Do you have a 125cc scooter and do not know how to get more performance out of it? In this article, we are going to explain how to increase the power of your 125cc motorcycle that you want so much in your 4-stroke scooter.
First of all, you must know the legal framework and regulations in your country so that this does not affect emissions levels or limit your driving licence. In the case of Spain, you should know that a person with a B licence (with 3 years of experience) or an A1 licence is limited to riding a motorcycle of up to 125cc and 11kW, which translates into 15hp, with a power-to-weight ratio of 0.1 kW/kg.
3 Ways to increase the power of your 125cc scooter
There are different ways to improve the performance of a 4-stroke 125cc motorcycle. The most common would be to increase the engine capacity of the motorcycle by changing the cylinder, piston and cylinder head, but, in addition to being an expensive modification, we would be outside the law.
Therefore, we are going to stick to those modifications that comply with current regulations and that do not pose a problem for you, your insurance company or other road users.
Changing the exhaust pipe
It is one of the most common modifications you can find, and also one of the simplest. It is true that, in terms of performance, on a 4-stroke scooter we will gain between 1hp and 2hp.
This modification is more commonly done for aesthetics and sound than for performance, but if you are looking to slightly increase the motorcycle’s performance without touching anything mechanically and also give your scooter a different look, this is your option.
We recommend that, before buying a new exhaust for your motorcycle, you take emissions and traffic regulations into account, as our new exhaust must be approved.
Changing your motorcycle’s variator
The variator is the part that connects the force generated by our engine with the transmission system. This is the point where most scooters waste the greatest amount of power, as all the engine torque generated by our scooter’s engine is not usually fully used.
It is one of the most recommended modifications if what you are looking for is to make use of all the power generated by your engine, as we will manage to send it to our rear wheel through the belt.
It should be noted that with a performance variator we will not be able to increase the horsepower of the motorcycle, but we will modify the power curve and ensure that all the scooter’s horsepower reaches our wheel. Therefore, we can say that we will gain around 2hp (depending on the model) while complying with all regulations, since we are not modifying the engine power.
One of the advantages of installing a performance variator on our scooter is that we can modify the performance according to our needs. In other words, if we ride more urban routes where what we want is more acceleration, we can equip the variator with lighter weights so that it revs higher and delivers more force at low speeds. If, on the other hand, we ride more on motorways or interurban roads, we can install heavier weights in our variator to achieve a higher top speed.
It is always recommended to adjust the weights of our variator by no more than 1 gram so that the operation of our motorcycle does not change drastically.
Changing the motorcycle’s electronics
If what you want is to increase the motorcycle’s power to your liking and directly modify our scooter’s engine map and injection, this is your modification. We could say that it is the equivalent of changing the carburettor, but for an injection motorcycle.
You have to be very careful, as it is possible that, by modifying the injection and the engine map, the emissions generated by the engine will be higher and we will not comply with environmental regulations. In addition, it may compromise the integrity of our engine due to a use for which it was not manufactured.
Conclusion
We recommend that you carefully assess your case and needs before making any modification and, above all, that you purchase high-quality components with European approval.
In this way, we ensure that, even if we increase the power of our 4-stroke 125cc scooter, we will not have reliability problems and our motorcycle will last longer.
We hope this article has been of interest to you and that you have been able to learn how to increase the power of your 125cc motorcycle.
At JCosta, we are specialists in performance components for scooters, always ensuring proper operation and the integrity of your vehicle. If you are looking to boost your scooter, visit our store and find all the highest-quality components for your model at the best price.