A custom SX 125 in purple.
Why purple you might ask? Well, it actually isn’t.
The clever sticker guys have made what they call – Purple Holographic. And up close and personal – it works so well.
But beauty is skin deep and there’s a lot more to this bike than just a pretty face…
Motorcycle enthusiast, welder of cool stuff and custom bike builder James Lottering is the man behind this build.
We met him at Terra Topia and quizzed him on the build.
Bike: 2021 125SX. He bought it because he “Wanted to get back into racing 2-Strokes and to have a practice bike.” it was a bit ratty, but he didn’t mind because it was “Just a practice bike.”
It’s quite interesting because as soon as he started flinging this little bike around the track – his usual 450 SX was left standing in the garage.
While James was across at Dakar earlier this year, he decided to customize the bike “A Bit” and we all know how that ends.
The decals and plastics were just the beginning…
Upon his return, the bike was stripped right down to bare bones. The frame and selected bits went in to be powder coated and he turned his attention to the motor.
The top end was removed, and re-nickasiled with a 150 piston from the KTM powerparts catalogue. This bumps up the power from 38 HP to 42.
When Eskiel Suter (Yes, he of Suter Bike fame), heard what he was up to, he passed along a bit of 2-stroke knowledge. “Give it a proper flow and bigger carb. Drop the squish and jet her for Afgas.”
Hmm. modified bikes do tend to break, but Afgas burns cooler than normal petrol, so why not?
James took his advice, found a bigger 38ml Mikuni carb, ported and flowed the barrel, fitted V-Force reed valves and a Factory FMF full system pipe.
When the bits came back from the powdercoaters, he replaced all of the bearings and bits and turned his attention to the suspension.
The fronts were re- valved and out back he fitted two springs stiffer from the powerparts catalogue.
Up front, he opted to go with renthals 999 bend bars, just suits his riding style. He also splashed out on Renthal unbreakable, foldable lever sets.
You see where we are going? A small project is now a proper build.
Nithrone re-did the seat, Acerbis plastics, lightweight Supersprox, Rimtape and then that Moto-Kustoms decal set complete with details on the hubs.
Choice of tyres? Dunlop Geomax MX33’s.
The engine was re-fitted , fired up and re- jetted a few times.
Final hosepower figure?
46.5. From the standard 38 on the 125.
That’s massive! Almost 250 power.
Still in the pipeline:
SM Pro hubs are on order – along with a Suter clutch and swingarm. The swingarm is slightly longer and about a kilogramme lighter than stock.
When those arrive, we’ll tell you about them.
James will be racing the bike in the vets class at the inland series. It should be fun to see it being wringed against the big 450’s.
If you are at the races go and have a close look at this bike. It’s quite something.
