Best 125 and 250 of the 90's

I had a 97 yz 125 and it was probably the best bike I've owned. As far as 250s I was always partial to te 94-98 KXs. I had a 95 and it was a great bike . A 93 CR 250 would be a great bike to do also.

I had both 86 and 93 CR 250Rs and they were fantastic bikes.

I'll second the '97YZ125.

I also had a '94RM125 that was pretty righteous, and a '90KX that was pretty groundbreaking.

93-96 CR250
96-97 CR125

The 1997 CR 125 was the best 125 of the decade. It turned aweful in 1998 and never recovered.

For the 250 class, the '97 and '98 KX250 were arguably the best bikes in this era. The '97 was an amazing bike for moto, and the only real difference for '98 was the power jet carb and factory inspired graphics.

I absolutely love my '91 RM125...and another vote for the last two years of the CR125 before that hideous aluminum frame POS they brought out.

if you want historic models,

1990 KX125/250, first of the perimeter frames, nearly every bike is like that now,
1997 CR250, was not great, but the alloy frame is on every full size MX bike made in japan now
98 YZ400, the first of the mass produced four stroke, they started the trend,

a TC610 like Jackie Martens rode would be a cool bike, the first truely competitive four stroke since the late 60's,

or one of the HUsabergs, but both did not sell in big numbers, and parts would be a nightmare,

I always liked my RM 125s. The reviews weren't the greatest but they were reliable for me and i think they looked great (90 & 92) would like to find a decent one someday to restore

I’ve owned 3 of my personal favorites in the 90’s. 93 RM125, 95 YZ250 and 98 YZ125.
with that said I knew friends that had the following...the 96-98 KX250’s were great. Any pre-97 CR250, all CR 125’s up until 98 were weapons.
90-92 Suzuki RM125’s were the bikes I regret I never purchased. Had friends with a 90 and 92. Amazing in every way.
Have fun shopping!

Ghost

97 yz125... The 96 had tranny issues, the 97 could easily be competitive today.

Btw, that first gen aluminum 97 cr250 was a freaking awful bike...

99 YZ125, bought it brand new and rolled it off the dealer floor for $4,199. Bike was fast! I made it into a Yamaha Of Troy replica with Enzo modded suspension even. It was a VERY BIG mistake selling that bike......

Live and learn.......

These “best of”, “show us your....”, poll type topics are all the rage lately. They have an uncanny ability to generate a lot of posts.

I would be remiss if I didnt say, “thank you in advance”.

1993 CR125. Even in stock trim the bike ripped and had descent suspension
1997 YZ125. Phenomenal motor made up for the sub par turning typical of a Yamaha. The quality wasn’t as good as it is today... the bike fell apart around me like a Harley.
1999 KX250. Smooth, strong, tractor-like power that seemed to pull forever but not pull your arms out of the sockets.

Isn’t there some kind of never ending debate about the 90 8YZ 125 having like 38 hp stock? I member hearing that Yamaha really found some magic in the 98 YZ125 and from 97-04 they were amaze-balls!
I owned an 87 CR 250 it was GREAT until I bought and rode the 93 CR 250.
By the way I don’t know if I got some kind of magical bike or something but I had a 97 CR 250 that I got literally almost brand new.... it had had factory connection suspension done for a 185lb intermediate and the adjustable billet aluminum Devol linkage/link. The 97 CR250 wasn’t really all that bad of a bike to me, the motor was a phenomenal and I mean phenomenal by even today standards! The seat was hard as a rock and felt like it could literally crush diamonds into sand, ergonomics we're good Bec the Ike was as slim as Kate Moss after a week long bender. The seat was what probably gave the general public people the impression that it was overly rigid which it was and I never noticed any bad turning traits but my 02 CR250 could easily carve underneath it but that bike is/was almost RM-esque. I didnt like the 99 CR250 they totally missed the mark on the engine... same bottom, a midrange that hit harder than a motorhead concert on speed and fell flat where the previous 2 models ripped w/top end overrev.
My 2002 CR 250 was an incredible bike all the way around but the motor .... if Honda had carried over the engine out of the 2001... i swear, that bike wouldve romped its way through every shootout unchallenged IMO all the way through 2007.
I really want to restore a 93 to 96 CR250, a 96 to 98 KX 250 as far as 125 go, 93 to 97 CR125
in the year 2000’s I’m looking for a 2003 KX 125 to match my 2003 KX250 I loved my 2001 RM 250
I liked my 2006 arm 250 but it was so sensitive to handling changes, for me it wasn’t as fun as I keep reading about but I still enjoyed the bike, it needed more top end overrev. I thought the forks SUCKED absolutely sucked donkey balls, shock was amazing. I loved my 20003 YZ 250 but it required quite an effort to initiate to turn the motor was jaw dropping. Its amazing, all my bikes were my favorite ironically lol but i did a TON of reading magazines before buying any bike... not so mich anymore and i just rolled the dice with the 03 KX250 bec theres no decent info on the net but it turned out to be one of the best biks ever for me. i would love to restore a 2000 or 2001 CR 250 and I want to get my hands on a 97 to Current YZ125 I would love to get a last generation kx500.

I am absolutely shocked at how good of a bike this 03 KX250 is to me I am 6 foot three and have only added a little seat foam to it, suspension is awesome, it handles perfect for me, ergos are spot on amd once i finish unlocking the engines potential im gonna be on cloud 9

Of course youll notice a common theme here.... this is my 2 stroke edition but come to think of it I couldnt tell you off the top of my head, any 4 stroke ive owned that i loved or would really ever own again.....

1997 Yz125, I never sold mine and have just dug it out from a long sleep, I plan to just take it out a little this year and play on it some. Maybe it will help me carry some corner speed riding a 125 again. I do know it will put a big smile on my face when ridden correctly. It made great power, even had some bottom compared to my 1994 Honda.

Honestly any YZ125 from 1997 and up that you find a good deal on and is in good shape would be fine they're all going to have that kind of power starting with 1997 and this is suspension aside from slight valving changes is the same up to 2004 when they just changed the diameter of the forks but use sumilar internals, they are the same style forks, the "open bath" design after that they went to the current setup.
If you really want a white and red one you can actually make it by stripping the bike and powder coating the frame red or black or white and then buying all white Plastics and putting a red seat cover on it just Google it there's a couple guys who have done it and it looks incredible!

1999 KX250

98 and 99 are a different bike. Model change came in 99 and went until 02.
The 99 was a good bike, I still have my 01 KX250.

97 CR250 LOL. That thing was garbage. I bought one and sold it a month later. Vibrated, ill handling, stiff.....junk.

Loved my 99'.....Had a Tom Morgan built motor in here and she ripped. One of the best bikes I ever owned.