125s and frequent intense use

[czakal]

I thought I'd put it here as it can be useful information for new riders.
I live in Romford and commute to central London on a 125. I can either take the slower direct road (Romford Rd) or the faster, longer road (A12). On the faster road there's some stretches with a 50mph limit. Are 125s designed to regularly go at high speeds? I think most are quite lightly built so I don't know if using them regularly at high speeds and power output can shorten working life or require more maintenance and repairs. Thanks for your help as always.

[rhys99]

I wouldn't worry one bit, 50mph is hardly break neck speed and even your lexmoto should be perfectly fine riding at that pace.
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[czakal]

Thanks, I guess you're right, small engines always sound like they're straining when you push them the least bit but I needn't worry.

[kgm]

50mph roads are no problem. I'm quite comfortable on the motorway sections that are currently limited to 50mph around here on my 125 (roadworks) and often end up overtaking on the more local 50mph dual carriageways. The only exception is when it's really windy. I go most places on my 125 that i would the big bike within reason. The bigger bike is definitely more relaxed though and less effort.

Just keep the oil changes up (1000-1500 miles usually) and it'll be fine.

[thx1138]

on a 125 50mph limits are your friend

[Teflon-Mike]

It's all a matter of maintenance.
Biggest killer of 125's is their owners, who either expect to use them like a washing machine and never do anything but press the button and go, or who fiddle incessantly trying to find a bit more 'oomph', and / or do a bit of both, and all on an ad-hoc basis, likely fiddling for its own sake when it needs little or no attension, and doing little or nothing when it does, and ALL trying to do it without spending money.....
And that's without the googlie of them crashing them, either from being a less than clued up newb, or from familiarity breeding contempt, and lacking oomph on the quicker bits of road, taking more chances exploiting the nimbleness twixt traffic when they have a chance....

But, 'propper' maintenance is the practice of performing such periodic adjustment and replacement as to 'maintain' a vehicles performance... do the right stuff, at the right time, in the right amount... and in theory that aught 'maintain' its functional 'life' almost indefinitely...

Usually comes a point, where the amount of required maintenance is too great, and or the costs of that maintenance not economically viable, and it's cheaper and easier to call it a day and start over with a new bike.... but, the theory remains.... and renovating old heaps of scrap 125's 'for fun' supports the notion.. pulling them to bits and making them live again, do enough of the right stuff, almost anything can be made to last almost indefinitely... but also suggests most don't, because long before they get to the point its easier/cheaper to start over, they start getting bodged to buggery, and pushed to keep going on chewing gum wrappers and good wishes... until they stop working altogether... but that's back to the owner 'thing'.

OH Kay... your specific talks about 'commuting'.... on a Lexmoto.....

First up... heed warning about maintenance... do enough and enough of the right stuff, any bike 'can' be perfectly reliable, and last almost indefinitely....

Lexmoto's are rebranded batch built chinese bikes, intended for developing Asian markets, where labour costs are low, and levels of anticipated user maintenance are an awful lot higher than here in the west.. out the crate, they beg somewhat more care and attention than a western market machine... a-n-d... selling on a low sticker price, to budget conciouse buyers, in western markets, where they are likely to be expected to work like a washing machine, and local labour rates are a lot more expensive.... they DO suffer from NOT getting the maintenance they need from typical 125 owners.

I say often enough, if you know enough to live happily with a Chinese bike, you probably know enough not to buy one.....

For every day commuting, the regular miles clock up service intervals and reveal 'faults' in fairly short timed spans; and I would anticipate having to spend a morning each weekend, cleaning it, checking the chain and tension, cleaning crudd from the brakes and oiling and adjusting cables and 'stuff', almost on any bike... on a chinky 125? I would expect to spend a bit longer going round everything else checking nuts and bolts were still tight and wires still connected, and structural parts like swing arms or wheels hadn't started to bend or break, on top of fortnightly or monthly 'stuff' like changing the engine oil, adjusting the tappets, cleaning and greasing brake mounts and the like.... and all told, to MY sense of sensibilities, on a bike that doesn't have the same 'sparkle' to it's performance, and suffers that rather nasty higher early life depreciation, would and does steer me to higher in the market Jap-Brand bikes, that stand much better chance of not needing SO much ongoing maintenance to 'maintain' more of the better performance they have to start with, as well as resale value along the way.

For lad next door but one, to whom its still something of a novelty, and if he cracks out the spanners it's more likely to be to take the silencer off so it 'sound better an' goes faster' lol... than adjust the chain or tappets....... yeah, its all part of the learning.... if it stops working, he;ll be ignominiously back on the school bus for a week...

For chap round the corner who's still a bit nervous and just wants to get some miles under his belt, on quieter roads after work, until he feels ready to 'DoDAS'.. limited miles limit a lot of potential... and he might come sunny days, save some parking money using it to get to work instead of the car...when he's close to tests.

BUT... as a long term proposition, on L-Plates? Whole scheme is flawed really.

L-Plates if for learners to LEARNS for tests, NOT for folk to pratt about avoiding them, using L-Plate provisions to try and do the every day riding every other form of motorised road user has to pass before they can tackle.

Tests are NOT that hard; they basically expect you to do a simulated daily cross town commute, not break any road laws or cause hazard to other traffic while doing it.

So, IF you actually have the competance and confidence to tackle the daily grind on a bike, absolutely no reason you shouldn't have the competence and confidence to take the tests..... IF NOT, turn that around.. if you don't think you are ready for test... you aren't ready for the daily commute...

the mele of car drivers chomping on steering wheels frustrated they aren't where they want to be, half awake, not looking where they are going, fiddling with mobile 'phones looking for a chance to 'get moving; NOT for motorcycles...... this is NOT the place to be learning clutch control and smooth predictive braking!

SO.. in that scenario... how long an engine may last asked to sustain higher speeds on a main road... ARE slightly irrelevant... probably an AWFUL lot longer than the frame, is likely to survive having an Audi up its chuff, when its driver sees a gap on a round about and the bike that it 'expected' to get out of its way has actually just 'lurched' as rider misses a gear or cocks up the clutch control!!!!

Ecconomics of how many oil changes it might need in its life time, or how much it costs to have the tappets tickled, and how many miles you can expect before the piston needs replacing, in THAT scenario, all sort of tend to insignificant, compared to how much it costs to replace bent handlebars, dented petrol tanks, and buckled wheels.....

Answering the question.. would trying to hold 50mph for a few miles each day on the way to work, significantly reduce the life of the bike... the answer is almost certainly NO.

BUT the questions raised by that, starting with why you would be asking, and more why you would even be trying, reveal so MANY areas, that aught to suggest why, for totally other reasons, its probably NOT the best of ideas still....

Start at the top... do you have a full licence? Are you trained and tested and really ready for tackling those steering wheel chomping idiots every day on two wheels? Are you ready for the real world maintenance requirements of every day commuting for ANY bike? Do you have the time, and the tools and the discipline to gibe the bike enough of the right attension as often as it needs? ANY bike? Then, with much shorter service intervals on lightweights, are you ready for that, that much more frequently, and on a budget asian market model, the added burden of that imposes? OR are you prepared to treat it as 'disposeable' and ride it till it drops and chuck it away and get another?

Question begs SO many more... it's NOT a simple one.
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[Waaarrrggghhh]

[czakal]

FYI it's a Kymco Pulsar, somewhat better than the Chinese bikes, but the points about maintenance are all true and I will keep to it best I can (the manual recommends an oil change about every 3000km). For the distances that I do, I'd have spent money on something more heavy duty but having been the victim of more than one theft I'd rather spend less

[NJD]

Just ride it and when it dies move on to something else.

They've all got life spans and you'll do no one any favours by attempting to take it easy on something that requires being right up in the rev range to get something out of it.
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[czakal]

It's just that with small cc engines, they sound like they're straining so badly whenever you go much over 40mph. I was wondering if that was not good for the engine/drivetrain but from what everyone says--no worse than normal wear.

[NJD]

[onlyJaz]

I have a similar conundrum, but I don't save a huge amount of time between the two routes during rush hour.

50mph is okay, it will get to 60mph but don't expect much past that
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[kgm]

[NJD]

[Dave70]

It'll be fine.





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