125cc Motorcycle, with gears, for novice (passed Theory and CBT) - anyone selling?

Jev88

Jev88

Joined
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FourWinds Windsport 6.8L V10
Hello all,
Before I start my trawl through Faecbook marketplace / Gumrtee / Auttorader just checking if anyone has something they are selling?
I want reliability and to just get myself out there and more experienced. Once test passed then I will move onto something a bit bigger, so long as it fits my EasyLifter rack.

Never been on a motorbike in my life (not counting ped racing the once) and really enjoyed the CBT day.
 
How tall are you because if you're wuite tall you want something decent sized like a honda varadero or something. I found the yamaha and honda s etc way to small for me.

Unfortunately second hand 125's are often more expensive than bigger bikes of the same age
 
The KTM Duke 125 is 15bhp which I think is about as powerful as you're going to get. As you get more skilled you'll appreciate a bit more power, you soon get used to it and want MORE 😎
 
Richard n Ann said:
. As you get more skilled you'll appreciate a bit more power, you soon get used to it and want MORE 😎
Click to expand...
True to a point. My K1600 had 165 BHP but I never used it to that limit. It was just a rocket ship. Sportsbikes with a greater power-to-weight are even worse. Easy to get into trouble.

Now I'm older my R1250 with 136 BHP is quite enough!

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Northernraider said:
How tall are you because if you're wuite tall you want something decent sized like a honda varadero or something. I found the yamaha and honda s etc way to small for me.

Unfortunately second hand 125's are often more expensive than bigger bikes of the same age
Click to expand...
6' 1" but the Lexmoto jobby I had the CBT on seemed okay size wise. Sat briefly on a Handa CBF125 too (2015 plate) and seemed okay too.
 
Jev88 said:
6' 1" but the Lexmoto jobby I had the CBT on seemed okay size wise. Sat briefly on a Handa CBF125 too (2015 plate) and seemed okay too.
Click to expand...
The 125s can be stressed to perform. Cheapo makes will fail. That's why I mentioned the Honda. Bomb Proof!

I have no actual experience of the other brands but a good Googling will pick out the favourites.

Enjoy your journey into motorcycling. (y) (y)
 
17F57450-E9A4-4560-9789-F65F6659C74A.jpeg
We did our CBT’s on a CG125 , which we shared to get a bit of experience on. Now being a big KTM fanboy, I would recommend a Duke 125. If you see my avatar, I have a 1290 Superduke. 👌🏻
The bike we stick in the van is a Duke 690.
 
Perhaps a Suzuki Van Van? so long as you can find a decent one second hand. Your biggest problem with small second hand learner bikes is they're often not well looked after.
 
bigtree said:
View attachment 552026We did our CBT’s on a CG125 , which we shared to get a bit of experience on. Now being a big KTM fanboy, I would recommend a Duke 125. If you see my avatar, I have a 1290 Superduke. 👌🏻
The bike we stick in the van is a Duke 690.
Click to expand...
I always wonder how much punishment those thin back wheel spokes can take 😳😊

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It is remarkable the prices out there for 125 machines.
£999 gets me a 2021 Lexmoto Assault!!
Or same money for a Honda CBF125 2015.

Brand new bikes from various brands at £2000 to £3000 .... Japanese must be twitching as Chinese bikes are getting better quality.
 
There are training courses you can enroll on where the company provides the bike which you also take your test on. This may be a more convenient way to do it or you could go the direct access route and start off on a big bike which will also be supplied by the training company.
 
Just before the pandemic for my 75th birthday and out of sheer devilment I bought a new Honda CBF 125 and straightaway rode it to Spain (I only have use of my left arm and hand - I Velcro my right glove to the grip to keep it out of trouble). My sons fancied accompanying me and we toured for a week then rode back. I cruised it at 60 to 65 and it never missed a beat during the 2,800 miles.
I've been riding my collection of 1940's and 1950's Brit bikes for 50 years so the actual riding wasn't new to me.

Setting off for Spain..jpg
 
David and Sally said:
True to a point. My K1600 had 165 BHP but I never used it to that limit. It was just a rocket ship. Sportsbikes with a greater power-to-weight are even worse. Easy to get into trouble.

Now I'm older my R1250 with 136 BHP is quite enough!
Click to expand...
Is that all ?




;)

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David and Sally said:
True to a point. My K1600 had 165 BHP but I never used it to that limit. It was just a rocket ship. Sportsbikes with a greater power-to-weight are even worse. Easy to get into trouble.

Now I'm older my R1250 with 136 BHP is quite enough!
Click to expand...
First gear gets me into trouble on my Ducati , never mind the other 5 gears😆🤣😇
 
DBK said:
There are training courses you can enroll on where the company provides the bike which you also take your test on. This may be a more convenient way to do it or you could go the direct access route and start off on a big bike which will also be supplied by the training company.
Click to expand...
Yes I plan to do that but before I cough up cash for a days lesson I want to at least not to have to think about gear and clutch on the bike.
 
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Jev88 said:
It is remarkable the prices out there for 125 machines.
£999 gets me a 2021 Lexmoto Assault!!
Or same money for a Honda CBF125 2015.

Brand new bikes from various brands at £2000 to £3000 .... Japanese must be twitching as Chinese bikes are getting better quality.
Click to expand...
I’d still go for the used Honda

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Jev88 said:
It is remarkable the prices out there for 125 machines.
£999 gets me a 2021 Lexmoto Assault!!
Or same money for a Honda CBF125 2015.

Brand new bikes from various brands at £2000 to £3000 .... Japanese must be twitching as Chinese bikes are getting better quality.
Click to expand...
I quite agree about the threat posed by Chinese bikes to the Japanese ones. I was riding Brit bikes in the 60's and how me and my mates sneered at the 'Jap crap'...............just a couple years before they killed off the Brit bike industry.

I already had a Chinese winter hack but bought the Honda CBF 125 (aka the 'Grudge Special') for the ride across France to Spain because in the event I had a problem that I couldn't fix myself then virtually any bike dealer, (and obviously there are many official Honda dealers abroad) would have parts and the experience/tools/manual to fix it. I could envisage just getting a shrug of the shoulders if I turned up with a Chinese or lesser known make of bike.
However, my Chinese winter hack is a Herald Classic 250cc (aka the 'Mutchless') £2600 OTR which has been thoroughly reliable for about 5,500 miles so far but I did replace the rock hard tyres, liquorice sprockets and chain and the 'Mickey Mouse' brand brake pads and rear shocks with European ones but the chrome parts - zorst, levers, chainguard and brackets have rusted quite badly.

2016-05-21 Mutchless in the garden 002.JPG
 
Last edited:
Jev88 said:
It is remarkable the prices out there for 125 machines.
£999 gets me a 2021 Lexmoto Assault!!
Or same money for a Honda CBF125 2015.

Brand new bikes from various brands at £2000 to £3000 .... Japanese must be twitching as Chinese bikes are getting better quality.
Click to expand...
Im really not sure they are, I still hear regular reports of them failing and then being unable to get the parts. Out of those 2 2015 Honda for me.
 
Spriddler said:
I quite agree about the threat posed by Chinese bikes to the Japanese ones. I was riding Brit bikes in the 60's and how me and my mates sneered at the 'Jap crap'...............just a couple years before they killed off the Brit bike industry.

I already had a Chinese winter hack but bought the Honda CBF 125 (aka the 'Grudge Special') for the ride across France to Spain because in the event I had a problem that I couldn't fix myself then virtually any bike dealer, (and obviously there are many official Honda dealers abroad) would have parts and the experience/tools/manual to fix it. I could envisage just getting a shrug of the shoulders if I turned up with a Chinese or lesser known make of bike.
However, my Chinese winter hack is a Herald Classic 250cc (aka the 'Mutchless') £2600 OTR which has been thoroughly reliable for about 5,500 miles so far but I did replace the rock hard tyres, liquorice sprockets and chain and the 'Mickey Mouse' brand brake pads and rear shocks with European ones but the chrome parts - zorst, levers, chainguard and brackets have rusted quite badly.

View attachment 552103
Click to expand...
IMO this just typifies the Chinese approach, make something that looks about right but make it out of the cheapest materials that you can possibly find and then hire the cheapest workforce to put it together. Its not about anything but selling as many as possible, no build quality no customer service.

I can see how you can make it work because you have the knowledge to deal with the issues but I feel sorry for novices who are suckered into buying this sh*t. Thats apart from my views on Chinese intentions.

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jongood said:
IMO this just typifies the Chinese approach, make something that looks about right but make it out of the cheapest materials that you can possibly find and then hire the cheapest workforce to put it together. Its not about anything but selling as many as possible, no build quality no customer service.

I can see how you can make it work because you have the knowledge to deal with the issues but I feel sorry for novices who are suckered into buying this sh*t. Thats apart from my views on Chinese intentions.
Click to expand...
There's much truth in that. Many of the 'dealers' are merely eBay box shifters or 'pop-up' shops that assemble the crated parts with little or no expertise, after sale service or spare parts. I am indeed fortunate that I can fix any issues.
I've been a regular customer of the same MOT tester for maybe 30 years and when I took my Chinese bike for its first MOT I asked him how' Chinese bikes fared at MOT time. He said that he gets surprisingly few brought in and thinks it could be due to the fact that many are bought by youngsters who ride them into the ground for a year or maybe two, pass their test and buy a bigger bike or a car and the clapped out bike is left unused in the back garden or sold cheaply for spares.
 
just need to look in the classified adds , full Of cheap Chinese bikes/scoots that nobody wants
usually reads easy repair but I’ve no time or lost interest
there is a few good Chinese bikes but most should go straight from the showroom to the dump
& save us a lot of grief
 
Northernraider said:
How tall are you because if you're wuite tall you want something decent sized like a honda varadero or something. I found the yamaha and honda s etc way to small for me.

Unfortunately second hand 125's are often more expensive than bigger bikes of the same age
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. Deposit left on an old XL Valadero, test at weekend.
 

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