Do any of you 125 guys happen to have a spreadsheet or document detailing the annual costs to run a GP bike? I was going to work on one myself based on the service intervals the manual recommends, but it'd be nice if someone had one handy.
Where do you even find parts for these GP bikes? It's a pain and expensive just to get the bikes, and I know you can't walk over to the parts guy at the track and buy rear sets, clip-ons, or various other parts for them like you can with production bikes. They are definitely cool bikes, they're just not feasible for most club racers. Purpose built race bikes....need a purpose built race team too. Higher cost, less parts availability, higher maintenance, small (hard to fit on for the average american lol), and there are like 3 people who race them so grids are always going to be small unless you run up a class.
There are shops like RS Cycles that specialize in them. Parts are available, but it’s not going to be stuff you’ll find in the paddock. I always pack a good chunk of my own spares, though, so that wouldn’t be too different for me. The grid size issue is a bigger problem. The 125 doesn’t appear to have much of a presence in AHRMA. CCS Moto3 is basically SB300 part 2 now.
I always brought a B bike when we were running the 125. That might seem expensive, but when you add up the overall cost of a race weekend, regardless of actual track time, it's good insurance.
There was a time going back 15 years that I remember everyone I knew seemed to have one. Club racing.. At the time they were super cheap to get. And more than likely there were a few in the paddock and peeps you could get parts from. Now I feel like it's unusual to see an rs or tz a year. I've always wanted one but the prices are really getting up there.
Moto 3 class in CCS is mostly ninja 400s now, who obviously win those races though now that Tyler Scott doesn't race the NSF250 anymore. Occasionally Ralph Starapoli shows up with his NSF250 and wins the Moto 3 races, but even he on that bike had nothing for Rocco Landers at NJMP last weekend.
It all depends who shows up. From what I gathered best lap at NJMP on a 125 is 1.27 vs 1.29 for Rocco.
Was wondering the same thing. Not saying it wasn’t done..........but damn that’s moving. I’m just not small enough for a 125........otherwise I’d love one
The best I've seen from a GP-like bike there was Tyler Scott when he ran a 1:29.0 last year but that was on a NSF250. Still crazy fast!
Not sure who but it was back in the USGPRU days. You may be able to find out if you do some research.
Found an RRW article and also CCS/ASRA records. Looks like Jake Lewis has the record for 125GP there with a 1:28.7 and it stood since 2010.
The ergos on the -'94 RS125 were significantly changed with the '95+ models, becoming much roomier for tall fat guys. The TZs were even more accomodating. There's a pic of a 6'2" 220lb guy on a TZ125 to the left of this post; I never did try a Honda.
For what it's worth, I have to admit to being skeptical of the hype around the RS125. I am 6'2 180 lbs, and spend most of my time on a nearly 200hp Aprilia Superbike. And then.....the cop-car nutjobs successfully convinced me to fold my lanky ass onto one of these little things this past weekend. End result....the world is a different place now. First lap was wobbly and boggy, but as soon as I started to even get close to being in the right gear at the right time, my biggest difficulty was catching my breath, from literally laughing my ass off in my helmet. After racing and riding on track for 15 plus years, it has been a long time since I felt that pure joy that this sport can generate. This little thing brought it out. The corner speed you can carry on these things feels impossible, the "feel" that these chassis' put into you as a rider is incredible, and every lap you realize just how much faster the bike could actually be going through the corner, so next time around you do...Just to realize the same thing again. Yes, it was uncomfortable on the knees, and difficult to unweight the bars being as tall as I am, but you forget about that pretty quickly once you get the thing on the pipe and start handing out servings of humble pie to the panigales and the like mid corner, never to see them come by again on the straight. Tbh, I spent the rest of the two days on a little bike. Didn't even want to get back on the RSV4. Keith
The one thing these little bikes would always do is laugh their ass off at me when I finished a race/session and say , Thats All You Got ?!?!?! … the 250 would laugh harder . Nothing like a 2-stroke going full song no matter what cc it is
First time riding a RS125: September 2020 First time owning a RS125: November 2020 It was that much fun.
First time riding a RS125: September 2020 First time crashing a RS125: September 2020 First time owning a RS125: November 2020 That escalated quickly !