All Duels – Duel RS4 Vs YZF-R125: back to school with six! – Flight school (s)

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Duel RS4 Vs YZF-R125: the return to full six !

All Duels - Duel RS4 Vs YZF-R125: back to school with six! - Flight school (s)

With all due respect to purists, the reign of 125 4-stroke sports motorcycles is now established. We therefore organized a duel between the two sharpest representatives of this category: the new Aprilia RS4 and the Yamaha YZF-R125…. Duel 125 !

Flight school (s)

Despite a limited turning radius, the R125 is much more pleasant to drive in town than its transalpine competitor, mainly thanks to its flexible and available engine. Relatively torquey, the small 4-stroke unit accepts to resume from 4,000 rpm.

It is also well supported by a pleasant 6-speed gearbox, but you should of course not hesitate to play with the selector to always stay in the right gear! For the rest, the Yamaha manages to completely forget its 138 kg all full made by offering a beautiful handling.

The conciliatory Japanese

As on larger displacement motorcycles, there is an Italian particularity on the Aprilia. The RS4 is less easily offered than its competitor and to get the most out of it in town, its driver must not be unemployed. !

First of all, its engine is very hollow below 7000 rpm (47 mm stroke against 58.6 on the Yam!) And requires constant gear changes to avoid under-revs. In this, we find the rather capricious side of the old 2-stroke units … which were however forgiven by leaving nearly 35 hp !

The RS4’s gearbox is not without blame either. On our test bike (barely running in with its 500 km on the odometer) the first gear refused to lock, requiring it to be repeated two or even three times..

The (bad?) Italian character

Between the traffic lights and the traffic jams, our two sports cars are still not in their favorite element. We can spit in the paws, we are systematically taxed by the X-Max and other S-Wings, both at startup and the game of sneaking between the lines.

As much as possible, we will also shorten the motorway stages as much as possible to find small bucolic roads. Thanks to a better extension, the Aprilia regains the advantage to maintain a correct cruising speed (100-110 km / h) and even sticks to the 130 km / h counter (125 km / h on the GPS).

Behind, the Yamaha struggles to stabilize at the same cruising speed. In peak on 6th gear, the rather frustrating switch intervenes from 123 km / h (118 km / h GPS). We are far from 200 km / h – or almost, "what do you have for a pinion ?!" – certain unbridled 2-stroke motorcycles accessible, within a certain weight / power limit, only to holders of a large cube license !

It’s the job that comes in !

Like their 2-stroke predecessors, the Aprilia RS4 and the Yamaha YZF 125R will perhaps train our future riders. As such, they are a good school for the biker who intends to complete his license A.

Look, trajectory, braking, speed of passage in a curve: the pilot is entirely focused on what he is doing, much more than on a scooter which is content to take you from point A to point B. In the bends tight, the battle is tough and relatively balanced between our two "mini-moths".

Aprilia emphasizes its lively and efficient chassis and the length of its engine, while the Yamaha relies more on its full engine and its cycle part a little less lively but ultra safe.

Mini-arsouille for great pleasure

Particularly agile with their thin pneumatic mounts (130/70 at the rear) and their low wheelbases (1345 mm on the RS4, 1355 on the YZF), the two small sports cars twirl from one bend to another with a large ease.

Too bad that in the famous ascent of the 17 turns of the Chevreuse Valley, the slightest sub-regime is paid in cash: we find ourselves at a standstill! However in the other direction – downhill! -, the absence of power is much less penalizing…

The RS4 and YZF-R125 even have something to show off to much bigger than them, thanks to their remarkable agility. Both well suspended, they offer a very convincing compromise between comfort and handling..

As for their oversized chassis, they would happily support double the horsepower! Finally, let us note that the assembly of tires of origin of Aprilia (of the "Sava", and not the Pirelli Supercorsa of the press presentation, to read our) was finally shown at the height of our small country arsouilles…

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