Yamaha R125 for Commuting

Kuhan

Kuhan

Kuhan

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Joined
8 Apr 2007
Posts
139
Basically ive done a fair bit of research on getting a bike, im planning on doing my CBT within this month.

Ive got a new job based in newham so i will be doing a 60 mile round trip each day, my car isnt very economical but I love it.

so the bike i have in mind is he Yamaha R125. I need reliability, minimum speed of 70 mph as i will be going on A roads to work.

Thats basically it really ive read it goes between 80 - 100 mpg so i wont be splashing out on petrol 24/7

any extra advice would be great

Thanks
 
70 will be its max speed unless downhill with the wind behind you :P . Will be econmical enough but fair mileage for a 125 . I have also have reservations on a sports 125 for commuting . There is another thread about commuting on a 125 and i think i would be looking at summit abit more uprite (and cheaper) than a 3k 125 . Maybe cheaper to do yer das and get a 500/600 cc? if yer over 21 or a restricted bike .

Persil
 
yeah I agree, commuting on a 125 is possible through town but for A roads it's gonna be a struggle and your gonna beat the bike to within a inch of death everyday. 60mile round trip on a 125 is also gonna bore you to tears.

like persil says, get that DAS done and buy a larger commuter... though once DAS is done you might be wanting a blade :D, would turn those A roads into a lot of fun.
 
This was my idea however once I had realised how fast (or slow!) 125's are, (my work commute is A roads) I scrapped that and am gonna do CBT and DAS in a month or two.

Plan is to get something like an SV650S which has been recommended to me, apparantly its the 'perfect all round bike' for n00bs!
 
Kappa said:
This was my idea however once I had realised how fast (or slow!) 125's are, (my work commute is A roads) I scrapped that and am gonna do CBT and DAS in a month or two.

Plan is to get something like an SV650S which has been recommended to me, apparantly its the 'perfect all round bike' for n00bs!
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yeh they nice bikes but quite under powdered for what that are, 645cc pushing out just 69bhp. I would defo try and test ride one first to see if you like it.

other options could be a Hornet 600, Bandit 600, Fazer, Kwak ER6
 
I had an Aprilia RS125 for about 5 years, it was a great bike, and capable of 100mph, but it wasn't ideal for my commute to work of 20 miles round trip. If you run an engine that small at higher revs for long periods of time it's never going to last long, the aprilia was a 2 stroke so 10 times worse. But going down the das route and getting a SV650, or similar would be the wise choice even if you have to have it resticted for 2 years.

The restricters are simiple to remove by the way, there normally just a valve that reduces the out take port into the exhaust from the cylinder. 10 minutes to install and remove.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
The restricters are simiple to remove by the way, there normally just a valve that reduces the out take port into the exhaust from the cylinder. 10 minutes to install and remove.
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Well assuming the OP wants to stay legal, that's not really a concern. Any 33bhp restricted bike will have enough power for OP to do whatever speed he wants on his commute.

Kuhan said:
so the bike i have in mind is he Yamaha R125. I need reliability, minimum speed of 70 mph as i will be going on A roads to work.

Thats basically it really ive read it goes between 80 - 100 mpg so i wont be splashing out on petrol 24/7
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125 will have a maximum speed of 70 - the fastest I ever got on one was during my test at 65mph downhill. They're ok for urban commutes but I wouldn't want to do mostly A-roads on one.

As said above, look into getting ~600cc bikes. Better value for money and you can have fun on them too when you're not commuting. I opted for the bandit 650 and am quite pleased with it. SV650 is an alright choice but again, as said above, it's quite underpowered. Similar cc to 4-cylinder engines but only ~75% of the power.
 
The SV isn't really about peak power, it's more how the torque is produced. The hornet and fazer use detuned super sport engines so you don't have much torque and they have lost they're top end power. You need to rev the balls off them to get anywhere and since they are detuned it's not even fun.

Personally I'd take the lovely V-twin engined SV over a buzzy hornet or fazer any day of the week.
 
DanF said:
The SV isn't really about peak power, it's more how the torque is produced. The hornet and fazer use detuned super sport engines so you don't have much torque and they have lost they're top end power. You need to rev the balls off them to get anywhere and since they are detuned it's not even fun.

Personally I'd take the lovely V-twin engined SV over a buzzy hornet or fazer any day of the week.
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+1

Its not exactly fair stating 'oh the sv has 645cc but only 70bhp', you need to state that it is an entirely different engine set-up to most bikes...
 
A 125 for commuting will be painful. As mentioned something like a 600 would be ideal and consider faired if going to be doing a lot of carriage/motorways. One last thing the SV being 650cc puts it in a higher tax bracket.
 
hehe, the higher tax bracket isn't so much a problem on the bikes, yet anyway.

Do we know if Mr. OP is over 21 yet? After doing my CBT on a little 125 thing and hating A roads, getting on the GS500 or whatever was a revelation, roads became fun!

Even restricted I'd think an SV or bandit etc would be far more comfortable. Will the restrictor kill the torque to the same degree as bhp or more/less?
 
Thanks guys, ive been away for abit but im 19 at the moment, 20 in august which is when i will be getting a bike. So what your saying is I could get a bigger bike such as a SV650 and restrict it to 70 mph?

Thanks

Kuhan
 
Kuhan said:
Thanks guys, ive been away for abit but im 19 at the moment, 20 in august which is when i will be getting a bike. So what your saying is I could get a bigger bike such as a SV650 and restrict it to 70 mph?

Thanks

Kuhan
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No, you restrict to 33bhp, which is the power limit.

It'll mean it'll be capable of 110+mph, depending on the weight of rider and bike.
 
Dojt listen to these noobs ;) The sv although fun is sloooooooooow and unless cared for with ocd type care will melt infront of yer eyes .

The Hornet is far superior in every way and not buzzy at all . Now i ride a vtwin but other than sounding nice the sv is just to slow :P

And re the ops post gtet yer cbt done then yer restricted das and get a nice restricted sv /hornet/bandit/random 600 of yer choice .

Persil
 
After my CBT I had a Honda CB125 TDC Superdream
Passed my test and had a Honda Bros 400
After my two year restriction I now have a Triumph Speed Four

For commuting on a CBT you won't go far wrong on almost any 125 (I wouldn't reccommend 2 strokes Cagiva Mito, RS 125, NSR). The Yam 125R is a nice bike in the flesh, not ridden it but it looks the dogs nadgers.

If you are going to take your test (watch out for those cones!) and are on a restriction, popular choice is the SV650. I can reccommend a Bros 400 but they are all getting a bit old now.

If you are >21 then the world is your oyster.
 
If you are going down the bigger bike route with restrictors, then an SV650 would be the best bike in my eyes. because there a twin you'll only be loosing half the performance, 70bhp standard. It'll still beat most over vehicle at the light, and i think the SV is quite light too.

The step up to full power will be a decent step too, but not overly big like it could be on say a 4 cylinder 600.

I'd also avoid 400cc bike, as there generally 20+ years old now, unless of course you find a recent model, but there will be very few in the uk.

Top speed wise the SV650 is capable of about 130 unrestricted, so i'd guess at about 100 restricted, but it'll have a lot more usable power lower in the rev range than a 4 cylinder bike.
 
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