2014 Honda Crf125f & 125fb

CW FIRST RIDE 2014 HONDA CRF125F & 125FB

IGNITION

FIRST RIDE

The off-road launch pad

Jimmy Lewis

THE XR75, XR80, XRl00, CRF80/100 are as much responsible for introducing kids to motorcycling as the often-cited Honda 50. The biggest difference is that these bigger playbikes probably grab young riders a little later in age and larger in size. Despite a solid reputation, the CRF80/100 came up short in torque, and its lack of electric starting was a major drawback. So, in moving forward with Honda’s renewed focus on building bikes for everyone, the CRF80/100 is being replaced by two new 125CC models for 2014, the 125F and 125FB. These four-stroke bikes are nearly identical, except that the “B” or Big Wheel version has 2-inchlarger wheels (i9-inch/ió-inch), a 2-inch-taller seat height, and a $400 boost in price from $2799 to $3199.

Honda already had this air-cooled, 125CC, electric-start Single from an existing model sold in a foreign market. Its 52.4mm bore and long, 57.9mm stroke produce a torquey power delivery. The simple two-valve engine fits nicely into a new chassis that is similar to the older CRF80/100 platform but with a beefier fork and shock. Visually, the updated styling mimics

Honda’s full-size motocrossers.

For fun, we let some kids loose on the bikes. Our testers were a fast novice motocrosser, who typically

races a CRF150F, and his sister, who had taken a few years off from riding. They come from good stock; let’s just say their dad has won the Baja 1000 11 times. Long story short, the

fast kid bottomed out the suspen-

sion, underlining that this isn’t a

racebike. His sister liked the easy-touse torque, which masked her novice

clutch skills, and electric starting eased any tipovers or stalls. All of us, however, liked the quiet tone of the spark-arrestor-equipped mufflers and the fact that we rode all day on each bike’s 1.1 gallons of fuel.

All told, these 125s are great beginner bikes; most kids can grow with them until they’re ready for a fullsize model, while aspiring racers will want to move onto a more serious competition-oriented machine pretty quickly. FIR

MOST KIDS LAN GROW WITH THEM UNTIL THEY'RE READY FOR A FULL-S ZE MODEL.

2014 HONDA

CRF125F & LRF125FB

$2799/$3199