The oldest is now the newest
The 125cc range comes in for a fair bit of grief. The class has always been regarded as a somewhat ‘uncool’ one. The size of the engine dictates that it’s associated with learning to ride a bike and an entry class that holds the rider back until the licencing regulations allow them to break free and ride a ‘real’ bike.
All New
Just one of those staid bikes is the CB125 which has been around since time began. Some brands such as KTM and Yamaha, with their R125, have broken through this perception. Now Honda have added a whole new CB125R to the mix that shares little with the older one other than the name and ergonomics.
All LED Lighting
Rather interestingly they’ve started out with an all new 5in full colour TFT set of ‘clocks’ that come directly from the bikes older sibling, the CB1000R. It also has full LED lighting. That TFT screen displays a choice of three different types of speed and rpm displays. There is also a fuel gauge and consumption display. The gear selected is also shown. What’s very interesting for a 125 is that there is a customisable shift-up point on the rev-counter. All of this is managed via the all new switchgear on the left hand side of the bars.
A TFT Screen is Now Standard
The bikes 10.1 litre fuel tank has a cool new filler cap and is mounted within the bikes body work. Rather wonderfully it offers the rider a range of up to 460km.
Powering the machine is a EURO5+ DOHC 4V engine. The single puts out a shade under 15 bhp. It also produces 11.6Nm of torque. All of this sits on quite a clever chassis.
It’s a tubular and pressed steel lattice-style frame married to a swingarm that’s made from steel plate, irregularly shaped in cross-section. Both are made to provide the maximum strength and flexibility without adding any unnecessary weight. Speaking of which the bike tips the scales at only 130 kilos wet. The shape of the bars added to a tight turning circle make it perfect to ride in city traffic.
All of this is sprung on a clever new pair of 41mm Showa Separate Function Big Piston (SFF-BP) USD forks. To save weight they use a spring mechanism in one leg and a pressure separation damper in the other tube. This makes for a highly effective system. Down the back is much less exciting with a non-adjustable monoshock.
Stop That!
Stopping the CB comes compliments of a Nissin radially mounted calliper and a 296mm floating front disc. It even has twin channel ABS which is managed by an IMU.
The CB125R, along with the rest of the Honda range is widely available in motorcycle dealers across the country.