Hello, I am still wondering whats the best choice...

What about traveling with this bike ? Yamaha WR 125 R

Tank, seat, luggage rack and

My first question: anybody experience on reliability, how many Km can these bikes live ?
and what about off road ability (what is this pipe doing in front of the engine???, this makes the bike vulnarable?
anybody travel (off road )experience on this bike ?
Thnx

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Its as reliable as any bike out there past or present.

You can ride around the world on a postie bike if you wanted to & some have.

If your in no hurry & you run the engine as it was designed to run they will go round this planet many times, seriously.

If you try to run your bike like a bigger engine bike (600cc+) it will shit itself almost right away, ride it a 60k and it will last for decades, run it at 100k+ all day & you will be picking up the engine off the road in weeks.

I could go round the world with a lawnmower with ease.

"Sydney to London on Lawnmowers" far more entertaining than "Round the world on Beemer`s" but serious (back to topic) if you gave Ted Simons the choice between a WR125 & his Triumph Tiger back in 1973 he would have snapped your arm off.

Mezo (offers of a challenge welcomed)

I would happily take a small light bike around the world.

My Yamaha TT250R is smaller lighter and more simple than MY XTZ660

I have been looking at getting a 125 for some time.

Lots of people seem to be going smaller and lighter and not looking back.

you are less likely to get pulled over for speeding (mostly because its harder to speed).

there may be more availablilty of spare parts, tyres etc as locals tend to use similar small capacity machines

your fuel costs may be considerably lower 100mpg plus is acheivable on many 125 4 stroke bikes

if you have to pick the bike up it will be much easier and if everything fails it will require less people power to lift onto the back of a truck etc.

you will probably not notice a huge difference in average speeds and the bike will be easier to handle over rough terrain.

the only way a small bike will be comprimised is if you try to overload it. so keep everything simple and light and enjoy the freedom and take lots of photos so we can join in your enjoyment

If its anywhere near as reliable as my WR250R you should do fine! 31k miles and never missed a beat.

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2008 Yamaha WR250R

Well, I just rode 10.000 km from Shanghai to Koh Panghan in Thailand and way back to China last year with my Yamaha YBR 125 G, and will ride again from Shanghai to Cape Town starting next April on the same bike (est. 28.000 km more).

I had absolutely no problems at all on my way, I know this machines have 2 main advantages: they are sturdy as hell (when rode at appropriate RPM) and easy to repair anywhere by anyone. Literally.

I know most people decide to ride extremely expensive KTM or BMW's for long rides. I have no doubt how much easy it is to ride on those, the comfort of 100 HP engines, big seats and all the electronics and stuff.

But seriously, when you are lost somewhere in the middle of mountainous regions in Laos or Yunnan, and your super fancy BMW electronic decides to break, you'll find yourself in a not pleasant situation waiting for expensive parts to be shipped where you are before you can continue on the road.

THAT will be the moment when I catch up on my small, 90km/h top speed, almost-bicycle-looking YBR.

That is, not to mention yet the 500+ km that I can ride with barely 11 litres of gas on the tank...

Oh, did I mention that my bike was just 10.000 RMB (~1250 euro) completely new from the official Yamaha shop in Shanghai?

But I give you one thing: Riding the perfectly flat and perfectly straight and perfectly long highways in Thailand at 90km/h it is just depressingly boring.

In the end it's always just a matter of choices, and usually budget.

-kali-

And the bonus of being able to carry most spares with you


a spare piston would fit in your pocket.

I would however go with an air cooled bike not liquid.

Mezo.

Yes I know, I would prefer air cooled too...
The new genereration of trails, cross (any bike) come liquid cooled...
XT 125 R is not that off road able than this WR 125 R ,that is what I read on the net
Riding XT 600 off road I did regret the heavy weight of it...so I am looking for more off road orientated bike and I like it very light
WR 125 is much (?) closer to a real off road bike ?

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You should be able to sit on 80 km/h but it's not a cheap bike is it? If you have one already then go for it but I wouldn't choose it as the best choice, you would be better off with an old XR250 perhaps?

That said I've never ridden one but I love my WR250R more than any other bike I've ever owned......