written by paulenew on 08/03/2010
Bought a Honda NS125R Alcast as step up in my learning process, having basically learnt to ride on a cheap chinese 125. As it turns out, it was a great idea. The Alcast italian import is unrestricted, variously defined as 28-32 BHP, and as such has the performance you'd expect from a 125 right up until the revs go past 8000 - then it just gets crazy. The bike pulls smooth and clean past 90mph (I weigh 18 stone, so it says a lot for the bike that it can move me that fast), and the handling is sublime, it's increasingly hard to lose confidence approaching corners because it seems there's nothing this bike can't get around with an almost indiscernable shift of weight. Flips in and out of corners with incredible ease, and as long as you bounce the revs around 8500-10000 there's more than enough power to accelerate smoothly through anything.
Outside of the fundamental handling, this bike is beautifully balanced for filtering - did a straight run of 4 miles between static traffic yesterday and only put my feet down twice, it's just so effortless to control once it's rolling. I agree with reviewers of the 125RR, the bike does feel heavy at low (slowride) speeds, but I'm getting used to it.
Recommend 100% to everyone that wants a good intermediate bike before moving up to litre plus.