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125cc Touring 125cc Touring
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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  #1  
Old 13 May 2013
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125cc Touring
Hello from forces Germany . I am noticing more and more people taking interest in touring 125s. I have had many bikes over the years but my favorite has to be my cbf 125. i have toured on this bike for for two years whilst back home in Scotland whilst on leave. I got a very good deal for £500 due to cosmetic damage and with a cbt costing £90 its definitely not the most expensive sport to get into. I have created a face book page for like minded Learner Legal Adventurer Touring enthusiasts . So feel free to join the page i would love to have a place to plan trips and meet people.
Paul.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Learn...26481124082037

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  #2  
Old 14 May 2013
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Excellent idea. Liked your FB page.
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  #3  
Old 14 May 2013
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Great it would be great to have more publicity for the concept and maybe one day an small bore adventure touring meet somewhere nice
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  #4  
Old 14 May 2013
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CBT Is only valdid in the UK. I've got my Full license, but I was wondering about fuel consumption.

And other issues like tax. But since I live in Germany too, I'll have to see a insurance agency about that.
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  #5  
Old 15 May 2013
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the bikes will all be different iv never seen mpg like my cbf 125 i done 250 miles on a tank this might give you a better idea Honda CBF125 first ride - Telegraph
cbt is limited to the uk iv only ever toured Scotland with mine but my insurance covers me abroad for 90 days. To get a German bike license. I would have to give up my British one and take a first aid course so not worth the hassle. Also you dont need a license for a 50 cc in Germany although they are slower than the ones in the uk
Last edited by drzgoesanywere; 15 May 2013 at 12:02. Reason: r
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  #6  
Old 15 May 2013
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That range figure just ticked a box for me

What are the service intervals? Official ones different to what is actually required?

Cheers

Andy
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  #7  
Old 15 May 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drzgoesanywere View Post
CBT is limited to the UK I've only ever toured Scotland with mine but my insurance covers me abroad for 90 days.
While the CBT might be restricted to the UK alone there are a number of countries which allow you to ride up to 125cc on your full car licence. The problem comes that there is no database of which do and which don't. As far as I can see the simplest way is to try and find scooter hire companies in the country you're interested in and then to see if they will went to people with car licences only. This is pretty hit and miss though as not all operators work to their national regulations, they may instead rent according to their insurance company's policies. Or it may be that they're more interested in your money and will say yes to anything. It's one of my "never quite got there" projects to get a full database going that has accurate licencing regulations.

Quote:
Also you don't need a license for a 50 cc in Germany although they are slower than the ones in the UK
They'll be the same as UK scooters, they're all governed by a standardized EU policy these days. 50cc touring would be a different matter again, but there's people like Wan Lee who rode all the way round the US, and I recently found the travel blog of someone who toured France on one. Perhaps that's more akin to bicycle touring than motorbike touring though.
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  #8  
Old 15 May 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drzgoesanywere View Post
the bikes will all be different iv never seen mpg like my cbf 125 i done 250 miles on a tank this might give you a better idea Honda CBF125 first ride - Telegraph
cbt is limited to the uk iv only ever toured Scotland with mine but my insurance covers me abroad for 90 days. To get a German bike license. I would have to give up my British one and take a first aid course so not worth the hassle. Also you dont need a license for a 50 cc in Germany although they are slower than the ones in the uk
You need a car license to drive one 30mph. I did straight up my German license. Since you're forces, how easy is it to get a german bike BFG'ed.
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  #9  
Old 15 May 2013
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I've been touring in SE Asia on a Yamaha YBR125G. Works fine even 2 up.
Gets around 400km on a tank. One up and keeping speed below 80 km/h would probably see over 450 km per tank.
Even works well offroad.
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  #10  
Old 25 May 2013
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Hi,

Specialy for latin american countrys the 125cc bikes are perfect, scince the local people use them and therefore all the parts are easy to find if needet.

Buying a bike ther also saves the cost of shiping another bike there so i can anyone recomend to do so:

http://reisemotorrad.eu/?report=en_suedamerika
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  #11  
Old 27 May 2013
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Originally Posted by ta-rider View Post
Hi,

Specialy for latin american countrys the 125cc bikes are perfect, scince the local people use them and therefore all the parts are easy to find if needet.

Buying a bike ther also saves the cost of shiping another bike there so i can anyone recomend to do so:

http://reisemotorrad.eu/?report=en_suedamerika
You can add most of SE Asia and probably China to that as well. I have a Chinese built Yamaha 125 that I have taken places where I'd be real nervous on a 650+ machine.
Most mileage has been 2-uo and often loaded.

And it's physically big enough for me (at 6'2) to feel comfortable, with a rated load capacity nearly as big as most 650 - 1200 machines.

No hassling with importing parts, lack of tires in the right size, lack of maintenance expertise and so on.
I've done 400 km on a 12l tank, again 2-up and loaded, running at 80+ km/h.
The new 150cc that has replaced it should get 460 - 500 km.

It's been far more reliable and lower maintenance than my Husky 610 or R11GS were, at the same or lower mileages.

$1700 in the Philippines will get you a fairly wide choice of new 125 to 200 cc Japanese and Chinese bikes, taxed, titled, insured and with a year of free maintenance (excluding consumables) thrown in.
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  #12  
Old 27 May 2013
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Here is my Honda XR125L which I nominate as the best 125 travel bike. It has the engine from the CG125 in a trailbike chassis which weighs in unladen at 110KG. It does between 110-120 MPG but I have seen better and is taking me to Central Asia, currently in Istanbul.
Yesterday a few of us went trail riding near the Black sea and it easily went places my R80GS would have been a handful, with a relaxed cruising speed of 50 MPH it is quite fast enough off of motorways and has a comfortable seat and riding position for my 5' 8" frame, a great little bike.

Last edited by mark manley; 27 May 2013 at 05:58. Reason: more info
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  #13  
Old 27 May 2013
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You seem to be making good progress, Mark. How many miles do you ride a day?
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  #14  
Old 27 May 2013
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How strong is the subframe on the XR?

My YBR doesn't have the best suspension, but the twin shocks are an inch longer than the old XR125 we can find used here.
Plus they are very progressively sprung so seem to cope well with loads.
Being built off a delivery/commercial bike frame, it's pretty strong, the biggest issues for me are the forks and front wheel.

Forks are a little spindly and low travel, and the wheel is a cast 18". One positive to that is it uses the same tire front and back....

I only get around 80 MPG, but that's traveling 2-up and running with or ahead of traffic.

I never get near the 100+ MPG others quote on the various Honda cub rip offs either.

Problem here is that the XR125s are all old, the XR200 is the closest replacement.
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  #15  
Old 29 May 2013
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I am in the Philippines at the moment.

I realized your bike is very different, here they are still producing models that are 10 years out of date like the XR200, which is really an XRL.

I have an interest in subframe and so on, as that seems to be one of the first areas to be sacrificed in pursuit of light weight.

My YBR125 has a much more robust subframe than my Husky TE610E, for example.
The YBR gets loaded with passenger, saddlebags, and a 50l bag on the rack. Sometimes it is used in the business to ferry bundles of clothing as well a passenger,, I'd guess 200 lb of stuff and 2 people on top of that. The Husky would break in half...

Further east from where I am, they build 'skylabs' from the business 125 / 150 / 175 cc bikes. Two long plank platforms on either side bolted to the frame, 2 additional shocks added out back, and a roof. I've seen 9 people and their stuff running down a dirt road on one of these...
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