Kit Palmer | December 24, 2023
Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
50 Years of the YZ125
Depending on how you look at it, 2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of the first production Yamaha YZ125 model. The bike made its debut in 1973 as a 1974 model for $819. But, in model years, the YZ125 will officially celebrate its 50th birthday this winter.
The first production Yamaha YZ125 appeared 50 years ago with dual shocks and a strap-on fuel tank.
No other dedicated motocross bike is as old as the YZ125, except for its bigger YZ250 brother, which also debuted in 1974. At the time of the YZ125’s arrival, it had several class rivals, most notably the Honda CR125R, Kawasaki KX125, and Suzuki TM125 (the Suzuki RM125 didn’t show up until 1975). It also had to compete with several non-Japanese brands, such as Husqvarna, Montesa, Maico, Penton and DKW. Unfortunately, all these models (and all two-strokes, of course) have since been ridden off into the sunset—except for the YZ125. It is still in Yamaha’s lineup, just as it was called back then—YZ125. So is the YZ250.
Before the Yamaha YZ125, however, there was the Yamaha AT-1 MX125, which by 1974 had morphed into the MX125. Cycle News reviewed the first Yamaha YZ125 in late 1973/early 1974. The first sentence of the test went: “All that YZ is, really, is a breathed-on MX125 with a pretty tank and paint, but that’s just fine by us.”
The YZ125 was a more serious motocross version than the MX125. It was more expensive, as well. We said, “Take an MX125, stick on a bigger (28mm) carb, a different pipe, shorter rear shocks with different springs, Akront-type alloy wheel rims, and that red and silver (Yamaha of Japan racing colors are red and white) looks-like-Hakan’s gas tank that straps on, and you have the external differences.” Hakan refers to GP racer Sweden’s Hakan Andersson, whose exotic works YZ was painted silver and red, and how can we forget those leather straps that held the fuel tank in place?
Internally, the YZ125 was somewhat souped up compared to the MX125. The YZ had a smaller flywheel, and Yamaha ditched the MX’s “autolube” oil injection lubrication system in favor of premix. The YZ’s hubs might have looked like the MX’s, we said, but were fabricated from lighter magnesium.
Cycle New tested the first YZ125 in January 1974.
The YZ125 had to go up against the mighty Honda CR125M Elsinore when it was born. Not a great way to enter your life, but the YZ125 held its own against the CR. The YZ had its advantages. We said, “The Yamaha, we feel, is easier to ride fast consistently. It isn’t as peaky as the Elsinore and has more low-end pull. The YZ’s reed-valve induction can claim credit for some of the down-low help. You don’t have to be as exact with shifting points on the YZ125 as with the Elsinore. A shift at the wrong time won’t lose you as much ground. You won’t have to shift as much, either.
“The wider powerband is matched by a five (instead of the Elsinore’s six) speed gearbox. A six-speed gearbox has a nice sound to it during a bench race, but it isn’t always an advantage, and the five-speed is likely to be stronger, too. What the YZ125 achieves in down-low ease of use it partially gives back in top-end power. It doesn’t seem to be quite as fast as the Honda when they both get all wrapped out in top gear. But in most situations for most riders, the Yamaha has the edge.”
We were impressed with the YZ’s controllable power. “Coming out of turns with the gas on, it is easy to keep the rear wheel only as far to the outside as you choose. You have to use some discretion, but it’s all pretty controllable in and out of turns.
“Exiting turns, the front wheel seemed to prefer to come up if you were doing some serious wick-twisting. Wheelies were a cinch.”
The YZ’s suspension was better than we thought it would be, but it was far from perfect. We said, “The rear shocks might be special because we didn’t have as many qualms about them as we expected, but we wanted a bit more from them in rough stuff like stutter-bumps. There was a little rear wheel hippity-hop when you got on the brakes, but it ‘wasn’t nothing bad’ as one literate tester noted. The forks look like they don’t have enough travel but come off handling pretty well after you have experienced them.”
We also praised the YZ’s handling because “it never spit off anybody hard,” which isn’t a bad criterion when deciding whether a motorcycle handles well or poorly. “The majority of the blame for any soil-sampling expedition [on the YZ125] gets laid on the rider,” we reported.
Our 1974 Yamaha YZ125 test bike even made the cover.
Some things haven’t changed. We complained that the YZ was too loud. It was so loud that we wrote in the test that “Saddleback Park will require additional silencers on YZs in the future.” The YZ was not fitted with an add-on silencer from the factory, but Yamaha said the exhaust pipe had built-in internal baffling that evidently didn’t work well.
Overall, it sounds like we were impressed with the very first Yamaha YZ125 back in 1974, signing off with: “We used the YZ for a lot of things. Playing around on it seemed almost as appropriate as racing it. The powerband was that easy to deal with. It was also mild enough for a beginner. For him, it would be a much better bike than the Elsinore, and when he gets good, it will still be fast enough to win.”
The 1974 YZ125 was the first and last YZ125 with dual rear shocks. The 1975 YZ125 was a completely different motorcycle. It arrived with Yamaha’s first monoshock rear suspension system, a new motor, new yellow/black coloring, and a muffler.
As for the Yamaha MX125, its days were numbered as soon as the YZ appeared. It remained in production with dual shocks (but eventually laid down, at least) for a couple more years before Yamaha nixed it.
Luckily for us, however, the YZ125 is still going strong.CN
