Suzuki GZ 125

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Chaps,

Would one of these make a decent first bike? I'm looking at one for hopefully around the £1000 mark.

I passed my CBT at the weekend on a Honda CG 125 but it was far too small for me, my knees hit the handlebars on u turns, the clutch slipped on hard gear changes, etc, wasn't that impressed. Sat on a GZ and it seems much comfier and roomier.

I'm not that bothered about performance I just want something that isn't tiny and doesn't cost a chunk. The Varadero would be ideal but £1K is scraping the barrel.

Not keen on the sport bike look for a 125, prefer naked, adventure, enduro or cruiser styles.
 
Not a huge fan of the cruiser style 125's myself, unfortunately the varadero is really one of the only "proper" sized 125 for half decent money, the MT07 I rode yesterday felt small compared to it. There are others, the supermoto style but these have higher footpegs.

You might find one for £1500 or a bit less, but tbh £1000 is pushing it for any decent 125.
 
They are perfectly good bikes underneath the dubious styling, but that's obviously a personal thing. It uses the same single cylinder engine used in the GS125, very reliable and economic and it will be about as quick as most other four stroke 125s (i.e. not very!).

If you like them and you find them comfortable then go for it.
 
The Marauder is OK, but pretty small.
The Suzuki Intruder is slightly bigger, the Honda Shadow is bigger still and teh most spacious 125 is the Yamaha Dragstar.
I can vouch for the Dragstar's reliability and performance, such as it it is. I'd personally suggest either that or a Shadow.
 
ttaskmaster said:
The Marauder is OK, but pretty small.
The Suzuki Intruder is slightly bigger, the Honda Shadow is bigger still and teh most spacious 125 is the Yamaha Dragstar.
I can vouch for the Dragstar's reliability and performance, such as it it is. I'd personally suggest either that or a Shadow.
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I think you'd be very hard pressed to find a decent VT125 or XVS125 for £1k or under.
 
Dogbreath said:
I think you'd be very hard pressed to find a decent VT125 or XVS125 for £1k or under.
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True, especially at this point in the year.
In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything properly worthwhile under a grand in the 125 section. Maybe a CG125, but it'd likely be very tatty or needing a mechanic.

However, once you're outside 'The Season', prices often plummet. Searching for misspelt auctions can also help - I once got £700 off a bike by doing that!!
 
I had a Honda Shadow from new and put 35K miles on it in 4 years, a great bike and never had any problems with it. I rode from Southampton to Norfolk on A roads and didnt need to make any stops (5 hour trip) as its a comfy bike.
 
ttaskmaster said:
True, especially at this point in the year.
In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything properly worthwhile under a grand in the 125 section. Maybe a CG125, but it'd likely be very tatty or needing a mechanic.
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That's why the OP is looking at the GZ125, they fetch quite a bit less than the V-twin cruisers from Honda and Yamaha. £1k seems to give him a reasonable amount of choice.
 
Dogbreath said:
That's why the OP is looking at the GZ125, they fetch quite a bit less than the V-twin cruisers from Honda and Yamaha. £1k seems to give him a reasonable amount of choice.
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But having owned one, I would definitely put it at the bottom of the 125 Cruiser pile in terms of performance, durability, build quality, parts availability and just in general. It will do if you have nothing else... But even there, I'd consider a CG over the Marauder.
 
ttaskmaster said:
But having owned one, I would definitely put it at the bottom of the 125 Cruiser pile in terms of performance, durability, build quality, parts availability and just in general. It will do if you have nothing else... But even there, I'd consider a CG over the Marauder.
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We seem to be going in circles here. The OP has already discounted a CG as he find it uncomfortably cramped, but fits the GZ much better.
 
I would not be buying a 125 cruiser, but that is just my personal preference.

At this price I would be all over a two stroke trailie. You can pick up a decent one for a grand ( a lot less if you have a couple of weekends to fix one up) and they literally destroy anything 4 stroke while still being reliable and reasonable decent on fuel.
Proper sized bikes as well.
 
It was my legs that were the issue the most I think with the CG, that's probably why I found the cruiser a bit comfier.

Thanks for the other suggestions, i'll keep an eye out although like you said Dogbreath a twin is probably over budget.

Not tried a Trail bike yet, i'll give that a go too.
 
Dogbreath said:
We seem to be going in circles here. The OP has already discounted a CG as he find it uncomfortably cramped, but fits the GZ much better.
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Fits, yes, but IMO would likely not be happy with the other attributes that came with it.
You wouldn't pick, say, a GPU that had three fans compared to another with only two, if everything else about the 3-fan one was pretty pants by comparison... would you?

Simple ranking - Marauder < CG </= Other 125 Cruisers that will be as fitting, if not more so.
As is, most Cruisers are out of the price range, so it's on to other options anyway.
 
I always recommend a tail trail bike,they have high riding position with good road visability and great turning circles,plus their long soft suspension and thick seat make them comfortable to ride

I would pick a four stroke over a two stroke though they will last a lot lot longer and wont drink expensive 2 stroke oil
 
ttaskmaster said:
Fits, yes, but IMO would likely not be happy with the other attributes that came with it.
You wouldn't pick, say, a GPU that had three fans compared to another with only two, if everything else about the 3-fan one was pretty pants by comparison... would you?
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That's a very odd analogy to be honest, why would I choose something according to the number of fans on it?

I was limited by budget and space I might choose a basic SFF PC or even a cheap laptop over a high end full sized tower; even though it won't be as powerful or expandable it fits within my primary constraints.
 
Dogbreath said:
That's a very odd analogy to be honest, why would I choose something according to the number of fans on it?
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I don't know. First example I could think up!
OK, how about a £20 case that has 4x 5.25" bays, but is lacking the same cable management, fan mounts and expansion slots that other £20 cases with 4 bays have?

Sagalout said:
I'd say the bike fits the OP's requirements quite well.Lets face it, its a 4T 125 - they are all the same really apart from geometry.
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This struggles to make 65mph according to the review. I found it was more like 55, which is OK for town riding, but pretty bad once you start on A-Roads. The build quality is also pretty dire, especially on low-price second-hand models as they tend to get used and abused a fair bit.
There's a couple of 125 Shadows out there for about £1100. I personally preferred the Dragstar in the end, but they do tend to cost!
 
Maybe it's speedo was more accurate than most? In reality all 4T 125's are being thrashed at 65, and he did say he wasn't bothered about performance!
 
Sagalout said:
Maybe it's speedo was more accurate than most? In reality all 4T 125's are being thrashed at 65, and he did say he wasn't bothered about performance!
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No, but you will want to at least get close to the speed limit on most roads. Otherwise you'll spend your time being overtaken by everything, like a scooter.
Incidentally, one reason I traded my Marauder in for the Dragstar was that the latter actually could make 74mph on an open road!
 
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