Hi, my name's Alex and I ride a 125 (Small Engines Anonymous)
 

So slowly the 125 and less crowd are coming out of the woodwork. There's Tommy on his Derbi Birdy on his C90 (that's just madness) and I've got a Derbi too (Terra Adventure).

So is anyone else a secret 125 or less rider?

http://www.paisleypeking.co.uk/images/panniers.jpg

After all it's not the size, it's what you do with it.

I ride a 750 that is arguably slower than your 125... does that count, or is my membership application denied?

Yes my 350 puts out about 19bhp. (Actually, at the moment it puts out 0bhp until I get a new carb) Am I banned? I demand equality for the 60 year old design of my Enfield lump!

:)

PS- Nice looking bike, by the way! ;-)

Well I suppose you two could always be associate members, after all you are doing a fine job of bumping this back to the top.

Hmm looks like it really is only me, tommy and birdy then.

Does owning a CT110 postie bike and riding a Haobon 125 8,000km around China last year make me eligible for membership?

Garry from Oz.

where you all hiding???
 

c'mon, there must be more people out there on 125's? After all there are loads of 125 tourers on the market; jawa dakar, yamaha tdr, honda varadero and the loveley derbi terra/adventurer.

farqhuar that sounds awesome! you got any piccies?

Tommy thanks I'd never seen the Jawa Dakar before, it's quite a good looking bike.

http://www.jawa.eu/editor/filestore/...a_dakaru_2.jpg

http://www.jawa.eu/editor/filestore/...koranz800p.jpg

Given the current fad for dualsport bikes I don't know why Yamaha haven't dug out their old tooling for the TDR and slapped one of their new 4-stroke engines in it.

http://www.paisleypeking.co.uk/images/tdr.jpg

I'd have bought one.

yeah thats a good point. theres a tdr for sale at scootercrazy.com if anyones interested. that dakar looks sweet in orange; i dont kon what it is with me and orange....maybe i was a ktm owner in a previous life...

Have a look here Tommy - Across the universe

outstanding blog mate, really informative. nice looking tent btw.

those tdr's just keep getting better and better....

Honda already have the 125cc Varadero and I don't think they've sold many compared to the CBR125. I suppose if Yamaha could knock them out cheap enough by producing them in China alongside the YBR, it may sell. The Honda has the advantage of the V-twin engine but it is ridiculously expensive for a 125 at nearly £4000 :eek3:.

I rode one belonging to a friend and the first thing that strikes you is how big it is for a 125. On the road, I had to keep checking the rev counter whenever I came to a standstill, just to make sure the engine was still running, it's that smooth and quiet. The Yamaha could be (and would need to be) a good deal cheaper to compete if using a single.

The 125 Vara's the best selling 125 in France, and the fourth best selling bike over all here. I know 7 Vara riders over here, all mid 30's to mid 40's. I think it's the perfect midlife crisis machine. It's a gorgeous machine, and I was tempted by it, but saving £1000 and getting the Derbi Terra Adventure was too good to resist, especially as it's got that full-size feel like the Vara, and is just as fast.

I reckon a new TDR would sell a treat, they were hugely popular as 2-strokes, you only have to see the number of secondhand ones.

Good point. I remember reading in BIKE, that Yamaha France sold more new Fazer 600's in 2007 than the whole top 10 new bikes sold in the UK combined. All the UK bikes were sports bikes bar No.10 which was the BMW 1200GS. So what may be poor seller here may go down very well in mainland Europe. Might be worth it for them to try it if the tooling still exists, just use the YBR125 engine. It would probably do OK here if it didn't carry too much of a premium over a YBR, otherwise the 17yo kids will just buy the R125.

I know of 2 Varadero 125 riders local to me. One is 17 and hates it and the other is in his 40's and loves it 'cos it looks like a proper... sorry, I mean a big bike :nono:.

I ride a 2008 Chinese 125cc Quinqi road bike. Has a engine based on the Suzy GS125. Makes a hell of a noise, seems the baffle is out, but bought it like that for R2800 ($280) second hand.
No touring on it (yet), waiting to get something slightly bigger. Although I see that there are many riders who have done this on smaller bikes already.

What about...
 

I've got a 125cc Suzuki Address that I've toured two up in the Alps and Pyrenees. And it outpaces the London traffic on a regular basis. That must count?:clap: