I got a brand new xc125 and I’ve had nothing but problems with it. I’m done. Trading it in for a yz125x soon! So happy to be getting rid of it. THE CLEAR WINNER IS THE YZ!
Man that sucks! You pay all that money and you would think your bike would work. Yeah while I like the KTM we had issues with the clutch. See our ridge trail video.
I absolutely love my 23 YZ125x, had it a few weeks now and ride primarily gnarly, tight mountain singletrack in western NC and eastern TN. The bike is shockingly good! Its jetted super rich from the factory, after some testing I've setteled on the follow 50 pilot 162 main NYCG Needle 2nd clip 40:1 mix Air screw 2 turns out BR8ES plug Bike is crisp and pulls awesome all the way through the rev range. My riding is all between 2-4000 feet
40:1 :x so many people advise this for some reason. 32:1 will keep your engine safer, as the other guy says factory say 30:1, 40:1 makes it a 33% richer, your just begging your motor to wear faster and go boom faster. your bike though your choice!
I rode cr 250’s my whole life… I’m 42. I stopped ridding about 8 or 9 years ago, about the time my son was born & he’s 9 now, I just bought my son a brand new ktm 65 & I bought myself a brand new ktm 125 xc the exact bike you guys just reviewed & like I said I’ve rode cr 250’s from 17 to about 30 & my Ktm 125 xc is as great or maybe even better than any bike I’ve rode.
Yeah both the KTM 125XC and the YZ125X are such fun bikes. Glad you are back riding again. My boy is now on a YZ85 and he is starting to be able to ride just about any of the tracks and trails we ride the big bikes on .
Turning 34 this year, and in great physical shape. All of my bikes have been kickstart only or both, even the Harleys. That being said..... gimme that "Electric leg" 😂
I'm on a crf 450 rx its an absolute beast and wayyy beyond my ability to push it. I can't help but wonder if a smaller lighter bike wouldn't work better for me. Bikes have come a long way....
Yeah every time I ride a 450 I feel like I’m just trying to manage the bikes power. A smaller bike helps give me the confidence to push it more and work on my technique I bet the 459RX is fun though
Put a lectron, or smart carb on the yz and a pc pipe. Never look back. Pick the standard YZ125 no x if you want more power. Ad a reserve petcock for safety sake. Someday we'll all be looking back at the kick starters and thinking how cool they are. The 125 starts so easy its hard to justify the need for e-start. 125 two strokes are so fun.
Not had very good luck with the Lectron, would go with a smart carb but it’s tough to spend $800+ for a carb. Yes, I actually agree the YZ125 simplicity is why I fell in love with 2strokes. We have gotten the YZ more dialed and it’s closing the gap
How do you feel about the stock forks? I’m finding it very stiff for my liking. Compression all the way out and still stiff. I have 20 hrs on my 23 125x so maybe they have to be broken in?? Crazy how stiff it feels even compared to air forks.
i’m going to be picking up a yz125x for my play bike and practice bike to help me get better at everything so i can start getting faster and faster on my kx250f track bike
If I was competing I'd buy the KTM. I'd buy the Yamaha if I just wanted to get out and ride, only. I would miss the button and EFI, on the Yamaha, but no big deal since I started riding when dirt bikes were kick start and carburetor, only.
Why is everybody on like 99% of RU-vid channels always afraid to just admit when a bike is clearly a better bike!!! Just F%$King say it.. The KTM is the better bike go buy one.. always a bunch of reasons not to say it..I know a lot of it is personal preference and im sure they are very close but Again just say it the MTM is the better bike...Once upon a time the Yamaha was the better bike and it shined. But in this time and place its the KTM is shinning bright
@@dirtbikesam order a top end for both and see which one is easier to get. Parts replacement test if you will 🤔 The YZ piston is easy to source but the base gasket is hard to find. Idk anything about KTM part sourcing but I’ve been hearing parts are hard to get.
Yamaha, the brand that killed the 2 stroke popularity for a all mighty dollar. Doug Henry was on a motoGP level bike with AMA stacking the deck. I’ll stick with the company that stuck with 2 strokes.
Definitely the best entry enduro bikes. But an option for a smaller guy would be the KX112 I really love my KX100 so far and for my size and weight it is more than enough power.
It's so unfortunate they don't make small enduro bikes. I tried a 125 but I really don't feel comfortable and confident on it because it's too heavy and tall for me. I was looking for a KX112 but since all dealers had sold them I went with a 85 bw and I love it! For sure it will need a couple of modifications to bring it closer to an enduro bike but I think it will be a nice learning machine for my size and strengh!
@@MiissSomeone Yeah there isn't really any solid enduro options for smaller riders. Unless you go with the heavy trail bikes like a 230. We only have the Motocross bikes that have better suspension, power, and balance. Do you plan putting fly wheel weights on it?
@@dirtbikesam Yes and those trail bikes are so damn heavy 🤣 Yes I plan on adding a flywheel weight, skidplate, pipe guard, handguard, probably bigger tank (so $$$ 😅), also looking for a kickstand maybe I'll see, at the end it will have cost me the same as the 125XC but the 125 is just too big I couldn't 🤷♀️
@@MiissSomeone Yeah heavy and slow haha. Yeah the 125's are full framed bikes. You ever take a look at the Beta Xtrainer 300 smaller frame and the 300 is a detuned 300 made to grip for enduro/trail riding.
Well, we have another video where the YZ125X beats the KTM. Both are really good bikes and I do wish that the YZ125X had E-Start but that can also be a negative as its one more thing that could break.
@@dirtbikesam I only rode Yamaha until I bought my first KTM. You definitley cant go wrong with Yamaha. Now that I am older and can afford KTM, I am very impressed by the engineering and performance, but Im also well beyond my racing years. Not really sure its entirely worth the price difference, but the KTM's are easier to get tagged, so its nice to not have to always truck your bike to a ridding destination or suffer the anxiety of trying to inspect and tag a Japanese dirtbike where I live.
Im liking this comparison and will be following the series. Was this done with Yamaha’s suggested 15:1 ratio break-in mix? You can probably figure which one I already own, but it was a highly debated decision!
Im 42 wanting to get back onto 2 wheels after about 20 years of only quads. Which one of these bikes would be easiest to adjust the suspension for my weight at 6’2 215lb.
Correctly jetting the YZ for the temp/elev/hum has to be a part of even a bone stock comparison. The bike is not going to run right with stock jetting especially at 6000 ft.
Y’all are mentioning issues with the Yamaha and what they could do to make it better. Now the men that design these know everything and even do extensive testing constantly. I would think if these changes would make the bike better then they would do it. I don’t understand why Yamaha would not do fuel injection to have accurate fuel delivery when it’s not hard to do. I don’t like air in the front forks on the KTM unless there’s no chance it could leak out which could cause the bike to go out of balance and cause serious injury or death
The YZ is a solid bike and one of my favorite bikes. I do wish that Yamaha would put a little more effort into their 2-strokes. Our 2021 YZ250FX is my favorite 4 stroke I have yet to ride, I love it. I’ve owned a few KTM bikes with the air fork and never had any issues with them. However the front fork on the ktm is not as good as the Yamaha.
Really depends on your skill level, full size bikes can be intimidating if you can’t touch the ground 5’6 is about as small as you can go with barely tip toes touching the ground. However my 13 year old rides all my full-size bikes and he can’t even touch the ground
A big diferenxe is also that Yamaha is probably gona be less to repair becaus is a simple design same already proven 20+ years old design while KTM have more expensive parts too
If you tune the carb correctly then the one it comes with is fantastic, if you don’t want to tune it then the smartcarb or Lectron carbs are really high quality
@@dirtbikesam you can’t go wrong with Japanese bikes for reliability. The KTM/GasGas/Husky bikes are nice and they certainly aren’t afraid of R&D with newer tech, but they always seem to have their issues. There’s a reason why Yamaha doesn’t change much on their bikes.
@@whiskeytango854 For sure, I would like Yamaha to throw on Estart and I probably would be riding Yamaha's more then the KTM's. We had a 2018 YZ250X that was one of my top bikes I have ever owned. Our YZ250FX is my favorite 4 stroke.
Sweet! Just the shootout I've been waiting for. I've had 250 and 300 two strokes for years and recently became interested in these small bore bikes. Cant wait to pick one up!
Ktm makes more sense to buy, although I’ll never be able to get a bike as good or expensive as these, gonna be stuck on the drz400 for a while once I get one.
I can’t ride all the time and therefore I have an issue with the KTM relying on a battery for weeks and sometimes months 😒 Plus I can already see the dealer poking my eyes out on a regular service $$$$, that I won’t be able to do myself 🤷🏻♂️
@@Dashriprock4 Ive got a 98 MXC. Was going to sell it, but after I got it running close to where it should be, I love it. Still need to fix a lot of stuff on it, but I can tell it's going to be a sweet bike.
Well, in full disclosure I do have a 2020 KTM 300XCW in the garage 😬 However, I still prefer the 250XC over any other 2 stroke I have ridden so far but I really wanted to try out a 125 as I am all about trying new things and seeing how fun they are.
@DIRTBIKE Sam I have a 200 2t currently looking to get s 2nd bike. I love light bikes, but unsure if the 125 is going to be underwhelming power wise. Going to use it for half mx half trail and race xc
I was in the same boat as you and I went with the 125xc. It has amazing power and is way lighter feeling than a 250. Ive had plenty of 250s so glad I decided to give the little 125 a shot. everybody I let ride it doesn't want to give it back!
There’s no way I would pay what they’re asking for 125 with zero new technology. That’s how I feel about the Yamaha. I mean seriously how crazy is it that in this day and age they don’t put electric start on a dirtbike. So it’s carb and a kickstart, which means this bike, could not be ridden throughout the country and raced without adjusting constantly. Yamaha really missed the mark on this. That’s why KTM is taking over the two stroke world.
You make some good points. It’s a big chunk of $$ for tech that hasn’t changed in quite sometime, but that’s also what makes it kinda fun and different. Not matter how you cut all new bikes are too expensive 😅
But, if you ride one, you may feel like it's the best, most fun bike you've ever ridden. So does the tech really matter if the experience is unrivalled?
How do you feel about the stock forks? I’m finding it very stiff for my liking. Compression all the way out and still stiff. I have 20 hrs on my 23 125x so maybe they have to be broken in?? Crazy how stiff it feels even compared to air forks.
Yes the YZ125X are stiff and your correct they are much more stiff the the AER air fork. I actually don’t mind them, gnarly Rocky trails do suck more but moto, fast flowly single track, and desert I actually like them.
@@dirtbikesam I wish they just valved it softer. Here in the northeast it’s hard to find a trail that isn’t filled with rocks. Looks like I’ll just have to get it re valved I guess.
