Honda CBR125R > Reviews > The fastest 4-stroke 125cc out there.

Author's product rating:   

Comfort	Good
Handling	Excellent
Looks	Satisfactory
Features	Good
Fuel consumption	Good

Advantages:	Nimble, light, ideal for short riders, reliable, excellent miles per gallon
Disadvantages:	Tall riders look ridiculous and find the riding positions uncomfortable .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Greetings! I have been a proud owner of the CBR125R since 2005. In this time I have learnt a lot about riding as well as the bike I am writing this review about. There are many people who bash the CBR125R due to it being 4-stroke and not 2-stroke. There are also those who think the bike should be treated like a supersports bike when it is, in fact, not.

The first thing people notice is the bike is very thin from the back and front. This can either be a good or bad thing. The reason why it can be bad is because it doesn't "look" cool, but that is really the only bad thing. The good thing, however, is that it makes filtering and control so much better. You can fit into tight spaces that a big bulky full faired supersports cannot. The second thing that most people notice is the size of the bike. It is small! Not as small as the Kawa Ninja 250R (which I have owned previously), but it still looks very small compared to sports bikes.

The seat height is 30.5 inches, which may not seem so low at first, considering the CBR250RR has a 28 inch or so seat height. However, the difference is that the CBR125R's seat is very comfortable and you're able to travel long distances on it if you are the ideal height/weight for the bike. One thing people complain about are the wheels/tyres. They are very thin, but guess what? This works!!! Honda aren't stupid, and they know that if they put bigger wheels on the CBR125R it would have terrible grip, especially in the wet (in rain, wet weather, etc).

The stock tyres that come with the bike aren't the best out there, but they will grip, and yes you can get your knee down (again if you're a suitable rider for the bike) if need be. These tyres will grip as well as any other. Let's take the Aprilia RS125 for example! Now the RS125 stock tyres have pretty good grip, even better than the CBR125R's actually, but the tiny tyres on the CBR will show you how well the CBR skinny/small tyres perform. Do not be afraid to lean the bike on these tyres, because I assure you, they WILL grip. Perhaps not so much in the wet, but you really shouldn't be leaning too much when it's wet.

Now let's get the most important thing out the way. The CBR125R is a 4-stroke, and depending on rider will get about 70 MPG. The good thing about this is that you won't have to keep mixing oil and paying twice as much as you would on a 2-stroke, and you will not need much maintenance. The bulletproof engine on the CBR125R will be good for at least 100,000 miles! Whereas 2 strokes require rebuilds way before that, and to be honest, they only get through about 30 MPG (comparing to NSR125 and RS125).

Okay! The next thing is speed. Bike will reach 75 on the flat, and 80 down hill. As all speedos are generally inaccurate, this can be measured with GPS with good reception. Remember that the reason why you can be over the max speed by a certain % without being punished is due to the inaccuracy of speedometers at higher speeds in most case. One of the most important thing when discussing speed on the CBR125R is that the bike has got so much bashing over the years for it being 4 stroke and not being the fastest "supersport" look alike, but this isn't a 2-strike anyway and reliability is its name.

It is however the fastest 4 stroke 125 by a long shot. Anyway, about rider height/weight. The estimated speed above will be attained by a male rider ducking as low as possible of average height and build. I got into an argument once on a forum about this and I went out to prove that the bike works best with short and light riders. I am 5'2", 110lbs (I am a guy btw, but anyway....). I recorded the speedo, as well as the GPS on my bike on the flat.

In fhe redline, final, I hit 87 on speedo and 84 GPS. While my goal was to hit 90 on gps, I didn't. I did however prove the bike isn't as much a pushover as people think for a 125 4t (4 stroke).
Another thing is the MPG. Due to my height/weight I managed to push out 90 MPG on the cibby. In other words, this bike was not made for tall/big riders. They're better sticking to an RS125 or Honda's NSR125 to fit them more appropriately.

Another thing is the bike has a pretty detailed analog instrument panel. It has a speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, heat gauge, tachometer, signal lights, high beam light and neutral light. The bike is liquid cooled, and uses a carburettor. The 2007 models are introducing a brand new Fuel Injection system into the CBR125R as well as a better front fairing design to mimick the bigger CBR's. The bike still looks quite thin from the back but much better from the front and looks very aggressive. Personally I don't see the need for Electronic Fuel Injection on a 125cc with only 13bhp, however, one thing is for ceratin, you can't easily fix a EFI system compared to a carburettor (which only requires a few basic tools to tinker around with) which in my honest opinion makes the 2007 models a bad bike for learning about the mechanics of bikes. Even someone like me who a good few years of experience finds the whole fixing of EFI a problem. The only thing I learnt when trying to find out why my bike wouldn't start once was walking away after 30 minutes going "ARGHHHH!!!!".

The bike sounds beautiful when it's running compared to 2 strokes and their tinny/load sound. You can really tell the bike is working hard. I have travelled to Spain on my CBR125R from England and my butt didn't ache at all. The 85 MPH is good enough, and even though accellerating during overtaking is a little slow, I can still manage it. Again, this is probably due to my weight and height. Bigger bulky riders will probably end up having a drawn out conversation with the person in the other vehicle whilst they are overtaking!

£15 to tax, cheap insurance (£400 fully comp), and why would you need to do more than 75 MPH on a road anyway?

To sum this up,

This BIKE was made to not only look better than a naked bike, but totally loves smaller riders, rewarding them with a greater b oost in performance without killing them on sight (*caugh* my experience on a 1000 wasn't exactly fun *caugh*). I must advise that anyone over 5'8 and 130lbs to avoid this bike as you'll probably be disappointed. Anyone under that, go for it. Perfect ladies bike too! And what more, you can commute on it, and travel all over the globe if need be. You also have the reliable 4 stroke honda engine in there, which as said, is practically bulletproof.

To end this, I am going to go into detail quickl about fairings. We all know on our expensive bikes that it is very expensive to replace fairings that have been ripped off, broken in half, and you name it.

Well guess what? If you drop the bike or have a spill, and break the side fairings, you're looking at £20 replacement. I bought brand new official Honda fairings for the CBR125R (front end and side) for £100. So it won't cost you an arm or a leg to get the fairings replaced. On a light note, it has been announced that the 2007 fairings can be used on the 2004-2006 CBR125R with only slight modification. This is lovely news considering the 07 model looks beautiful from the front.

This is an ideal bike for daily use and short/long distances. This bike is not for teens who want to go out thrashing their bikes on the weekend. If you want to act cool and speed around the roads, get an Aprilia RS125 or Honda's NSR125 for fun, and also the engine rebuilds after XXXX miles.

Last but not least, I believe the Fuel Injection change for Honda on the CBR was mainly for enviromental concerns. The 2007 just looks better, but remember you can use the 2007 fairings on your older models. Good luck and hope this has been helpful.