any recommendations for a 125cc bike

ian103

starting to have motorbike lessons and i have come to the conclusion that as i have never ridden before it would be sensible to get a 125 bike for 12 months or so even though i will do the DAS test. can anybody recommend or suggest bikes to avoid?

Honeydog

Depends how tall you are.

ian103

i'm 5'8, i like the look of the varadaro but too expensive really

pendulum

Honda CG125 was my choice.
Perfect to get experience on; nice reliable bike.
I'm selling mine for ~£600ono but you're probably too far away.

Avoid Chinese, too many people have fallen for the lure and regretted a Chinese bike, I spoke to someone on the phone today who had done just that and Forums are full of Chinese horror stories.

ian103

i wish there was an option of a 2nd hand 125cc bikes at circa £600 near where i live, the one training school was suggesting a kymco bike but the price looks too good to be true so i'll avoid, i think it will end up being a nearly new honda / yamaha, guessing the CG is now the CBF

benham3160

My recommendation is to do it!

CG125 is always a solid purchase, I bought an NSR125, which whilst it's abosolutely hirrarious and delivers the speed (to a point) of some small "proper" bikes it dreadful on fuel (worse than my car) and it's incredibly fussy.

Some of the Chinese/Twaiwanese stuff is meant to be good too, Wuyang I believe is now owned by Honda.

Regards,
Andy

pendulum

If your doing the DAS I can't see you sticking to a 125cc for long... so in my opinion, not worth spending the cash on a nearly new bike... you'll just end up losing money in depreciation.

Relevant read?: http://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=184673

With an older 125cc you can just buy it, use it, and sell it for what you paid.

I travelled 160 miles to collect my CG125, and 160 miles back again. Sometimes you've got to travel!

ian103

thats my problem the cg or cbf seem to be solid bikes if a lttle boring looking, i have seen a cbr which looks a lot more 'sporty' and wonder if it would be a better buy to shift on when i decide that a bigger bike is in order. i don't want to buy a bike that will be difficult to shift on later.

Trebor16

The CG125 has been replaced and I believe the closest to it in the current Honda range is the CBF125.

As has been said before, ignore the Chinese bikes. A local dealer sells them and the service requirements are ludicrous. They need servicing far more frequently than Japanese bikes and if you are doing 4000 miles in a year they will need in the region of 3 to 4 services.

Others to think about are Yamaha YBR125's or the older SR125. Suzuki make the Van Van 125, DR125 and the Maurauder 125 but I donb;t know much about them. I'm not sure if Kawasaki have anything in the 125 range,

forgotmyname

Mate had a kymco, Failed the 1st MOT because of silly things, Very very low mileage and hardly used. Tyres were cracking, Lights not correct etc.

Depends if you want a proper geared bike or a twist & go scooter.

I went for a scooter and it was brilliant. Traffic? what traffic?

david29dpo

Just bought a Vepsa PX125 (passed my CBT yesterday!!) Virtually deprecation proof.