I recently bought a 1998 CR125. I wanted a 2 stroke for a few reasons but mainly because I wanted to experience what an old(er) bike felt like before no doubtfully getting a 4 stroke in the future. We had originally planned a two day trip to Motocross Mountain again however a few days before the trip, after I had put on my new parts (drive train, plastics and controls – all new), I ran into a problem. My bike seemingly had no 4th, 5th or 6th gear. Not sure what happened but warming up the bike for a few minutes longer fixed it the next day. With possible malfunctions in mind, we went to Parklands instead for a one day trip.

I would pilot my CR125 and my mate would ride his 2004 YZ250F. Roughly equal in power so it was a fair match. I had a blast out there. Learning the bike was a slight challenge since gear selection was paramount to go fast but after that I was fine. I ran into an issue when the shifter bend inwards and limited my shifting – at one point I was stuck in neutral. I wasn’t sure why it kept bending in since I never fell but eventually it stayed clear of the crank case and frame. We spent a good 3-4 hour of riding that day. We have to make the most of it since it’s a 3 hours drive each way and costly in fuel.

I had lost all confidence I had gained from Motocross Mountain but by the end of the day I had cleared all the jumps except for one. The first track was easy to master but the 2nd one took a while. We both managed to clear this double section after going around it. It was relatively easy as I just pinned it, held the front end high and hoped for the best, and it worked.

The 3rd (and hardest track) was mainly different by which it had much larger jumps. The only jump I didn’t clear was about 75ft+ at least from my estimates. The shifter caused me issues for the first half of the day so a lot of times I couldn’t select the correct gear and had to stop and bend my shifter out.

Luckily for us, we had minor bike troubles. My rear fender came loose as I thought the bolts for the seat would hold it up, but after it was caked with mud during the morning, the weight was too much and it fell over. 10 minutes of work fixed that. I also had to remove a bracket for the bash plate (which meant there was only 2 of 4 holding it on) so the shifter could easy change down gears. The YZ just needed the chain to be tightened.

My mate had a go on my bike and stopped after one turn – he’s defintely a 4 stroke guy. All in all it was a good day and I look forward to the next!

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