Honda CBR125R Review

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Honda CBR125R
4.5 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4.5 out of 5

From 16 ratings and 71 reviews

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the elements600's Review of Honda CBR125R

8th Oct 2009

Overall Rating

3 stars
  • Value for money
    3 stars
  • Length of ownership
    1 day
  • Reliability
    4 stars
  • Year Manufactured
    2008
  • Build quality
    5 stars

Good points:

* Reasonably priced and holds it's value well.
* Reliability and finding spare parts is unlikely to be much of an issue.
* Very cheap to run and is lighter than a feather.

Bad points:

* Slower than a dead slug!
* Doesn't feel too planted on the road at speed.

General Comments:

A few months ago I took my SV in for a service, and as I needed to do a few things whilst the bike was being sorted I was given a Honda CBR125R for the day. "Brilliant!" I thought, having a 125 again to have a bit of fun on for a bit.

Upon first getting on the bike, the thing that instantly struck me was how light it was. Honestly, there's no weight to it whatsoever. The bike gets on the move with no fuss, but god do you have to dime the throttle and cling on to those precious revs if you want it to go anywhere. First gear is very, very short and will only see you up to 10mph. Gears 2-5 are where it's at though and 6th offers minimal acceleration, as it's only really there to act as an overdrive to ease the engine on 70mph A/B roads and motorways though any overtaking will need to be planned with military precision. Once it's up to any sort of speed past 60 it begins to feel slightly unsteady because of the lack of weight.

Being a 125 though, it isn't going to be very thirsty and 70+ MPG should be achievable.

Would I recommend it? If you're after a cheap to run, easy method of getting from A to B, it's certainly up there with all the other 125s, of which there are many. But as with most 125s, it isn't quick, so if you go on faster out-of-city roads a lot, be prepared to hear that little engine scream.

To conclude, a decent and frugal city slicker, it'll make mince meat of traffic being so narrow and light and you should get a decent return on it when you go to sell it. But it begins to lose competence at higher speeds, so if your commute includes many faster roads, this bike may not be the one for you and as an all-rounder, there are better bikes for the job.

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