Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/990446
In my neck of the woods north of Boston, we started seeing greater numbers of European rides in the late 80's. With a real job that paid real money, I finally bought my first new Euro bike, and yes, it was a KTM. As the years rolled by, the woods were infiltrated by a sea of orange. Also odd to me, a Japanese bike was the bike standing out in the crowd during those years. What I do like about European bikes are the fact that they s ll are a bit different and always of high quality. I like how they are built from hand-picked components such as Ma- gura, Brembo, Galfer, WP, and Sachs, etc. Always quality parts that stand up to the test of me well. When the opportunity arose for a long-term test on the new Sherco 125 SE Six Days, I jumped at the chance and headed to New York that very next day to pick it up. Liking Euro, 2-strokes and small bores along with things that are very different and rarely seen, I was excited. Having been familiar with Sherco trials bikes through our friend and trials editor Stu Preston, I assumed this was a Spanish-made motorcycle. What I soon learned is although they are both from the same company, the Sherco en- duro (and supermoto) bikes are built in a plant located in Nimes, France. Very close to Italy. Ini al impressions when looking over the Sherco 125 SE Six Days were posi ve. This is one quality piece. Having owned countless KTM's over the years, I'm familiar and comfortable with WP suspension. With WP legs front and rear, Brembo brakes, solid rear disc, billet triples, I knew we would be a good fit. What I didn't know was how well this li le light-weight would fit this big guy. The Sherco 125 is electric start only. There's no kicker. It fires immediately, instantaneously really. The slightest touch of that bu on and she's alive! There's a sliding, mapping switch just under the start bu on (next to the thro le) that yields a 3 hp difference in power. I like to make a small bore sing and being a bigger rider for a 125 at 225 lbs., the hp is always appreciated. Once suited up, we hit our gnarliest single track to see if this li le bike from France was up to the task of carrying this big Ger- man. What was immediately apparent is unlike most 125's, this one's sprung for a faster (or bigger) rider. Our local loop is rather technical and rocky with some steep eleva- on climbs. Sherco's 125 carried me up everything I could throw at it with ease and that's without wringing its neck. Believe it or not, this li le smoker's got torque. Thanks to an electronically controlled, servo-actuated and ca- ble-driven, drum-style power valve, it's got decent low-end June 2018 15