Already want a new bike...

[Snop Doog]

I've been on my CBF since February and I already want to get a new bike. Nothing's wrong with it mechanically, it's at 17.5k miles and in the 2000+ miles that I've put into it I haven't had any problems whatsoever.

The thing is the bike just feels too small for me and my style of riding is quite aggressive. I have scraped the pegs too many times and the tyres are just way too skinny, leaning into corners can get scary.

I sat on a friend's YZF-R125 and I felt right at home. But don't worry, I don't want one. I do think that a 2011~ CBR125 may be better for me. I guess I need sit on be to be sure (although I'm quite sure already heheh).

Due to my age I won't be able to get a bigger/A2 bike until late next year. But once my insurance policy is done in February next year, I will need another bike to see me through and I think it has to be the 2011~ CBR125. Thoughts?

[Teflon-Mike]

How long til you can do an A2?
Is it worth the cost / hassle to swap and change 125's for the short time it might make small difference?
End of the day its your money & your call.
I'll ignore the skinny tyre ref... I'm SURE you have been about longer than 4 months & long enough to know my opinion of THAT fallacy.... while whats wrong with decking pegs?

FWIW.. I can deck the pegs on a 125 Super-Dream, two up at little more than a brisk walking pace in a car-park.. pretty much at will.. it's not really that much of an achievement or measure of how hard or fast you ride.

As for thinking you ride some-what aggressively.. what has that to do with the question of what bike you want? And /Or.. probably more pertinently... whats the self realization of that comment?

Aggression and rage are closely related; and rage is an emotive unthinking reaction, exerting lots of force without much care or thought... and that is the 'mode' that sends so many to the morgue......

Big difference between unthinking 'rage', in 'seat of the pants' riding in that red-mist 'mind set', that often results in a lot of 'extreme' forces, whether acceleration, braking or lean, and 'Determined riding', where you DON'T give in to the red mist, and you are 'hyper conscious' of what you are doing, and doing it deliberately, rather than instinctively.. where the outward appearance may not be much different.... except that "consciously determined" you are more likely to go faster with less extravagant acceleration, braking or lean... or be achieving such with a much greater margin of error...

Four months on a CBF.. I doubt you have mastered matters to such a degree that you are doing it all deliberately.. which suggests, that swapping to a bike that would allow you to indulge in more extreme 'instinctive' riding, but probably wont curb the tendency, or encourage you to be more 'considerate' of what you are doing.. but assist you in indulging the 'red-mist' to a larger degree, is probably a step further into the danger zone, rather than one closer to becoming a better rider.... and one likely to perpetuate and be repeated when it comes to choosing A2 bikes or later on unrestricted A bikes.

So back to you.. is it REALLY going to help you any? and if so, is it REALLY worth the extra money & hassle to do so? Only you can decide.

CBF is a pretty user friendly Learner/Commuter bike.... it's performance is 'adequate' if not particularly inspiring.. and it does have a lot to offer as such IF you can learn to appreciate what it CAN do, rather than be frustrated by what it doesn't.. and which a more 'sporty' 125 wont do in any hugely greater measure.....

So I shall offer the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side, and ask, IF you got a CBR or even an R125.... how long till the novelty of that wore off and you were asking the same question about A2 bikes?

My 'gut' says; congratulations.. you have found out how hard you can, on the red-mist, ride a learner /commuter.. NOW go learn what ELSE it can do.. and learn how to ride with your head not your arse... but that is based largely on supposition.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[notbike]

The new shape CBR125s are a lot chunkier in the fairings than the older ones and seem to look more like the R125s now, so it'll feel like an upgrade from the CBF125, but it's riding position isn't anywhere near as aggressive. Also has 6 gears so you can at least cruise in somewhat lower RPMs at higher speeds instead of screaming in 5th on the CBF.

R125s are really fun and I kept mine for like 6 months but I did get bored of the lack of power in the end. Having said that, the R125 handled great and I couldn't fault it for how fun it was to chuck around bends.

Normally I'd advise against going for another 125 as an upgrade from other 125s, but any sporty 125 is going to feel better than the CBF and if you want a sportier bike than you currently have then R125 is king.

If you can't afford the R125 at all, and want something better than the CBR125, then go for a Derbi GPR125. You'll get bored of the CBR125, it's not that sporty in it's riding position despite looking like it is. It's actually quite upright and low to the ground. Imagine it as a CBF125 with aggressive looking fairings.

Anyway, Derbi GPR125s are great, my mate had one. Pretty much as fast as the R125, lighter, and has better looking forks on the front and a nicer more chunky yoke which adds to the feel of the bike. It's also a lot cheaper than an R125 and my mate's 2009 one had no problems and cost him 1,600 or so. It also has a gear shifting light which flashes red when you should shift which looks cool.

Not sure how they sound because I've only heard a stock one and all stock exhausts on single cylinder toy bikes sound the bloody same, but I'm sure you can get an obnoxious end can for it. The stock exhaust at least looks very cool.

The only downside to the Derbi is that it's not that great on fuel economy compared to lots of other 125s. Still very cheap to run though compared to any faster bike.

I don't know what Tef means with all this red mist talk and rage etc, but I get what you mean by aggressive. You want something more leany-forward and more leany-over with less restriction on how far you can lean before scraping pegs. Some fairings to tuck under that also look great and add to the excitement of riding every time you look at it.

Fuck it, get a sporty 125. I'm sure some mong will talk shit about how it's the worst thing you can do ever, but if it's what you want to do then do it. I did and I'm not worse off for it, buying and selling bikes isn't hassle if you find it fun and aren't a retard when it comes to naming your price.

Let me know what you upgrade to

[wr6133]

NSR125 anything else is a sidegrade

[Rogerborg]

[petalbriefs]

I had an 07 CBR125, the only advice/information I can offer, is they are very low.
I am only 5"0 and got the CBR because it was small enough for me to be able to get a foot down.
Not sure if the later ones are much bigger, but the 07 model was definitely quite small.
____________________
Proud owner of an R6 + ZXR400
Honda CBR 125 R - Stolen

[Rogerborg]

2011 onwards is a bit bigger, although the exhaust had a fugly stick shoved right up its hole.
____________________
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

[struan80]

Already want a new bike?

Bikes wanted = x+1, where x is current bikes owned. This hypothesis is seeming to hold true under any circumstances it seems.

[Matt B]

[Northern Monkey]

Learn to move your arse about more. I scrape the pegs on my msx when I'm feeling lazy, and just push the bike right over to get round tighter corners. If I move my weight in towards the centre of the corner, by moving right off the seat, then there is loads of lean to go before the pegs scrape.

The watercooled R has about 20% more power over the F, this might be worth the upgrade.

You aren't going to lose much cash on a CBRRRRR125 as long as you remember not to throw it down the road. It's your cash, do what you want. Don't worry what a load of old gits would do.
____________________
Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[talkToTheHat]

Move your body more or slow down for those damned mini roundabouts. The skinny tyres actually improve the agility of the vehicle. On a light bike moving half a bum cheek off the saddle and trying to kiss the inside mirror will move the centre of gravity far enough for a handful more degrees of lean.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[deadwolf]

Try a 2-stroke Aprilia RS125?

Big bike looks, nice components (USD forks, fancy frame etc etc etc), two stroke fun. Big tyres.
____________________
Motorsapien Art