Honda NSR125 > Reviews > Nice Sports Racer 125

Author's product rating:   

Comfort	Excellent
Handling	Good
Looks	Good
Features	Good
Fuel consumption	Excellent

Advantages:	Cheap, easy to work on .
Disadvantages:	None, it does exactly what it says on the tin .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I’m writing this from memory so you will have to excuse some of the details I may miss.

I bought an NSR125 about 6 years ago second hand, it was the old styling where there were 2 colors available, white and red.

I rode it on a moped license with “L” plates which you could do at the time as long as it was restricted (I don’t know if you can do it now)?
Then after 6 months I passed my test, kept it another 6 months and sold it to buy a VFR400 NC24 which I still have.

The riding position was very nice and the fairing did a brilliant job of keeping the wind of and the rain.
I don’t remember how many miles it was between fill ups but I don’t remember getting on first name terms with the local petrol station so it couldn’t have been that bad.

It was irritating having to check the two stroke oil tank every 2 or 3 fill ups to make sure you weren’t caught short but it did have a warning light and it’s much more convenient than my friends TZR. That had to have the oil mixed with the petrol in the tank which meant that popping into a petrol station to top up meant a small calculation to add the correct amount of oil.

I had a couple of failures, the gear selector mechanism broke, the new parts weren’t expensive and a Hanes manual really helped.
I managed to blow the engine, not uncommon with two stroke but again an engine that simple is not hard to fix.
I striped it one night, sent the barrel off and a re-con came back a few days later which I installed in one evening. Simple, you will never find a bike or car that’s easier to work on!
Just incase, don’t use super unleaded in it, the performance increase was astounding but the temperature gauge went mad, all this shortly before the engine let go!!!!!!!

Metzler MEZ1’s are the tire you need, they last a while on such a light bike but not as long as some others. The amount of grip they give you is a must try! Just be patient, a bike this light will take a while to heat them up but once you get there you can push it so hard.

Use Ferodo brakes, I have never liked EBC which seems to be the bikers choice but Ferodo’s last longer, feel better and save you a fortune in disks.

If you buy one, or even before you buy one, take the exhaust of, if it rattles like it’s got a bolt in it be careful.
The commonest way to de-restrict an NSR is to knock the restrictor into the exhaust but this messes up the carburation which could lead to an engine blow up. You do need to adjust the carburation when de-restricting.
If the job is done professionally there will be a new de-restricted exhaust on the bike or a weld mark on the expansion chamber where it was cut open to remove the restrictor once knocked out.

Taker care of the Frame, it’s steel and will rust.

If you fall off try the breakers in the back of MCN (motorcycle news) they helped me out so much.
The premium rate ones are good, you phone them at a cost of about £2 and later on in the day a load of breakers phone you with what you want, it does save time, energy and ultimately money.

Have fun!