My 25 mile 125 commute anyone else on a 125 commute further?

[alex965]

Greetings.

After a few days of using my gz125 to commute the 50+ mile round trip to uni and back I thought I would ask everyone else about their experiences commuting (relatively) long distance on a 125. Anyone had a funny experiences on the way? And do you choose to do it or is it for financial/licence restrictions that you using a 125. (Personally it's licence, although I'm getting through the bike tests fairly quickly atm )

I'm also intrigued to find out if anyone else commutes even further than me and on what bike?

I was going to put this in "general bike chat" but I chose this section (hopefully correctly) as I thought it would be useful to new bikers starting out on 125's or considering them for commuters.
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Passed A2 licence 19th Dec '14.

[Screw Loose]

I don't think 25 miles on a 125 is too big of a journey, three days a week I have to do 27 miles on a 50cc (due to only being 16), just enjoy it, keep your bike in good nick, treat it well, and it will be perfectly fine. Plus, your bike can filter, so no worries about traffic.

Regards, Veho

[Muscle Bike Rider]

Used to do 135 miles a week commuting + up to a 100 miles on the week end socialising on my 125, no problems just service it regular and keep on top of lubing and adjusting your chain, 125's are capable of a lot more with a bit of care and attention. Learn to ride it well and it helps a lot with the step up to a bigger bike.
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Previously Known As A5tra_G
Old Bikes :2010 Kawasaki ER6 F & 2000 Honda VTR Firestorm
Current Bike : XJR1300

[blurredman]

Currently using my 125 for the 15 mile each way through cardiff to the Valley's for the last few occasions of my university course.

25 miles isn't alot on a 125. Look at the mileometre, it's gone that far. Mine just ticked over 27k. And for the two years i've had it, i've never ever had to touch it, and it has never ever let me down- always ticks over nicely.

I'm only currently using my CG125 instead of my GPZ500 for these few small journies because it's always been reliable, and the ease of kick starting it just makes something even more usable. GPZ5 battery is dead and i've yet to get around to purchasing a new one. I would bump start it, and indeed it is an absolute doddle to do that on a bike which is warm, but when cold and with no hill it's quite difficult. And I don't need that hassle when I need to get to exams...
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 51k.

[alex965]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies, made for good reading. I have had the bike over a year although I was previously using it five days a week for an 8 mile round trip to sixth form and back. Taken it on long journeys before though and it's handled fine so I have every faith in it.

Will hopefully be upgrading to something like a gpz500 in the net couple of months *fingers crossed*- mainly because the marauder hates dual carriageways and n/s roads
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Passed A2 licence 19th Dec '14.

[Going]

Used to do about 80miles round trip 5/6 days a week

Wasn't to bad unless I was in a hurry, Very windy or snowy days (Caught out about 4 times)

Main reasons for doing it. Money, money, money and the feel good factor of not sitting in miles of queues

[gsmunn]

I have a 50mile round trip 5 days a week to work, love it, much more fun than the train.

As for funny stories? None really, But I do like the advantage of bike filtering. Got over taken when I was coming off a roundabout by a dude in a black sports like car, and he had to merge back in quickly infront of me due to it being a blind corner. Felt really nice when I filtered past him 5 minutes later at traffic lights. I even gave him a wave.

[heyXalan]

90 miles round trip from Scarborough to Hull for work Only done it once on my bike so far and it wasn't terrible but really made me want to get a bigger bike once I have to do it every day.

On my way home, I got behind a truck with a skip on the back. I don;t know what was in the skip, but judging by the stink it was some sort of rotting carcasses from one of the farms. It was the worst stink I have ever known! Due to a lack of power, a lot of hills and single carriageway roads I was stuck behind it for a bout 20 miles! I got home and threw up!
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Current bike: '56 Yamaha YBR125

[N cee thirty]

used to do 60 mile round trip 5 days a week on my cg,then it broke for good after a month,lol.
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[alex965]

I love the filtering too. I was in the town centre the other day and was sat at the lights next to an R6. Obviously he smoked me by miles without even trying. But five minutes later he looked horrified when I filtered straight past him through a gap he couldn't get his bike through Although given the choice I know what I'd rather be commuting on, even if it took longer.
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Passed A2 licence 19th Dec '14.

[Sako]

used to do 80 miles per day 6 days a week on my old 600 SRAD, only use the bike for weekend sunny fun runs now...and n longer have the SRAD.

[bhinso]

Where are you at uni? I used to ride to work and back on my KMX125 which was an 80 mile round trip.
Might be going back down that route too, my car has just conked out

[Taught2BCauti...]

I used to commute 40 miles each way between Cradley and Warwick. In the car, it was M5, M42, M40 and about 40 minutes, but on the bike, it was a pleasant mix of narrow country lanes, fast dual-carriageway, villages and town centres, 12 roundabouts, 10 sets of traffic lights, assorted T junctions and crossroads - but still less than 1 hour!

One morning when the M5 / M42 was closed, I managed to arrive in Warwick town centre well ahead of a Subaru WRX that had been playing tag with me since M5 J4. He would go screaming past me on the straights but I would catch him up on the bends and filter past him in traffic. Sweet.
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Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[alex965]

Bhinso I'm at Northampton mate. And 80 miles gets alot of man points in my books.
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Passed A2 licence 19th Dec '14.

[JoeDougieDoug...]

The most i've had to commute on my 125 is 75 mile round trip, 3 times a week for 3 months. My CBF kept up, no problem!
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CBT Passed - 22 / 10 / 11 >> Theory Passed - 16 / 02 / 2012 >> Mod 1 Passed - 07 / 03 / 2012 >> Mod 2 Passed - 18 / 05 / 2012.

[bhinso]

Alex, yeah it was tough compared to a car, but it was nice when i got to the city (Lincoln) end and I could just filter down the side of all the queues.

And yeah my family all live near Northampton, im considering taking the bike down on Thursday since my car's kaput, but one thing my KMX isn't good at is dual carriageways and most of it is down the A1

[6strings2whee...]

I used to ride down to Weston supermare and back (130 mile round trip) on a regular basis along the A38, some of the hills where murder on my little YBR125, but it was much more comfortable then I'd anticipated.
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Past: YBR125 - RS125
Present: Bandit 600
Future: Harley Davidson Iron 883