The 2025 Husky TC125 got its fair share of bumps and bruises with Bode riding it. Luckily, no bones were broken throughout this test, just levers.

By Shawn & Bode Bushnell

At Motocross Action Magazine, we make it a priority to thoroughly test the fleet of bikes locked away in Jody’s barn by racing and riding them in all conditions. Our aim is to emulate real-world ownership with longer-term durability tests. This allows us to give you, the reader, better and more detailed information on how each brand ages. This month we are diving into our 2025 Husqvarna TC125 two-stroke as a long-term “living with” test with one of our younger test riders who is just transitioning from an 85cc to the full-sized 125cc bikes. 

Motocross racing, and dirt bike riding in general, has a long history of being a family sport—from camping out to going riding to traveling for races and riding together as a family. Manufacturers make bikes to fit every size and skill level of rider, and most racetracks or clubs offer a full menu of classes, opening the door for everyone to compete. This is the reality of the Bushnell household. 

Both my sons, my wife, and I all ride and race. We have raised our boys at the track on the weekends, camping and rolling in the dirt since they were in utero. Our youngest son, Bode, grew seemingly overnight into a full-size bike and was bequeathed the family’s 2022 TC125 that his older brother Jet had been riding for 18 months. So, when MXA’s Josh Mosiman suggested that Bode should ride MXA’s 2025 TC125 for a couple of races, it was difficult for him to refuse. But as all young grasshoppers must learn, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Bode’s homework assignment was to write about his time with the 2025 Husqvarna TC125, and here’s what he had to say:

Bode Bushnell: “Hi, I’m Bode. I am 15 years old. At the beginning of the year I inherited my brother’s old TC125 with 300 hours on it. Like most people, I wanted a brand-new bike, but we already had a filthy 125 in the garage, and yep, that’s what I was fortunate enough to get. All kidding aside, I was happy to have a bike that worked great and fit me. Not to mention, I had confidence in the bike from watching my dad shred the old warhorse and holeshot against 450s. Plus, my older brother Jet finished fifth overall in the Ironman class at the 3Bros 24-Hour Glen Helen Endurance race on the same bike. Now, it was my turn to bring honor to the family. 

“When we showed up at Saturday Motocross at Glen Helen, Josh Mosiman surprised me with the 2025 Husqvarna TC125 to race for the day, and I was stoked. After the races I replaced the broken clutch lever, washed the mud off and took the bike back to Josh’s van where he asked me to compare the 2025 to my 2022 TC125.  

“I liked the fuel-injected and electric-power-valve-equipped 2025 bike better because it felt gruntier in the bottom-end power. I really liked the electric-start button, because it felt cool to start it without kicking it. A lot of the older test riders preferred the older 2022 because of the carburetor and better top-end power. I did notice on the new digital TC125 that the power goes flat in the higher rpm, but I don’t mind. This thing rips for me! I just came off of a Husky TC85 big wheel, and I was instantly comfortable and felt amazing on the bike. Little did I know, Josh planned to have me ride a few races on it and see how it held up with a teenage pilot.

“Over the last couple of months, I have raced many motocross and Grand prix off-road races on it. I have traveled to a couple of different states and ridden hard-pack dirt, bottomless sand pits, whoops, trails, hill-climbs, mud bogs, in snow in the mountains, and all the Southern California racetracks. During the 40 hours I have ridden the 2025 TC125, I was tasked with keeping track of maintenance, parts changed or broken, and basic things that a teenager can handle. 

“The good news is, the bike has proven to be incredibly durable, especially when I stay on two wheels. The bike has only required basic maintenance, such as air filter service, oil changes, replacing worn tires and refilling the gas tank. The bad news is that the levers seem to have a design flaw when combined with my cornering technique. My parents say I need to just stop falling down, but what do they know? Oh, and the pipe bends, kinks, then melts a hole in the radiator hose when cartwheeled around Glen Helen’s famous Talladega first turn in fourth gear. My bad!

“A throttle cable and a few sets of new grips later, I realized the hour meter was reading 40 (still younger than my parents), and the TC125 only needed a new chain and sprockets. The clutch functions like new and still measures within spec. The compression is strong, and the engine runs great! I know this because we tested our standard 2025 TC125 head-to-head against a twin 2025 TC125 with the new Factory Performance kit installed. It’s past my bedtime now, so I’ll let my dad finish the article.”

We put 40 hours on our stock TC125, and then we got a modified TC125 with the “Husqvarna Performance kit” to compare it with.

Shawn Bushnell: The Factory Performance kit is available for purchase from the Husqvarna/KTM/GasGas technical accessories catalog. The kit includes a specially ported cylinder, reshaped combustion chamber, special spark plug, new piston, stiffer clutch spring, FMF exhaust system and updated ECU mapping. All this is “designed to get the best performance from the motorcycle.” Aesthetically, the only discernible difference between the stocker and the Factory Performance TC125 was the FMF pipe and silencer, which, if we are honest, is a buzzkill considering that the Performance kit costs $1699.99, and it doesn’t even come with a factory services sticker or engraving on the cylinder to indicate it’s modified. From the outside, the engine looks identical to the stocker, and unfortunately, it ran that way, too.  

The 2025 Husqvarna TC125 is very electric. It is electronically fuel-injected, it has an electronic power valve and an electric starter.

For our testing, we went to three different tracks. One was a tight, rutted and technical track (as you can see Bode and his bike ended upside down in a rutted corner). Another was a natural rolling grass track with mixed dirt—from deep sand to hard-pack. But, our ultimate testing ground is Glen Helen, with its decomposed granite, varying surface traction, massive hills, huge assortment of different terrain to choose from, and a wide range of riders making bumps of all shapes and sizes. Glen Helen acts as a very thorough dirt dyno for the entire motorcycle.

If you thought the Factory Performance kit would be a landslide improvement over a standard showroom bike, you might be as surprised as we were. Initially, our test riders were confused and doubting their testing abilities as we circulated the track on the first day. The twin TC125s were actually twins. On the tight, technical, rutted track, we could not feel a difference between the modified bike and the standard bike, but we didn’t give up. All our test riders agreed we needed to test at a different track to get some load on the engine and get up higher in the gearbox to see some higher speeds.

The lowered suspension of the TC125 (one inch lower than KTM/GasGas) makes it a perfect transition bike for young riders moving up to big bikes.

Track two was a grass track with long lap times and rolling hills, allowing us to open up the twins. We decided to line up test riders back to back, each riding one lap before switching bikes. We switched and ripped, switched and ripped, and switched and ripped over and over again. Sometimes testing just becomes fun, and when that happens, we enjoy the moment and ride extra hard. After all, that’s the reason we have these contraptions. Finally, we stopped, grunted and drew pictures in the dirt like cavemen. What was happening? The full Factory Performance mod kit was supposed to be head and shoulders better, but the only difference we could agree on was the sound of the FMF pipe being excellent. 

Day three at Glen Helen with two current pro riders, a vet pro and a vet novice rider confirmed our testing. There was hardly a difference between the stock bike and the mod bike.

The modern FMF two-stroke silencers look like four-stroke cans nowadays.

Fuel-injection makes a two-stroke easier to ride, but also more expensive and complicated to work on.

Some of the best-known engine builders and performance tuners in the industry are reluctant to offer modifications for the new-generation, fuel-injected 125 motorcycles, as they are a bit of a locked box at this time with the new technology. The ECU-dependent fuel injection and exhaust-valve port timing limit the performance gains that engine builders and tuners have at their disposal with traditional, analog, carbureted two-strokes. A rider doesn’t get the option to fiddle with jetting, exhaust-valve spring tension and all the other little tricks of the trade when the ECU is the master of the universe inside of the combustion chamber. 

So, with 40 hours on our 2025 Husqvarna TC125, what have we learned? First, they are great motorcycles. They are excellent for a kid growing out of the mini-bike ranks. The little maintenance that they do require is inexpensive and simple enough that a teenager or inexperienced person with some basic tools can learn to do it. Faster and more experienced riders can have a blast and still go really fast on them. Second, the new-era 125s are very capable machines, but are limited at this time with respect to effective engine performance mods. If you are looking to buy a 125 and modify it, you might be more satisfied with an older carbureted platform. Third, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to be worried about the longevity or dependability of the 2025 Husqvarna TC125. And this means, by extension, the KTM 125SX and the GasGas MC125. 

At 15 years old, 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 115 pounds, Bode fits the 125 perfectly. He’s too tall for a Supermini, but not quite ready for a 250F.

Our young test rider has had an excellent experience with this bike and now realizes the limitations of having the newest technology compared to the older technology. If he wants a modified 125, it’s in with the old and out with the new—for now.