TE/TC 2015 TE125 ride report.

4 months have passed since picking up the 125 and I only have 250 miles on it. I was hoping for a mild Winter and lots of riding, but we ended up with the coldest, snowiest one in 35 years. Even 300 miles south, was too cold and snowy to consistently ride. Weather is starting to break, but our main riding areas are still under 2+ feet of snow. I just did a quick trip to Rich Lafferty's school and have a small schooling area set up, until we can get to the trails. On to my impressions so far...

As has been posted before, its light, slim and tall. I did add two teeth to the rear, for a little more bottom end. Power wise.... I'd say it's between a CR and WR125 Husky. I doesn't have quite the bottom end of the WR, but more than the CR and has amazing mid to top. I have a HGS pipe, that I need to swap on and see what it does. I love riding a small bore again, as I can twist it with abandon and not go straight to the stratosphere. You are shifting it though... I remember when I went from WR125 to 144... you went from downshifting twice, to once for corners. You're downshifting twice with the TE. It is almost impossible to stall, but not a lot of torque down low. Clutch is super light and easy to modulate power and traction with it. Jetting is perfect and I just went up one size main and pilot for the colder temps. If it got really cold, an air screw adjustment too. Trail Rider Magazine spent a lot of time fiddling with it, but ended up going to standard settings for temp and alt. This is where it runs best for me.

Handling is awesome! I think it is every bit as good as my beloved '09 WR125/144/165. I think it feels lighter and slimmer too. I have ridden it at 60 mph across corn stubble fields diagonally across the ruts and it's super stable without a steering damper. It turns in the tight and twisty too. Stock OEM Dunlop AT-81 tires are okay, but front doesn't like sand too well. First time I rode it in the sand it was snowy and icy, so I had my Michelin AC10's with 4mm carbide studs on the bike. With these tires, it handled fine and hooked up well. This past week in the sand I had the stock Dunlops and front end was sketchy. Rich Lafferty put my fork tubes flush, from 2 rings showing and it was better. I need to get my "go to tire"... Kenda Washougal Sticky mounted up soon.

Suspension has worked pretty well so far. As I posted before, my first ride in December was pretty nasty... Mud, rocks, roots, logs and ledges. I was fully expecting to get thrown on the ground a few times by the 4CS forks, but I was pleasantly surprised. I've since rode a bunch of sand whoops and chop with no problems. I've hit some stuff all wrong and the bike works well. I bought the correct rate springs for my weight, but my sag numbers are running okay with the stock springs. This is fully geared up on the bike. Rich Lafferty has a good bit of experience with the 4CS and has said they will get worse, as I get more time on them. He and his son Ryder (Airgroup Husqvarna Team), run WP CC forks on their bikes, so he doesn't have a 4CS solution right now. I follow all the 4CS threads closely.

It's been a bit of a transition back to the essentials, as the TE isn't lowered 1" (it will be), doesn't have an auto clutch or E start. The Husaberg TE250 has spoiled me a good bit, but the TE125 is better for me as a rider. I think a TE200 would be the best of both worlds and be a good stablemate to the TE125, as they would have a similar feel swapping back and forth. The Husaberg TE250, feels big and heavy now in comparison.

I'm glad I bought this bike, as it is way fun to ride! I'll post more, as I get more time on it.

Norm grab the power husky parts lower seat. Did for my bike the cover is much better. Real grippy and lower as well...the fork thing I have no clue I hear to much....some say they are better with more hours..at the moment mine are great...sounds like your happy awesome!

Thanks Fletch! I've thought about the Husky Power low seat, but I'm concerned about the sit to stand transition and sitting forward. My knees are the most beat up and operated on part of me.

Got ya. I'm short but the seat does not seem to make the bike feel funky or anything and the transition from sitting to standing still feels natural and better then say the 11 and prior gassers. I got mine on eBay for $125 delivered and the cover is so much better then the stock one (this is the cover a high $$$$ dirtbike should come with stock...you may be able to play silencer length as well to fine tune the power a tish...gearing??

I'll give the low seat a try, if it doesn't work out.... someone on CH will maybe want to try one. I'll check out eBay. 52 rear is an improvement over stock 50, for a little more bottom. Thanks again!

I finally have had some time to ride my ’15 125, so thought I’d share my thoughts here. Comparatively, I’m a rank amateur with only 73 hours on dirtbikes (historically a street guy) and only 3 hours on this bike, but the characteristics are already evident.

The short version is, this bike is just plain fun. Compared to my FE390, I feel like I’m actually riding the bike, rather than hanging on and hoping I don’t whiskey throttle myself into the nearest oak tree. Despite everything I read about 125s being a challenge to ride, I’ve found this bike to be immensely easier to ride than my 390. It definitely asks that you have the correct gear selection, and you have to twist the throttle more than you might think is necessary, but that’s part of the hilarity of this bike.

I’ll echo what Norm said about this bike being nearly impossible to stall. Through tight, rocky, tree infested single track, I hardly touch the clutch and can creep along at a loser’s pace. The soft on/off throttle helps smooth everything out and the engine picks up quickly from the bottom when I need a little juice. I've found the gearing to be fine and probably won’t change it for what I ride. The shortness of the gearing makes itself known on the wide open sections….quick shifts!!!

Really, the biggest difference I’ve noticed is the 40lbs I’m not carrying around anymore. The steering is light, flickable, precise, and the lack of weight means I’m not fighting the momentum of a heavier machine when I’m picking through tight stuff. For someone who doesn’t blast through rock gardens in 4th gear, this is magical.

I’ve found the suspension to be compliant and really quite good. This may change as I have more time on the bike, but with some setting adjustments, I’m happy right out of the box. The suspension needs to keep the wheels on the ground so I can move forward. If this changes, I’ll look into it; until then the 4CS is totally fine by me. I’ve ridden with guys, at a variety of skill levels, on Husabergs, KTMs, Betas, all with mods, custom suspension, etc. One day we all got smoked by a dude in loafers on a 15 year old, clapped out XR650L with bald tires, through the woods. Just sayin’ suspension ain’t everything.

I can’t wait for next weekend to ride again!

Don't go bustin' on Bryan's loafers and stuff....

I'll add this to the TE125. It even carries my 220 pound carcass around and does it well. I have the '15 TE250 and kevin and I swapped briefly on a ride last week. I instantly remembered how much fun I had on my old RM125 in the '90s.

I just did a couple of upgrades.... HGS pipe from Bud Racing and a Husky Power step seat. These should be nice improvements.

That is one pretty pipe. I'll be interested to see if your seat-of-the-pants dyno feels any improvement in the low end.

I rode this afternoon and yes it has more bottom end, than the stock pipe. It's not crazy, but it's there. I did a run up a field and it didn't hurt the top end any. Seat works well for me too. My problem is, I sit where I would sit on my '82 250WR.... which is way too far back. The step seat, keeps me where I belong... up front!

Norman,

You are now helping to spend Kevin's money. Join the club!!

Oh no! This is bad news....

I saw a second hand one of these at a local shop
Did the usual rear end lift test - feels about the same as my WR125 - if not heavier . Felt a fair bit heavier than a new YZ125 they had in the shop
Good grab handle though
You compared the weight to the WR 125 Norman?

Seems as light or lighter, than my '09 WR125 to me, but I have no accurate weights. It's way lighter than my '12 Husaberg TE250 2T.

I bet there close to the same.....in weight....red huskys are heavier for a,reason....good build quality.....a smaller rear rotor for a reason(KTM)..... Trying to save weight..... Bet there,close....

Time to re-jet for spring weather.... I need to put the bike back to standard leaner needle and drop the main. It was 77F the other day and bike ran okay, but you could feel it was soft. Jetting according to the manual for temps below 40F, worked great all winter long. It was in 30's the day I swapped pipes, so it was a good day to compare the stock pipe to the HGS.

Time for an update... I have a bunch more time on the bike and some firmer opinions now.

The stock Dunlop AT-81 tires aren't that good; the front has a tendency to break loose unpredictably, once it has a little wear on it and the 110/100-18 rear, is just too big for this 125, power and handling wise. The Euro version gets a Michelin, in 120/90-18, which is closer to 100/100-18. I switched to a 100/100-18 Kenda Washougal Sticky and the power and handling are improved. I went to a 80/100-21 Washougal II DC in front and the loosing the front end thing stopped immediately.

I had the suspension done, valving changes and lowered 1+3/4". Then forks are still in full 4CS mode and are working well. I have two races and a bunch of practice time on them and am quite happy. The roots and rocks, at the WNYOA HS and NY GNCC were a real test. Still need a little work on the shock, as my suspension guy wanted to try a 2 stage rebound shim stack, that isn't quite right yet. I ran the stock tires, with the new suspension set up, at the first HS. I didn't want two changes at once, as it's harder to sort out what's going on. Front end was the same random break loose thing, so I switched tires for GNCC... Bingo!

Seat.... I installed a Husky Power step seat and liked how it kept me forward, but the cover is way too aggressive. After Rich Lafferty literally worked my @$$ off doing standing to sitting turn driils, it was time to rethink it. I made a bump seat out of the stock seat, using a piece of crossbar pad, for the GNCC. I need to get a better cover for the step seat and redo it.

Overall I'm very happy with the bike.... It's lightness and power, let me throw it around and ride aggressively. I have to work harder to keep it going, but it tires me less, than a 250 2T. I miss the button, but not the Rekluse on the 250.

The AT-81 works good at low pressures with Tubliss but probably not the best tire for a lightweight 125.

I always hear a lot of talk about the AT-81 RC (Reinforced Carcass) and Tubliss System. People are running 0lbs pressure at times. Rear was okay, other than Husky specs too big a size. It might work on a KTM 200 and 150, but not the 125. As soon as the edge goes off the front, it gets bad. With the 125, there are times you can save it... It's so small and light, you can literally pull the front end up, as it tries to go down, but not always. AT-81 was better than the stock Dunlop MX51, on my '12 Husaberg TE250.... that sucked from brand new!