Yamaha R125

I may be biased as it was my 1st bike and loved it and still do (RIP in the scrapyard from the cager that hit it!)

The bikes reliability is just...ridiculously phenomenal. Sure brand new vehicles rarely break down, but even the consumables and quality was just fantastic.

I got 16500 miles on it before it died, and the engine was in tip top shape. I ran it to redline all the time on dual carriageways to reach 70mph, and always used fully synth castrol 10w40 oil. These bikes are unbreakable if you keep the servicing up which is minimal! Just keep an eye on that oil!

Dropped it in the snow going 10-15mph. Dragged me down with it, got it back up, no frame bending, no snapping, and the crash bobbing took the brunt of the damage. Back on the road riding off again, excellent build quality.

Even the fiat 500 that rearended me, I damaged her bonnet good and it didn't seem to do much other than crack my rear fairings...Unfortunately due to its age and mileage and worth it was considered a write off.

The bike runs super smooth, easy to handle and move, brilliant cornering ability, absolutely fantastic mileage (80mpg) and looks and sized like an R6! It is the same size as an R6, just smaller engine.

Gone up to a Suzuki GSX650F, and would kill to have the 125 back. Genuinely.

this is the best 125 out there big bike looks fat breaks. so much fun to ride had mine up to 79 mph flat-out

Not my first bike. And it sure as hell wont be my last! The only problem is I brought mine from a dealership second hand. And since ive had it ive had problem after problem. As the previous owner had about as much knowlage of bikes as a ferret. But I have put the scorpion carbon fiber heatguard exhaust on wich makes it sound alot better! Does cost a few buffers though!!

It's not the fastest

It's not the cheapest

It's not small either.

The R125 is a great bike for ANY beginner. It's my first bike and I'd never ridden a bike before. It was sooo easy to ride. It's max speed is 84mph before it bounces off the limiter @10,500rpm, it's 4 stroke which means it's also very very reliable. It's a big bike. Similar in size to the R6 and what a stunner. The Michelin tyres that come with it stock aren't too good in the wet but most R125 owners wither use Bridgestone or Pirelli Sport Demon tyres. I've had my R125 now for nearly 18 months. It hasn't failed to start once and it hasn't had any mechanical problems. The only problem I've ever had is getting the nut out to change the oil (LOL).

Overall, at just over £4000, this bike is worth every penny and will blow your mind. Don't believe me, then check out MCN's top 10 125cc motorcycles. The R125 sits nice and comfy at number 1 :)

Never have I ever seen such huge amounts of respect given to a 125 at bike rallys accross the country.

I speak on behalf of not only myself as an owner for 15k miles.

But on behalf of the entire R125Forum.com

This bike is cheap and economical to run, often getting near to, or over 100mpg. Road tax costs nothing, servicing is cheap as it is only a small engine, and insurance is... reasonable.

If you buy second hand, and look after the bike, it will hold it's value well too. And there is never a shortage of demand for this bike! They sell fast, and there are plenty out there to choose from. be careful however when buying, as not all examples have been well looked after.

This bike is pretty quick. Depending on rider weight, and height, it will hold 75mph fairly easily, and will often reach 80mph. Handling is superb! You can confidently throw it around corners at great speed. It is light, and responsive, and the seating position is spot on for a sports machine.

It is relatively comfortable as well, I managed plenty of touring however this may be due to my flexible youth.

had the bike just over 2 weeks and i love it and im never off the damn thing and its my first bike at the age of 31. Considering i am 6ft 2 and 17st ish it can pull my weight around and still get up to 70mph which is more than ample for what i need it for, granted i want to move onto a bigger cc engined bike but for now it will do me, you can throw it into a corner and it just wants more and is nippy when needed, i picked my 08 black and gold with 10k miles on it and it is in mint condition which is a bonus for less than 3 grand.

when out riding i do get the nods from other riders on bigger bikes which is great.

all in all a great bike that im not going to get bored of riding

I'm the guy who's blog u see first before u click onto join the lobby, well I would like to apologize to you for being disrespectful and to tell you that in fact you was right Mr k&n.

The answer to increased pace lays in the sprockets. I'm sorry but at least I made the front page of your add heehe

After 4 years of not riding, I finally saved enough pennies to consider getting a R1. Hoiking round the insurance sites though told me tales of woe, despite being in my mid 30s, they were looking for £7000 fully comp or half that for TPFT. Ho hum, so less enthusiastically I started looking at R6s. By chance on a visit to a chum, I was in this mbike shop, and asked to sit on an R6, try it for size etc. And was talking to the sales guy, and asked him about insurance, mentioning I had really wanted an R1 but was being ripped off by the quotes. He found me a better one. £1600 TPFT and knew of an R1 for sale. In the end I bought it, off this very Hell's Angel looking bloke. I took for a test spin down a country back lane, recognising its reputation, I was only tootling alone, feeling its swing in and out of corners. Then I got to an island, with a country lane on the other side with a LH bend uphill. On exiting the island, I opened the throttle a little. And GOD ALMIGHTY, it rocketed up the road from 30 to God know s what in less than a second. At teh apex of the bend I heaved ALL my 11 stone around onto the left hand side, keeping the throttle on but not accelerating. I went round the corner and a straight patch appeared. I took the bike down gradually and stopped. Got off, and would have had a slim panatella moment if I smoked. But I got off anyway and shook the fear from my body. That was close. I rode it back gingerely, pale but excited. I had bought a demon in wolf's clothes.

4 or so more years later its served me very well. Pretty reliable, do have to keep the battery topped up with a trickle charger as the alarm (worth its weight in gold, I've had to apply some heavy tactics to stop it being nicked once). Its been to Ireland, Germany, France. Served well as a commute, lies down and up nicely in bends. Is rock steady at any speed on the motorway. In Germany I had it up to 155mph. They say the 02 R1 has the best torque delivery ie completely linear of all. That's not strictly true. Around 145mph, a manic burst of power surges in pushing your neck down into your spine and your helmet onto your nose, even a tight fitting one. At 155mph, it wasn't even that high in the rev range and I feel it could easily has done a lot more. Still dead steady though.

The only bad thing about it, which is dead obvious but not v practical is its hate for luggage, barr a rucksack and tank bag. Tried a ventura system on it which works, but compromises top speed on touring massively, catches cross winds which rucksacks do less. best compromises is a rucksack with an expanded bottom bit, stick all the heavy stuff down lower and the smaller stuff up top. That way the seat takes the weight rather than your shoulders. On a 1000 mile tour it makes a diff.

Controllability - mines got a steering damper on it, stock suspension on the rear which is fine.

However the one thing to watch is response at the lights. Don't give in to the temptation to storm away as the front will come up very very easily. And with a 1, you gets lots of triers onners, cars and bikes. The only time you can't loose them is if your steering's off eg low tyre pressure or some such. But let them them race away from the lights, otherwise you'll be trying to look through your petrol tank. But it lands well post wheelie with the Ohlins. I did take an an Audi R8 once entering an autobahn, left hand bend uphill. The two us were neck an neck with me on the outside of the bend and I changed the acceleration up a bit, just a bit. The back wheel kicked out (cold winter's morning, heavy dew on the tarmac) but recovered itself when I dropped the accel to where it had been. A second latter I was on the straight and nailed him anyway, easily.

Tyres - i've got BT014s which are great. never tried Pilot powers but might do next. Bt021s ( I was being economic) not suitable, not confidence inspiring. But the BT016s are utter rubbish, take too long to warm up (in England anyway) and even when they do they are significantly less grippy than the 014s. The 016s I had slid in the dry, in the straight and of course in the wet and on bends. They even slid when I went on a free police riding riding assessment. They checked the pressure as I frequently do. They were fine. I used to have scooters undertaking me going around a long bend most mornings. Now that's not right is it. Just couldn't get on with those 016s. when I swapped back to the Bt014s, it was like having my spine reinserted. I was in control and could up or down the power round those bends, even on only semi-scrubbed in tyres. Better still the last set I bought was on offer £140 for a pair and I fitted them at a DIY garage. Well Ok I took them off and on the bike, a mechanic swapped the rubber, and balanced the wheels. Cost me £160 fitted. Ha ha. I like the clocks, simple. Wish the indicators were self cancelling but what the ... Mirrors could be a fraction longer and broader. Now you hav to set them either for commuting- higher body position or the motorway -lower body position. Wooukd also be nice to be able to adjust the angle of the handlebars or the strecth of them. Make town riding a bbit easier.

Engine bullet proof although the EXUP needs attention/ maintenance to stop it seizing. Ditto the exhaust. Would recommend once a year anyway removing the rear and mid bits, giving them a light sand and oil, replace any gaskets/ joins. Otherwise you'll have to cut it off.

Brakes are very good. Clutch for commuting is very heavy. I've had hulking blokes complain about its weight. I only notice on a particulalry slow commute eg bank hol weekend getting out of town.

Fuel comsumption - terrible, small tank as well. 120miles safe limit. I'd say it currently does about 10miles/ L which is c 40mpg.

Pillions - best have a short one as the rear seat is high and it be can windy at the back. Part why I fitted the renthal. Not an ounce of difference to the acceleration though. ah one bad thing about the rear seat is that it slopes forward. Now if you're a bloke carrying say a 9 stone pillion through a city with heavy traffic, highly junctioned or traffic lighted roads, your gonna suffer. Ooooh yes. So I bought a seat rubbery net thing so stop that pillion's rear end sliding around and crushing my err valuables. Worth it. But my boot lace lugs have ripped it a bit.

Maintenance about £70-140 for a superficial one, oil change etc.

Insurance in London £300 after 4-5 years (I forget how long I've had it!) no accidents. Not too bad.

Riding position comfort - hmmm tricky. When I first got on it, it was like being imaginativeky combination tortured by the Spanish Inquistion. Your knees are compressed up, your back is stretched over the tank, your weight is one your wrists, your rear/ back are totally unsupported with enough room to insert another one of me on the rider's seat. In essence its a race bike. Designed to humiliate your body into submission. Now mine is, I find it OK. Occassionally I get a hideous pain in my hip sockets. Don't know why as its not some Blue Oyster bar tassled chap legs akimbo riding position or something. Perhaps its age. Wonder if they do an R1 zimmer?, get you to the nursey station in less time than it takes to drop a geriatric fly. Disgusting! Well you can get Land Rover bicycles and prams!?!

Would I recommend it. Definitely. Still like to try a cross plane engine version though before the zimmer.

hi all i have a yamaha yzf r125 2011 plate i have put a gpr exhaust k&n and a 15tooth sprocket for the front n i can get 90mph now and i can keep up with apilia 125 up to 90 so by that i think that the yzf r125 is awsome

Being a female rider having this bike is the best thing ever. It's so amazing down to ever spec of it. I love corners on my bike and roundabouts are a dream. its just pure free flowing and smooth. Yes its an expensive 125 but hey a 125 that looks sounds and proves its capability is more than you can ask for. i've had a top speed of 82mph and traffic is no problem, you can easily overtake any traffic and handle through sitting traffic a breeze. I have biker friends who cant believe how big it looks. Even when i go to bike night i get amazing comments and compliments. I love my bike to bits and must say the black and gold look is super hot. fantastic bike and would recommend to anyone, only problem is finding someone else who has one to ride out with lol. must have bike, top respect to all owners of the YZF-R125 safe riding people and look forward to seeing you on the streets!!