this might have been brought up before, not sure, but who would go for which? the 250f's are awsome bikes, but more expensive to maintain, i think a 144 would be awsome with some motorwork and what not, i can only assume it would be lighter, plus it would cost less to keep it going, anyone have their 125 bored out to a 144 yet?

i would take the 144 anyday. the are lighter and just as powerful. +1 brownie points in my book :thumbsup:

250F just cuz Im a 4strok type of guy

Instead of buying the 125 and working on it just purchase the 07 KTM 144SX and ride it.

Mikek250F said:

That's not legal under currect AMA rules. I think they'll change it, though. The AMA is the Big Four + KTM's bitch.

I would go with the 144.

i am wondering if it would be worth it to buy a 125, have it bored, then dump an extra 2k in to it, or just buy a 250f, i just think it wold be cool to have a really fast 2 smoker that is legal, and man would it be light!! are they going to allow the 144 to race in the pro races or just amatuer?(sp?)

cemmons32 said:

I've got a CR167. Cr125 bored/stroked to 167 (Rich Peterson Motorsports - RPM did the work). I bought it with the motor already built. I think the motor work was about $4k.

I had hoped it would be a "poor man's" ktm 200. It isn't, but it is a fun bike. I'd take the ktm 200 over the 167, and so over the 144 by extension.

I don't race off-road, so that isn't an issue for me.

the problem with boring out 125's is your ring life goes down to nothing. The fatory 144sx would be the way to go (once legal if your racing). The 200xc is a awesome bike, but I could see a 144sx being even more fun in the woods.

i was looking for companys that do motorwork earlier and could not find anyone that did a 144, i found a 139 and they wanted like 1K for that whole set up, not that im in the market, i am just curious as to which bike would be a better deal, and would be faster.

a company called max power RPM does it. and i think Athena makes a 144 kit also

I think that a 144 might be alot more fun to ride, but to be competitive in the 125 class, you will probally need a 250f. Unless you already shred with a 125.

on www.racerxfilms.com they have the test on 07 ktms
*edit* oops i posted in the wrong thread but eh w/e

I was going 140 of my RM

Cant decide. I have a 2002 Honda cr250r and a 2003 KTM 125sx. I plan on selling both here soon and either getting a KTM 144sx or a 250f by Honda Kawasaki or KTM. I like KTM's 36 inch seat height on the 144 compared to the 38 on the 4 strokes. I feel i could be more competitive on the 250f though if it was lowered and what not but i will deffinatly be on a budget once i buy one haha. somebody persuade me to one or the other!

since your question was weather anyone had a 144 yet and not about how wonderful the ktm's are, I will say this to you. It's not all about the power. If you are planing on a 144 to make you a champion forget about it and ride what you can afford. I will tell you this if you can ride and are competitive on your 125, the 144 is not going to make you all of a sudden start blowing away 450's. The ones that are winning now will still be winning after the change over no matter what they are riding.

I would get you a bike you can afford and learn to ride it to the best of your ability, then go out and buy you some ridding lessons and get better. After you get to where you are getting everything the 125 has to offer get a 144 kit, not that it will be faster but it will be easier to ride.

I see every weekend some kid on a yz85 or a honda 150f completely blow away everybody on the track, 450's and all.

I don't know what you are trying to accomplish, I mean, do you just want to ride or do you race at the track? If you are just fun riding, hell yeah get the 144 kit because they are fun to ride. But if you are into racing and think the 144 bike, mod or stock, is going to be the answer to changing your finishes from 15'th to 1st then keep your money for riding school cause the same people that are beating you now will probably be still be beating you no matter what you do to the motor. It's not about 2stroke, 4 stroke, or ktm.....it's 99.5% rider and then there is the bike.

Heads up. All the 144SX's around here have blown up rather quickly.

yeah ive heard they have had a cylinder recall or something on the 2007 model and some cranks freezing up. I guess I should of posted my question like this.... Ive been riding dirt bikes for a long time now but didnt really have much experience with the 4 strokes until last year. im very fast on a 2 stroke but i felt alot faster on my friends 4 stroke 250f's. I do all my engine work and i was just wondering if the 4 stroke was worth the investment. i hear everybody talking about the 144 now and i really like my 125sx. I believe they just started producing the 144 in 2007 though?

CamP said:

I would imagine that you are exaggerating.

MX Mastro 369 said:

Incorrect. I frequent KTM talk a lot. That is THE place for KTM 2 strokers to discuss anything about their bikes. The problem was a first batch of pistons were designed in such a way that in certain situations a ring was able to catch onto a port and scar the cylinder. Once KTM learned this they supplied new pistons and rings for all the bikes. I have never read of cranks freezing up. That more than likely is a user/rider error. Improper premix ratio, poor quality premix oil etc.

My Cousin has an 07 144sx that he bought new and that bike has been ridden by him, a beginner and a couple advanced A/B riders and ran like hell with ZERO issues. He is still on the stock top end. Has around 25-30 hours on it. The bike is meticulously maintained and ran on top quality premix.

We had a private track day about 4-5 months ago and one of the guys here, Brian Childers took that baby for a spin and was leaving intermediate riders on 450s in the dust. This guys is a built dude, 205 lbs races WORCS he places below 10th and better in expert class, he goes good. He loves that bike. He had that thing wrapped out the whole time on the track and he was coming out of corners on the rear wheel.

This bike is made for someone that can use it. MXA dynod it at 40hp. Of course it has a narrow power band and only someone good enough to keep it and control it in that narrow band will benefit greatest from it. If you are a beginner you might have better luck on a stock 250f. If you were closer to an expert you would have better luck on the stock 144sx, all depends.

A Euro magazine did a test of 08 125sx, 144sx, 250sx and 250sxf bikes because the FIM is allowing 125-250 2 stroke and 4 strokes to compete in the MX2 class in 2010. They said the 144sx was as fast or faster in a lot of expert timed situations vs. the 250s. They had official time keepers out and meters measuring how fast they did laps, sections of track etc. They did say that the 144sx was the most forgiving bike and the bike that felt like they couldn't really make a mistake on. They had Euro pro riders on them.

Matt Tiede said:

I know of three separate fast schoolboy racers running the 08 144SX and all three had short fuses. I know one of them well and KTM bought his bike back after it blew up a second time and he's on a 250SX now. The other two riders also got rid of theirs quickly and are on Japanese bikes now.