Some advice on choosing a 125 - Husqvarna sm125 s?

[mba03jw]

Hi, I was hoping for some general advice about choosing a 125. I had recently thought I might get my full bike licence and get a 'proper' bike but, due to the cost and time involved, and also because of the fact that I mainly use my bike for a commute that is only about 15 mins, I decided I will just stick with a 125.

bikes I've been looking at mainly:

KTM Duke 125
Yamaha wr125x
Husqvarna 125 supermoto - either the 2-stroke or 4-stroke

I'm most tempted by the Husqvarna and I'm hoping the recent models have good reliability. Also, I wouldn't know whether to get a 2-stroke or 4-stroke model - are the pros and cons that you generally hear about actually true?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help. Josh

[P.]

The costs of the bike test on a 125 is £121.50...Far cheaper than another bike

[Rogerborg]

Agree, If you've already got a bike and have been riding it for a while, just MTFU, pay that £121.50 and get access to a far wider range of bikes that offer much better value for money than any 125.

Or to answer your question: none of them.
____________________
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

[mba03jw]

Sorry guys, forgive my ignorance but I'm not quite understanding what you're saying. Do you mean that to get a cat A licence, which will allow me to ride any bike, will cost me only £121.50.

From what I've seen, I will need to pay around £600-700 for all the lessons and fees etc. Plus, as I mentioned I don't really have the time to do it and don't actually feel like I necessarily need anything more powerful than a 125. Also, if I did get something more powerful, being the way I am (a bit impulsive) I think it would be more likely to lead to me having a serious accident.

Sorry if I've misunderstood what you're saying. Cheers, Josh

[J.M.]

[mba03jw]

Ah o.k, thanks for clarifying. I'm currently on a 125 automatic scooter.

I'm now thinking maybe I should spend some time riding a geared 125, learn a bit more about what the test involves and then try taking the test without the lessons when I've got a bit more time on my hands, and when the weather is half decent. Thanks for your help

[P.]

Just get some training/hire a 125 geared bike and you'll fly through your tests

[mba03jw]

You sound like confident riders. Is the test really that simple?

Without being cocky, I reckon if a lot of other people can pass without lessons then I probably could once I had some time on a geared bike. I've got fairly good balance, co-ordination, awareness etc.

[P.]

I had no lessons, just knew how to ride normally under test situations

[J.M.]

The test is quite easy, yes. People do struggle with it though, and some of it comes down to sheer luck of having a good test. Even the best bikers make mistakes sometimes

The test isn't all about how well you can control a bike though; it's also about learning the correct procedures of the road, reacting correctly to hazards, etc.

Whilst it's possible to pass a test with no lessons, I probably wouldn't recommend it. Some of the things you get taught in a lesson may well save your life one day, or save you learning it the hard way
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Rogerborg]

The tests are easy enough. I passed on my 125 with no lessons. The DSA have some videos on YouTube showing what to expect.

I agree that training - from the right person - might be helpful, but you're already riding around anyway and getting safer by the day, so the return on investment is dropping off sharply.

If you sit a test on a geared 125 capable of 100kph+ (what the DSA call an A2 or "standard" motorcycle), then you'll get an A license with a 2 year 25kW restriction on it (and technically 0.16kW/kg although you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who cares about that).

That gets you access to bikes in the 200 to (low powered) 400cc class, which have a fair amount more usable performance than a 125, while not costing much more to run and actually being cheaper to insure.
____________________
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