CG Kickstart?

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Hi everyone, newbie here.

I have yet to get my first bike, and following advice on these boards am going for either a SR125 or a CG125 in the next couple of months (on the basis that I reckon second hand bikes will be cheaper during the poorer weather)

Since I am pretty clumsy and bound to crash it a few times I will be going for an older (ie cheaper) model.

I know the SR has an electric starter button 'coz that's what I did my CBT on, but am I right in thinking that the older CGs don't?

Any CG owners: is it a pain in the arse having to kickstart the bike? Are there any problems in the cold or wet with getting them to start?

Any opinions on which is the better bike? I am 5'11" and have a healthy layer of meat and gravy on my bones, but only intend to have the bike for a few months until I do my DAS.

Cheers for any help!

[Kickstart]

Hi

Think the CG is probably marginally bigger.

Not that I have had a bike with a kick start in many years, but I never had problems starting them.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[iCraig]

Well the only ting thats annoying about the CG is when you stall it, you can't just thumb the starter and ride off, you got to slip it into neutral and try and kick the bugger over!

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[iCraig]

Nah, it just saves the need to hold the clutch in whilst trying to kick it over, otherwise it would just lurch forward if you didn't have it neutal or have the clutch in.

CG's are good little bikes, they last forever too.

[Gazdaman]

My bike has a kickstart only. Once you get the hang of how to start it, a CG will start first kick every kick. My MZ has the kickstart on the left hand side, so I have to be off the bike kicking it with my right foot.

The convenience of thumbing a starter if/when you stall is great. I've stalled once on the road, you end up waddling to the side of the road to kick it over again.

Electric start is nice, but no-where near essential.

The newer CGs have electric starts aswell.

Gaz

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[Nath]

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Go on then, I'll trust you!

Looks like the winner will be whichever bike is the cheapest on eBay when I start looking properly.

Ta for the help.

[mchaggis]

I did my cbt on an SR125, and found it hideously uncomfortable, I kept sliding forward into the tank and found my trousers riding up into my groin. (6'0") Having ridden my mum's (main bearing probably broken atm) CG125, it's much more comfortable, and the kickstart's easy if the bike's running fine. You might stall it doing CBT, but give it practise and you'll hardly ever stall unless you get a false neutral or something. If it's cold, you just need a bit of choke for a couple of minutes. If the bike is in good condition, without clogged carbs or anything, it should start as easily with a kick as with a leccy start.

[pipnet11]

Kickstarts are no problem. My GS125 is kickstart only and 99.9% of the time its fine. even if it wont start the bikes so light its incredibly easy to puch start by yourself.

Dont know about the CG but there is nothing on the GS that stops you starting it in first, when the engines hot this will almost always work fine, only problem is when its cold and you get clutch drag which makes it slightly harder (and youve got to hold the clutch in while doing it)

I wouldnt be put off by the fact that it hasnt got electric start, from all iv heard the CGs are just as good/reliable as my GS which has been going for 20 years and covered just under 50,000 miles, the only problem being the cam chain which was relatively easy to fix

Phill
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I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[mrchips]

All my bikes have had kick starts. They are a pain in the 455 when you got wet boots and keep sliding off the kick start, but in the dry they are spot on.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[Gazdaman]

I wouldn't be worried about stalling a bike, I've had my bike for about a week now, covered about 200 miles. I've stalled it once. And it's stopped 2 other times from me forgetting to turn the petrol on.

I wouldn't let it not having an electric start affect your decision. I've prefer a cg to a gs, a cg is slightly bigger aswell.

Gaz

[Liono]

On my CBT I kept stalling the bike all the time and having to kick start it again. However, now that I have my own (electric start) bike I have only stalled it a couple of times, I'm sure that most people are the same. I have been having trouble getting my bike started recently though and I'm glad that I only have to keep pushing the starter button to try and get the bike going rather than kicking it over for five minutes. If I were you I would decide based on whatever else you are looking for in a bike and if you get an electric start it would just be a bonus.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[JodieWodie]

My bike is a CG...a new one...
no kickstart
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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Sadly I am to poor to buy a new bike (unless you fancy organising a whip round ) so it would have to be the older one without the starter button.

Sigh... why was I born so lazy...

[JodieWodie]

[Nath]

How much money are you looking to spend? I payed £700 for my electric start CG. Couple of bad bits, but no scratches or dents, so i should probably get all my money back when i sell it.


Having gone on about lack of stalling, i went out today and let the engine die on several occasions... Of about 105 miles though, over half were in the wet. Also, one occasion was due to being followed by a police car, which scared me a bit. And pulling away on hills was also the cause of a one or two. The trick is to just not care what some dumb cager behind you thinks
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[Gazdaman]

maybe you should search for the thread entitled "eastern block 2 strokes"

My MZ 125 was £200 and is almost the perfect first bike. I'm not worried about dropping it as much as I would be with a spanking new rs125. cheap as anything to run, cheap to insure and it's quite nippy aswell.

Gaz

[Nath]

The bad bits were that it was almost ready for an MOT and tax, had high milage(16k in 3yrs) and it needed a new chain. Once we got it home, we found that it wants a new front sprocket, and that the engine has been a bit mistreated with reguards to oil changes.

The chain and sprocket are no problems - less than £20 via mailorder. Shouldn't have any problems with its MOT, and tax is £15.

The engine should be fine. There's full service history for the bike, but all this shows is that the previous owner's taken the piss with maintenance. 7000 miles between oil changes(except for first 1000). This is shockingly bad, but it's a CG125 so no real damage done - Might just "lose" the service record book before i sell it though.


For a 3yr old bike, with one previous owner, and excellent paintwork/chrome, i reckon i got a good deal. It's a pity that the engine's had it rough, but some people are like that My preference would have been a slightly cheaper bike, that's a bit older, but this one should hold it's value so i'm happy enough.

I got it out the local paper, which is deffinately the best place to look for a cheap 125. My dad came with me, and has helped me check it over, otherwise i'd have been a bit lost.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[pipnet11]

Your worried about it doing 16,000 miles?? My GS is now at 50,042.1 miles and still happy. Just because they have done a large amount of miles doesnt mean they are nackered (though i do admit it is quite likely). It cost me 50 quid and needed MOT/tax chain and sprokets, tyres, oil and filter, and the carb cleaning out. I was on the road within 2 weeks and as it was cheap as hell, I felt no guilt about sitting at 65mph, 8,500rpm sounding like its going to explode for mile after mile.

It also meant that when the inevitable happened and I dropped it a couple of times as all learners do it wasnt knocking £££ off the value. So when I come to sell it and get £150 ish for it iv had a learner bike for pretty much sod all, marvelous.

That said I do see the reason people dont do this. Time being the obvious one, and that reliability on a newer/lower milage bike is much more likely, but if you have the time bikes can be got VERY cheaply.

Phill
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I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves