The Yamaha YZ125X is a new addition to the tuning-fork brand’s lineup for 2020. This off-road-only motorcycle shares many of its major components with the YZ125 motocrosser, but features noteworthy changes to the engine and chassis that make it more suitable for cross-country riding. The KYB Speed-Sensitive System (SSS) coil-spring fork and KYB shock, for example, are relatively softly sprung and lightly damped, but they can be easily adjusted to suit a 160-pound intermediate-plus rider.

Tester Allan Brown was thoroughly impressed with the YZ125X as a whole and, in particular, its powerplant. “The engine runs clean and is one of the smoothest 125s I have ever ridden,” he wrote. “It builds power well from the midrange all the way to very high rpm. While it is normal to shift gears more often on a 125cc two-stroke, with this engine and its six-speed close-ratio gearbox, the YZ125X required much less shifting than I expected.”

In fact, with its tried-and-true chassis and responsive engine, the YZ125X is an exceptionally easy bike to ride, and its light weight makes it ridiculously easy to steer around trees and other obstacles on a tight single-track trail.