Is cbr125 a girl bike?

[El Zilcho]

Hey guys, I've recently decided that i want a cbr125 because the insurance is cheap and the bike itself is easy to handle since i am a new rider. My friends have been telling me that the bike is essentially a lawn mower on wheels and that it is a girl bike.. is that true? what do you think about a big guy like me (195lbs) getting a 125cc? will it be enough for someone that mainly does city riding?

If you haven't done that yet, go to a Honda dealer and sit on a 125 to get a feel of what it's like. In particular, check if you don't feel cramped on that bike. It is a small bike and if you're tall you may not feel comfortable.

If you have an M2 check out Honda demo days. They may be offering the 125 for demo rides and I'd expect the lineups for that bike to be shorter than for the RRs.

Your friends are probably just teasing you. Still, ask yourself if you really feel comfortable on that bike. It's really about having a good time riding, no need to add an additional "mental endurance test" in the form of constantly reminding yourself about that "skillful rider on a 125, vs poser on a 600" mantra. If deep inside you're feeling ok about the 125, then by all means go for it.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you like riding, eventually you may want to get your "speed fix". This bike won't give it to you and you may get frustrated. I don't know the top speed of it, but various reports indicate something between 120 and 140 km/h. This means that you'll be riding at the top speed on a highway. If you're a bigger guy, it will probably be less than 140km/h. For city riding you will be just fine, but if you want to hit the road, you may find it less exciting.

[skip]

Talk to BrianP, mind I think his is less then stock now lol.

As for mosport, the back straight kills the little bikes. I prefer the tighter tracks.

[Brian P]

Scott Rupert, Mike Bevan, and Seth forgot-the-kid's-last-name ran a 3 hour endurance race at Cayuga yesterday ... on Seth's cbr125. They finished, and it was a hoot to watch. The 125 loses nothing - sometimes gains a little, depends who's riding - through tight corners compared to the bigger bikes. Obviously it doesn't do much on straightaways, but so what.

cbr125 + better tires + better rear shock ($150-ish from Thailand plus some fiddling to set it up) is a lot of fun, and there are a few different things that can be done to get a little more poke out of the engine although they're not legal in the racing class ... Seth's race bike has a stock engine and stock exhaust.

I have a taller windscreen on order for mine, which should help with the aerodynamics a little. I'm not exactly small.

Not having to worry about what the police are going to accuse you of, puts a lot of the fun back into street riding again. You still have to behave in school zones and around town, but 50 k above most speed limits isn't going to happen (or at least, not without a fair bit of effort) and you can't accelerate and "outdistance another vehicle" much.

I bought my 125 new, have 23,000 km on it now, and have no plans of ever selling it!

[VifferFun]

FYI, the insurance on a CBR125 is not much cheaper than a Ninja 250 . . . in fact, they are often the exact same. If given the choice (and since insurance is the same), I would take a Ninja 250 over the CBR125, but I'm not saying the CBR is a bad bike. The Ninja 250 is just a perfect all-around beginner's bike for the city and the highway.

Both the Ninja 250 and CBR125 are great bikes for girls simply because they have lower seating positions . . . but they are also great bikes for guys!

[jailbreak]

I thought Hayabusa's are for girls

[Brian P]

Insurance may be in the same range on a 125 and a 250, but if you consider the cost of fixing crash damage yourself, the prices of OEM parts for the 125 are much, much less expensive than the comparable parts on just about anything else. Most fairing panels are in the $40 - $70 range and I think you can replace *all* of the plastic fairing parts with brand new Honda OEM for around $400. Levers, footpegs, and mirrors are all very inexpensive.

Mine is soon to need new brake pads. Already bought them ... $18.

[LeetViet]

FYI, price for front, upper left, and upper right fairings for my CBR was quoted at $290.10 pre-tax. Cheaper compared to other bikes still though...

[VifferFun]

Insurance may be in the same range on a 125 and a 250, but if you consider the cost of fixing crash damage yourself, the prices of OEM parts for the 125 are much, much less expensive than the comparable parts on just about anything else. Most fairing panels are in the $40 - $70 range and I think you can replace *all* of the plastic fairing parts with brand new Honda OEM for around $400. Levers, footpegs, and mirrors are all very inexpensive.

Mine is soon to need new brake pads. Already bought them ... $18.

Holy cow . . . that is cheap! I never considered that. As I recall, the Ninja 250 plastic prices were very expensive.

[evang]

I thought about gettig a 125 breifly as my first bike. Then i saw it in person and that thought left my mind pretty quickly. I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs. it was just waaaay too tiny for me. I went with a ninja 250, and I'm glad i did. handles great, insurance is only $60/m, good on gas, not too powerful to get my in trouble, but powerful enough to still get my in trouble. I haven't taken it over 150 km/h yet, but it got to that point very easily. It's also very forgiving.

[saichaitanya88]

does anyone know the maintainability of the CBR125? I mean changing oil, lubing the chains etc etc..

[Brian P]

Compared to most anything else ... dead simple.

Lubricating and adjusting the chain is *exactly* the same job on every chain driven motorcycle, so no difference there.

Oil change is also the same, but it only takes 1 litre of oil, and there is no filter. (There is a screen you are supposed to clean out every 12,000 km.) Just don't screw up and cross thread or overtorque the drain plug, because it's not screwed into an oil pan that you can easily replace ... it's screwed into the crankcase itself. As long as you don't screw up, it will be fine.

Air filter ... same as anything else.

Spark plug is accessible without removing any body panels and there is only one of them, changing it takes less than 2 minutes. Try *that* on a modern 4 cylinder sport bike. Takes all day on some of them.

Valve clearances are simple screw-and-locknut to adjust and there is only one intake valve and one exhaust valve. You have to take some fairing panels off and loosen (but not remove) the radiator to get the valve cover off, but it's easy.

Simple simple simple. You are dealing with "a" spark plug, and "a" camshaft, and "a" piston, etc. And if the bike is in the wrong place in the shop with the wheels off ... you can just pick it up and put it where you want it.

[CBRJOHN]

Geeeeeez , Here we go again.
Girls bike ?
A lot of these girls do pretty good on them.

Hey guys, I've recently decided that i want a cbr125 because the insurance is cheap and the bike itself is easy to handle since i am a new rider. My friends have been telling me that the bike is essentially a lawn mower on wheels and that it is a girl bike.. is that true? what do you think about a big guy like me (195lbs) getting a 125cc? will it be enough for someone that mainly does city riding?

Your Friends don't know squat.

Again, BrianP, I think he's had his for 3 years now.

BTW, he races a 400 at the track, RACES, not track days, and he also has a 1000cc bike.

I race a R6, also have a SV650S for the street.
(I also owned a CBR125R)

I was in the Endurance race on Saturday at SOAR on a GSX-R600. (Podiumed in 3rd in GTO) One team was running a CBR125R. It carried and much or more speed through the twisty infield as anything on the track. When Mike Bevan or Scott Rupert was riding it was flying. I had to wait until a straight to pass.

I was talking to a few other Racers.. Some very fast racers. We were talking at the track last weekend about getting a bunch of CBR125s and seeing about putting a CBR125R only race class for ***** & giggles. If there's enough of them, I'm sure Ken would put them on the schedule. Might also attract a bunch of the Challenge racers.

*sigh* Here we go again with the whole "girl's bike" question. You men are your own worst enemies.

No just the "Boys" with self confidence and Mommy issues

The people better who know better are tired of these threads and mostly don't bother to respond anymore.

You're pretty much right on.

With the $1200 rebate Honda has on now, you can pick up a '08 or '09 Special Edition for about $2300 brand new.... Talk about bang for the buck.

[TorontoBoy]

I was talking to a few other Racers.. Some very fast racers. We were talking at the track last weekend about getting a bunch of CBR125s and seeing about putting a CBR125R only race class for ***** & giggles. If there's enough of them, I'm sure Ken would put them on the schedule. Might also attract a bunch of the Challenge racers...

Sippy Cup class. I think they have that in the US for 250s?

[Doug Tait]

Now, that's a good question. I've looked into and under just about any place I can think of and I still can't determine the gender of my bike. So - how do you tell if it's a girl bike, or a boy bike ?

[CBRJOHN]

Now, that's a good question. I've looked into and under just about any place I can think of and I still can't determine the gender of my bike. So - how do you tell if it's a girl bike, or a boy bike ?

Doug, you should know that.
You need to get it in a private garage and take it's fairings off

Another way is if it seems to have displacement envy around other bikes it's likely a boy bike.

[CruisnGrrl]

I think all bikes are girl bikes.. I mean I haven't seen any "block and tackle" dangling under them, have you?

[Frackz]

No its UniSex lol.

I tried it and didn't like it..However I did go with a Ninja 250 and it was perfect to learn on and get around on. Highway + regular streets.

[El Zilcho]

I think all bikes are girl bikes.. I mean I haven't seen any "block and tackle" dangling under them, have you?

I have the tip of the overflow hose under my bike...

[WestEndBikeGirl]

Ok I know you've already gotten a million replies on this thread on your question. I happen to be a girl with a CBR 125. Absolutely love it! I will be upgrading eventually but I'm very glad I started on this one. The other good thing about starting on this bike is that because it is less powerful you do a lot more shifting - which is great practice for a beginner! By the time your ready to upgrade you really will be a better rider.

I'm in the west end as well and always up for a ride on a nice day

[skip]

I was talking to a few other Racers.. Some very fast racers. We were talking at the track last weekend about getting a bunch of CBR125s and seeing about putting a CBR125R only race class for ***** & giggles. If there's enough of them, I'm sure Ken would put them on the schedule. Might also attract a bunch of the Challenge racers.

That actually sounds really fun....I'm sure it would be a very different beast then my current 125 but alot cheaper to run as well.....hmmm