After moving to Hungary and returning to two wheels after many years as a 'cager' I had a number of scooters before buying a new Honda CBF 125. If I am honest, price was a major consideration. Buying second hand vehicles in Hungary is a minefield. Stolen imports, 'clocked' kms and every other problem are a major wqorry here. However many people still buy second hand as the government here put a huge registration charge for new bikes. i.e a 330,000 forint 125 c.c bike attracts a 95000 forint tax plus 40000 forints for number paltes etc. However after a few bad experiences I decided to bite the bullet and buy new. I discounted the Chinese options because (a) I had a cheap chinese scooter as the first way back on to two wheels and (b) everybody I know that has bought a Chinese bike has been unhappy with it. So the KTM was way too expensive so I was left with the usual choice of Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha. A friend lent me his CBF125 for a week and I was impressed. So I am now ready to have the bike serviced at 4000 kms and what do I think? Well let us look at the bad points: I dropped the petrol cap with the key in it and it bent like a pice of chocolate. The spring on the sidestand broke at 3500 kms. There is already a little rust of the exhaust after only 3 months and it is never kept outside. However we must understand that this bike is as cheap as chips. Do not bother worrying about petrol consumption as it does not use any. The brakes and tyres are adequate as long as you realise that you are not Valentino Rossi. The gearbox is perfect and the little engine is honest and pure and will cruise all day between 90 qnd 95 kph. As a commuter / fun bike it cannot be beaten. I have used it all through the Hungarian winter and apart form 3 days where the ice on the road was too bad, I have commuted between 60 / 100 kms daily. I wheel it out of the shed and even if it is minus 2,3 or 4 it starts at the first touch of the button with never a cough or splutter. It is cheap, reliable and fun and I would suggest that anybody who is on a restricted budget could do no better than buy this wonderful little motorcycle. I am 164 cms and 70 kgs but my friend who lent me his is a taller and heavier man and still has no trouble. Mine still pops along happily with 'her indoors' on the back and when I have been in the saddle for an hour and a half I do not feel stiff or cramped. My only wish is that it were a bit lower as I have duck's disease (short little legs). Buy one now!

I've had this bike over two years now and its a great 125 extremely reliable very economical and handles great if you live in a busy city its lightweight which allows easy overtaking, stylish nippy cheap and reliable, the only small down side to this gorgeous bike is that the tires are very thin which makes driving in the rain a real challenge

Today 19 of july 2012 has been problably the best day of my life, I was looking to upgrade to a 125 geared, from a 50 rev n go, I tested a honda cbr125 but I'm too tall for it and it handled very slugish, so I went for the cbf 125 and I must say it is incredible, I bought it brand new from a honda dealer at £2,500 and they chucked in a free helmet and disk break lock, along with 2 years warrenty, apart from minorly tightening the clutch cable, the bike is amazing, it picks up speed like a bullet, and has a supperb gear ratio, After reading some of the reviews on multiple websites I havnt heard a bad note about the honda cbf125, however! People are trying to custimize the air filter by replacing it with a k and n, DON'T! This will slowly ruin your bike, firstly moisure will be sucked in to your block and assist cylender corosion, wich is the heart of you bike, not a good idea, leave it standard just replace your tyres every 3000 miles or so keep your oil toped up to the tip of your dip stick, and the rest leave to a trained mechanic(I got my bike with 2 years warrenty) woop! Enjoy riding readers you can see my bike reveiws on you tube much loved terry tibes

I have a Mazda 3 diesel that gives me 60mpg in summer and 53mpg in Winter. Great economy for my car but the mileage I have to do to get to work was costing me over £2000 per year in fuel alone. I then decided that I HAD to get a motorcycle. It don't take long to realise that Honda are renouned for reliability so it was CBF125 pr the CBR125. As this was a purchase for financial reasons it meant the CBF was the one for me. I got a 2011 60 plate with extra fairings, a givi box and a taller windscreen. 1700 miles for £1895. My insurance is £168 with no NCB Fully Comp. My first tank cost me just over £14 to fill and I got over 360 miles. basically 159mpg. It's not the fastest bike but you can't have speed and economy. As a first time biker, but been driving a car for 25 years, I can highly recommend this bike to any first timers. I feel comfortable riding it after about 4 hours roadtime. Done just over 400 miles now and have no real complaints. The only downside is the gears.... It can be quite easy to miss an up-shift. I have read that the best solution is to release the nut on the gear level and just move the sprocket around 1 click and it's so much better. I will try this at the weekend. If this works then there is no complaints.... It is quite a light bike and you do get thrown about a lot... So take it easy when it's windy. It's fine as long as you stay under 40. Drive to your conditions... It's simple.... I did get Conti-go tyres with it and cannot compare against stock... But they are good in the wet and at about £90 a pair I would highly recommend them.

After spending weeks deciding to go from automatic to gears and looking at many diff bikes i decided that the CBF 125 was the ideal choice.I needed a bigger 125 as im 6ft 1 and weigh in at 16 stone and as i have a large frame due to being a body builder the CBF was the perfect choice . It will hit 72mph on an A road so no complaints from me here but the cbf seems to love sitting at a nice steady 60MPH . I havent tested for distance as yet with MPG but from what other readers have put then i wont be disapointed.
I can honestly say that i made the right choice 100% ... And i dont look like im riding a mini moto like most other 125cc bikes.Handeling is great esp around those tight bends in and around lincolnshire id give this bike 9 out of 10 anyday , the only thing that lets them down is tyres.

I have just completed 12,000 miles on my trusty Honda cbf 125. I have changed the tyres from the wooden TVS to conti-go and what a diference in grip.The old tyres were trible the wet and cold conditions. The new conti- go have transformed the ride. Bike bulid quality still good however Honda replaced the fornt wheel under warrenty as the black paint had peeled off. I had a new chain fitted at 11,000 miles otherwise i just change the oil regularly and fill the bike with petrol and off I go. A cracking bike.I am still not missing my old ER6.

I have had my Honda CBF125 for one year now and done 5000 miles with no complaints, in fact, nothing but joy. I live in London and it is great around town. I go once a month to Farnborough on the M3, and although rarely overtake anything, I keep pace with the lorries in the slow lane so I don't have them overtaking me often. I frequently go for rides in the countryside at the weekends with my girlfriend on the back and have no problems, although it can take quite a while to get up to speed when going up a steep hill from a slow start. The other half doesn't like going on motorways as the wind can shake the bike around in an unnerving way, however, I don't notice this at all as the rider as I am probably compensating for it without knowing, and I have more to hold onto. When we have gone away for the weekend camping, I load the bike with the tent and luggage and she takes the train or coach.

Mechanically, there has not been any problems or callouts to the AA. I have had it serviced by a garage as per the Honda schedule.

Costs: The initial cost was £1850 on the road. TPFT insurance last year was £100 and this year £105 with Swinton's. I had to buy a new helmet and a tank bag. I have put in 155 litres of petrol in the year. This gives me a performance of 140 mpg, and by writing down the bike cost over 10 years, the total cost of ownership for the year has been:
Bike: £185
Insurance: £100
Petrol £173
Servicing: £97
Accessories: £70
Total: £625

Total cost per mile = 13p, petrol cost per mile = 3.5p, and the 13 litres in the tank should have a limit of 400 miles. I am a careful rider and would expect that to drop if I were more aggressive with the throttle.

I bought the honda cbf 125 last August 2009 having traded in my Kawsaki er6. The bike has been great and i have not missed the er6 at all. The bike is comfortable and easy to ride .Fuel consuption is excellent around 130mpg.I have clocked over 7000 miles already. The bike starts every morning without fuss.I like the bike as it delivers everything i ask from it.Strong points include,looks.economy,reliabilty and fun. Bad points: build quality is not as good as it should be for example the black paint on the front wheel is peeling off. Otherwise the bike is excellent .

I was looking for an inexpensive commuter but also something which could withstand some of the longer journeys that I have to do. I had a look around and settled on the HOnda CBF 125. I am 6'2 and about 200lbs (wish I could say solid muscle) and most 125s simply are too low or cannot cope that well with me. This motorcycle is an absolute dream. The sit up and beg position is great and gives me a good view even in the driving rain. I can easily get 70 out of it and have done 75 down hill with the wind behind my back. It is bigger and more stylish than most on the market and a number of people have stopped me and said: "Is that really a 125?". She's good away from the lights, is very light and handles extremely well whether opened up or filtering through Monday morning rush hour traffic. Honda accessories are always expensive but if you're not a brand snob there's some excellent stuff on ebay. It's cheap to insure even without any no claims bonus owing to the theft of a previous vehicle. To anyone who is looking for a learner legal or just passed their test or just wants a commuter, this is an ideal first or second motorcycle. Ride safe y'all!

I recently took delivery of my new 2010 registered Honda CBF125. I have held a full motorcycle licence for 17 years and had not ridden a 125 since I passed my bike test in 1993. I had been without a motorcycle for eight year and hence had zero no claims bonus for my insurance. Even so, with no no-claims bonus I managed to get fully comp insurance with legal cover for just £125 and the road tax is just £15.00 a year.

I wanted a bike to allow me to cheaply get back onto two wheels and to also help build up at least one years no claims bonus before getting a bigger bike again. Also cost was a big issue. I purchased this bike brand new from my local Honda dealer and including a Honda top box it cost just under £2100 (But note that Honda increased its price on 1st April by nearly another £200).

Initially I was sceptical of owning such a small capacity motorcycle because I am 6 feet 5 inches tall and weigh over 16 stone. I made sure I had a good test ride before putting down a deposit. It was a choice for me between a Honda CBF125 which I could pay for in full or getting a 3 year interest free credit deal on a Kawasaki ER6 which I also test rode. Even though the ER6 was a much faster motorcycle and very nice, thinking sensibly I went for the CBF125 and have no regrets at all. I also looked at the Yamaha YBR125 but I much prefered the look of the Honda and there was vertually no difference in size or cost. The only bad point against the Honda is that is has no rev counter, but this is hardly a deal breaker. Also speaking of size, the Hoda does look physically bigger than a normal 125cc motorbike. I find the bike surprising confortable considering my height but it is still slightly too small for me. It is worth noting though that I find most bikes a bit too small including many larger capacity motorcycles.

I have only just finished running the bike in (at nearly 600 miles) and it will sit happily in top gear on a flat road at approximately 60mph. I have seen just over 65mph going down a hill but with my weight, 60mph seems about as fast as it wants to go, although I'm hoping this may inprove a bit as the engine loosens up with more miles. I have only had to top up the fuel twice (I think it should confortably do 300 mile plus on a full tank of petrol). On the last occasion I very accurately worked out the miles per gallon and was pleased to say the Honda acheived just over 108 mpg. I thought that was particularly good considering that approx 160 miles were alsmost at full throttle doing 55 to 60mph.

To sum up, this seems to be an excellent and quick (from 0 to 45mph) notorcycle which offers excellent value for money and comes with 2 years Honda warranty and AA roadside recovery. Hopefully I'll also be able to sell it withing a year or two without loosing a great deal of cash.

I love this Bike! Would recommend to anyone...All round great biker.
Easy to ride - really quick once your in 2-3 gear - great leaner bike.

Alot bigger than Most 125cc bike you see on the road - Looks the business- really smart sporty looking bike.

Cheap to run - hardly needs to filling up!

Build well, really realiablity - always starts 1st time, amazing vaule for money.

Only bad thing: wheels are thin looking - some parts can be pricy, however you can get alot cheaper parts on ebay.

However, dont let this put you off! Its an AMAZING bike! 10/10!!!!!!

Happy riding!

Mr Dee

The shock of the new. Surely this flash-looking piece of kit cannot be Honda's idea of a cheap commuter bike? But it is - and what a success it has been. Larger and much more comfortable to ride than the now long-in-the-tooth (though very reliable) CG125, the engine is free revving, pulls well for a 125 and is astonishingly economical. Taking it easy running-in, the first tank gave 158 and the second 135 m.p.g. Such parsimony with fuel is down to the injection system - a type that has even been miniaturised to work on Honda's 50cc 4-stroke bikes. On the latter no battery is need to run it - one stroke of the kick-start generating sufficient current to turn the pump and start the engine. Of course, there is no kick-start on the CBF125 - but the electric one works at a touch - in fact, if you press and hold it the engine (at least mine) won't start. However, give it the lightest press and the engine catches first time, every time and settles to an slow and even tickover no matter what the temperature.
Road-holding, steering and braking on the cheap and nasty (and very narrow) Indian-made tubeless tyres are all fine in the dry - but require caution in the wet. Unfortunately, judging by the very small clearance between suspension and tyres improving ride comfort by fitting larger ones is not going to be an option.
Able to hold an indicated 65 m.p.h. on the motorway, the bike is just able to stay out of the way of HGVs, though caution is needed with no reserve of power available to accelerate away from a situation. On main roads the performance is adequate, although in many ways this limitation is a life saver - having no reserve to overtake 50 to 60 m.p.h. traffic means that you end up just not bothering - and going along at your own pace.
With an upright riding position the perfunctory screen is all but useless - but after-market ones are available and don't appear, from first reports, to much hinder top speed. The maker's rear carrier is enormously strong and available with two sizes of top box.
One wonders how the bike would perform stripped of its emissions equipment and catalectic converter ? Probably a good deal better - and it speaks volumes for the skill of Honda's development engineers that they have achieved so much while meeting Euro 3 requirements. A few questions remain: how long will the tyres last; how much will servicing dip into the budget when it has to happen every 2500 miles - and will it have the long-term, bullet-proof reliability of the precious CG type? Only time will tell.

well had mine for a week now ,what a cracking ride just get on and away you go :). if you are thinking of a YBR stop!! go and get a cbf, had lots of intrest from other bikers as they have not yet seen one. all in all great fun will sit at 60mph no problem. full comp insurance, no no clams, aged 31 £184 a year not bad. happy biking :)

Man do i love this bike! rides very easily, ( much better than the gc125 which i used for my test.) economical on fuel, i have done 260 miles this week, I only put a tenner in and its still a tad away from empty. The bike looks good, handles well, top speed not bad either, Ive safely hit 74mph on a straight in the wet. I think this is an ideal bike for a beginner, its easy to gain confidence on, I gained trust very easily and i put this down to the riding position ( nice and upright, easily see traffic ) handling and simplicity of use with this bike. It does exactly what it says on the tin. If you can afford to spend around 2k for a new, first bike then i would definitely choose the CBF again.
I had read a lot of reviews about this bike before i decided to buy and I couldnt find much about sizing of the bike etc, i had been worried Id look to big on it. I actually fit this bike great, I am 5ft10 and weigh 14 1/2 stone. insurance for me, with honda costs £119 3rd party fire and theft, I have just fitted a new top box and the higher wind shield ( which i highly reccommend - makes so much difference to your ride! )

All in all then - excellent bike!.