I want a cheap 125 motorcycle, Chinese?

tbourner

citykid5 wrote: »

you should be able to pick up a tw125 for about £700,i'd go for that

I've searched for '125' on the net and found nothing for less than a grand that isn't 15 years old! Just had a look for TW125s in particular, there's one in the midlands somewhere for £995 and loads for £1200+. People are always saying you can get an old bike for a few hundred quid but I'm not seeing them anywhere!

King_Nothing wrote: »

How long you planning on keeping it? If it's for any length of time get a Japanese bike, if it's only for a short period... get a Japanese bike.

I see what you did there, . If you want an answer though, it'll be about a year, maybe less, certainly no more than 18 months.

scbk wrote: »

Go and have a look at some 2nd hand chinese bikes, I bet they will be 6months old and lost half their value, starting to rust, faded plastic etc

Can't find any second hand chinese bikes! Actually there are some, they look the same as any other second hand bikes but adverts are for similar prices as they are new so not much chance of selling them!

scbk wrote: »

If you buy a good quality 2nd hand bike at market value now, so long as you keep it in condition, in a years time it will be worth almost the same

Yeah I've heard that a lot as well. That's great if you've got £1500 to spend - if I did I'd be getting a 2007-2008 Yamaha YBR no question. But I don't have £1500. I barely have £500. So my choice is a 1980 CG125 with 30,000 miles on it or a brand new Chinese POS. It's undeniably a risk either way - also I have to consider wasting my time finding that CG125 in the first place.

alastairq

I had a CG 125 until last year...sort-of kept my hand in, so to speak, and could be 'got' into my back garden...

Circumstances meant I hardly actually used it, although it was nice to ride, even with my bulk on it. [amazing how many days I actually needed to use the car...Families, eh? Who'd have 'em?

Anyhow, put word around I wanted to sell...needed a new Mot....fella bit my hand off for it...Mot cost him one new tyre...turned out he'd bought a new Chinese 125 CG-copy, and had 'had' it for around 4 months.....thing had literally fallen apart around him....poor PDI for starters, rubbish warranty and customer service.....was currently doing the Trading Standards route....needed a bike...mine was the 'right' price [I paid £400 for it, including wet weather gear...]

http://hondacg125.awardspace.com/

the above is a good how-to-with-a-CG site....better than a manual.

NeverAgain_2

A mate of mine had a Chinese 125 as a learner and did OK with it.

He traded it in for a Jap 650 when he passed his test.

The dealer who sold him both bikes - well-established Honda agent in the North East - is a proper bike shop.

I know the owner and he wouldn't sell anything that was total rubbish - more trouble than it's worth.

I got the impression he'd found a couple of Chinese makes which were not too bad, although I don't know what they were.

Might be worth the OP finding out if any of the Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki dealers near him recommend any Chinese bikes.

gpc273

I agree with most of the posts so far, avoid them like the plague! Got my lad a scooter when he turned 16, it fell apart within 10 months, just took it too the dump.

tbourner

From searching online, seems the issues with them are build quality. By that I mean the fact they arrive in a box and the buyer has to put them together, usually badly. Everyone who's had one built by a trusted mechanic has had no issue or bits falling off. I wouldn't want a CG125 that was built by any old bloke either!

Rolandtheroadie

OP, buy one, you are going to make excuses for every problem or piece of advice anyone comes up with by the looks of it.

MCN done a group test on Chinese bikes in their January 5th issue, if you can get a hold of that, it may show you what ones to go with and what ones to avoid.

Get onto chinese bike forums, find the ones that dont fall to bits and have excellent spares avaliability. Go from there.

Flyboy152

s_b wrote: »

chinese bike initially cheap
but wait till you need new ling long part
and as bad ,these things have no value at move on time either ,(residuals)

A what?


......

Flyboy152

tbourner wrote: »

Looking for a very cheap 125 bike at the moment, people keep saying get a CG125 or a YBR125, but they're all £1000 or more. I've seen the odd CG for £600 - £700 but they're 20 years old and 30k miles on them!
So I see these adverts for Chinese bikes, Sanya and Sukida and other lesser known ones - £700 gets you a nice looking brand new commuter bike with 1 years warranty and no MOTs for 3 years - people still say I'd be better off on an old jap bike! I don't get it!!

Anyone on here any opinions or experience with Chinese bikes?

I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one of these self-build things.

asbokid

Flyboy152 wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one of these self-build things.

why not? the assembly of a cheap chinese motorcycle is more interesting than doing a royal wedding jigsaw or an airfix kit.

tbourner

asbokid wrote: »

why not? the assembly of a cheap chinese motorcycle is more interesting than doing a royal wedding jigsaw or an airfix kit.

To be honest I'd LOVE to build one myself from scratch, would be really interesting and much cheaper than my dream of building my own AC Cobra!
But, you didn't see the model HMS Victory I built a few years back, nobody should ever trust me to build them anything, so a £700 airfix kit 'for fun' is a bit silly for me at the moment!