A guide to 50cc and 125cc bikes

[rsooty]

Due to lots of people coming on here and asking questions such as what is the best ‘X’ I have decided to use my time, and little knowledge, into giving you all an idea of what different bikes are like. I will start off some of the most common 50cc bikes. (Note: I am not including any scooters.) To see more information about the bike, click on the bikes name.

Remember all 50cc bikes are restricted to 30mph.
If anybody has experience of any 50cc or 125cc bikes please update/correct me. As I said, I have very limited knowledge.

Sports bikes 50cc

Aprilia RS 50

Smaller brother of the RS125 and RS250. Very popular 50cc bike. Approximate value is £2450 new.


Derbi GPR 50

Approximately £2000 new. Not such a popular bike but looks good from what I have seen.

Kawasaki AR50

£300 - £800 second hand. 7.9bhp at 9,000 rpm. Looks to be a nice cheap bike that seems to of stopped production in 1993 from what I can see.

Suzuki GSX-R 50

Another smaller version of the famous GSX-R. Approximately £1345 second hand. Pulls 5.2bhp at 7000rpm.

Yamaha TZR 50

Up to £2700 for a 2003 model. 8.3bhp at 7,500 rpm.

Rieju RS1 50

2001 sells between £500 - £1000. Apparently one of the fastest 50cc bikes on the market. 8bhp.

Gilera DNA 50

Although this is an automatic bike and probably classed as a scooter, it’s still not a bad bike. £1999 brand new.

[size=12]Off-Road Bikes 50cc[/size]

Aprilia RX 50

Very nice looking enduro bike, these will not get damaged so easily if you drop them and sell for £1300 new.


Derbi Senda 50

I have noticed a few people have mentioned these and with 8.4bhp on an enduro I can see why.


Gilera GSM 50

Not heard anybody mention this but it came up with a few results from google so I thought I would throw it up here. £1500 for a 2003 model which cannot be bad.


Yamaha DT 50

“The new DT - Thrill Your Senses. New machines mean new dreams as Yamaha’s world leading, super-stylish off-road technology comes to the 50cc class. Inspired by the storming YZ and WR machines, Yamaha’s off road range has been extended with the arrival of the new DT50 and the DT50 Supermotard.” Selling for £1250 for the 2003 model.




And now onto the 125cc bikes…(Usually restricted to 14.6bhp whilst riding with just a CBT)

Sports 125cc

Aprilia RS125

A very popular 2 stroke 125 sports replica. £3700 new. Top speed 74.6mph, which I am guessing is the restricted speed.


Aprilia Tuono

£3000 new. I’m led to believe that this is the naked version off the RS125. Not as popular as the RS at the moment but when I saw it in the dealership I must admit to being fooled into thinking it was a 400!


Cagiva Mito

34 bhp derestricted. Again one of the most popular 2 stroke sports 125 bikes and looking at the power output and the good looks of the bike I can see why! Also baby brother to Ducati so your getting a very reputable bike for your money. £4000 new that is.


Cagiva Planet

I think this is the naked version of the Mito yet less popular, people must like there fairing too much. But for £1450 for a 2000 model I personally would rather save money and not get any fairings.


Cagiva Raptor

If my memory serves correct this is the replacement for the Planet, both bikes are naked versions of the Mito. Another extremely good looking bike from Cagiva and well worth thinking about if you don’t mind spending £3700 for a new, 2 stroke, 125cc bike.


Honda NSR125

Designed from the 90’s NSR125F and then tinkered with to become the NSR125R. Possibly the most popular 125cc 2 stroke sports bike around. You only need to see what it looks like to realize why. £2700 for a 2003 model makes it cheaper then the Cagiva’s with great performance.


Honda CBR125

Late in 2003 Honda got fed up with the 2 stroke 125’s so replaced the NSR125 with this bike. With it being a 4 stroke it has less power then the 2 stroke sports but is instead far more reliable and easier to maintain. With a £2349 price tag at new they are the second highest selling bike of 2004. Unfortunately with just 13.6bhp they are not overly fast, but have built a reputation with some groups to have excellent cornering ability. Like marmite, you either hate ‘em or love ‘em.


Honda NS125

The start to 125cc sports bikes. Developed in the 80’s it was then replaced by the NSR in the early 90’s. Unfortunately I cannot find very much information on these as they are becoming rare.


Kawasaki Ar125

A sports bike made between 1978 – 1990’s, with the newest ones selling for approximately £600. I must admit that they are not the most beautiful motorcycles in the world but they are cheap.


Yamaha TZR125R

Brother to the TZR50. For a 1995 model you are looking to pay up to £1900.

Research has being carried out on the following websites – Bikez
AutoTrader
50cc motorcycles
MC News
motorbikes.be
Google
Bike pics
as well as information provided by other BCF members.

This is about as far as I have got so far, I will keep updating as and when I make suitable progress. The list of bikes which I need information on now are as follows:

Off-road 125cc
Honda MTX 125RW (Liquid cooled 2 stroke Trials bike)
XL125V (Big road trial bike with 4 stroke motor )
XR125L (4 Stroke Trials bike)
KMX 125 (2 Stroke Trials bike from the early 90s)
DR125 (little 125 4 Stroke Trials bike)
DT125R (Development of above)

Other 125cc
Honda Cg125 (The imfamous commuter bike)
CB125 Twin (Decent 80s Twin, powerful for 4 Stroke 125 (16hp in unrestricted models)
TS125 (2 Stroke 125 Trials)

[Sparks!]

Good guide But it's worth noting that KTM 50 is a competition bike - 99% certain you can't have them on the road!
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[rsooty]

Ok Yams... It will be removed next time I update it.

Sooty

[duelcoot]

rsooty, this has been very helpful i already had the derbi senda on my mind since the dealer is few miles from my house but when i pass my CBT in few weeks time "fingers crossed" i will need to look for the 50cc bikes . (i would rate you but well apperantly my karma is too low, thnx again karma.)

thnx in advance.
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[rsooty]

Thanks, glad to know it's helping. I've just updated it abit so I thought I should bump it. I know there are a few minor mistakes but if anyone notices something major please point it out in a PM.

Should be finished later this week but due to having my CBT tomorrow I won't be doing any work untill I run out of petrol.

Sooty

[The Tot]

Great help Sooty, nice 2 know you've got your CBR coming.
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[surfjunkie2k1]

A very good guide but i feel I had to point out that Rieju now have an RS2 which is an outstanding little 50cc
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[G]

Also, being pedantic, the bikes mentioned are not trials bikes. Trials bikes go up things, they are trail bikes, which go accross things.

Trials=Vertical
Trails=Horizontal

[ts50x0]

can you mention the suzuki ts50 please. my first bike. great fun and ultra reliable. its on 50cc-motorcycles.com under the offroad section.
cheers
sam

[rsooty]

Glad to know it's being helpful. And G - I asked to be corrected so thanks for that aswell.

Only problem is that I found out I go back to work on Sunday, which means no internet and I won't be able to finish this off.

If anybody would like to finish it off for me it would be very much appreciated?

Sooty

[badlydamaged]

As Rsooty is a busy chap, I will be giving him a hand with regard to this thread.
So far I have written a few summeries for 125 bikes, and have produced this chart of specifcations, again for 125 bikes (am about to start work on 50s chart). The 125 chart attached is very much a work in progress, with bits missing, data in different units and sections to be added. The idea was that it would be usefull for people interested in 125s to compare the different bikes on offer.

I have tried to include every 125 from the last 25 or so years, but Im sure I missed a few out, and again im sure some of the data is slighly incorrect or varied from year to year (different sources say different things for the same bike in some cases). So if you spot an error, please tell me and it will be ammended.

I am currently struggling with a few bits of data for the table which I would appreciate any imformation on.

Any data where "?" is included means I am not sure if the data is correct, or can't find any data for that machine. If you know the correct specification please reply with it or PM me, it would be much appreciated .

Also, what other fields would be worth including? I was thinking about derestricted top speeds for bikes which that would apply to, but it's a lot harder to find reliable top speeds than it is power outputs. However I could always add a rough estimate of the derestricted top speed if you guys feel this is worth it. I am also planning on adding a prices field, including used prices and new prices for bikes which are currently on sale.

Any thoughts would be appreciated also, still to come is the table on 50ccs and those summeries as well as some tables Rsooty has been workign on .
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[askew]

Really nice article, top stuff. I was sadend by the lack of Tw125 mentionings though hehe. Seriously though, I denfinatly learnt something from this article, which is what counts
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[Dru2000d]

can you add the Suzuki RG125 aswell please?

[speeddevil]

not trying to be piccy but the new derbi gpr 50 2007 raceing modle is more expensive about £2500 plus there is also the nude version but other then that good guide

[G]

That's not surprising as I expect he was referring to the 04 model, as that was when the post was made .

[rsooty]

Geeze... I was just looking through the forum and saw a thread with my name as the poster and couldnt even remember doing it...
Its amazing which posts come back. I wrote that while I was on 6 months sick leave as I had nothing better to do. Well, since it has arose again I hope it helps people again.

Just remember, all the details are from 2004 so don't start picking up pricing faults etc.

Sooty