I recently purchased this bike for £2,000 on the road. Included in the cost was free insurance supplied by Yamaha(UK) a years road fund , a tank of fuel and delivery by the dealer to my house. The alternative I did consider, the Honda cbf125, would have cost about £2,300 all in.
Commuting really lets you get the best out of this bike. It's fast enough up to 50mph and will hold this speed along the flat without struggling. 4th and 5th gears are quite well placed and if speed does drop off on the hills, a quick change into 4th will get things back on pace. I'm 5'10" tall and for me the sitting position is very upright providing a good view over the roof of the average car, and easily get both feet flat on the ground without problem. When stuck in heavy slow moving traffic there is always the option to paddle the bike along rather than be in and out of first gear all the time.
The mirrors have quite short stems, so do take a lot of adjustment to provide optimum rear view coverage. They also have the advantage of keeping the overall width of the bike compact, an added bonus when filtering through the smaller gaps.
Conservative use on the throttle pays dividends in spades. I managed 240 miles on 7 litres of petrol, which equates to over 150mpg.
The only thing that lets it down in my opinion is the short front mudguard, which allows a lot of road muck to get thrown up over the front downtube and engine, and a short front section on the rear mudguard which allows spray directly onto the frame and swinging arm brace. I think these areas are going to be potential rust traps if the bike isn't regularly treated with a protective product.
The seat is fine for shorter journeys but after about 5 hours of non stop riding I find things start to get uncomfortable. The instruments are easy to read, night or day, and the controls well laid out. The fuel guage is a bit pesimistic at the lower levels and I'm surprised at how much fuel is left when the needle is on the red zone; but I would guess this avoids a possible problems wit hthe fuel injection system if you run out :(
Brakes are excellent but do take carefull bedding in from new before becoming fully effective. Suspension can be a bit jarring at times over the larger (non avoidable)potholes, but still better in my opinion than other lightweight bikes I've ridden. A thicker grade of oil in the front forks may improve things.
The latest tyres don't seem too bad for an OEM fitment and I believe the compound is much softer than that supplied a few years back on earlier models, however I'd still be tempted to change them for something like the michelin sporty's when they get close to the wear limit indicators.
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Advantages: Low cost, 100+ mpg, good brakes, comfy seat, low insurance, £15 tax Disadvantages: Awkward choke, lack of side stand, you'll want to ride round on it all day
mf0u503c 01.06.2007 (09.08.2007)
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Review of Yamaha YBR 125
Advantages: On the Road price, Fuel Economy, UK Learner Legal, Practical Size Disadvantages: Choke is on the engine, not the bars - Wont keep battery charged
fatboysime 24.12.2005 ·
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Review of Yamaha YBR 125
Advantages: Low cost, 100+ mpg, good brakes, comfy seat, low insurance, £15 tax Disadvantages: Awkward choke, lack of side stand, you'll want to ride round on it all day
mf0u503c 01.06.2007 (09.08.2007)
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Review of Yamaha YBR 125
Oct 27th, 2009
