YZ125 vs. KTM 125 2 Stroke | Which Bike is Faster?

We've been on a quest to build the world's best 125. This is the Hardcore Racing tuned YZ125 and today we're going to finally put it to the test against this KTM SX125 race machine. Roland Short from Hardcore Racing has worked his magic on this 2023 YZ125. Using his years of experience to pump up the horsepower numbers and make this thing a real race winning rocket ship. We've already done an entire video about the upgrades, but in short this is what we've done. The bike has been kitted out with a full HGS exhaust system, a VHM Get CDI unit, as well as an upgraded clutch, carb and spark plug. Roland's hardcore upgrades begin with a long rod conversion and race rad high efficiency radiators. He then gives the gearbox a super polish and ports the cylinder using his years of knowledge to get the results he's looking for. This takes the dyno figure from 32 horsepower stock to 37 horsepower on Roland's dyno when all is said and done. But just how good is it on track? Well it's time to find out. We've drafted in a genuine two-stroke prodigy to put this bike to the test. So our mission today is to find out just how good this race tuned YZ125 really is on track. So we're going to get up against Wal Beaney's race bike, that's a KTM SX125. If you don't know who Wal Beaney is, he's a genuine certified 125 prodigy. He actually is just fresh off winning the second round of the 125 British Championship on the weekend, just gone. So he is the man for the job, that's for sure. We're going to get him out on his KTM first to set a lap time, a base lap time to beat today, and then we're going to spend some time on the Yamaha and see how it goes. So let's do this. So Wal Beaney's out on his hot lap on board his race bike, KTM SX125. This is actually the same machine that he raced on the weekend to victory at the second round of the British Motocross Championship at Leigh. So it's safe to say this is a fast bike, it's a bike that he's used to, so it's going to be a tough challenge for the hardcore racing tuned YZ125 to beat this thing. But that's why we're here today, you can see Wal is on it. So let's hand it back over to this 125 prodigy, he's going to send it on the KTM. 16-year-old Wal Beaney is a former British Youth National Motocross Champion, having won the 65cc British Championship back in 2017. We've featured him on the channel several times in the past, and he genuinely is one of the most naturally gifted riders that we've ever come across. So there's only a handful of corners left to go in the lap now, and Wal Beaney looks to be on fire on board his KTM 125 race bike. So this is going to be a difficult time to beat, but let's see what Roland's Yamaha is made of. So before I reveal Wal's time on the KTM, I just need to say a big thank you to one of our awesome sponsors, Pewterline, for supporting what we do here on the channel. Pewterline have a range of products to clean, lubricate and protect your bike, so check them out next time you need to restock. We personally use MX-9 in all of our two-stroke machines. Now let's reveal that time. So Wal's fastest time on the KTM was a 1.45.3. Now that time is directly from the GoPro, so we know it's dead accurate. The times that I say on the day, slightly out but not much. Now let's shift our attention to the YZ. But before we let Wal loose, Roland's just going to talk us through the dyno graph and results. Okay, so we've just done a run on the dyno with the hardcore-tuned YZ125. Roland, just tell us what we're looking at here on the screen. Okay, so what we've got is quite a good comparison, because the room is very similar on both days. So we've got a stock bike here, which is your blue line, and then the red line is the run we've just done this morning. So we've got quite a good gain right from the bottom. Ultimately, we've had a good gain in torque right the way through. Potentially, yes, there could be a little bit more peak horsepower, around 37 horsepower at 32. So we're 5 horsepower up, which it's a mathematical equation. So when you have 32 and you go to 37, that is more than the gain than if you've got 36 and gain 5 horsepower, because it is a percentage gain, you know. We're moving a mass and it's a percentage, which is then related into numbers. So if you had 36 horsepower, then it would probably be more like a 6 horsepower gain instead of a 5 horsepower gain. So from dyno to dyno, those gains have changed. But I'm still happy with a 5 brake horsepower change. It's that all the way along. Everywhere, right the way along. It's not like we've had to sort of go, yeah, but you're not there at the bottom, you're not this. There's no story to tell. We've gained horsepower all the way and a good increase in peak. So as a peak figure like that, I'm really, really pleased this bike is going to perform well on circuit. And now it's time to go ride it. So yeah, let's do that then. So before we got the stopwatch out, we let Wolgis have a few laps to warm up and get used to things. And he almost instantly looked comfortable and in his element on board this bike. You can just see how he's throwing that thing around like he's been riding it all season long. So before he drops the hammer for his hot lap, let's just find out Wolgis' initial thoughts of the Mini-Zilla YZ125. So far. First impressions, Wolg? Yeah, so far. Handle so good. Even with stock suspension, it's just, yeah, it's perfect really. Yeah, it's got so much bottom end as well. Yeah, really enjoying it already. So as you can hear, Wol Beanie is out on the hardcore tuned YZ125. It is sounding sweet here today. Let's see how we can do on this bike compared to his own race bike. That's with his own suspension and tuned obviously for racing at the highest level here in the UK. Let's see what Roland's done with this bike. It sounds sweet. It smells sweet. And Wol looks comfortable straight away. So I'll hand it over to Mr. Beanie. So I know it's going to be a tough fight, but let me know what bike you think sounds best in the comments down below. Which bike would you rather have in your garage? There we go. So Wol's just completed his fast lap on Roland's hardcore tuned YZ125 with permission to go full send in that last lap, right? So on the KTM, your race bike this morning, you got fastest time 145.14. So that's the time to beat, 145. And then on the bike that you've never ridden before today, on that last lap, full send lap, 144.4. Yeah. So over half a second straight away. Yeah, that's good. Happy with that, aren't we? Yeah, bike's animal. Looks good, sounds good. I look like he's having fun out there. Yeah, it's just nice. I feel really comfortable on it already. I think once we get in the situation, because obviously now, very kindly, Stuart Holland's done a few clickers for us, where we get some proper valving in the suspension and so forth. And I think we'll find a second or so, yeah. The suspension is a big part of the job. And yeah, the engine's working good. It sounds good, feels good. I'm happy with the crank and everything, and it's all good, so yeah. Yeah, I'm really happy with it too. Soft suspension on these bikes are good anyway. Yeah, it is. Yeah, like that back table over there is quite steep on the takeoff, and you're compressing through a lot. And obviously I'm carrying a lot of speed, and it just chokes it up really well. So yeah, I'm happy with it. Really happy. Good. Little birdie tells me that there might be some racing on this soon. Yeah, hopefully. So let us know in the comments if you want to see Wal race this thing, maybe get some four tracks, right? Yeah, yeah, definitely. Let us know if you want to see that. But as always, my name is Max, and I say thanks to Roland for building the bike, to Wal for shredding it today. Subscribe if you enjoyed this video. Until next time, we'll see you at the track. See you at the track. So like I teased earlier on in the video, I've got a special treat for all of you awesome people that have watched until the very end. In the description below, you'll find a secret video link to watch the full GoPro laps side by side so you can really watch and compare the two machines and find out where the Mini-Zilla gained the advantages. The video is set to unlisted so it can only be watched by you guys that know where to find the link. As always, guys, thanks so much for the support.