Are CBR125's as shocking as the rep puts up?

[tutton]

Well i sold the knackered 50 about a month ago
and ive been without a working bike now for around 4 months and its taking a toll on the old social, and commuting on a train is just wrong.

Found a lil CBR125, going for around the grand mark, looks pretty straight.

Before the jibes of should do your A2, well if i could find a test date anywhere this side of the world i would have done so, but as i cant and i need transport here i am asking what these little bikes are like?

Cheers
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[MarJay]

Slow, but reliable. What else is there to say?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[tutton]

Whats max size of rider that would be comfortable on one you rekon?

I heard around 70mph is around the top speed which is good enuff for the uses i need, just commuting a bit of fun and town riding really.
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[MarJay]

[rhone81]

I'm 6' and rode one for about 6 months before I did my DAS. Mine was a solid reliable commuter and was comfy enough. Top speed is more like 60mph unless you live in Norfolk where the lack of hills may give you a long enough run up to get to 70 odd. I found it a bit unnerving when I would get to a hill on the motorway and the speed would drop to 50.

If I had to get another 125 I'd probably go for something like a CG or even a Van Van.

[binge]

They arent a bad bike at all.

Its the fact they are trying to be something they are not which puts them to shame.


CB125R would of been a better name for it. Its more of a glorified CG125 rather than a CBR.




Ben

[Legsy.]

My Varadero would do 70mph+ happily, and I think they have the same engines as the CBR125..

[stevo as b4]

60mph is a bit of a put down! You could slip stream and pass one on a CG125 if that were the case! The 08 F.I version of the CBR was tested at 73mph at Bruntingthorpe, and 0-60mph in 16.5sec. It just about makes 12bhp at the back wheel. For a budget sporty 125 4T it's not that bad an effort really! Remember that The Aprilia RS125 is now a dead duck in performance terms, as meeting the latest emissions regs has left it with 18.5bhp and barely able to reach 85mph.

The CBR does seem to be around 10mph faster than the old CG in every situation, and for a low cost and cheap to run 125 that is enough of an improvement IMO!

[salty21]

i would imagine the tyres are pretty cheap too
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04 NSR 125(sold) ---- 03 CBR 600rr(sold) ----90 pan euro ST1100 '' ----02 CG 125
94 CB400 Super Four ---- 2000 VTR SP1 (sold) ---- 08 ninja p8f(sold, meh) ----05 CBR600rr

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Legsy.]

[rac3r]

I have one. Basically it gets the job done and that's it I prefer the riding position on the CBR over the CG but that's personal preference. There aren't any problems that I can think of mechanical wise, I didn't like mine at first but now it's kinda grown on me so much so that I've ended up buying extra bits for it!
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[G]

While I was 'against' them to start with, with prices under a grand (as I said initially) they make a more sensible 'commuter' choice. I think I'd still go for an NSR or similar personally (as I used when I had to commute half an hour each way a day), but the CBR shouldn't be too bad and will be a bit cheaper on fuel probably.

[Tango675]

The CBR 125 R...
I have had long ride on one (after jumping off a SV650) and for a 125 it ain't bad.

Honda don't make a bike down to a price. The engine is very smooth (its got balancers), the bike picks up speed quickly (for a 125), out in the NSL you can keep up with traffic (60-65 without effort), the gear ratios are sensible, its comfortable. echonomical, hardy, Light and easy to ride.

It is a better bike than the CG125 as it has a few more refinements (liquid cooled, decent disc breaks, etc).

BUT what it is NOT is a sports bike. The Aprilia RS125, Yam R125 and Honda NSR125 are proper mini-sports bikes. The CBR125R is not in the same league, despite trying oh-so-hard to look the part.

Its more in line with the old CBR600 F than Honda's sports CBR600 R (so I shall call it CBR125F).
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Somebody give that windup merchant a torque wrench..

[tutton]

I wasnt expecting a good structured review from the bcf massiv'

I dont want silly fast, i want transport, with reliablity,
Lets be honest my last bike realisticaly did 45-50mph, so even this is an improvement. and as im spending around 6 quid for a return ticket to college, im pretty sure the cbr would do that easily.

And for around 1k in price for a 05 plate it cant be all that bad, i might even keep it for a while if i can get me A2 done.
Uturn cant be that hard on one, surely
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[G]

[tutton]

I mean in the terms of a 125,
Although the faster 125's have reliablity issues, being honest i dont want to be having to strip it down and do top end rebuilds then be really nimble with the revs.

Plus the closest NSR to me is 217 miles away up in liverpool, while the cbr im looking at is within 50 miles
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[metalangel]

There's one in the garage at work right now. It's TINY, bear that in mind. I find fully faired (in race livery) 125s cute... sort of the chav Nova of the bike world. You'll fool everyone until they notice the L plates

I prefer the look of the Varadero myself.
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[tutton]

Well im about 5ft8 maybe 5ft7,
I remember sitting on a 08 in the showroom at christmas, felt like the screen was a bit low, but felt alrite, almost like its so small you could flick it around alot?
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[G]

[rac3r]

[MinhDinh]

My friends have them. 4 of them bought them in bulk in july 2008. 3 of them are brothers.

The 5 foot 5 guy can reach 70 easily. He can't keep up to me on my RS but he does a good enoguh job. When I don't know where we are going, and he is in the lead, I don't get bored at all. It has enough poke to hit 50 quite easily. This guy has had 5 car crashes (which i was in one) and already 1 off, and 1 crash, and 1 woman revered onto him on his bike. It's built pretty solid aswell. He is abit of a crazy driver/rider.


The 3 below are brothers.

The 5 foot 10 guy is quite fast aswell. He's about 85 KG confirmed and is still pretty fast. I do feel he needs to plan his overtakes, but when that is done and he hammers it, it does it's job.

My other friend who is 5 foot 7 takes it easy. He doesn't feel the need to filter crazy and doesn't feel the pressure to ride like a muppet, even with the sporty looks. He uses it as a commuter which is fine for him.

The last guy is about 6 foot 2 and about 16 stones. He only got it because his bro's did and it helped with the discount. He has only done 80 miles since July and I think he hates it. He looks like a giant ape on it. His foot apparently can't get under the gear change right because he is too big.

I've ridden it myself on 2 occasions for about 10 miles in total. It's a good seating position, with enough speed for 30 mph roads easily. Looks nice and good build quality. Cheap ish on fuel esepcailly compared to my RS125.

Only thing to consider though, is that the front of the bike is virtually on your boys ebcause it is small, and don't let girls see your cool looking bike from the front or the back, incase they see the thinnest of the tyre. The side angle looks okay to pull though :p
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Hit the G spot.

[Tango675]

[The Disapproving Brit]

a 125 can hold its own on most dual carriageways or even motorways. Mine manages 60 before starting to grumble, and will grudgingly push up to 75 in its own good time. HGVs are limited to 56 anyway, and it pisses past them. I was actually surprised to find how much 'normal' traffic I was passing when I first started using dual carriageways.

As long as you use decent lane discipline, you'll be fine.
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Current Bikes: 1983 Honda VF400FD / 2003 Honda VT750 Shadow
Bike Test Passed 18/03/09, Car Test Passed 14/05/13

[G]

It's much less of an issue now than when I had a CG etc, but I'd still prefer to have a bike that can flow with the traffic with out being topped out.

Saw a (I reckon) 125 4 stroke scooter on the A34 yesterday. Didn't look like they were having a great time when it came to hills etc.
Sure you can get by fine, but it's more enjoyable and safer to have a bike that can comfortably flow with the traffic.