ur base platform for this build was a 2003 Suzuki RM125 two-stroke that we essentially resurrected from the grave. It was a Craigslist find, and our bike builder, Scott Adkins of Pro SX MX Tech, was pretty upset when I brought the bike in for him to check out. (“That thing’s junk, take it back!” were the first words he uttered.) After some convincing, he finally decided to take it on. That was May of 2018. During the course of an entire year, Scott and his student Matt Goodbred slowly worked on tearing the bike apart, determining what was usable, and getting a parts list ready for the build.

Almost everything needed to be replaced—our list of OEM-ordered parts would need another magazine’s worth of space. But we started out with a Wrench Rabbit complete top and bottom end rebuild kit to bring the power plant back to life. We wanted more stopping force, so we mounted a Ride Engineering direct route front brake line and billet front brake caliper, and SGB Racing tricked out our suspension and set it up for our rider, Travis Pastrana. The exhaust was something I had set in stone before the build started: I wanted a cone pipe, and nothing else would compare, so we chose an Italian Scalvini pipe with carbon silencer for the ultimate factory look. The graphics were going to be retro, almost like the 1992 Suzuki RM line, but with our own flair, and designer Mike Fisher and DeCal Works knocked it out of the park.

The real trickery was what Adkins and his students did. There were a lot of things on this bike that just had a factory and exotic feel. The entire frame, subframe, motor, and engine cases were all Cerakoted. We chose a stone gray color for the frame and swingarm and a beautiful bronze for the engine, hubs, and accent pieces. We removed the rear brake reservoir and remounted up a 2019 Honda CRF250R master cylinder. The transmission was polished, and a complete Polisport Re-Style Kit was added for extra pizazz.

Now the test, and who better than 2000 125cc National Champion Pastrana? We headed to Maryland and let him make this thing scream. “The top was amazing—that thing would rev to the moon,” Travis reported. “Being back on a 125, you forget how light and nimble that is. You can really get through stuff, and it felt awesome on the braking bumps and it was really good sliding in the corners and kind of seat bouncing off the jumps.”

The suspension? “Despite the conditions being somewhat muddy today, this was definitely one of the best suspension setups I’ve ever had.” That’s quite a statement from a former factory racer.

Now, could we get him to flip it? Of course we could!

“I haven’t really ever backflipped a 125,” Travis said. “My 125 days were before backflips really came in, and it didn’t have the same power to spin it around like the 250s have down low. I was able to get some in, though, and it felt like I was on my mountain bike, man. It just feels so nimble.”

Thanks to all our partners and helpers on this build—it’s officially Travis-approved! Check out the full video on Racer X Online.