Does a 125CC feel slow?

[deltashad]

I enjoyed my kmx 125. Just get rid of the standard pipe. Yes it's illegal but worth the risk. From 60 to 85mph np. And diet. All about ptw.

[EagleMoto4-2]

125's are slow. But to someone who has had their first go on a bike they feel quick. This is because in a car you are separated from the road by being inside a steel box. On the bike you are more exposed to the road which you can see more of, and of course the wind which makes it feel like you are moving faster than if you were in the car. It's all about perspective.
My advice would be to get an A2 compliant bike and get it restricted until you pass your test.

[Trotski94]

EagleMoto4-2 said:

125's are slow. But to someone who has had their first go on a bike they feel quick. This is because in a car you are separated from the road by being inside a steel box. On the bike you are more exposed to the road which you can see more of, and of course the wind which makes it feel like you are moving faster than if you were in the car. It's all about perspective.
My advice would be to get an A2 compliant bike and get it restricted until you pass your test.

I had heard of this a few years back but i dont know how feasible it is.. whats the usual cost and where can i get it done, for both restricting and then derestricting after?

EDIT: ah nvm its illegal on a learner plate

Edited by Trotski94 on Tuesday 10th May 13:29

[srob]

It will feel slow(er than a big bike) but then it'll teach you loads about carrying corner speed and you'll appreciate the steps up.

Not the typical PH answer but I've never been a subscriber to the basic power=fun brigade

[Baryonyx]

They're dog slow but fast enough to learn the basics on. In stop start traffic they do alright and feel quick enough off the line but in a headwind or uphill they can really start to chug along. They're more fun on smaller, tighter roads. I'd recommend doing a test and just getting a better bike but if you want a good grounding in basic controls and cheap transport they're okay.

[LiamB]

I love 125's. I never had any problems on duel carriageways or roads out of town as long as you are aware and ride accordingly everything will be fine.

Throttle wide open where ever you are (I may have been a bit of a ), good handling as they are light and very good on fuel as well as cheap insurance, cheap to maintain if you aren't looking at a 2 stroke and normally cheap to buy. I had a Sinnis Apache I bought second hand for £1000 and the only thing it needed in the many ragged miles I had it was rear brake pads and fork seals.

Get a 125, but if you are mechanically handy, get an RS125 I bloody loved mine

[terry tibbs]

lindrup119 said:

Personally, as much as I've been shafted by the current "nanny-state" licence restrictions and regulations, I think it's a good system. Stops young people going out and buying litre bikes before they know how to handle them.

yeap the it was, the way it should be. it was pass on a Friday rg250 gammma/rd350 lc on a Saturday, terrorise the tin boxes all day in the sunny dales, nurse your road rash on a sunday - worked for me i'm still here

[srob]

terry tibbs said:

yeap the it was, the way it should be. it was pass on a Friday rg250 gammma/rd350 lc on a Saturday, terrorise the tin boxes all day in the sunny dales, nurse your road rash on a sunday - worked for me i'm still here

And your RG250 had what, 40(real)bhp?

A deristricted RS125 Aprilia has 30+ and weighs about 2/3rds as much

People talk about a bike with 100bhp as being 'lower power' or a beginners bike now!

[creampuff]

lindrup119 said:

Personally, as much as I've been shafted by the current "nanny-state" licence restrictions and regulations, I think it's a good system. Stops young people going out and buying litre bikes before they know how to handle them.

It's not a bad system, but I think the capacity limit should be 250cc and not 125cc.

Which brings me to OP. I don't think 125cc bikes have enough power, except in urban 30mph limits. They really only accelerate fast up to about 20mph and even then cars can easily drag you off if the driver so desires. IMHO being able to out-accelerate everything on a more powerful bike is a safety feature.

If you end up on a higher speed limit road, then having HGVs pass your light, wobbly bike will get old fast. I know 125cc bikes are supposed to be able to reach 60mph, but in the entire history of the world, I've only ever seen one 125cc bike (a orange KTM) do 60mph. And the rider looked like he was giving it all there was to get there.

That's the bad, now the good. If you actually do just want to ride around 30mph limits, then 125cc bikes are really easy to ride and really light and they can often be more fun than a larger and heavier bike.

[Baryonyx]

boxxob said:

apparently it is over 50bhp for a RS125 that's had the 'racing treatments'.

And how many minutes will that work for?

[robsa]

Modern 125s are generally painfully slow. Since 2 strokes have been dropped, gutless 4 strokes are abundant. I certainly wouldn't want a commute of more than 10 or 12 miles on one, and forget motorways - you can't ride on them as a learner. I would also try to find a 2-stroke - preferably a KMX125 or DT125LC - as they easily cope with todays dreadful roads - then derestrict it. KMX are easy to derestrict, DT's vary as early ones had a locked powervalve that could be rotated to give no low down power, then madness; later ones had a fully working YPVS system and I'm not sure how it was restricted (CDI box I think) so you could just swap one out if you could get hold of a full power one. You will be getting about 50% more power this way - 18-20bhp instead of 12. Every pony counts on small capacity bikes IMHO.

You're much better off passing your test ASAP if at all possible.

[terry tibbs]

srob said:

And your RG250 had what, 40(real)bhp?

A deristricted RS125 Aprilia has 30+ and weighs about 2/3rds as much

People talk about a bike with 100bhp as being 'lower power' or a beginners bike now!

i seem to remember that rd 125 W reg had 19 or 21 bhp the fascists restricted that to 12 bhp from x reg onward so everyone wanted w reg rd 125

then this was 1980 - 82 so a long time ago its only gone downhill since

[abarber]

Get a two stroke 125, as late as possible.

Something like the RG125F or Wolf models. They had the complete powervalve mechanism as stock and only needed a wire chopping to derestrict to a claimed 30+bhp, more like 25bhp

This one looks nice: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-SUZUKI-RG125-WOLF-/...

It'll feel hot hatch fast until 70 or so and keep up with traffic no problem, unless you want to cruise at 80mph plus everywhere.

[tjlazer]

creampuff said:

lindrup119 said:

Personally, as much as I've been shafted by the current "nanny-state" licence restrictions and regulations, I think it's a good system. Stops young people going out and buying litre bikes before they know how to handle them.

It's not a bad system, but I think the capacity limit should be 250cc and not 125cc.

Which brings me to OP. I don't think 125cc bikes have enough power, except in urban 30mph limits. They really only accelerate fast up to about 20mph and even then cars can easily drag you off if the driver so desires. IMHO being able to out-accelerate everything on a more powerful bike is a safety feature.

If you end up on a higher speed limit road, then having HGVs pass your light, wobbly bike will get old fast. I know 125cc bikes are supposed to be able to reach 60mph, but in the entire history of the world, I've only ever seen one 125cc bike (a orange KTM) do 60mph. And the rider looked like he was giving it all there was to get there.

That's the bad, now the good. If you actually do just want to ride around 30mph limits, then 125cc bikes are really easy to ride and really light and they can often be more fun than a larger and heavier bike.

I think you exaggerate for comic effect here, my MT-125 will reach 60 easily. I'm not going to try any hero overtakes at that speed as I'd be there all day but it's surprisingly sprightly in getting there if you use the full revs. I certainly had no issues on a bikesafe day, hell I made more progress then the rest of the Group because I was ironically the most confident rider there despite being the only one with the L plates on (probably because I ride every day). I have the akrapovic exhaust which does add a bit of oomph (I got it effectively free after a no fault insurance prang) but the modern bikes aren't a complete waste of time. The brakes on the MT are great and the overall set up gives you a lot of confidence. I spent 3 weeks on a YBR waiting for the insurance and that was bloody horrible in comparison.

[CaptainSlow]

I commuted on a YBR125, 33 miles each way mixture of fast A Roads (cars passing me at up to 100mph on the dual carriage way A413 between the Chalfonts and Denham) and filtering on the A40 into London. In was terrifying at times, getting buzzed by cars, side winds and the poor headlight on the unlit NSL A413 towards Amersham on the way home.

As a town bike and sunny Sunday mornings on the lanes they are fine. As a serious commuter bike on large A roads on motorways you'll soon get fed up.

[defblade]

MonkeyBusiness said:

I loved my Honda Varadero. Felt like a big bike without the power. They are lots of fun but once you get more experience you'll be wringing its neck everywhere.

I liked my Vara as well.

Pretty nippy up to 50mph, but trying to overtake things doing 50 on NSLs needed lots of clear road and had a real chance of being hung out, accidentally or not, if the car sped up (Mr Slow-on-the-corners-faster-on-the-straights).

Big Welsh hills needed changing down and could be a bit embarrassing...

DC and Mway are NOT it's natural environment. It would thrum along at 70-odd all day (gradient permitting), but you've got no reserve power at that point. Accept that you'll be mostly trundling along with the lorries and it's a lot less stressful (but a few hundred more cc's is even less stressful ).

I think with a 250cc engine (or even the continentally available 175cc conversion kit, that extra 50cc would all be available as "performance" power, rather than "just moving it" power) it'd be a cracking bike for anyone who doesn't want to go far above 80mph.

[pitchfork]

You don't say how long the motorway part of your commute is. Unless it's a junction or two, forget the bike: the lack of outright speed isn't necessarily the issue; the lack of mid-range, physical weight of the bike and 'road presence' is.

To reiterate what CaptainSlow said: add any sort of adverse conditions (low light, rain, wind, an artic. blowing you about as it passes, poor road surface, etc) to the selfishness of commuters wanting to get home and you are extremely vulnerable, not to mention practically invisible at times.

My advice: either wait, or get a 125 but stick to your car for the commute.

[Volition]

I bought a new CBF125, thinking I'd keep it a good couple of years whilst working towards DAS and passing my test. The bike was with me less than 6 months. Bought it in August and sold it in November, then I bought a brand new Street Triple R in January the following year! Practice on a 125 is great before DAS and I highly recommend it. 125's are a bit sh!t though, unless you buy a Grom. I want one and will get one at some point. They are so much fun.

I hopped on my brother's YZF125 recently and it was quite funny how under powered and crap it was. I'm a girl too if that puts things into perspective lol. They are so light and riding one now makes me feel quite unsafe! Thin tyres, hardly any weight to the bike. They sound like hair dryers and lack enough grunt to get you out of trouble!

[abarber]

Waaaaahhhhhh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT8ZA0nAzQg

I miss my two strokes! Time to fire up the H1 triple.

[UpTheIron]

To answer your question:

To a biker with a bigger bike: Yes
To a new rider: No

I had more fun on my 125 than in my Tuscan. My SP2 is another league obviously and makes any 125 feel pedestrian, but I think you'll be OK on one for a while. 2 stroke 125's are quicker too (mine was 4 stroke) so maybe start with 4 and "upgrade"