Like this one? Which I am riding from the UK to Central Asia on, currently in Tirana, Albania, a fantastic little bike as long as you avoid motorways, it is comfortable, light and giving well in excess of 100 mpg.

You could always get a proper bike like a vespa,lol
Serious though the guys have given you a lot of good advice,,,
I'm simply posting as apart from having my Ducati i have pretty much toured the world on my old px vespa..the old two stroke italian workhorse has never let me down and looks visually beautiful and also turns heads everywhere you go
It also packs a punch with almost double the luggage space compared to any big tourer withe front and back chrome rack plus pannier bags.

As for you the varadero is a good choice then again so might be CBR
The funny thing with the vespa is it was perfectly fine on dual carriage ways and and motorways although there is more pleasure in riding the and B roads.
As for your licence to be honest there as far as I am aware are no restrictions in most countries to riding a 125 ? Maybe just not some or all motorways
There are some rules yes particularly in italy and others by to be honest the likelihood of being penalised is minimal as long as you don't compromise your insurance..you should be ok
.i double checked with carole nash and the fact that they include euro breakdown in my cover shows there are no restrictions in most nations and they never said I couldn't
there again I may completely wrong,lol but I have been in germany ( on the autobahn) holland Spain france and italy and never had any issues at all
Hope you get yeh right back and happy riding.

I am just about to buy my first bike and I am looking at a 125. I am in Phu Quoc, southern Vietnam and what I find here is the Suzuki GN125 (USD500-700) and I have been offered a Daelim vs125 (USD600-900). I know there are some Yamaha YBR125, but haven't seen any for sale.

I have two months to get used to it on a low traffic area, then will hit the road. I have a few months experience riding smaller bikes (Honda Waves, Air Blade, etc) and I take it slow and easy. I am getting licensed here (it's the only way to ride legally) and will be doing safety training. Just to give you peace of mind that I am not just a kid who saw Top Gear.

Anyway, this will be for touring Vietnam. What do you guys think of the Daelim? Thank you.

G'day
We were on Phu Quoc for Viet New Year on our 125 Honda Future (underbone)
It did the job,with pillion, soft panniers and rack bag,for our 8,000km tour of SVN but a real bike,not underbone like the Future,Wave,Air Blade etc,would be a much better choice for touring Vietnam.
Solo the underbones arnt too bad,even 2 up with 50-60kg locals they do OK.Just. If you weigh 90kg,without luggage or pillion,and you really want to explore the country buy a proper motorbike. I think the GN is such a beast and if so should do the job. With MORE SUSPENSION,stronger frame, a clutch and manual gearbox,more adjustment for ride position & comfort and the ease of fitting a rear rack/throwover panniers, tank bag etc its a much more comfortable and practical way to tour.Daelim equivalent of the Suzuki should be fine.The Daelim City (underbone) I bought there in 99 was a good little thing.
On our return next year to complete our tour of Central and north VN we will purchase a EN150A Suzuki for the reasons above.
A wonderful country to tour but if possible keep to very minor back roads away from buses,mini buses and trucks.The drivers are nutsWe also found the minor roads were in much better condition than the over used/bad condition main routes.
One for you to keep in mind Gia Nghia to Buon Ma Thout.Lots of this road was absolute hell.Has to be one of the worst rides in my 50 years of motorcycling, turned me off underbones forever.
Cheers, Macca

Interesting thread. I'm heading to Cape Town in November to buy a Honda XR125L that I will ride to Norway. I've decided to go with a 125cc bike because:

• I am not in a hurry - I will take 6-9 months just to go Cape Town to Egypt
• I am only 166cm tall so can't touch the ground on most 250cc dualies
• I want a dualy rather than a road bike
• My favourite touring bike so far has been the Honda CBF250 but I want an off-road bike this time
• 125cc is cheap to run and light to throw around
• I want to force myself to travel light - not point carting a whole house with me
• I noticed that 125s are very common in Africa so might as well blend in a bit

I was particularly interested in the pic of the XR125 with the Beemer panniers.

Personally I'd chose a Honda XR 250, weight difference, price and economy is negligible plus you can sit on 100Kph without ringing its neck!

That might be alright for some people but I can't touch the ground on an XR250 ... not even with my tip toes. To put my 125 choice into perspective - I originally was hoping to go RTW on a bicycle until I realised that a 125cc motorbike can cover 100km on the road in less than 2 hours while a bicycle will take me all day.

Guess it's all about what you're looking for.

Very true, although a 250 will do 100 K's in an hour easy! If you so desire, getting an XR 250 lowered to suit your height wont break the bank, neither will getting an Acerbics tank for long range, there are heaps of accessories for the XR range that, in my humble opinion make them an excellent choice!

Good luck with it all, Cheers Dave

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