Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Can anybody tell me what major differences there were between the 74' CR125 and the 74' MT125 performance wise? Are many parts interchangeable?

Bob

I have a 74 MT250 and the MT/CR manual. If that is close enough.

Most of the hot parts like [alloy rims, aluminum gas tank, etcetera] are not found on the MTs. The MTs also have a different heavy flywheel and lighting coils. At least for the 250, the engine is detuned quite a bit with smaller carb and different compression ratio, pipe, wide ratio transmission.

The steel rims and other bloat make my MT about 40-50 lbs heavier then the CR.

The good news is: I like wide ratio transmissions myself. A low lower then then low and a high higher then high. It lets you get in tighter/slower stuff and have a nice top end speed for the flat and level. I really like the handling of my MT and the detuned engine is a reliable runner. I would put on the lightweight componets like rims if I had them, but I would probably keep the engine as is because it is well suited for the type of riding I do.