Retro 125 vs. Modern 125 | Motocross SHOOTOUT!

Today we've got a battle of Japanese rippers. My 2010 YZ125 vs Sean's 1989 CR125. What's up guys, my name's Max, this is 999 Laser. And supposedly, back in the day, the Honda CR125 was the king of the class. So our mission in this video is to see how far 125 tech has come in 30 years. Although, you might be wondering why we're using my 10 year old YZ125 for this test, and not one of the latest greaters from the Austrian brands. Well, there's two reasons. Firstly, because this is the only modern day 125 I currently have sitting in my garage. It's the only one we've got. But to be fair, she did get a complete rebuild a couple of years ago, and she is fitted out with a load of trick bits, so she does rival the best 125s in the game. And secondly, the YZ is the only Japanese 125 left on the market. This is the most modern Japanese tech in the 125 class. Well, at least until 2022. So we thought it would actually be really cool to see the difference between these two Japanese rippers. Sean and I will be swapping rides throughout the day to make sure each bike gets a thorough test. And we'll be judging the bike in three categories. Rideability, fun factor, and of course, lap times. But before we begin our test, let me ask you guys two questions. Which bike would you rather have in your garage? And which bike do you think will win our shootout? Let me know in the comments down below. Also, you might notice that this video was made at two different tracks across four different days. And that's because making videos with vintage bikes is a pain in the ass, as is trying to find a gap in the weather during British summertime. Anyway, it's time to stop Chinwagon. Let's hit the track and do some laps. Can you handle three? I can probably just about manage three, mate, yeah. Turbo might be a bit slow. Watch out for the field. Up the inside. You filmed me? I got filmed in. You got me right in the face. Come on. Up the inside. There we go. Come on. It's all right, it's done me. Bruce, on that little CR125. Shall we have a swap? Yeah, mate, that honestly looks nice, proper quick. Do you reckon? I still can't keep up with you, mate. Really? Yeah. I think it's that Wolfsport adds a couple of seconds of lap, doesn't it? Yeah, well. It cuts away a couple of seconds for you. Possibly. But I still hear your nickname's Tickover. You've got to rev it, Matt. Because it hangs gears out. Oh, wow. That's like sitting on a sofa, isn't it? Sitting in an armchair. This is model motocross. What have I got in here, freestyle bars? I reckon I'm going to pull a knack-knack with these bars. It's not about style, mate, it's not about speed. It's how it is. That's where I'm going wrong. Oh, listen to that. There's nothing there at the bottom. It feels like an 85. Yeah, Matt. Ha, ha, ha, ha. This is weird. Ha, ha, ha. I'm scared to jump it. I reckon you go better on that, mate. It doesn't want to stop, does it? No, mate, it doesn't. It doesn't want to stop. It doesn't want to stop, does it? It doesn't want to stop. You can slide forward nicely and get it turned tight. That's what I said about this one. It could really turn compared to other bikes of the kind. What do you think power-wise? It was properly funny when I came off over there. I was coming out of first gear like in gear. Ha, ha, ha. Is there anything there? At the top end, it's nice, isn't it? It revs, doesn't it? Yeah, you've got to rev it. At the bottom, it's just like... Anything, anything, anything? What is that? That's snappy, isn't it? Yeah, but that's 125 racing. No-one uses bottom end. It's all about revs, isn't it? It's all top end to keep the power going. This is a strong motor. You can feel it's strong. Strong off the bottom all the way through. I don't think it revs as much as that, to be honest. I think that just revs, you know what I mean, a little bit higher. Did you take practice out of our freestyle bars? Yeah, I was going to do a backhack with these babies. You could do a cliffhanger on those, couldn't you? Big time. Yeah. I reckon I could do a lazy boy. The first lap, I was so scared to hit a jump on this. I felt the same, to be honest. At the first set, with these whoops here, I completely bottled the second set. I doubled it up. I didn't feel right. You know when you're 80 and you just feel unstable? Yeah. Then I did this one, and I was all right after that. I think this is the oldest bike I've ever ridden. Is it? No, no, it's not. This is the same age as my bird, actually. Is it? So that bike's older than you? This bike is seven years older than me. Jeez. Same age as my missus. Ooh, he's got a milf. You can't put that in. You'd be single. I noticed, Sean, as you hit all the big puddles on my bike, that you was missing on this one. Right, so here I am on board Sean's 1989 Sierra 125. And we were just discussing, I think this is the oldest bike I have ever ridden. It predates me by seven years. Or six years. Well, that's pretty impressive, to be honest. Had a little session just now. This is my second session on the bike. In terms of pedigree, Yamaha and Honda have the same sort of pedigree. In 125 class racing, I think three world championships apiece in the 125 class. Over in America, though, Honda did dominate a little bit. They've got ten championships. Yamaha's five, I think it is. Woo-hoo! Now, this bike got good reviews back in the day. The 89. Honda were known as the kings of the class back in the day. With the fastest motors. And I can see that. It feels very quick. And the top end, a bit gutless off the bottom, though. But as Sean said earlier, 125 racing is all about the top end. All about making it sing. So, that's what I'm going to try and do here today. In terms of brakes, she doesn't want to stop. Suspension is a bit bouncy compared to my modern set. But I do feel comfortable on the bike. It's hard not to when you're riding an old armchair like this. The seat is massive. I'm very comfortable. I did feel a bit nervous when I got straight on because it's so alien to a modern bike. Oh, but it is fun, I tell you that. What do you reckon? I am actually pleasantly surprised about how fun this is. Good it feels. Like you said earlier, you've got to make it sing. The reviews I looked at were to get the most out of it, you really need to be riding it like Justin Barcher on a CR125. It puts a smile on your face, doesn't it? Because even if you're not going fast, it sounds like you are. That's the best bit about it. It sounds like you're going fast. And the turning as well. Like that, you know that fast three-parter over there? I was struggling on that to find the line. But on this, because I feel like you're sitting down a lot more on this, it's just easy to push it where you want. Exactly where you want it. It feels plush at the front. And then you can just wind it on and it feels like you've hit the corner fast even if you haven't. It's comfy, isn't it? Yeah, that has actually got an American spec seat on it. So is that lower? Yeah, it's cut lower. Is that nice for you? No, this is the problem, now there's just going to be a ton of people telling me it's going to do a short arse. No, apparently it's an American import and that's an American spec seat. I think the UK bikes had more of a higher foam. But obviously that would be no good for me. So yeah, I think it was built for me. That's what it was. It does feel short, doesn't it? Completely flat-footed. I wouldn't be on that. No, well I'm not flat-footed on that. It feels like the pegs are quite high. Yeah. It's probably because of the difference in bars. These are flat bars and mine aren't. But when you're riding it feels like your elbows and your knees are almost touching sometimes, isn't it? Yeah, I like it like that so I can dab the back brake with my elbows too. You know what I mean? When you're in that right hander and your foot's out you can just dab the back brake with your elbows. It's so weird going from a modern bike to something like this because your ride style is so much different and your weight and your balance is different, like in the air I felt. I felt like it didn't take me long to get a head start. That's weird you say because I feel nervous on this through the whoops. Do you know what I mean? Compared to that, that, no problem. It just feels... I feel confident. This I'm a little bit... It's a bit sketchy. It's probably because you maybe need a new back tyre, Max. Yeah, that's from last time here. What's it? Last time here was the polar opposite. We made a video actually. It was that dry, all the earth was cracking. It gets hot down here, yeah. Right, so that's Sean Smith. He is on my 2010 YZ125 right now setting his hot lap. This is the conclusion of our little Japanese ripper shootout here. So he's going to do a fast lap on my bike, 2010 YZ125. He's had some upgrades so it is pretty much the pinnacle of 125 tech at the moment and then he'll come back after this hot lap and have a go on this, his 1989 CR125. See how close or far away this bike is going to be to the modern day equivalent. Sean is on it right now. Oh No Oh No so i said to sean he's gonna have to put in some real quick laps because you can see over here the rain is inbound so he's got to try and put in two hot laps before that releases upon us the torrid rain so he's coming round to complete the lap then on the YZ125 there we go i reckon that's a pretty handy lap that mate i reckon that was a nice lap time sean's out there now on his own CR125 and it's a 1989 sean is a friend of ours well i've known him since i was a kid raced against his daughter when we were kids as well rex is in the amca vet championship so he's a handy guy i've been racing for years and rides every moment he can get every moment he has spare so he's out there now having some fun trying to beat this rain so over to sean gotta be close on the gas come on CR125 she's a launcher oh mate pull her back round here and i'll tell you what you got oh mate i was hanging out you was trying it's fair to say you was trying hard mate i was hanging out watching his videos oh my god let's have a look mate you were sending it on that i was sending it mate i was on it right so on my bike on the 2010 Yamaha YZ125 it's got long wheel conversion VHM HGS5 V-Force the works around half mile races threshold quick buy 152.05 yeah sort of that time sort of that time round the dock and then on this 1989 Honda CR125 32 year old machine wait for the dad there he is right there 32 year old bike so he was a 152.05 on this on that 150 152.36 300 did it so quick round this so 30 years we got every decade you get a tenth of a second in 125 tech pretty much i bet you're happy with that are you yeah man just to give you a comparison on my 350 round here was a 139 really yeah wow yeah to be fair i think if i had to fluff this corner up on your bike i think it would have been a couple of seconds this last corner yeah this last corner yeah i was trying to shift and it just wouldn't shift through the gear quick enough do you know what i mean this seems to have a smoother gearbox yeah it does feel nice and smooth compared to yours but that's just you know it's probably just bike time i thought this was going to be way quicker yeah i thought it would be way quicker yeah but i'm just an old old man you know yeah to be fair like this track the straights aren't long enough to really get the mileage of the top speed on this is it no do you want to run back and just run in yeah because it started to rain we had to pause there because the heavens opened and the track became unrideable but what a way to finish i was not expecting the 32 year old cr 125 to be anywhere close to my modern yz now i can really see why people rave about these bikes and i can see why so many people choose to race them in the vintage scene and fair play to sean because he can obviously ride that thing just like a modern machine in fact we enjoyed filming with this machine so much we decided to head back to shoot more once the track had dried up so i'm going to sign off now remember guys to like this video share it with your two stroke loving friends and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already as always guys my name is max this is 999 until next time i'll see you at the track but for now let's bask in the glory of the cr 125 one last time um