Is 29K Mileage too much for a s/h 2007 Honda XL125 Varadero?

[Lynchy67]

Hi all.

Total bike noob here.
Done the CBT last week, got direct access booked for first week in November.
Going to look at a 2007 Honda XL125 Varadero tonight.
£1650
Full Year MOT and Tax.
29,000 Miles.

Being a total biker noob I am just wondering if I could draw on the experience here regarding your thoughts about the mileage on the Honda 125 Varadero?

Any advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks.
Steve.

[wr6133]

29000 miles of being looked after and maintained is nothing.

29000 miles of being owned by an idiot that didn't look after anything could be knackered

So basically check it over carefully, take a biker mate with you if unsure.

[Rogerborg]

Paddy's one had done, what, 70,000 miles?

Even Jizz Hunter hasn't managed to kill his.
____________________
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

[Lynchy67]

Thank you both.

I suppose service history will be the key.
Any obvious visual or audible clues to look out for.
Waiting for my mate to get back to me to see if he can come.

Cheers.
Steve.

[N cee thirty]

i'd be happier with it nearer £1500, but they've always held their money well
____________________
'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

[gbrand42]

I had one and they seem to be pretty bullet proof. I would like some evidence of oil & filter changes, other than that I reckon if you like the look of it then you could do a whole lot worse. Best of luck.
____________________
Yamaha RD50M, Honda C90, Yamaha RS100, Yamaha RD125LC, Honda XL125 V9 Varadero, Honda NT700VA, Honda VFR800X, Honda CRF1000L, Honda ST1300 Pan European

[Itchy]

[TallPaul_S]

Do you NEED to buy a 125 if you're gonna be doing your DAS in 2 and a half months time?

Cos you won't want to ride a 125 after riding a big bike, that's for sure! And you'll have the hassle of trying to sell the 'dero, while buying a bike bike, swapping over insurance, and so-on.

Time on a tiddler is great, I'm up to 3300 miles on my 125 varadero after just under 4 months of riding, and I'll probably be on it until October when I plan on doing my DAS.

Anyway, deffo buy on condition - if it's been well looked after they can do huge mileages. I looked at an 07 bike which had done 30+ thousand miles, and you could tell, wasn't that well looked after. Was in pretty untidy condition. Bought a lovely 2 owner 11k miles 2005 bike instead, for roughly the same money.
____________________
00 Honda VFR800 | 09 Aprilia Tuono Factory
CBT 06/03/2014 | Mod 1 and Mod 2 passed 15/10/2014

[Toasty]

I bought one a year back with 29,000 on it, cat D insurance jobby as it'd been stolen at some point in the past. It's been great though, totally different feeling to any other 125s I've been on, the main thing has been not getting blown around like I used to on my 125 supermoto. It's quite content chugging away at a decent pace for long journeys.

Quite pricey but you'll get that money back if you keep it in good nick.

[Lynchy67]

This one was definitely not cared for and there were scratches and dinks all over the place. Cracks in some of the panels. Rusty too. I had already made my mind up just before he said, "the speedo doesn't work but that's a minor thing".
I just said "sorry but I can't buy this" and walked.
The "sorry" was for the bike.

gbrand42 and Itchy.
Thanks for all that info, fantastic, I got that printed for my next viewing whenever that will be.

TallPaul_S
At 46 I really am a newbie, did the cbt on Friday on a ybr.
First time I've ever ridden a motorbike.
I got through but I struggled a bit with gears and back brake control. I feel like I need to put some more miles in before the DAS.
Don't want to fail that, especially as it's quarter life crisis time.
Don't think I'm in that much of a rush to get a big bike but I'm sure you've all heard that a million times.

Thank you all.
I shall keep scanning the ads daily.

Steve.

[Bunny Lingus]

Why not consider something older like a Brazilian CG 125 for around £500 or less. Ain't sexy like the Varadero, in fact they're buttas but you'll have over a grand to drop on something nice later & the ugliness will hopefully prevent any feelings of first bike love...
____________________
Bunny Lingus & The Flipside Faggots

[N cee thirty]

[Beehive Bedlam]

My eleven year old Varadero has just passed 71,566 miles.

I've kept the oil changed regular every ~ 1500 miles and filter every other oil change as they're expensive when combined with postage it has munched up the horizon rain or shine better than my Daelim VJ125 ever could we did try.

That bike should of put me off bikes for life but then I met my Varadero twelve months ago and a beautiful love affair blossomed.

[gbrand42]

[Lynchy67]

There's one at "themotorbikeshop" online looks really tidy 2010 7.5k mileage but it's £3000.
I'm not a rich man but I could afford that, but can I justify it!
There's a big push on finance options on the dealer website so I'm thinking if I go in with around £2000-£2500 cash they will just laugh at me. Got no problem with being laughed at though, but is it worth the hour and a half train journey?

[Beehive Bedlam]

[Graham B]

Hi,

Sounds a fair price.

Like yourself I came to biking late in life (44).
I have a 55 plate Varadero with 22k on the clock which will shortly be up for sale.
After canvassing prices seem to sell between £1200-£1500 depending on where you advertise.

Good luck in your search, if all else fails come back to me in a couple of weeks.

[TallPaul_S]

[Bunny Lingus]

[Mark65]

Ive just crossed 20,000 miles today on my 07 CG, and it gives me 100-105 mpg. Oil changes, spark plug, brake pads and some tyres with some TLC and it keeps going.
____________________
07 Yamaha YBR125, 07 Honda CG125 , 15 CBR300R (Chocolate Crank, Deaded), 16 CB500FA, 19 Honda Forza 300, 70 Suzuki SV650

[Lynchy67]

Didn't go and see the 3k Varadero as a cheapish 2007 ybr came up.
Tidy enough for £600 so I bought it.
My summer holiday are running out, only 2 weeks left (I'm a college lecturer) and I really wanted to get some miles in.
Had a great days riding today. Didn't actually enjoy doing the CBT and I struggled with it a bit as I said in the first post.
Thoroughly enjoyed today, gear changes became smoother, almost automatic, feel like Im getting there with that. About 3 hours in I was automatically turning off the indicators, I was real bad at that in the CBT.
Slow speed control was starting to come together, didn't do any filtering yet. Was happy to sit in the traffic poodleing along, improving my coordination and balance. Started to be able to feel what gear I was in, that didn't happen much if at all during the CBT.
And to top it all I had a fantastic cup of tea and cream scones at the windmill on Wimbledon Common.

Not as worried (or maybe frightened is a better word) about the DAS now, nowhere near ready obviously, but I've got a couple of solid weeks to get some miles in and weekends when I'm back at work.
I'm not getting complacent in any way at all but I'm not worried about it. If I fail it, then I'm not ready to lose the L plates, simple as that.

Thanks to all of for your advice.
steve.

[Dave70]

The YBR is a great bike for learning on, not as big or as fast as a Vara though but, great all the same.

The only thing I didn't like about them were the drum brakes but they do the job.

Now get practicing those U turns, as this is what screws a lot of folks up on the test. Myself Included.
____________________
There ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk.

2012: R125 killed by white van. 2016 R125 killed by 30,000 miles of redline. Current: 2016 Kawasaki ER6f.

[Lynchy67]

[quote="Dave70"]Now get practicing those U turns, as this is what screws a lot of folks up on the test. Myself Included. [/quote]

I came very very close to stacking my first one in the playground during the morning of the CBT, got a clap from two of the instructors for a "great recovery".
The helmet did nothing to hide my embarrassment!
Did a few today, not too pretty but slowly improving.

Thanks for the heads up.

[lihp]

If buying a used Varadero 125, check that the front sprocket hasn't been welded on

[Lynchy67]

Hi all.
Thanks for all the advice in previously, did my 5 day DAS with with SMT last week. awesome training school. The mod 1 training is done at the test centre which which was a big factor in me passing with zero faults. Did the Mod 2 on Wednesday. Had a dodgy start as the ear piece came out and was hanging down, didn't even realise as I was doing the independent ride being told to follow signs to Hackbridge. oops!
Was raining quite heavy did some filtering on the Croydon Road. I was nervous but had my routine checks going well (particularly for the indicators). Felt it was going well really well, noticed we were heading back to the test centre, only about 3-4 minutes away. Then I made a really stupid move, sitting in traffic on Beddington Lane with nothing coming towards me I decided to filter. The moment I passed about 4 cars a tipper lorry and a bus turned in. I new straight away I was screwed. The road was never wide enough anyway, should never have moved. Needless to say I caused a block until the bumper to bumper traffic my side moved on. DOH!!!
Got back to the centre and walked in to the centre the instructor says, "steve what were you thinking when you decided to filter, you had zero faults at that point"
Got a straight fail under the judgement section for filtering. Clean sheet other than that.
I sulked for a couple of hours but had to laugh at myself later.
Boy do I feel stupid, even if the road was suitable and I didn't filter it would only be a minor for Hesitation.
On a happier note, the 2007 YBR I bought has been great in all weathers, not a glitch.
Ps. I put the road names in so that any local forum users can have a giggle at my stupidity too, my pals (2 of them bikers) are still laughing now.