The Lost Generation

[luthier269]

 Along with the lost decade we have a Generation of riders that went straight to a 250f from 85s. I know when I raced I spent 3 years on 125's before I moved to a 250 its the natural move up. Thoses of you that have read my post know my 17 year old son rides a cr125. When he turned 16 he moved up to the 125 most of his friends moved to 250f's. Most of them no longer race for various reasons. His move up was a little rocky but he is finaly after a year, riding his bike like a 125 should be ridden. Last week he was on the gas and riding as hard as ever against mostly 250's two and four stroke. I feel bad for the kids who didnt experienced riding a 125. I feel when he moves up to a 250 two stroke he will be ready. A good trend around here is that a lot of the kids are moving up to 125's instead of 250fs. It might be because of the 125 two stroke only class we have . How are things in you part of the country?

[ACMX]

My schoolboy class has around 10-15 racers, and 250C usually has around 5 125's sometimes a 150, and around 5 250's

[xandyx]

here in Portugal, now one cares about two strokes anymore, even the weekend riders. everyone moved to 4strokes and they say that "2 strokes are a thing from the past that dont have a chance next to four strokes". maybe because they never knew to ride 2 strokes as it should be, so 4strokes are the right bike for them.

for me it's like, those guys can't ride 2s the proper way, and they suck, so they get a 4s and they feel confident that they are an average rider.

i'm 25, and i own a 01 cr125, the one known as "a turd", but each day i'll try to be faster, and if someday i move to another bike, deffinetly will be a 250 2s and i will ride it as is should.


back to the fact!!

a guy that wants to become a good rider, gotta ride a 125 2s!!! a bike that you need to squeeze and feel it screamin like a bitch!

[luthier269]

I could not have said it better.  The displacement in amateur competition here in the US is 250 4t against 250 2t so now alot of people are flocking to two strokes here. Also we run a 2001 cr125 "134" and it keeps up with the four strokes and some 250 two strokes.

[EJ]

In the good old days, a rider used to cut his teeth in the 125 class.
Meaning; you can move up to a 250cc (2 stroke) when you can hold a 125 wide open and on the limit..

[eprovenzano]

I can't agree more....  Back in my day...  (way back) you learned how to ride a 125 the correct way.  You learned how to use different lines, rail turns, etc all while trying to keep it wide open.  When you moved to a 250, that was a big step up...  and then (in my day) there was the big boy class...  the open class...

The problem today, is everyone uses the same line, follow the pack.  Same as buying a machine, follow the pack... A friend of mine practices on a 250 smoker, but races a thumper.  When I asked why, he gave the 1st intelligent answer about thumpers I could agree with.  At his local track, 250's race in the 450 class.  He prefers the 250 class.  He practices on the smoker to make him a better racer... and to make the thumper last longer...  He said he gets bored on the thumper, so he's thinking of just running the smoker in the 450 class.

[rookie]

ya true

those youngster don't know what they are missing.

the 125 teach you to be a better rider.

[msambuco]

I screwed myself by riding big bores while young instead of 125's. I graduated backwards to 250's and a few 125's but the damage was done. Now way past my prime I have total control over what my kids ride. My 12 year old who insisted on riding my 250 is now super excited about riding the 01 RM125 sitting in the garage. He will still run the KX85 as he transitions this summer. He knows the other kids will be on 250F's but he believes me in the special skills he will learn on the 125. My two sons WILL get the 125 training I missed out on. By the way Luthier, his first test ride was out at the Gandy redneck riviera beach since I had no other open fields to go to. Yeah, we were the yahoos on the side of the road but only once. Good luck to Jake and his racing. Mike.

[ACMX]

ya true

those youngster don't know what they are missing.

the 125 teach you to be a better rider.

I'm missing nothing 

[msambuco]

ya true

those youngster don't know what they are missing.

the 125 teach you to be a better rider.

I'm missing nothing 

And I'm a Monday Quarterback with a second chance (sort of).

[ACMX]

Lol I ride a 125.

[chump6784]

if 125's do totally disappear it will be very hard for some people to race/ride. when my brother first started on a 125 he had to stand on one of those steps you use to go to the toilet when you are too short to reach and there was no way he could pick it up on his own if he crashed. it didnt take long but he grew into it. if you throw another 10kgs onto that plus the extra width he would have been ages growing into it.

also my wife is fairly short and only 55 kgs. she is not allowed to ride an 85 on a track cos she is over 16 so she has to ride a 125. it is lowered as much as possible and she can just lift it off the ground if she drops it. she rode my bike, rm 250, back to the pits the other day cos she fouled her plug and after riding it she said how much bigger and heavier it felt. i said that is the same size as a 250f and she said there would be no way she could ride one of those. on top of that she can only just kick over her bike. there would be no way she could kick a 4 stroke.

[VintageBlueSmoke]

In my day (I know that sounds bad...), only kids and women rode 125's. When I hit 30, I found out that my lap times WERE FASTER on the 125 than either my 250 or 500 (125 enduro model at that!).

Here in the Azores now, we are really feeling the pain of the economic down turn and we are losing riders left and right. Most are because their 450F broke and is worthless but many never progress to being 'good' riders because they have too much power and never learn to ride on the limit before they get hurt or their available cash is dried up.

[MXLord327]

When I was a teen in the early '80's, I had a YZ125 and a Maico 250.  My lap times were always faster on the 125 (novice skill level).  I ride a YZ250 now, but I know I would still be faster on a 125.  The starts are the killer for 125's in Vet races.  Motocross bikes are power-on handlers, and most people do not have the skill to ride a 250 2 stroke wide open, it is much easier for a novice or amateur on the 125, so lap times are usually lower.

[monsteryz125]

I ride a 125 and even people i know who swear a 4 stroke is the better bike ride mine and come back with a huge smile saying how fun it was, thats why i ride a 125 (which has made me a much better rider compared to my previous 4 stroke) its a blast