Looks like some folks near Springfield, IL have a truck load of Sachs X-Road 125 supermotos. $600 per bike. Unfortunately they don’t come with a title. Still a great deal on an interesting and unique motorcycle.

Have a look at the Ebay Auction for more info.

I rode an electric version built by Electric Motorsport a year or so back. Fun little bike.

2010 Rieju RS3 125LC

Rieju posted some more photos of the 2010 Rieju RS3 125LC that will be out in about 6 weeks. The Xenophya designed bike features an alloy chassis and swingarm and is powered by a Yamaha 125cc liquid cooled four stroke engine.

Have a look at the pre-production pics below and be sure to friend Rieju on facebook.

This weekend Kymco will unveil the KR Naked 125 sportbike at the Carole Nash NEC Bike Show in the UK. The bike goes by the name Kymco Quannon 125 Naked in other parts of the world.

The KR Naked 125 features an air cooled, 125cc single cylindar engine housed in a lightweight aluminum beam frame. It has aggressive lines and a digital dashboard to give the entry level commuter a modern look that is rare at that displacement level in the UK and US where litre bikes get most of the attention.

If you are at the NEC show this weekend be sure to stop by the Kymco booth and snap some pictures. I would love to hear your comments on the bike.

Rieju posted this picture on Facebook…

2010 Rieju RS3 125

Motorcycle News posted this picture of the bike…

Rieju RS3 at 2009 Milan Show

Source: MCN, Facebook

After some difficulties with rights to the Maxtra name, Maxtra Racing is now Haojue Racing. That explains why we have not been able to access their web site. Personally I like when Asian brands keep their name so I am glad to see them keep the name Haojue. Looks like the team is making great progress.

Here are some quotes from a recent email release from the team about their progress towards 125cc MotoGP competition…
The Chinese Haojue 125cc GP race team made its official test debut at the Jerez three day test, making steady progress refining machine set-up and testing more new parts.

The team received a great welcome from the rest of the MotoGP paddock with many positive comments on the amount of progress we have made with the machine in just eight months since turning a wheel for the first time.

The whole email is printed below. Please be sure to sign up for the Houjue email newsletter.

March 28 2009.

Pictured: Team Haojue riders Michael Ranseder and Matt Hoyle at the Jerez test.

The Chinese Haojue 125cc GP race team made its official test debut at the Jerez three day test, making steady progress refining machine set-up and testing more new parts.

“It has been something of a baptism of fire for the team in general and for our GP rookie Matt Hoyle in particular,” said team director Garry Taylor.

“Most of the machines out there have a few seasons of race development, while we are still testing new ideas, parts and set-ups. We had a lot of work to do with various engine and chassis options in a limited amount of on-track time, but we have come away with a stack of information, data and experience which will help us continue to move forward.

“For Matt it was his first time on track with GP class riders and he coped really well. Michael worked really hard, riding smoothly and consistently to give great feedback to the team. He put in so many laps that the motor reached the end of its service life and he had to miss the last session.

“The team received a great welcome from the rest of the MotoGP paddock with many positive comments on the amount of progress we have made with the machine in just eight months since turning a wheel for the first time.

“Franco collated a vast amount of engine data which he will now take back to analyse with Jan in the ongoing development programme.

“The crew are now back to the workshop in the UK to prepare for the final pre-season tests at Qatar next week and the machines are already on their way.”

Michael Ranseder; “Testing is always hard work, but it is very interesting to be part of the development programme for a complete new machine. I rode well within my limits at this test in order to give consistent feedback and I am happy that we are making progress all the time.”

Matt Hoyle; “Well this was the first step on what I hope is a short ladder in the move up to the top level of 125 racing. The team is working really well and we are all learning all of the time. I’m loving it!”

Haojue / Maxtra Racing 125cc MotoGP Bike

One month until Qatar MotoGP opener. Anyone notice Maxtra Racing’s website is password protected? It has been that way for a few weeks. No email updates from Maxtra lately. The most recent email update was February 15 2009, about 1 month ago. In December and January we were getting emails every few weeks. I was looking forward to seeing China’s first entry into MotoGP, I hope all is good with progress on the 125cc two stroke machine.

This is a drastic departure from most Chinese motorcycle manufactures approach to entering markets outside of China. While Zongshen and Lifan aim at low cost, low cc market Haojue decided to shoot for the elite segment of one off race motorcycles and work backwards from there. So far it was a good call. The Maxtra name will be associated with racing before it ever reaches showroom floors. An image of quality will be baked in to the name.

So when can I buy a Maxtra?

Sikk is another example of an up and coming company that is not afraid to fill a niche in need. It’s 125 Trail Bike is basically an air-cooled four stroke 125cc engine mounted in a minimalist, mountain bike like frame for a combined weight of 160 lbs.

Most trail motorcycles are around 280 lbs, pack a lot more engine than an average rider can realistically use and cost $6k or more. Big power is fun but takes a lot of skill and control. Coming from the other side of the spectrum, Mountain bikes are light, flickable and roll over obstacles with their large wheels. The only problem is they take a lot of strength and endurance to go up hill. The Sikk 125 Trail Bike meets the two in the middle. It makes a lot of sense. The bike does not use cutting edge technology so why did it take this long to make it happen?

Motorcross Action did an article on Sikk’s play bike this month on the bike. They mentioned that the 125 was prone to finding neutral when shifting and the engine over heating. Apparently Sikk made everything right because the review did not have much bad to say. Their only real complaint was a too low first gear and a large gap between 2nd and 3rd gear.

The reasonable $1895 USD retail price combined with the light weight and reliablility make this bike totally unique. I fully expect this motorcycle to create a new category of rider. On technical trails this bike should be able to keep the most talented riders entertained. Skill will trump power. It should appeal to big bike riders as well as mountain bikers. A side benefit might be that these bikes will have less impact on the environment. Mud puddles will not turn into cavernous ruts, exhaust noise and emissions are minimal. This might keep trails open and expand the number of trails available to riders. It maybe the fact that I picked up my Cannondale e440 one too many times but I am very tempted to trade in for one of these little bikes. The one thing that would stop me is the thought of doing hill climbs on a 125. I will have to read some forum posts and hunt down a test ride. If you have one please let us know how you like it.