MotoGP - 125s to be Replaced by Four Strokes From 2012?

Monday, June 28th, 2010

There’s been rumours circulating about this for quite some time now. It all started when people realised that if you make a class cheap enough, everyone will enter. Hence the 40+ teams currently in the Moto2 championship, though rumours are some of those are struggling.

So it was inevitable that FIM would look at the ’success’ of Moto2 and apply that same logic to the 125 class. And so we have rumours coming out of this weekends Assen paddock that a deal is close to take 125s and replace them with 250 four-strokes from 2012 or 2013.

Earlier rumours that the engines would be based on motocross style 250s appear to be unfounded as the engines will apparently have a maximum bore of 81 millimeters.

Now, some of you may be saying ‘how can four-strokes be cheaper then two’, and some of you may be chuckling away like children at that question. Well, FIM have thought of that by saying any manufacturer that enters will have to make ‘a significant number of engines available’ and the engines will have to be offered at a fixed price, rumoured to be 10,000 euros.

It’s not clear if there will be any speed advantage as existing motocross 250s tend to produce around 45bhp at the rear wheel. It’s estimated this new class, cleverly dubbed ‘Moto3′ will produce around 50bhp and this isn’t that far off what an existing race spec 125cc bike produces, only they’re much lighter.

Could this mean a whole host of new entrants to GP though? Could we see the likes of Husqvarna or Kawasaki entering? Traditional motocross manufacturers but why not?

Also, what is it with FIM and 81mm? The new 1,000cc bikes that will be introduced in 2012 will also have a maximum bore of 81mm. Is this some magical engineering number? Answers on a postcard please!

Anyway, all of this is just rumour and speculation at the moment and we know how wrong that can be!

Source: Motomatters.com