1983 ADB 125 MX Shootout.. and the winner is...

[alexbrown64]

Article supplied by kind vmx member... hope you enjoy....

[pecrazy]

Thanks, great read, may print it out and put it with my 83 rm125, 83 yz125 and 83 cr125, still looking for the 83 kx. And check out those spare parts prices.

[Lozza]

$30 pistons 

[alexbrown64]

But wait... we have a reverse decision.....













Not sure how two magazines can come up with two totally opposite views, but perhaps the rear shock on the Honda was different in the US.  All around, the Kwaka gets a good review in both mags.  I still love my K and they were popular back in the day. 
The pistons may of been $30, but i remember that was equivalent of a days pay back then for me.... i was always broke....

[skypig]

Interesting reading!
Contradictory "test results" are still common place.
Sometimes it is like they test different bikes!
At least neither were afraid to criticize! MXA still aren't!
(Many mags are too afraid to criticize - slow race bikes are "great for novices", total dogs "..have potential")

I'd love the same tests for 1981 (I had, and have again a RM125X)
Also any tests involving YZ80D or YZ80F.
Appreciate any links.

[MaxPower]

 Perhaps reading the magazines in 83 had put predetermined thoughts in everyones minds. Not one time have i heard anyone say they thought the 83 RM was the best 125. I had found the brakes to be horrible not just last place. Not one mention of that goofy front brake cable either. Today I would build one to for VMX  if I were racing way more than I get to now. The RM is a much more reliable and better built machine in my opinion. There is a reason there arent many KXs on the track today. They are all worn out with cracked frames and drooping footpegs laying in the back of someones garage. Ive ridden 83 Hondas. I think something was going on with the shocks ADB had gotten for their test bike. No way did I find the rear end horrible. Its just a. long way behind the RM and KX. I did find the 83 KX to have a good motor
Thanks for putting these tests up on the board. Its funny everyone here wanted a white YZ until they ditched the yellow in 85. Then yellow was cool again.
What was the opinion of the 84 YZ125? because if ADB said it was a rocket I think Id stop listening to their opinion.

[alexbrown64]

Although Mark Barnett had a crap year in 83 on his 125 Suzuki, in the World Championships, the 125 Suzie ran in first and second overall for the year.
http://yz125k.weebly.com/riders.html

Also, some good video of the bikes screaming there heads off in both the AMA and World Championships...
http://yz125k.weebly.com/video.html

I have never read anything good from anywhere about the 84/85 YZ125.  They sounded like real lemons... does anyone have the ADB YZ125L/N tests out there?  That would be interesting, and if they thought they were any good, i would choke on my Cocopops.
Cheers,
Alex

[g465b]

hi, ADB didnt do a 81 125 shootout, but did compare the RM125X and the YZ125H, they chose the RM as a better race bike.
Trail and Track oct81 mag did a 125 jap mx shootout and chose the Rm125X first , then YZ, CR and the KX last.
MXA's  june81 125 jap mx shootout picked the RM over the CR, then YZ and KX last.  Dirt Bike's aug 81 issue did a 10 page 125 shootout of the 4 japs and the KTM 125LC,   RM first, YZ, KTM ,KX and CR last.   CYCLE mag tested the 81 125 water cooled bikes and chose the RM, then YZ and CR last,  Motorcyclist mags 'small bore boil off picked the RM over the yZ and the peaky CR last. g.   

[skypig]

[/quote]
 hi, ADB didnt do a 81 125 shootout, but did compare the RM125X and the YZ125H, they chose the RM as a better race bike.
Trail and Track oct81 mag did a 125 jap mx shootout and chose the Rm125X first , then YZ, CR and the KX last.
MXA's  june81 125 jap mx shootout picked the RM over the CR, then YZ and KX last.  Dirt Bike's aug 81 issue did a 10 page 125 shootout of the 4 japs and the KTM 125LC,   RM first, YZ, KTM ,KX and CR last.   CYCLE mag tested the 81 125 water cooled bikes and chose the RM, then YZ and CR last,  Motorcyclist mags 'small bore boil off picked the RM over the yZ and the peaky CR last. g.   
[/quote]

Thanks!
Not much controversy that year ('81).
Suzuki really nailed it.
Looking forward to second outing on my resto 125X. One more thread to fix and the wheels should be tight .  Hopefully the revised jetting might give me a whiff of midrange. (Or I was a lot better rider 34 years ago - couldn't be right?.....)

Love reading the old tests.

[alexbrown64]

Dirt Bike July 1981... This may answer some of your questions as well and is quite interesting...

[MaxPower]

Ive ridden both the 81 RM and YZ. I dont feel I'd be quite as nice with my opinion of the YZ as ADB was . What is your opinions?

[skypig]

My friends and I were racing at the pointy end of club racing in 1981.
I think the YZ and RM (which I had) were pretty close.

I never felt I was down on power.
My friend didn't seem to notice the inferior rear suspension on his YZ as he was flying through the stutters at the (first at the show ground) Sydney SX so fast, even Stephen Gall was stopped watching him.

Back to 2015

In the garage, the forks on my RM feel horrid compared to my modern MXr. On the track they feel fine. (At the speed I can manage.)
As my first vintage MX bike the biggest thing I've noticed (apart from the impossibly peaky motor) was the ergos.
I sit on the tank everywhere.
Even the brakes seem ok - again, at the speeds I can manage.

[alexbrown64]

Ive ridden both the 81 RM and YZ. I dont feel I'd be quite as nice with my opinion of the YZ as ADB was . What is your opinions?

MaxPower, that article is from the American Dirt Bike magazine.  I cant comment on the YZ or RM that year as i had the worst piece of crap you could ever imagine.  The 1981 CR125R.  Hickuped over jumps, bogged in corners, handled like a pig and was just a pile of crap.  I snapped my leg in 4 places on that thing.

[Nathan S]

US Dirt Bike was very generous toward Honda rear ends in the mid-80s. I wonder if Honda was giving them "special" shocks, or the editorial staff was told to write nice things, but I'm inclined to agree with ADB on that one.

I've generally found ADB tests to give an accurate idea of what the bike is like to ride: sometimes you need to read between the lines to see the criticism, but every test I've read matches up with what the bikes have been like to ride.

I used to own an RM125D, and now have an 84 KX125 with an 83 motor in it: both mags got it right on the KX motor, and ADB was closer on the RM motor, IMO.

[MaxPower]

Did you fit a 83 kx engine for performance or its what you had to make your 84 kx125 work?