Which is more fun to ride? Which class has more participants? (I also posted a question on the general forum about 125 vs. 250 maintenance.)
125's tend to be a little more abundant. Formula 2 is full of SV650's now. I have not see to many 250's run in the regional stuff. I would go for the 125, cheaper and fun. If you get one get a 95 or newer. Go to WWW.GPStar.com. Elias Corey is the owner, tell him Chuck DiGregorio sent you for a 125. I bought two bikes from him and they are the cleanest around. He will also work with you on any spares you want. Great deals. Make shure you tell I sent you even if you just inquire about one. You can email him at [email protected] [This message has been edited by gpracer15 (edited 08-20-2001).]
I've never ridden a 125 but I am on my third TZ250, now a 2000 model. Each TZ has been more fun than the previous but I gotta say the 2000 is gonna be hard to beat. As for fun, it depends on your definition of fun. Do you like coming onto a straight away and running down an SV that has 15 or 20 bike lengths on you? Get the 250. A good rider on a 250 will out brake and out corner most anything except a 125, it's definately the bike of choice for F2/LWGP. If you can stay on the 125's tail through the corner, be nice and wave as you out motor them to the next corner. There are however exceptions. Brian Kcraget and Jason Peters are doing really amazing things on their 125's and giving some of us 250 riders fits. If you learn how to ride a 250, SV's shouldn't be a problem. At the end the 6 lap F2 race at VIR this weekend, Donnie Tingle and I were going into the brake markers for T1 when the 1st SV (3rd place) was just starting down roller coaster, about 15+ seconds back. Maintance costs won't be unreasonable. Someone said crank rebuilds are $1000? Only if you have Rick Schell do it and buy all your parts at full retail and overnight everything both ways and include a tip. Parts should be about $300 tops and the rebuild about the same. If your motor isn't built with high compression, go about 1000 to 1300 miles between changes. If it's really wound tight 750-900 miles. Pistons and rings about 250-300 miles. Every bike is different so take this as a general guideline. Best of luck, hope you buy the 250! Monty Warsing
Donna, DON'T start on a 250! Not only are the maintenance costs double plus a 125, the bikes are way fast. I think starting on a 125 will teach you more about corner speed and be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain until you think you're ready for a 250. The little buggars will push 140 mph, some of them anyway. That's PLENTY fast to have fun on. And they have the highest corner speeds in racing. I'll have mine out at NPR. I think I may have a buyer for it already, don't know, but you're welcome to a few practice laps on it just to try it out. Do that before you decide. I don't think you'll find any serious offers to "try out" a 250, LOL. When you find out what a challenge these things are for a beginner to keep in the powerband and make go fast, you'll see the learning curve and progression you'll need before going to something with twice the horsepower. Seriously, I wouldn't want to see you hurt. A 250 could bite you if you aren't ready for it. They have serious speed and acceleration. Besides, there aren't, but a couple of 250s in RPM and CMRA and there's gotta be over 20-25 bikes in 125, some of which I think you'll find you can play with as you progress. JMHO Jack
Man this is a tough one. You cannot loose with either. I of course lean to the 125. I ride a very fast 250 all the time and I love it. I would not buy one however. A 125 does things that you can only dream about. It is a truly awesome piece of equipment. I also feel it is much more forgiving. You can make some big mistakes and it will not try and hurt you. You just have to trust the bike and make it happen. It also has so much less power that you can just nail it anywhere you want. It can highside you for sure but again it is very forgiving. Like others I have a very nice 97 TZ package for sale that is perfect for someone starting out in GP racing. Bike is dialed and fast. E-Mail me if interested. [email protected] Hope this helps Bill "scared of the 250" Cole
I just started racing again after an 8 year hiatus and bought myself a 98 TZ250. Since I've been out of racing for so long, I consider myself a beginner and let me tell you that a 250 is not for a beginner. Compared to the pig of a ZX7R I use to race between 91-94 the 250 handles like a dream and is very confidence inspiring BUT make a mistake and it will give you an ass whoopin! And as a beginner, YOU WILL make alot of mistakes. If you do decide to buy a 250, I recommend that you take it easy and learn to be smooth and learn some throttle control because it is not forgiving. They don't call me "Boss Bog" for no reason.
This is my experience... You can be pretty slow on a 125 and still feel like a hero. You can be pretty fast on a 250 and feel like a zero. If you're on a 250 and get smoked by 125's, you just want to crawl under a rock. I know. It happened to me last Sunday. Ouch, my ego took a beating... Another thing, the 250 takes more skill to ride than an R1. A 250 is not a beginner bike in any way. The reward is that when you get it right, a 250 is awesome. I was too timid to get it right very often. As for maintainance, you better like tinkering if you get a 250. They need to be properly taken care of. They also need lots of preventative maintainance. If you're short on cash, don't even think about it.
Hey, if Jeffry or Logan beat you, you ain't the first! Don't worry about crawling under any rocks, these kids are damned fast! No way could I run with them either, don't think even on a 250, well, maybe, but I'm certainly not sure. It WOULD take some riding to do it, for sure. Derek tells me Logan was running 1:53s and change. That's less than a second off the 125 track record set by Ben Spies in the class. The kid is good. Jeffry beat Logan in the 125 race, but I think Logan had a problem or made a mistake early. He came back on Jeffry, but it was too little, too late. I heard all this from Jeff Harder, Jeffry's dad. I was way too far back to actually see it, LOL. And Donna, no problem. Just don't get in over your head on it. It's an easy bike to ride, really, once you get the hang of the powerband and the brakes. It leans forever in a corner. The 250s take MUCH more finesse with the throttle. You can't just slam the throttle open. You have to be careful of the ever possible high side. The last 250 I was on wasn't even close to the modern ones, too. They're in the 90 horsepower range now days. When I rode them, they made in the sixties. Frankly, I'd love to get another 250, but they're just too darned expensive to buy and run for a working guy. Jack
Are you just starting to race? I'm like Monty, I have never rode a 125 either. I just got my 1993 TZ 250 this year. I couldn't tell you which one to get but the 250 is awesome, I love it. I come from riding 600's(4yrs) so this might of helped me. It wasn't hard for me to adapt to the 250. I don't know why everyone says their expensive? (You won't have to keep buying a new 600 every other year to be competitive). Just buy a stock older one and learn how to ride it. Remember these bikes were made to work on (quickly & easily). I can change jets in 10 mins. Just don't try and lean your jetting out too much that's when you start tearing up stuff and you'll have to spend some money. Whatever you purchase it'll be a blast this is where I think every rider should start either on a(125 or 250). They will make you a very good rider and teach you a lot. Jack has good points. I wouldn't want you to get hurt either but would like to see a lot more 250's out there. Donnie Tingle
125's or 250's I debated that same question three years ago. I decided to start with a Honda NSR 250. I presently have two complete bikes. I even used one of them for an Endurance Series. Jetting is really easy. I just purchased an RS from Gpstar. I am going to sell one of my 98 NSR's for $4,000. You can still run down SV's on this bike.
