I'm sorry people. I've done it. I bought a Chinese 125 today. I don't know why, I'm sorry. My only defence he, sorry, it, cost less to buy than a pair of tyres for my 1198...
Ps I still have and intend keeping my 1198 and ZZR11. Will you all respect me, as least, as much as you did(n 't) anyway?
My son had a look at a new Chinese 125 a couple of years ago. He ended up buying an 8 year old xr125.............and he is as daft as a brush.........bad move :wink:
I sold a 7yr old (and well 'used') YBR125 last year on ebay, the chap that bought it previously had a Chinese 125 that he bought new but after it fell apart within a couple years he decided it was better value to buy the old YBR, good luck...
I've done about 20,000 miles in Chinese 125's they are absolutely fine, and getting better all the time. I'd recommend the following.... Almost everything will be over tightened, it's well worth investing in a tub of stainless fasteners and changing as many as possible, standard ones tend to be ungraded. Vibration is a fact if life with singles, spanner check everything every other month. The swing arm pivot bolts are not really up to the job, it's not as scary as it sounds, it will remain in place if it breaks. Take a little time to shim the swing arm to the frame with a washer or two - you won't need the pivot bolt as tight then. The bolt is about a tenner, keep a spare in stock . Put an NGK spark plug and cap on it. And keep a few spare bulbs - vibration kills them, the chain will be virtually unlubed out of the crate, lube thoroughly and adjust carefully Thus might sound like a lot, but it will cost about £35 and a couple of hours. Doing this will leave you with a good solid reliable little bike. I had a sanya SY125 which my brother now owns, it's an 08 reg (I bought it new) has lived outside all of its life, and now has nearly 20,000 miles on it. It's still bright shiny and fresh, totally reliable and returns 130mpg, it's even fun to ride in its own way. There is NOTHING wrong with Chinese 125's - it's the owners who abuse them and expect them to be as robust as something costing five times as much who are the problem. As with any bike, keep the salt off it as much as possible, keep it lubed and adjusted, and it will be absolutely fine. Oh, one more thing, if its a CG125 based engine (almost all are) Riders of Yeovil do a 150cc big bore kit for about £56 shipped - well worth fitting from day one. With a 150cc motor and an extra tooth on the front sprocket the bike will be able to hold 70mph all day long and run up to nearly 80 flat out - it makes it much more usable
Which is made in either brazil India or china depending on year and model. They are actually no better. Used 125's are a bad plan as they are normally horribly abused
Agree to disagree here ! .........but Honda's are built to a standard of quality, doesn't matter where they're built.
Have you actually looked at their new stuff? It's rubbish. (For what you pay) Actually, rubbish is a bit harsh, but they are very much built down to a price, and I wouldn't consider them built to any sort of superior standard. You pay £500 for the bike and £1500 for the badge. In India Hondas small bikes come in at a similar price to a Chinese 125 here
My local Honda showroom is next to my dentist, so I do wander around there every few months...but we are talking about a new Chinese 125 compared to a second hand Japanese (Honda's) 125's are we not ?:smile: We looked at some of those Chinese things two or three years ago !
As I said, my old 08 plate Sanya (now my brothers) looks pretty much as new. The fact there are plenty of 4 or 5 year old Sanyas for sale in good order suggests they are fit for purpose.
I am in the process of refurbishing a Honda St70 which I have owned for 30 years. I have joined several Forums for info and ideas. The general opinion on those forums is that Chinese engines are much improved but still not of Standardof the old Honda stuff. The thing that kills Chinese engines is Revs so the advice is over gear it on the sprockets. Loose some acceleration so that the revs are down when you are flat out. The other thing to look at is to change the rotor for a Takegawa light rotor because it appears chinese motors have a habit of snapping cranks.I opted for a Daytona Anima 150 for mine. Its built in China but it is designed and spec'd in Japan
New Hondas aren't built like the old ones either. My old sanya did 16,000 miles in its first year, almost entirely throttle to the stop and flat out. The engine was sweet as and had no signs of wear at all. I partly credit that to monthly changes with castrol 4T oil. It holds less than a litre, so it's not exactly a significant expense
You can still buy a Honda cbr for the same price as a Suzuki gsxr. There is no comparison with the build quality. Suzuki owners will even admit to that ! :smile:
Japanese Hondas, such as the CBR 600 are quite different in terms of quality from Indian and Chinese Hondas such as the CBF125 and CBR250. Just because they gave the same name on the tank dies not mean they are built to the same standard. I'm a huge honda fan btw, and have a CBR600 right now, I'm very disappointed on how they have traded on their name, but I guess it's horses for courses in each relative marketplace Another example I noticed at the NEC show was KTM, for such a 'premium' brand the fit and finish was probably the worst I have ever seen on any bike.
My experience of 125s runs to a Honda SS; a Bantam; and a Lambretta.............The Honda was the best piece of Jap cr*p available at the time even though I only had it for nine months..........it was in demand so much, I sold it for over twice what I paid.
I'm sure we all know what happened to my Yamasaki now, but it's worth noting that when impacted into a stationary object at 50+ mph there were multiple progressive failures as opposed to one component failing prematurely. The impact even bent the brake disk. The final failure point was the frame, just behind the head stock, but only after the wheel, brake, forks and yokes had failed. The impact was so great the battery (yuasa) dislodged,, and the fuel tank ruptured. In terms of undamaged parts, the swing arm, rear shocks and back wheel were ok, as was the engine. Nothing else survived. What was especially impressive is that it was running for several seconds after the impact, even though the front end of the bike was several feet away.
