The Yamaha DT125, as Your Weekend Dirt-Tool

Whoever said the two-stroke is dead should spend a day in the dirt with a dirt-cheap, secondhand Yamaha DT125, its a potent yet refined dirt-bike.

The Yamaha DT125 is powered by a two-stroke, air-cooled, single-cylinder 123cc engine. It's equipped with a nicely geared 6-speed gearbox. Our model had only a kick-starter which needed only one firm kick to get the engine going. The fueling is simple by a Mikuni VM24SS1 carburettor. The owner told us that modifying the Yamaha DT125 is simple and performance can be increased as easy as changing air-filter and modify the exhaust pipe. Our Yamaha DT125 came in factory stock configuration.

A Yamaha DT125 can be bought amazingly cheap, parts are easily available in Thailand and a complete engine rebuild for a two-stroke doesn't cost that much also. The Yamaha DT125 is light, broad, tractable machine just as happy to be trail-ridden as a dirt-bike could be. And unlike the homogenized four-stroke alternatives, the Yamaha DT125 two-stroke engine retains its unique character that separates it from its rivals.

After slamming the Yamaha DT125 through the wettest, roughest and downright ugliest terrain we could throw at it, the Yamaha's strength and weaknesses emerged. As is often the case, still the Yamaha DT125 is probably the most value for money dirt-bike available in Thailand.

The Yamaha DT125's was thanks to its engine very exciting, responsive dirt-bike and great handling dynamic. Impressively, we could easily compare the enduro/trial performance of the DT125 to the latest four-stroke Kawasaki KLX250.