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  #1  
Old 13 Aug 2003
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France on a 125 hack
I've decided to take a trip round France, travelling down via ferry from my home in midlands UK, but low funds and no time to take my full bike test dictate that it will be on the cheapest 125cc trail bike I can find... I'm leaving in a couple of weeks so time is short for planning, which is why I'd like some help from anyone with experience of where to find off-road riding in France and any advice on touring on a 125. I was thinking of getting an XL125, TW125 or DT125, but don't want to spend much above GB£500. Would I be mad to attempt this???

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Old 26 Nov 2003
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I'm planning on doing a similar thing next year on a RS125 but without the offroading. I wanted to go down to italy for the GP but apparently you cant ride a 125 on a motorway there.
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Old 26 Nov 2003
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Personally I'd go for a four stroke but I'm not sure that £500 will buy you anything worthwhile? For that sort of money, it's going to need work & possibly some money spending on it. Just replacing the chain, sprockets, brake pads/shoes, tyres & a basic service could cost another £150.00 plus labour if not doing the work yourself.

I've always thought that 125 trail bikes held there value because of demand as winter hacks? You're more likely to get a 125 road bike for £500.00 i.e CG/GS/SR125.

Good luck

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Old 26 Nov 2003
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Quote:
Originally posted by priller:
I'm planning on doing a similar thing next year on a RS125 but without the offroading. I wanted to go down to italy for the GP but apparently you cant ride a 125 on a motorway there.
You don't WANT to ride on the motorways in Italy, if you can help it: they're expensive and bikes pay the same rate as cars.

You probably get away taking your 125 on the M, though, just change the decals.


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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

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Old 27 Nov 2003
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As an update on my original post, I ended up buying a DT125 for £750, spent about a ton on a few basic spares (sprockets, chain, reg/rec due to burntout original, bulbs) and a service, doing the work myself.

I went to Ireland in the end and did over 2000 miles in 10 days, riding from Peterborough down to Pembroke Docks in South Wales, across to Rosslare by ferry then along the south coast to Killarney and the ring of Kerry, back through the interior counties to Rosslare and home.

The bike didn't let me down apart from many blown bulbs and a fried battery (filled it back up with water and off I went again). It's not fast and not particuarly comfortable but it was certainly reliable.

Ireland is a beautiful place to ride around; loads of open spaces, inspiring views and a huge variety of road surfaces. The weather isn't great, especially as I camped the whole trip, when it was sometimes hard to dry out after a day of biking in the rain!

Now I'm planning on getting a bigger bike for my next trip but would definitely recommend the DT.
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