Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/771894
November 2016 19 are nice op ons, but my goal was to keep the cost down and build a woods bike. The steel frame makes a nice pla orm for that and the added fl ex does not make me scream for a heavy 18-inch wheel to so en the chop. The bike proved to be in sound condi on and we had a number of enjoyable rides. I replaced the muf- fl er with a FMF Powercore as the old stock one was basically toast and I fi xed a couple of nagging cosme c issues. I spent a whopping $300 total on those. Even if I had to dump the bike for what I paid for it or even slightly less, we got our money out of it. There was one problem; I really loved the way the bike rode and needed another bike around. So I began project YZ 125 woods bike. Over the next winter I tore into the engine. My work-to-project ra o got out of whack so I sent the bike to Tim Mar n down near Cullman, Alabama for a new top end and had him go through a few things. Tim builds race bikes. He loves 4-strokes but spends considerable me working magic on two-strokes as well. He tore into the bike. Most of the things needed were basic maintenance. A er a few discussions, I elected to have him do what he calls his 851 mods. That is some of his signature port work. I was not spending much on this bike so an ex- tra few hundred didn't sound too bad. It's important to note that the YZ 125 does just fi ne in stock trim. I just wanted a li le extra hit. I then went on to clean up the cosme cs, add some woods goodies and have fun. If I had stopped at cleaning up the top end (before the 851 mods), larg- er tank, new seat cover, res (I went with used MX res) and bark busters, my total expenses — including the bike — would have been around $2,000. That's not shabby for a durable light-woods screamer. I did not stop at that. The 851 mods were a luxury (albeit well worth it). I went on to spend a few extra hundred on bling and more cosme c