2003 Yamaha DT 125, reliable?

[Rjgk2012]

I turned 17 this year and regrettably purchased a second hand keeway txm (Chinese) which is poorly made and falling apart, I rode it for a week before the piston rings failed and needed replacing. I'm not comfortable keeping it and would prefer something which can happily sit at 60mph and not fall apart. I've found a 2003 2 stroke Yamaha DT 125R for £2000 with almost 15000 miles which I'm very interested in purchasing, but can I depend on it not the break down? (At least not often). I can afford the bike and the insurance but I'm digging into my savings and I can't really afford to be replacing parts often, thanks for any advice.

[P.]

Lots of money but if it's tidy, great. For 2k you could try and find a Varadero 125. Change the oil regular and that's that.

DT will wear rings by nature, not too often, but they do need a rebuild where as 4 strokes tend to not.

[Riejufixing]

[Rjgk2012]

[Rjgk2012]

[redeem ouzzer]

A decent DTR is reliable as sunrise, I would expect the top end to do 20k between rebuilds and the crank twice that providing run on decent oil.

It just depends how good the bike you are looking at is. My mate has one (full power / French import) that is mechanically perfect because he went right through it, however I wouldn't think that to be the norm.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[Robby]

There is no point asking whether any make/model of bike is good, particularly for 125s. Most of the bikes are fundamentally sound designs, but you don't know what has happened to them between leaving the factory and getting into your hands.

On 125s, they are generally owned by young, new riders with more confidence than skill. That means more crashes, more cack-handed maintenance, and more dodgy modifications.

Assess both the bike and the owner. If the owner of the 40k varadero is a grownup who has owned it for several years and has either service records or a garage full of tools, it should be a good bet. If it has 10 owners on the logbook and the last owner had it a year and can't provide any evidence of maintenance, walk away.

If you can take along someone that knows more than you to look it over, you can find out if its any good and probably negotiate the price down.

Paddy had a Varadero 125 with over 100k on the clocks, so they can last that long if serviced. Run it out of oil and the engine will be dead in a few miles.

[Riejufixing]

[Rjgk2012]

[Rjgk2012]

[Riejufixing]

I have to say, it's looking a little unloved at that fairly high price point. No top-box. Check the thickness of the disks as well as tyres and other consumables. Note the vendor seems to buy bikes to "do up". and sell them on. Check it's not "Cat C", too, or else it would be far too much money.

Perhaps you could invite someone else who's replied to look at the single picture I can see, assuming it's the same bike, and comment?

Do get the number plate details to look up previous MOTs before you go. It might be possible to find out other information, too, "as it's a drive please send more pictures".

Try and not be in a hurry, there are more 125s in the pool.

[Rjgk2012]

[Riejufixing]

[Rjgk2012]

[Rjgk2012]