will a 97 yz 125 be a good bike for me for this price?

[68b_body]

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important) 5'10" 155lbs
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? im aggresive in whatever i do
3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ????? chats mostly, probably anywhere i can
4) Do you have any riding experience?yes mostly street bikes, dirt bikes when i was younger
5) Do you think you will race ?probably not
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work?yes
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)?2 stroke
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? 2 dealers they pretty much carry all brands between the two of em
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike? no more than $1200 hopefully. used. mabey more if its a deal i cannot pass up
10) Do you live in California?heck no why do you ask?
11) Your age?35, but feel land look early 20's
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion


heres the details on a local fourm for sale

Yamaha YZ 125 FMF pipe new reeds new tires recent top $1000 obo

will it be too small for my size? ill mainly use it for play in the chats. hows the power? good jumper, wheelies. whats the top average speed? whats would be a good price to offer? ill try at $750.

 

[68b_body]

heres a pic he says it needs a bath btw. will a 125 be good or will it make me wish i got a 250 for $1000 or so more which i really can't afford to do....

guess i can't post pics yet...

 

[Madmanadam]

how aggressive are you? and yeah they're pretty good fast powerful bikes, can top about 145km/ph stock. Cant tell wether a 250 would be better as ive never ridden anything faster then my yz 125

 

[Douglas777]

You can find something newer for $1200. Just keep looking.

 

[sparkysakitas]

i have a 96 yz 125 and hauls me around just fine and im (was 170lbs) its a fun bike a little twitchy at times but you get used to it

 

[68b_body]

other than this one, the newest one i can find locally is a 99 rm 125 for 1200 obo. anythiong 2003 up is $2200 or more. between the 2 which would be the best of the 2? $1200 is the max i'd like to go. if i can get the yz around $800 that be great. cheaper for me the better.

 

[sparkysakitas]

either bike is good. it all depends on condition and really how much you want to spend. as long as you have a good platform to start with and keep up on maintance, i don't think age of bike matters. i have had my yz 2 years now and have had zero serious problems with it (other than it affection for trees)

 

[68b_body]

just found a 2002 CR125 for $1500 obo waddayathink? how it compare with the other 2?

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

2) How physical / aggressive are you ? im aggresive in whatever i do



10) Do you live in California?heck no why do you ask?

The reason for the California question is that California requires that all off road vehicles be registered and issues "Red" or "Green" stickers based on if the bike meets EPA requirements. Getting the wrong bike (Red Sticker) can severely restrict your riding.

A YZ125 is a good bike, no doubt about it. It will haul you around and has as good of a suspension as the YZ250 would have.

If you are really agressive in your riding you will probably yearn for more power before long.

You can change the front/rear sprockets so that you get a good top speed so your buddies won't leave you in the dust. With this setup you will have a lot of trouble climbing the really gnarly hills, which will require a lot of clutch slipping.

You can change the sprockets so that you have better hill climb ability, but then you run out of RPM in 6th gear and watch the bigger bikes disappear down the road. I ride enduros and there was one with a three mile 60MPH section that my 125 just would not hold the pace. I so badly wanted to shift to 7th gear!

I had been riding a YZ125 until a few months ago, when I got a deal on a Wr250 that I just couldn't pass up. I must admit that the extra power is nice. It can get you into trouble, however.

On my 125 I was used to keeping the RPM up, in the power band. I could sit back on the seat to keep the weight over the rear tire. If I lost my momentum going up a hill I could slip the clutch and maybe keep it going, but on the really steep hills it was tough to regain lost speed.

The 250 requires a balancing act between rear wheel traction and looping the bike. When the rear wheel starts to spin on loose shale I move back, get more traction. The problem is that if/when the wheel graps something the front wheel is going to lift. On my 125 I would stall the bike out on a hill. On the 250 I tend to crash and burn......

I still take both bikes when I head to a riding area. If I am going with buddies that like to seek out the hill climbs I ride the 250. If I am going on more of a trail ride I will take the 125.

If popping wheelies and top speed are important to you then you should probably look for a 250 instead of a 125. On the other hand, if the cost difference is going to keep you out of a bike completely then I would buy a 125 and plan on keeping it for a couple of years before you upgrade.

Rod

 

[68b_body]

from what i was reading the rm 125's of that year has clutch problems so ill stay away from that unless its a cheap fix. what bout the 97 yz 125's of that year they got any issues?