2011 Pitster Pro FXR125R Review
After the recent media blitz, you may have thought that Yamaha was the only manufacturer on the market offering a “real” 125cc sport ATV. If so, you could be mistaken. Pitster Pro, an American based company with manufacturing in China, carries a bit of street cred for building a line of pretty decent race oriented pit bikes. They came up with their pit bike designs by looking at what was working in the pit bike-racing world, then applying it to their stock machines. The end result was a reasonably competitive machine at a fraction of the price of purchasing and building up a Japanese pit bike.
Back in 2008, Pitster Pro decided to apply their business model to building an ATV. They used a Honda TRX90s built up for national racing as a base line for their design. The result is the Pitster Pro FXR 90, 125, and 150, which according to several magazine tests, are pretty impressive performers. Unfortunately, we have heard this before with the original Xtreme Typhoon 125 which proved to be a poor design and extremely unreliable.
To see if it lived up to the hype, we decided to test Pitster Pro’s FXR125. This displacement has the largest number of available classes for youth racers and sets up a nice shootout between itself and the Raptor 125.
Technically Speaking
The Pitster Pro is powered by a horizontal design 124cc air-cooled, two-valve, single overhead cam four-stroke engine. The engine features a 10.2 to 1 compression ratio and is nearly square with a bore of 54.5 and a stroke of 53mm. Harnessing the power is a close ratio four-speed transmission with a manual clutch. Air and fuel are fed to the engine by a 22mm carburetor. Most race oriented youth ATVs use a carburetor-mounted clamp on filters. The FXR’s filter is mounted on a trick looking aluminum air box.
A kick-starter turns the engine over with no electric start option. The kick-start lever has a long downward stroke, which we are told, forces Pitster to equip it with a hinged heel guard that must be flipped up to start the engine. This is a pain and probably why our dealer removed the heel guards prior to our picking up the ATV. Pitster needs an electric starter, or to address the design of the kick-starter, to allow for a more conventional heel guard .
The Pitster Pro’s chassis is constructed of chromoly and looks pretty stout. The dual a-arm front-end features camber and caster adjustments, something only found on a handful of stock 450cc models and most high-end aftermarket a-arms. The rear of the machine features a lightweight machined aluminum swing arm with a round housing style axle carrier making chain adjustments a breeze. The chassis even features an anti-vibe steering stem.
Piggyback reservoir equipped GPX shocks reside at both ends. The shocks feature preload, compression, and rebound adjustments and control 8 inches of wheel travel up front and 9 in the rear, offering class leading suspension travel and adjustability.
Hydraulic disc brakes front and rear slow the FXR125. The front brakes feature dual piston calipers and the rear end features a wave style rotor providing better cooling and better brake pad clean out. The rear brake is operated with a uniquely designed reverse facing foot pedal. The front brakes are operated using the right side, handlebar-mounted hand lever.
Like Pitster Pro’s pit bikes, the FXR comes with many race ready features. Lightweight aluminum rims are wrapped in Carlisle holeshot-style tires, 18×6-10 front and 18×6.5-8 rear. This wheel and tire setup has been very popular in motocross racing for years. A cross-country style aluminum front bumper, chassis skid plate, plus sprocket and rotor guards protect the chassis from trail obstacles. For additional safety and to make the machine race legal, the FXR even comes with nerf bars and a tether kill switch.
Body styling on the FXR125 is very similar to the Kawasaki KFX450R right down to the removable front and rear fenders. Its size is very comparable to the Raptor 125 and 250. Seat height is low at 29 inches and its claimed curb weight is extremely light at 244lbs! With an overall width of 45 inches and a wheelbase of 43 inches, the Pitster pro’s measurements look rock solid and stable.
The Test
For its first rides, we took our Pitster Pro FXR125 to Earlywine Indoor Motocross and a Private outdoor test track located in northern Kentucky. Our test crew consisted of riders and racers of various skill levels who could easily show the machine’s strengths and expose any weaknesses.
Flip the carburetor-mounted choke, kick the engine a few times, and it fires to life with a roar. The pitster comes with a spark arrested free flowing competition style exhaust, so you may have to be mindful of neighbors if you want to do some backyard riding in the city. The valves were a bit chattier than we are accustomed to, so we checked the valve clearances and everything looked good. After break in, we ran it mercilessly for a few hours with no valve train issues.
For a stock 125, the engine’s power is surprisingly good. Low-end torque was impressively strong which made take-offs, climbing big hills, and gear selection much easier. It seemed the larger the rider, the more they were impressed with the little 125’s low-end muscle. The FXR’s midrange and top end power continued to impress us. At Earlywine’s, our youth racers were screaming the engine along the wall section trying to clear a section of short, spaced out doubles. The power was even good enough that Chance Beverly became the first rider on a mini to jump the finish line double which is right out of a corner. While it may not beat a fully modded national TRX90 built to 125cc with $2500 worth of motor work, the FXR125’s engine feels pretty impressive!
Clutch pull isn’t the smoothest; however, its action is light enough. The close range four-speed transmission kept us upshifting quickly; however, unless we were trying to run at a race pace, the engine’s strong torque made downshifts less important. Shifting was pretty smooth and predictable in either direction, but not having first gear at the bottom of the shifting pattern took some getting used to.
On wide-open straights, we often found ourselves screaming the engine in fourth gear looking for fifth. The stock engine could easily pull a rear sprocket with two less teeth which would give the machine a bit more top speed and spread the ratios a bit.
Handling on the 125 is very stable. The machine can be whipped into turns with little consideration for approach speed. On flat ground the front wheels do a decent job of going where they’re pointed; however, we did notice some front-end push on highly banked turns unless our riders rode aggressively, steering with the rear wheels. The Pitster slides predictably tough turns, thanks to its good tire selection, stable width, and strong engine.
The a-arms were set up with full caster, which trades steering precision for high-speed stability. Taking caster out of the front end should only improve steering precision.
The FXR125’s GPX shocks are more than a match for the stock engine. It feels like the machine has a ton of travel at both ends (which it does). We backed off the compression damping on the front shocks a few clicks. We then added another inch of preload to the rear shock, increased its compression damping four clicks, and backed the rebound all the way out. Dialed in, both ends did a good job of resisting bottoming on our riders’ more daring leaps. Jordan Trimble was pounding the machine mercilessly through two and a half foot deep whoops in perfect control as the shocks gobbled up each impact. In spite of its big impact prowess, the shocks still allowed the machine to float over small bumps on the trail. Unlike many mini ATV’s, you could easily race with the FXR’s stock suspension.
In spite of bleeding the front brakes several times, we couldn’t get a real positive feeling out of them. They slowed the machine well, but felt soft. The rear brake offered good power, decent feel, and could lock the rear end up easily for brake slides.
The relationship between the seat and pegs is shorter than a full size sport machine. The relationship between the pegs and bars, however, felt comparable to a full size quad. This allowed the machine to fit a wide variety of rider sizes, but everyone agreed that the pegs felt a bit too far forward.
Some small details such as the grips, air box, and hand guards were nice. Others such as the cheap feeling levers, strange heel guard design, and less than perfect ergonomics left us feeling that the machine could use a bit of refinement. After two hard hours of testing, nothing has broken, although we have had to tighten a number of bolts that should have received Lock Tight at the factory.
Conclusion
Initial quality seems decent, and this is by far the best-made machine we have seen come out of a Chinese factory. If you are considering purchasing one, we would recommend making sure you are working with a reputable dealership who are willing to take the time to go through the machine and set it up. The Pitster Pro FXR125 offers a ton of performance for the money at $3,099 and is the only race-able 125cc four stoke machine on the market that we are aware of. Only time will tell if it is reliable–– but so far, so good!
Contact www.pitsterpro.com
Pitster P ro FXR125R Specifications
| Model: | FXR 125R Mini ATV |
| MSRP: | $ 3,399 |
| Bore and Stroke: | 54.5mm x 53mm |
| Carburetor: | 22mm |
| Clutch: | Five plate wet clutch |
| Compression Ratio: | 10.2 to 1 |
| Cooling: | Air Cooled W/ Oil Cooler |
| Engine: | Four stroke 125cc SOHC air cooled |
| Gearing: | 420/ 16T x 41T |
| Ignition: | Outer rotor w/ lighting coil |
| Starter: | kick starter |
| Transmission: | Close Ratio 4 Speed Manuel Clutch |
| Color: | White |
| Curb Weight: | 244 lbs |
| Frame: | Chromoly closed cradle |
| Fuel Capacity: | 3 L |
| Ground Clearance: | 8″ |
| Overall Length: | 60″ |
| Overall Width: | 45″ |
| Seat Height: | 29″ |
| Wheelbase: | 43″ |
| Front: | Dual Control Arm |
| Rear: | Long Travel with GPX DNM Piggy Back shock |
| Swingarm: | Alloy Pro Style |
| Travel: | 8″ front/ 9″ rear suspension travel |
| Front Tire: | 18x 6 – 10 |
| Front Wheel: | 10″ Aluminum |
| Rear Tire: | 18x 6.5 – 8 |
| Rear Wheel: | 8″ Aluminum |
| Front Brake: | Dual Piston Calipers |
| Rear Brake: | Axle mounted Wave Rotor |
| Rear Pedal: | Steel Cantilever |
| Dual Rate Shocks w/comp., rebound and preload adj.: | Standard |
| Hand Guards: | Standard |
| Taper Handle Bars 7061: | Standard |
| Air filter and Intake: | UNI or K&N |
| Big Bore Kits: | Available from Honda Trail Bikes and Takegawa |
| Clutch and Brake Levers: | ASV F:3 Seris folding levers |
| Custom Graphics: | Custom colors, Pre-printed Number Plates and Logo drop in |
| Exhaust: | Coming Soon |
2011 PItster Pro FXR125R
Summary: Initial quality seems decent, and this is by far the best-made machine we have seen come out of a Chinese factory. If you are considering purchasing one, we would recommend making sure you are working with a reputable dealership who are willing to take the time to go through the machine and set it up.
3.2
1 Year Test
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