Is this the Most Iconic 125cc Dirt Bike of all Time?

The KX125 is one of the most iconic dirt bikes of its class and generation. This machine won four AMA national championships during the 90s and actually won eight of the last 15 AMA outdoor titles before the class was morphed into a four-stroke division in 2006. Riders like rookie Karl Michael, Mike Brown and James Stewart turned this machine into an icon. But in our recent Retro 125 shootout, the 1992 KX125 came stone dead last. Were they your fast laps? Yeah. They were? Honestly mate, I was trying as hard as I could. However, I can see from the comments on our channel that this bike does have a massive and passionate fan base. So in this video, we're going to dive a little deeper to work out why this finished at the bottom of the leaderboard and how it went on to become a legend. First things first, let's meet the man who owns the stunning machine we were lucky enough to ride. This guy is an old friend of the channel and the family. He bleeds green and a couple of his bikes actually starred in some of our very earliest viral videos. So this is Anthony Hilton. I've known Ant since I was nine or ten. He was tiny. He was a veteran racer then and you've always had old, old Kawasaki's haven't you? You actually used to race my dad back when you were kids and you was a Yamaha man back then. So when did you make the switch to green? 85, 86, I switched to the green in favour of the YZs. Just seemed to get on with them really well and just stayed with them. And then you've been green pretty much ever since, right? Obviously, Kawasaki don't make a two-stroke now. They should. You've been told. Yeah, you have been told. Yeah, I'll be first. I'll be first on the waiting list for one of those. But they don't make Kawasaki's no more. So I had to go to a different brand unfortunately for my race, my proper racing. It's a good bike, but it's not old school motocross. This little one, this comes out to play quite a lot. I get more enjoyment out of this and certainly my race bike. That's what it's all about really, enjoying it. So Ant's bike is a 1992 Kawasaki KX125. But let's back things up a little. In the late 80s, Kawasaki's KX bikes were widely viewed as being ugly, bulky and old-fashioned looking machines. So in 1990, the boys in green decided to go big or go home. They transformed their MX bikes from the most conservative machines on the line to perhaps the most futuristic. The radical bodywork, graphics and road racing inspired steel perimeter frame made sure the all-new KX125 was a true head-turner. It's argued that Kawasaki actually kick-started the bold fashion trends of 90s motocross. But this new KX125 still wasn't quite perfect. It was heavy, tall and boggy off the line. So just two years after that big redesign, Kawasaki went back to the drawing board for 92. Yeah, pretty much everything standard on the bike. Forks, everything, graphics, even the graphics are genuine. Graphics on it and seat. The only things that are aftermarket is the exhaust pipe and some new aftermarket radiators. Still got the old ones, but I just thought I'd put some fresh ones on. Well, I was reading up about the bike last night and the 92 KX was like a big update from the previous two years. I read up the 90 was a massive update and no one really liked it. Yeah, so then only two years later they did another big update and this was that. It's meant to be a lot smaller than the previous model, but still the biggest, tallest, longest in the class. It was a lot slimmer. I still remember riding my 1990 back in the day. I know there's not many things I remember, but I can remember that and when I first got this, I did notice a little bit of difference from it. But obviously you adjust quite quickly. Okay, so here we are on board the 92 KX125. Now the 92... Oh, I'm not stopping. Jesus Christ. The 92 Kawasaki experienced a big update over the previous years. Only two years after the 1990 update, so Kawasaki were not happy with their platform in the early 90s. Oh, man. They gave this one a big update. I'm about to tell you what. This is a strange bike, man. Just feels a bit gutless and that pipe is right in the way. Brakes do not want to work at all. You see me overshoot a few corners already. I don't mind the back end situation on this, to be honest. Sean's complained about it. Oh, I got myself there. Yeah, it just feels a bit gutless really. Doesn't have the bottom end kick that Yamaha had. And I don't think it has the top end power that the Honda, the Suzuki or the Honda would definitely have. So it's got this weird little mid-range spot that you got to try and use. Ride it more like a bigger bike. Which is, I think, what the testers at the time said. You didn't really ride it like a 125. You had to ride it a bit more like an open class machine. So as I said in my talking ride, Kawasaki made some big changes for 1992. This was their first renovation of the perimeter frame machine. The aim was to make it smaller, more lightweight and easier to manoeuvre in the tight sections. But despite these efforts, the KX was still the biggest and tallest in the class of 92. Team Green also went to work on the motor, to try and broaden the punchy yet narrow power band. But as we heard from my onboard review, I still found the 92 KX to have a narrow band of usable power. I thought the KYB suspension both front and back was plenty good enough for the time. But the brakes were disappointing, especially compared to the older machines we were riding on the day as well. Overall, the KX was an enjoyable bike to ride. The testers from the 90s believed that this could be a race-winning machine for most people below the pro level. So why did it finish last in our shootout? Well, I think a lot of it has to do with how Anthony has his bike set up. Our main tester for the day, Sean, did the fast laps and he struggled to get comfortable on the KX. But I think the fact that the KX is bigger, sturdier and less agile than the other bikes on test, really did hold it back around our tight little test track. Plus, the subpar braking meant that corner entry speed wasn't exactly phenomenal. The motor was decent mid to top, but just not as fierce as the Honda or even the Suzuki. All of that combined together meant that the KX, which was the most modern bike on the lineup, was defeated by its older competition. How then did this machine go on to become a legend of motocross? Well, in 1993, the famous pro circuit racing team lost their Honda sponsorship and instead teamed up with Kawasaki to form what would become the greatest dynasty in American motocross. With Mitch Payton now on board Team Green, the KX125 soon became a class leader stateside. Countless motocross and supercross championships followed and for fans of my generation, the KX125 became the definition of cool and without doubt, one of the most iconic motocross machines of all time. Thanks for watching guys. I hope you enjoyed this look back at the awesome Kawasaki KX125 from 1992. If you want to see more two-stroke content like this in the future, be sure to subscribe to the channel, like this video and give it a share with your two-stroke loving friends. But as always guys, my name is Max. Until next time, I'll see you at the track.