lexmoto opinions
- Thread starter hornetstinger
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Don
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The comments about the internals is certainly true in my experience. I tried to install Suzuki parts into the k175fmi engine that it is cloned from. However, the valve guides are narrower, so you end up with very weak valves and smaller parts like valve colletts/etc are very hard to get.
There are things like replacement heads available, but they have no internals. So you have to either reuse parts or go hunting for 3rd party bits to replace them with.
My engine had dropped both valves before 12000 miles at different times.
My bike was 5 years old, and most fasteners were ok, but some random parts were letting go.
Rear brake master cylinder, brake cables, needed changing, the frame had surface rust all over and had to be stripped and cleaned, brake caliper taken back and resprayed. Most of the plastics had some broken clips or looked worse for wear.
Some metal parts like the rear wheel/chain adjustment were actually falling to bits and needed total replacement.
So when you compare it to my 1960s Honda it's faired pretty badly. That bike has most of its original parts and others could be re-worked to be reused.
I went into Chinese bike ownership with my eyes and mind open, and sadly a lot of the prevailing wisdom and advice from other bikers turned out to be correct.
Chinese bikes are moving on, and maybe the current generation will present a step forward again from my 2013 bike, but based on my experience, they have long way to go.
Please don’t do anything as monumentally stupid as spending 1.5k on a Chinese 125, buy a used Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha or a Hoysung (Korean Suzuki partnership that was actually OK), but not a Chinese brand. Is this brand snobbery? Not at all, i’ve seen what they look like after 12 months use and got hands on with a few, it’s just a really, really bad idea and spares can be an absolute ball ache. Unfortunately in recent years in the scooter market, Suzuki etc. have literally bought in and re-branded Chinese stuff and most of the brands suggested above have moved to eastern manufacturing along with southern America, quality hasn’t improved.
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Ok just had a Kawasaki h2r delivered I will modify it to have a digital throttle with a micro switch either idle or full the throttle.
Best idea ever.
Best idea ever.
Why make a thread if you're going to get tetchy about people giving the advice that you asked for? Very odd.
I really enjoyed my Sinnis Apache, it was £1500 new and I commuted and took it all over the place. After I sold it the engine let go. It was probably about 2 years old at that point.
I have a Bandit 600 now which cost £1000. It's a but more cumbersome to get around the drive and filter with, but reliable and quite good fun unless you're coming from a sports bike.
I really enjoyed my Sinnis Apache, it was £1500 new and I commuted and took it all over the place. After I sold it the engine let go. It was probably about 2 years old at that point.
I have a Bandit 600 now which cost £1000. It's a but more cumbersome to get around the drive and filter with, but reliable and quite good fun unless you're coming from a sports bike.
Some people decide on a course of action, then seek public validation from others, when that isn’t forthcoming, they can’t accept that others may have very valid reasons for the advice given.
Incidentally the last apache owner I knew had a few minor warranty issues, right up until the back end collapsed towards the end of its warranty.
The best way forward for the OP now is to prove his point by buying a Chinese 125 and running it for a couple of years and share his experiences.
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A Yamaha mt-125 is £4000. Can't justify spending that much.
Who suggested you should?
It’s a 125, buy used, buy Japanese and when/if you progress and pass your test, sell it on at minimal loss assuming you’ve looked after it. What pretty much everyone has suggested is you don’t throw £1500 away on something that will have poor build quality/reliability and massive depreciation, you seem to focus on the word ‘new’ as being important, it shouldn’t be. I appreciate this isn’t the advice you want, but ask yourself why everyone who owns/rides multiple bikes over many years years (even decades) is saying similar things and someone who hasn’t ridden disagrees with the majority?
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I wouldn't buy a used 125. would buy second hand bigger bike as owners not ragging and dropping them or revving **** off.
Wow, seriously? You really do have a lot to learn, both about bikes and people who ride them. At some point you’ll look back and understand, but for now, best of luck!
My 125 kissed the rev limiter on occasion, and spent most of its life in my hands at 50 - 70mph, which is at the top of the rev range, but was serviced regularly, and looked after. The person who bought it from me realised this, and it is still going today, as trouble free as it was for me, 7 years after I sold it.
My VFR spent its life before I got my hands on it, being ridden hard, and used for touring, with all the added weight that comes with that, is at 60k miles, and in my ownership has been revved harder, and ridden harder than my 125 ever was. All it's asked for in my 4 years of ownership is a clutch.
My point here, is that in my experience, your perception of different sized bikes being ridden with less vigour is untrue. Frankly if I bought a GSXR, and it had been nannied, and had massive chicken strips, I would be more dubious, than if its clearly been ridden hard, the owner is honest about such things, and can prove that despite that, it's been looked after. Bikes are built to tolerate being revved out. Heck an i4 600 only comes alive after 12k rpm.
Yea I crank the crap out of my 03 sv650, and have done for my 6 years of ownership. Ok I look after it well and give it plenty of TLC but it's as good as new, literally. Just a bit of corrosion/chips on the lower engine case behind the wheel, ( just right of the oil level inspection port) which I think is pretty unavoidable due to stone chip. It's got 30k miles.
The OP keeps saying he's worried about a used 125 being ragged, it's impossible not to rag a 125, I mean, it's what they are designed to do.
I had 2x 125's, a Yamaha TW 125, and a Honda CG 125, both were fantastic, I lost a bit of money on the Yamaha, only cus I let it go a bit cheap, the Honda I had for years, probably 4-5 years and sold it for £250 less than I paid.
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Honda varaadero look ok, it's a v twin.
Pros and cons for twin? More torque? Better sound? Still limited to L power
Pros and cons for twin? More torque? Better sound? Still limited to L power
For a 125 it really doesn't matter, they are a solid learner bike though, my brother learnt on one.
Make sure the height is ok for you.
I had a Hyosung 125GT for my learner bike, it was perfect and cheap if I remember correctly, compared to the big brands anyway, and now they are just rebadged Suzukis.
Make sure the height is ok for you.
I had a Hyosung 125GT for my learner bike, it was perfect and cheap if I remember correctly, compared to the big brands anyway, and now they are just rebadged Suzukis.
Fantastic full size 125 - I bought one used and sold it for 50% more than I paid for it after passing my test. Exhaust can rust with age, comfortable for a taller rider, can handle two up, does 70mph - make sure it had the carb heater recall done unless near death experiences are your thing.
Soldato
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I got a YBR 125 as my learning bike, straight after I did my CBT. It didn't do more than 55-60 mph and I got bored of it after 6 months - which prompted me to get my direct access bike license, but I got back what I paid for it (£900) when I part exchanged it against my ZR-7. The Honda Varadero is a superior bike and if you can get one, definitely do.
I'd only get one if your decent with tools, they have improved massively over the years, the lexmoto adrenaline are pretty good for the price but you have to realise they are cheap for a reason.. Saying they won't get you to work 5x a week is stupid though.. If you join the lexmoto group on Facebook people have 30k + miles on and still going strong.