Honda Varadero 125, restricted and fragile?

[truslack]

[Moxey]

^ Yeah they get good MPG but not that good (in fact the mpg isn't too great for a 4T 125 at 70-80ish).

They are good bikes for what they are I loved mine, compared to the YBR I had before it just felt like a bike I could go places on you know; take it touring in comfort , plenty of storage with topbox and underseat plus the fuel economy.

Only downside with mine was a Wire from the alt to the reg/rec melted and shorted out just a week before I sold it left me stranded in a town not far away luckily also began using a little oil and kicking blue smoke on start up (piston rings I reckon) this was at about 26k. (also previous owner had replaced the reg/rec a typical Honda fault apparently )

Personally the engine didn't ever feel 'great' not saying it wasn't mechanically fine by all means it was perfect I just never got the feeling of longevity from the engine always felt like it was getting thrashed to the limits with those two 62cc pistons flying up and down at 12,000 rpm to get 65 (depending on the incline ofc) as evoboy mentioned about the cam bearings it does seem like the little engines take a lot of hammer shifting 160ish kg of bike + rider around.

Still saying that if Alex B got 60,000 out of one then maybe with good maintenance and gentle throttle use they can last longer plus they do have good resale value only lost £100 on mine after a year of use.
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Current: 02 FZS 1000 Some Bike Pics...
'I was too busy paying attention to pay attention'

[DrDonnyBrago]

Aye, I've heard they do well on fuel, just not well enough that ragging it 2up can still make 120mpg.

[Fladdem]

on the day we bought it was the only day we were two up, we tested speeds that day too, i rode at 50-55mph to achieve that because there is no need to go any faster, in fact some trips out were at 30-35mph because my mates are on mopeds, although recently i have began just riding on my own there is an insane difference in fuel economy once you get away from 8,500 rpm. When i got 75 it was at about 11,500 on the long straight near deppers bridge, if anyone lives in the warwickshire area, you might know it. And fuel in warwickshire is really cheap compared to other places, still mostly about 1.28, was about 1.15 though last year on my moped.
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Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[Fladdem]

on an unrelated note, even since we bought it, i have noticed that when you twist the throttle there is about a 2 second lag between that and the engine doing something no matter what the temperature is. I have looked on the internets and no one else seems to have this i was just wondering what causes it and whether i should worry.
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Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[evoboy]

[Shaft]

[Taught2BCauti...]

The Varadero 125 is 'Restricted' in at least 5 ways:

1. There is a rubber bung in the airbox to restrict the flow of air.
2. The air filter itself is too small - but can be DIY replaced with a larger K&N.
3. Carb models are jetted differently for the front and rear cylinder - Fuel Injection models have different pulse widths for the front and rear injector.
4. The exhaust downpipes have restricter sections fitted internally to reduce the exhaust flow.
5. Fuel Injection models have a catalytic converter that further restricts airflow.

1 & 2 can easily be sorted without taking the bike too far over the bhp limit for learner riders - if all 5 items are sorted, you will possibly get between 22 and 25 bhp. anything more than that would require some serious machining of the cylinder heads, new valves, camshaft, etc.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Rogerborg]

Informative and bullshit, that's an usual combination.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Taught2BCauti...]

22 - 25 bhp can be achieved, but only on carb versions, once the jetting and airflow has been sorted. The factory setup has the rear cylinder running at about 75% full power.

18 - 20 bhp is probably more realistic for Injection models, as the injector pulse-width is controlled electronically, and there is no easy way of re-mapping the ecu. It is possible to tweak the signal from the Lambda Sensor, but this doesn't make much difference because the rear cylinder is still proportionally under-fuelled compared to the front.

Sounds crazy, I know - but just removing the intake bung in the airbox and modding the air filter makes a noticeable difference.

The front and rear exhaust headers are reduced to 22mm internally - apparently, Honda had to do these mods to reduce the output to 14.6 bhp for the learner market - it's not rocket science to remove them!

[Jefr0]

Are these prefered over the Honda XR125 and Honda City Fly?
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Rides: Honda XR 125 ('03) Honda CBR 600F ('91), Ducati 916 Biposto ('95)

[Shaft]

Can't imagine anyone is remotely interested but, just in case, I thought I'd update.

The need for a hack has become slightly more urgent, so I accepted I wasn't going to find something that really interested me and approached the guy about the Dero with a firm offer; he buggered me about a bit, then decided he didn't want to sell, so it was back to the drawing board.

The same night he decided to blow me out, I found pretty much exactly what I'd been after, on a well known auction site and, a couple of phone calls later, it's mine; still a Honda, still a twin, but nothing like a Varadero and it should be with me next week.

Fingers crossed it's all I'm expecting and a show n tell will be forthcoming, in due course
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Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[Fladdem]

honda shadow? is it still a 125? if not it could be anything.n I don't suppose it's an old cb125t is it?
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Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[Shaft]

I'll keep you in suspenders for a while, but not long, as it should be with me by the end of the week.

By way of a clue, having waved goodbye to my RD250, a bike I'd owned for 30 years, to help with jjdugen's project (see other thread in this section) I felt the need to relive my youth a little bit...........................
____________________
Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[Fladdem]

Ahh, i don't know. Give us another clue, 2 stroke? 4 stroke?
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Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[P.]

[Shaft]

[dgo1212]

[dcmilne]

[Rogerborg]

Yes, but can you get 60% more power out of it by fitting a K&N filter.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike