Honest BT's Bike Reviews
The 2007 Honda CBR125R
Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you?
When I picked it up one sales bloke said surely I was far too big for it, while the other said that he waas able to do 90km/h uphill and 110km/h downhill on it. The second bloke is about 4 inches taller than me (I'm 180cm and 84kg).
I started my test ride in Fyshwick, and headed off down the Monaro highway to my home. It was necessary to tuck in behind the screen to achieve 110km/h, but the bike was able to hold that speed comfortably. The narrow handlebars and a nice flat top on the fuel tank makes that task easier. The seat and pegs were quite comfortable.
The standard exhaust had been replaced with a Micron sports system, which was quite loud. I can't say if it offered any performance benefits over the standard system since I haven't ridden a bike so equipped, but I'm told it saved almost 5kg.
Two things really stood out for me about this bike. The first is how fantastically light it is. The brochure claims 119kg, but if anything it seemed lighter. I mean like drastically, sub-100kg-pick-it-up-and-store-it-on-a-shelf-in-the-garage lighter. The second is the brakes. I'm probably quite biased since the bikes I've ridden most recently have been a 1985 Kawasaki GPZ900R and a 1967 Honda CT90, but the brakes on this baby will haul you to a stop before you finish saying "whoah!" Light weight and a pair of relatively large disks with dual-piston calipers will do that.
Engine-wise, the fuel injection means that you really have to work hard at it to make this motor bog down and chug. Of course if you want to keep up with the traffic you need to keep it spinning above 8000rpm (redline is 11,000rpm). The balance shaft work well, giving amazingly little vibration compared to, say, a postie bike motor at half the revs. I found that I wasn't using 6th gear much, even while travelling at 100km/h. If I owned it (rather than taking somebody else's bike for a test ride) and was travelling somewhere (rather than just fanging around town for an hour) I probably would use top gear and improve my fuel economy a bit. I'm impressed that Honda have managed to wring 13hp out of a 125cc 4-stroke 2-valve single and kept it so un-peaky and rideable.
I was astounded that the brochure claim of a "smooth shifting close-ratio 6-speed transmission" was proven correct. I mean, the phrase "smooth-shifting Honda gearbox" has been an oxymoron for so many decades that I was expecting it to be just a relative term, but they really weren't bullshitting.
Suspension was adequate for my heigh, weight, and the type of riding I was doing. Seriously, if you want a bike with suspension adjustments up the wazoo, you wouldn't buy an entry-level machine like this.
Quality of finish was certainly adequate for my not-particularly-fussy standards. The switchgear was functional. The mirrors were stable and non-blurry, and offered a good view to the rear. The headlights appeared to be working, but since I was riding between noon and 1pm I can't comment on their after-dark effectiveness.
It has a horn button on the left switchblock, but I had no reason to press it. I expect that doing so would result in the bike issuing a road-runner-style "meep meep" noise.
In summary, I quite liked it. Now I just have to wait until I can buy a lightly-crashed one for cheap. ;-)
Mrs Humble liked it. |
In all its glory. |
I was a bit surprised to see a fuel gauge, and I thought that the 200km/h speedometer was just a wee bit optimistic. |
There's those "dual multi-reflector Line Beam headlights directly from the CBR1000RR Fireblade". |
Tyres are remarkably narrow by current sport bike standards, but back in the day this was considered adequate to put 75hp on the road. |
The demonstrator bike had its standard pipe replaced with a "full sports system". It was certainly loud. |