Chill out folks. The point is made: Some of you can't cope with the idea of small bikes. So Ed March and Nathan Milward (to name but 2) had a miserable time travelling across the globe on their tiny underpowered Hondas?


Some people travel on bicycles, with no engine at all. Imagine?!

Think you are maybe missing the point. Suspect those of us advising ‘go a bit bigger’ have no issues with 125 bikes at all. I have cycle toured too and also ridden for a few days with a pal touring on a 125 in Uganda. I also rode a 50cc and then 100cc bike for 15 months at the start of my biking life as a learner. I get/respect the active ‘i prefer to travel more slowly’ thing.

But the aim of this thread is the help a newbie to think about which bike to buy (as a student I am assuming it will be his only bike). From the advice to date i think we could conclude that a 125 would be just fine for the west of ireland minor roads as traffic speeds are very low, but not so appropriate for the road to Fishguard to get the ferry.

If he is buying the bike for this trip only, happy days. If he is buying a first bike after passing his test that he wants to use more widely and this is just his first trip, something a bit bigger would give him more of an all rounder, with little downside.

In the long distance trials i ride a trend has developed to ride Honda C90s. If looks a laugh and i respect people who travel their own path. But it is still not what i would recommend as a first trail bike. I am sure it is not their first trail bike either, or their only bike I suspect.

Nathan Millward did his RTW with a 105cc bike. Good on him. No one is suggesting a 125cc would not work, just whether it is right as a first post-test do it all bike for the OP. As i understand it, Nathan currently rides a 401cc Royal Enfield.

Hi Mossproof:

No, it's not that at all. What we have here is a person new to motorcycles, and new to motorcycle touring, asking for opinions about both his choice of motorcycle to purchase and the viability of doing a tour around Ireland.

Certainly, the tour could be accomplished on a 125cc bike, same as it could be accomplished on a bicycle or on a Gold Wing.

Those of us who are advocating that the original poster consider getting a 250cc bike are not making that recommendation based solely on his plans for this particular Ireland trip. In my case, I'm concerned that this new motorcycle rider might find that after doing the trip, he will find that he has "outgrown" the 125, and wants something with a little bit more get up and go. If that comes to pass, then it's going to cost him a whole whack of money and time and trouble to sell the 125 he just bought and get a larger bike.

Hence, I think it would be in his all-around best interest to purchase a 250 cc bike as his first bike.

Another concern I have is that the 125 cc class of bikes are primarily city bikes. I've been riding Honda PanEuropeans for 20 years, and I would feel competent (though perhaps not happy) to ride a 125 cc bike around Ireland - but I'm not so sure that a new rider on his very first bike would be well-served by using such a small bike for a long tour.

Michael

Not at all. Swimming against any sort of tide as some kind of protest isn't something I can be bothered with. So I'm not going to be ranting on about how all of you riding anything bigger than a 125 are ruining the planet and you should be wearing sackcloth and ashes, just like Greta. When I take the 125 it's out of choice governed by what I want out of a trip - and yes, there are times when less of everything is just perfect. Less speed but also less weight, less 'presence' (sometimes good, sometimes bad), less 'effort' and a whole load of other 'lesses' - and 'mores' that I can't be bothered to list. In short though riding the 125 is more 'interesting' than riding something bigger. And that conclusion comes from directly comparing it with my other available bikes:


These are also in the garage at the moment -















Plus four or five others from 250 to 800cc that I can't find pictures of.