R125 or KTM Duke

[Ballpien]

Hi, having passed my CBT and theory last week I am now on the look out for a 125 to put in to practice the things I learnt from the CBT. I'm nearly 40 and before the CBT I hadn't ridden a motorcycle at all. I'm looking for something fairly easy to ride but also something that's going to get me wanting to get home from work and go for 'a poodle'.

TBH the feeling I got from riding the Honda CG I did the CBT on would do that but I fancy something a bit more substantial looking than a CBF/CG/YBF even if I am only limited to a 125 for the foreseeable. ATM I've narrowed it down to either a Yamaha YZF R125 or a KTM Duke 125. I like the thought of a sports style bike but appreciate that the Duke may be easier to handle for a n00b.

My reason for posting is to ask any of the members whether they currently have or had any experience of either bike and whether there are any 'nasties' I should be aware of on either bike?

I don't know anything about MCN or their loyalty towards any particular brand of motorcycle but in a review of the KTM they did say that it was the "new king of the 125's". I think the KTM looks nice but a user review on YT showed up some fairly poor build quality - are all KTM's like this?

Any help or advice about which bike would suit me best would be appreciated

[c_dug]

I've not owned or ridden either so take this as you will. I have heard bad things about both bikes, it seems to me that the KTM's have problems with quality control so little things like the clocks or the fuel injection play up. With the Yamaha I have heard of engine failures, although I can't say I've read anything first hand about it, it seems to be people who have heard of people who's top end chewed itself.

I think my head would choose the Yamaha but my heart would want the KTM.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[-Matt-]

At your age i'd consider saving the money youre going to spent on a nice 125 and putting it towards a DAS/bigger bike to be honest, but if you do want to go with the 125 route, i'd definately go with the R125.

Haven't owned or ridden the KTM in question but have read a fair bit lately about poor quality and people having problems with them.

Versus the R125, which I haven't personally read or heard much bad about, and having owned one about two years i'd say they're very very good bikes by 125 standards in all departments really - except insurance, but again at your age that might not be too much of a problem, and probably not much worse than the KTM in either instance, worth a good look around at quotes before deciding though.

The R125 is quite large by 125 standards also [around the size of an R6] so it might be worth having a sit on one first down your local yamaha dealership to get an idea how comfortable it is for you.

Just expect them to depreciate quite fast as they're constantly churning out newer slightly tweaked and 'special edition' models which attract a lot of their teenage-markets attention.

[Ollie1995]

Don't buy a YZF125 if you want to retain your hetrosexuality. Also I'd not recommend buying the duke new as you could be the unlucky buyer of a pile o shite and have a whopping depreciation on it as soon as you wheel it out the shop.
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XR 125, DT125 LC, Greeves Scottish, RS200, XS400, GPX600r

Theory Passed - 18/7/13 MOD1 Booked - 24/9/13

[Ballpien]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

I have a Yammy dealer down the road from me (Mark Davall Motorcycles) and he is holding a mint 2012 (12) R125 for me until he gets back from holiday this w/e. I have sized it and it feels perfect (I'm 5'11") the only thing that slightly bothers me is the riding position, being rather more hunched up compared to the CG/KTM...

Although I have been driving cars/vans/lorries for the best part of 20 years, being out on the bike made me realise just how vulnerable bikers are. I would rather get some road craft on a 125 until the spring and then attempt my mod1/2....my goal is to be able to ride to see friends in Southsea and the Wirral early next summer

Insurance wise I have had a good few quotes. The cheapest coming from Hastings Direct. Both bikes came out within a few ££'s of each other at just over £300 fully comp (SP10 on my license)

Oh, and I hear what you are saying about the KTM. The first user review I watched showed loose front pegs and a loose gear changer...as well as the fact that it had spent about 2 months back at the dealers, over 4-5 separate ocassions, having problems rectified

[cromwell]

*Obligatory you should save your cash and get your full licence via DAS comment*

Out of the two if it was me I'd go for the Duke, I am really liking the newer models and prefer naked bikes. As much as the Yam looks good for a 125, I think I'd get bored quickly and want a bigger sports bike.

Have you considered a CBR 125 ? Can be found for cheaper, leaving you some money to do the DAS if/when you're ready and is similar to the YZF.

I recently took out a 2013 Ninja ZX6 and found the ride position a massive shock and painful on the wrists, although this is something you'd get used to after a while. If possible test ride both and see what you like the feel of.
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"unbelievable"
Current - Suzuki Bandit 600
Ex's - Yamaha YBR 125

[-Monty-]

If I were going to buy either of those bikes it would be the YZF without a doubt. From what I've heard the Duke's build quality is pretty horrific and they're not exactly cheap either. Also they look quite small whenever I've seen them about so you probably wouldn't like that.

Read this thread about them and decide you do not want one: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=266029.

I said above I would go for the YZF if I HAD to buy one of them but given the choice I would probably go for something different as it's going to be very expensive (or look very ugly) to repair if you drop it/slide it down the road (which, being your first bike you likely will). They do look pretty fun however.

Have you had a look at the Honda Varadero - from what I have heard they're pretty much the bee's knees as far as 4 stroke 125's go and an older one in good condition can probably be picked up for around £1,500 or less. They are also very big for a 125 so you definitely won't feel cramped/look silly on it. What's more is you could do some light green laning on one of these (something I wish I could do).
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Present: [Kawasaki ZX7r][Suzuki DRZ 400s]
Past: [Honda PCX 125] [Yamaha RXS 100] [Honda CB 500] [Triumph Speed Four] [Honda ST1100 Pan European - Po-Po Edition]

[Ballpien]

*heads off to eBay*

[passifid]

YZF R-125 are decently built.
i don't thinnk they are as cramped as the cg, it just has a more bent position, a lot more room, i had the cg for about a year and yzf since january.

i would definately if you are going on A roads or planning on overtaking get either

VADERO WR125 or YZF R125 SECOND HAND, all hold value all make max horepower, vadero and WR have an upright position.

INB4: ooh you have a r125 don't break the speed of light/get a real bike homosex
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CBT: 10/2011 | Theory:6/2012 | MOD1: 8/2012

[Ollie1995]

[clancy]

Personally I'd go for the Ktm as it looks good

The r125 looks horrendous I really don't like it, just something about it is terrible. As far as reliability/build quality go the 2 people I know that owned one a few years ago had no major issues with them. Although buying them new is a bad idea, huge depreciation, better off with a 1-2 year old one

Not sure how bad the Ktm would depreciate, most likely similar, probably pick one up undee 1 year old for a nice discount

But yeah if it was me, I'd go for the Ktm, looks quality as opposed to the r125 which looks tacky tiny and lame
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KLX 300r

[Ballpien]

Varadero looks nice. Decent size etc but they are deffo no cheaper than the yammy even with the Valadero seeming to have higher mileage at the same age/price point

The R125 I have been looking at is a 12 plate, so still in warranty, it doesn't have a mark on it and has less than 3k on the clock. It has a few extras like the seat cowling, crash bungs and DubBub screen and is £3k. Tyres need replacing from the, apparently awful, stock ones.

But I do like the look of the Varadero and I love the look of the KTM...even if it is built from Lego

[Rogerborg]

You'll want to read this thread about the KTM. TwoWheelsDaily's comments on page 1 and page 2 are particularly amusing / illuminating, and illustrate why you should take early impressions with a huge pinch of salt (which would doubtless rust it out in a jiffy).

The YZF has been known to seize or blow through its piston, although that might be down to them being ridden at WOT everywhere on the oil they shipped with.

I'd suggest that you're literally wasting your time and money on either of them. Chances are your underwriter will not let you switch a 125 policy to a bigger bike, so the insurance money and any part earned NCD will be lost.

You'll have to sit your A tests on a big bike sooner or later. Why not skip the tiddler and just get it done? You're only doing things the hard way by struggling around on a 125, there's no need to do it and little benefit now either. See if you can blag 5 minutes on a 600/650 and see how different an experience it is.
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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

[Ballpien]

What exactly is it you are riding atm?

[-Monty-]

[Ballpien]

Yeah, I've seen the sigs...I was just hinting that maybe Roger would like to let me try his 650 for 5 minutes...

...whadya say Roger?

[Rogerborg]

I say Essex to East Kilbride is a bit of a trip for a wobble round a car park.
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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

[guile]

There is absolutely no point in spending good money on a 125. The r125 and Duke both look lovely but the engines will not satisfy you for more than a month. You are lucky to be able to DAS - do it and buy and big bike. You will not regret it.

[ShepShep]

How long are you planning on staying on a 125?

I'd personaly invest in a cheap hack such as the above stated cg or even a YBR. Just to get some experience on the road, how a bike handles and what not to do to go head furst into a shrub. And meanwhile your learning do the DAS.

The r125, while a great bike and looks the tits, I have a suspision that you will get bored with it after a while, purely because you'd get bored of the power. The Duke I hear is made of cheese and they skimp on the quality control by the looks of it. Very sad.

Don't rush, weigh up your choices, you have a few

[thepuma]

This should be YOUR choice not the forums.

Surely it comes down to what type of bikes you like the look of? If you like the sportty faired look then its the YZFR, if you like naked bikes its the KTM.

Most 125s are much of a muchness performance wise, its just the look thats different.

Go with what you like the look of.
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YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[Codemonkey]

For what its worth, I had an R125 for about 2 1/2 years and loved it. It got me through mod1 & 2 and I kept it for the duration of the 2 year restriction period cos I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of restricting a bigger bike and wasn't desperate for something faster (not applicable to you now the rules have changed). I rode it most weekdays to & from work (20 mile round trip) in just about all weather apart from snow & ice and it never let me down once, even after being burried under snow for about 2 weeks once. The fairing does make a big difference to keeping the weather off you as I now know having changed to a naked XJ6!

Keep an eye on the oil level (they only hold about 1 litre and some owners have noticed their bikes use a bit, mine didn't), make sure you keep up with the oil changes & services (oil changes every 1800 miles, full service every 3500) and lube the chain correctly and it should give you cheap(ish) motoring. Also get some ACF50 and coat everything apart from brakes/tyres/seat etc. Things like the little fairing brackets seem to be prone to rust so take fairings off and coat everything under there. If you do the interim 1800 mile oil changes yourself, you're looking at about £15 for the oil & filter. Dealers charge a lot more! The service manual is available to download on a few of the forums.

Downsides are that if you want to give them a good clean, or change the oil, taking the fairings off is a pain in the arse (hence me now having a naked bike). Also dropping them can be expensive, though thanks to many chavvy 17 year old owners wrecking them frequently, there's now a good supply of parts on ebay. As far as I'm aware, there have been no major modifications to any of the bikes since release apart from colour schemes, so parts from any model year should fit.

Realisticly they will do 70+. Top speed (only achieveable on a good day if you're not big & fat!) is about 83 at which point they hit the rev limiter, so changing exhaust etc to get more p0werz won't make any difference, in fact I know of a number of owners who reported lower top speeds after swapping to a noisy aftermarket exhaust. Seriously, don't go down the "I want to tune it and go faster" route, even with a big bore kit you'll not get much difference and even a crappy CBR250 will leave you for dead.

They're also quite big physically, my XJ6 doesn't feel much bigger though it is a lot heavier.

I paid about £2700 for a 6 month old bike, rode it for 2 1/2 years then sold it for about £2200, so not too massive depreciation especially compared to what I've lost on cars in the past!

There's a few forums about specifically for the R125, but sadly they're mostly frequented by 17 year old chavs who think changing the sidelights for red LED's is a smart & sensible mod.

I was (and still am) insured with eBike and didn't have any problem changing the policy over to the 600.

Also they're almost universally hated on this forum cos they look like something that they're not (a sports bike), maybe that will start to change a bit now that 17 year olds are stuck on a 125 for 2 years no matter what. What they are is a well built 125 with a fairing that produces the maximum power available to a CBT holder unlike the likes of YBR's, CG's etc which produce a fair bit less and are sometimes made of cheese.

Hope that helps!
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Test Passed 10/05/2011 Current bike: XJ6-N

[P.]

[SQL]

Derbi Mulhacen Cafe

[Ribenapigeon]

KTM looks more useable for much the same power. While your looking at bikes in that price range look at the Yamaha WR125X. Its a more substantial useable bike than either the KTM Duke or YZ.

[P.]