Suzuki GS125 ES

From the purchase price of £450 it is probably obvious that I bought this bike second hand...and in a rather sorry state but that never stopped it from getting me to where I needed to be.

Looks

The first thing I did on getting this bike home was remove the front fairing, which may have had some affect on fuel consumption and streamlining but on a 125 I was not all that concerned and I thought that it looked a great deal better without the boxy fairing. I ended up with this bike in red, which I think is the best colour for it, and even though it was a little battered it would appear that the paint is hard wearing stuff because it survived well thought it's life.

Maintenance

Now, I am not a person who knows a great deal about maintaining bikes, which is actually not so much of a problem if you own this bike. I bought a manual which was surprisingly easy to follow and thanks to the simplicity of the bike's mechanics I did not struggle at all in those moments when maintenance was required. The carburettor was easy to remove and relatively easy to get back into place (with a little bit of wiggling). Anything more complex than cleaning out a carb or changing a spark plug and I will admit I left it to my stepfather who is much more mechanically capable than me and makes everything look easy. Even though this bike was old it was pretty mechanically sound and the parts, when I needed them, were cheap and easily available.

Comfort and Handling

I was surprised at just how comfortable this bike was to ride, because as a 125 I was expecting it to have bad suspension and try to vibrate me to death. I am quite glad that I was wrong about these things. The old style 'sit up and beg' seat is really very comfortable and I found that I was happy to ride this bike for long periods of time, once for three hours without a stop, in relative comfort. For a 125 the GS cornered well and was actually quite fun to throw around country lanes in the summer, even if the top speed is only about 75mph. In the rain I even felt quite comfortable because the bike is quite low to the ground and so I felt stable and safe.

Overall

Unfortunately my little GS125 did die eventually, but that was after two years of quite hard riding so I can't complain. It took me through all weathers, even snow, and never really complained. It was fuel efficient and really very fun to ride. Perfect for a beginner and a bike that I will sorely miss.