how much time you will be spending green laning compaired to time on a track, (there aren't many places you can practice enduro so you'll probably only get to do this at races.) If you think most of your time will be spent green laning look at getting a trail bike, if you think you'll spend most of your time at an mx track look at getting a cross country bike (for example KTM do a range of bikes with an xc tag, essentially these are modified exc bikes) My reasoning for this is that enduro bikes aren't set up to be at there best on a track you tend to bottom the suspension quite a lot and the power is set to be a lot softer for woods riding and hence it will leave you longing for more of a punch out of corners if you have a go on a mates mx bike.

Have a look at Hausaberg http://www.midwestracing.co.uk/husabergs/ They have been getting a lot of good press of late and they are owned by KTM so spares can be found at your local dealer. The FX 450 is there cross country version you could get a day only MOT (the one where you don't need lights) if you want to do a bit of green laning and it would be better on an mx track than a true enduro bike but the 18inch rear wheel gives you a lot of enduro legal tyre choice.

Hope this hasn't been too boring.

Iain

Posted 2 years ago #
gusamc - Member

250 4st sounds better. If you buy an enduro bike check full legality (front/rear brake lights, dip, horn, stamped sliencer, working indicators etc etc) for MOT time.

have you thought about xr250, or ccm 400 dual sport, as in your case two sets of wheels sounds handy.
jack of all trades, master of none.....

Posted 2 years ago #

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