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14 Jun 2007
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Contributing Member
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Ashford Kent UK
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It mite be worth getting a high viz jacket or vest i rode a 125 back from london down the m20 last year & felt quite safe the cars & trucks could see me & gave me room & i found it fun & realy enjoyed the A & B roads . Did a bit of touring on a 50cc when i was 16 & loved it . Good luck im sure you will have a great adventure on a 125 & when other bikers see the UK plate abroad im sure you will get a good reception.
Kev
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15 Jun 2007
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Moderator, Contributing Member
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Location: Lancashire England
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Hi There,
I've toured with big bikes, mid bikes and little ones and, if you're on your own or with riders on similar machines, then the little ones have been the most fun!
I currently ride a 250cc Serow and have covered around 41,000km's in 19 fault free months.
Just a quick question for you, have you passed your test yet, as provisional UK licences are not acceptable outside the UK?
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18 Jun 2007
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Contributing Member
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London, England
Posts: 66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cameraman
Just a quick question for you, have you passed your test yet, as provisional UK licences are not acceptable outside the UK?
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Hi cameraman, am looking to take my practical this summer so, yes - until I pass I cannot leave the UK on a bike. 
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18 Jun 2007
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London, England
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Great advice from all, it sounds like a 250cc bike might be the best option for me. And if I am being sensible, the Honda CBF250 would be a suitable option. Still have some time to decide...
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26 Jun 2007
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Location: Poole, UK
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All seived up
I seized my engine coming down from Ripley back to London this weekend and ended up stranded on the M25.
Within 120 miles the oil just vanished (yes it had oil)
We were riding flat out (105km/h) as we were sick and tired of the incesent rain and just wanted to get home.
Maybe it was just bad luck but maybe if we had just ridden slightly slower it would have made it home where I would have been shocked that I had no oil, but the engine would still have been alive.
Once I manage to get the engine sorted within 6 weeks before we leave, we will never push the bike above 95mk/h again.
Oh and no we are not going to change our bikes. The 250's are the best bikes for the job of reaching Cape Town.
ps: to the 4 GS's that I recognised from the weekend that just rode past without stopping...may your armpits be infested by all the germs of all the NHS hospital in London. A bloke on a Fazer stopped and other bikes at least gave recognition.
Last edited by Bossies; 26 Jun 2007 at 11:26.
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26 Jun 2007
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Another 250cc siezed engine
Bossies,
Sorry to hear about seizing an engine - I thought these things to be quite rare in this day and age!!
Also sorry to hear about fellow bikers riding straight past you (and from Ripley too - too big/impersonal a meeting nowadays?  ) - a growing trend nowadays?!
Reminds me of my G2 Matchless from years ago which did the same thing with the big-end; that's how I found out that it was a weak point for that particular bike!! 
Toby,
Don't let these tales of woe put you off 250cc bikes (or the 125 for that matter) - it is just a cautionary to not exceed the capabilities of the bike, not for too long anyway in my case - hammering along the Great North Road (A1) for hours on end.
Dave
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Dave
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26 Jun 2007
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I recall, after the fact, someone once telling me that small capacity bikes eat oil at constant high speed (motorway riding).
Again, maybe it was just a damaged ring or whatever (the bike is only at 9000km) but this could prove the point that taking back roads where you vary your speed is better for the bike. These little bikes only take 1lt of oil so when something goes wrong all the oil vanishes very quickly.
We came up along the A43-A444-A5 on Friday and wanted to return the same way. We didn't want to take the motorway but were just sick of the rain and wanted to get home quickly...hey ho
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9 Jul 2007
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Dress Well
I leave the UK on Wednesday 18th July to collect my Honda 125 in Ushuaia. I intend riding north to upstate NY. I made no preparations for my ride south from Mexico. Blog at home This time I am ready. Alpinestars sent me a pair of boots and thermal underwear, T-shirts and a cap. I survived all that guerillero and bandido shit on the road south. Now I have to deal with my own kids. They covet! I have to lock up my new gear - particularly the cap! Meanwhile I think of my butt and how it will survive 45,000 Ks. The bike? I have total confidence. A 125 is not fast. However I am 74 and a biker. I call Health Insurance and they laugh. So 125 will do me fine. Not too fast and not to heavy - and I have my new boots!! Wish me luck...
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31 Aug 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ukKev
It mite be worth getting a high viz jacket or vest i rode a 125 back from london down the m20 last year & felt quite safe the cars & trucks could see me & gave me room & i found it fun & realy enjoyed the A & B roads.Kev
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Good advice about wearing a high viz jacket. This should stop cars shunting you from behind on fast roads. Personally I'd prefer at least 250cc but a 125cc bike is a fun choice if you intend to kepp off the fast motorways. Stick to single carriageway roads and you will be just fine. 
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31 Aug 2011
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Ecuador, amazone, puyo
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Hello , since you have to watch your budget and you are a big guy,
i think you will like the "qingqi qm200" in Brasil they are called "sundown"
( i think).
I is basically a suzuki dr200 with different plastics,and they are very very
reliable.
They are chineese made ,but so is the suzuki gn125.
For someone above 100kilo with luggage and a small budget that is "the"
best choise, they are sold in every S.A. country.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck.
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31 Aug 2011
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Location: Ecuador, amazone, puyo
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Just wanted to ad this:
My wife's bike is a suzuki gn125,and we have toured Ecuador and Peru ,2up with luggage on that little bike, and it wase big fun,so i think its a great 125cc.
But with all that weight i will take/need more cc"s the next time.
Saludos.
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1 Sep 2011
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Location: Brazil
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaconda moto
Hello , since you have to watch your budget and you are a big guy,
i think you will like the "qingqi qm200" in Brasil they are called "sundown"
( i think).
I is basically a suzuki dr200 with different plastics,and they are very very
reliable.
They are chineese made ,but so is the suzuki gn125.
For someone above 100kilo with luggage and a small budget that is "the"
best choise, they are sold in every S.A. country.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck.
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In Brazil sundown doesn't exist anymore, the company went bankrupt and the 200cc DR clones have serious problems of reliability. Unfortunately Suzuki never sold the original DR200 or DR350 in Brazil, if they had, those would be my bikes of choice. The GN125 is slow (painfully slow sometimes) but is a very reliable bike.
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1 Sep 2011
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Registered Users
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Location: Ecuador, amazone, puyo
Posts: 191
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(QUOTE)"DR clones have serious problems of reliability."
I have only heard of some spokes loosening on the qingqi and plastics loosing color after a few years,
people with a small budget seem to like them over here.
But i assume that you got the suzuki gn125 ?
Also good choice!
Saludos and good luck!
__________________
Freedom is all i need!
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2 Sep 2011
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Brazil
Posts: 134
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaconda moto
(QUOTE)"DR clones have serious problems of reliability."
I have only heard of some spokes loosening on the qingqi and plastics loosing color after a few years,
people with a small budget seem to like them over here.
But i assume that you got the suzuki gn125 ?
Also good choice!
Saludos and good luck! |
The Brazilian version sold by Sundown have serious problems, for some reason the engine is quite unreliable, the plastics just fall off and the company, sundown, doesn't exist any more, because of this is getting very difficult to get some replacement parts for the bikes. I know a guy who had on STX 200 (the name Sundown used in Brazil for those qingqi 200cc) and the he had a seized engine after 15k kms. Believe me, I don't have any major prejudice against those chinese bikes (like it or not, my bike was also made in China) but Sundown was a really swindler company. I don't know why, but those products sold by Sundown here where quite substandart.
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9 Nov 2013
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The franglais-riders
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Reviving this thread! As it happens we just bought 2 honda xr125 from eBay in the last couple of weeks. A 2004 and a 2006.
The plan is to ride them from London to Ulaanbaatar... And see if we can put them in the trans Siberian to Moscow. Then ride back home.
We will have 4 months. From end April 2014 to end of August.
They will be put to the test and we will report back.wish us luck! We may need it!
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Another 250cc siezed engine
