Only joking. I had to laugh when a reviewers' website claimed that 125s have "the best handling" and "will beat sports bikes in the twisties". But back on topic...

My brother's taking his initial motorcycle training and will be buying one. I've only tried a few, so my ability to advise him is limited. Is essence, which is the best 125?

Possible points for consideration:

- Top speed
- Reliability
- Ease of maintenance.
- Are 4-stroke 125s worth considering?

My web searches so far point towards the Aprilia RS, but I would highly value your experience and opinions.

street or trail or? what are bros plans, me im a bit biased and would suggest a gs, or other smallish bike, that he could use for a while w/o outgrowing, lemme ask you this, what kinda riding will he use this bike for. ratehr conservative, on/offroad? speed what?

How does the 125cc fit in with the UK's tier'd licensing system? I'd love to have a 125 for dirt here in the states. 

You can use a 125cc in the UK with a day's training.

It's a street bike. He'll be using it for about a year. It will mainly be for fun, but we are planning to tour the coast of Britain with him on the 125 so that has to be a consideration. A good top speed is desirable. He's also quite tall (6'3).

We don't have street 125's in the US, unles they are scoots. Honda makes one for the track, that runs about $10K, way more than most would spend. And one for the street for a third of that. This is the Canadian street version...lol

The only street 125cc I can think of currently for sale in the US is the Kawi Eliminator:

http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=218

Road test says it will maintain 65 mph speed on the road but not much more:

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/beginner_motorcycles_comparison/index.html

There is a Honda CBR-125R here in canada... It retails for about 3500.00 + you get full gear and 3 yr warranty with roadside. There are a couple of them around town. Nice bikes. I sat on one and its just a little wider than a mountain bike

http://www.honda.ca/Go/En/index.html

Cheers,
J

looks alot like the gs500

Bit of a play off with 125's, if you get a 4-stroke, you'll get great fuel consumption but the bike will be gutless, don't be tempted by the cbr125, it's a steaming pile, basically a CG with a fairing.
However, 2 strokes will go like a rocket but will cost a fortune to run and a bike such as the rs125 "will" turn you into a mechanic whether you like it or not.

Saying this, i have both types a Korean copy of a gn125 and an rs125 (which is currently in a 1000 bits around the house) and tbh i'd go for the  2 stroke anyday, the 4 stroke nearly got me killed so many times through not having any acceleration to get out of trouble it nearly put me off riding....

If it's gonna be his 1st bike i'd also tend to stay well away from anything new, this is where you'll need to be carefull though, a 4T commuter bike like my gn was in pretty good shape for it's age but probably because it had been owned by people who just rode it to work etc, with the RS it's more likely to have been owned by a "chipshop yoof" who ragged the crap out of it everywhere as i consequently found out with mine when i had to start replacing parts within a month of buying it, after rebuilding the topend, replacing wheel/head bearings and clutch, the bottom end went hence why i stripped it completely and will rebuild the whole thing from scratch (see what i mean about turning you into a mechanic!!).

If you decide on an RS though i can point you to a few places online that can give much better advice on buying and maintaining them.

Ivw owned a bunch of 125cc's

Kymco Zing: Is the best looking 125 cruiser ever , tops out about 70 mph,. Scrape Hard Parts when leaning
Honda Cbr 125: Had one for a while , Beat the Kymco Zing after about 30 mph in a straight line , well to expensive
Honda NSR: Quick , Looks nice , Tiny tires , Pretty Fast Tho
Yamaha TZR: 2 Smoke power, i had 90 mph out of mine , it was my fav 125cc

Oooo a topic im good on!

Best options regardless of cost, Aprillia RS125, Rieju Evo 2 (i think its evo 2) 125, Cagiva Mito 125 - beastly fast bike.

In terms of servicing, they are easy peasy, i dont see the comments above about being turned into a mechanic, perhaps because they are so easy to fix you wouldnt take it anywhere else. Be prepared 125cc's are expensive in the UK, very expensive for what you get but they hold their value. Always get a 2 stroke 125 or you will never move a 6'3 bloke.

Have fun, 125s are great just throw em around.

Agree that 2t's are easy to repair, it's just if you're not mechanically minded to start with then you will be by the time you've owned one for a few months as i discovered, until owning my RS the only repair i'd done to a bike was changing the bulb in a headlamp, now i can rebuild entire engines!

Yea i spose they do lull you into a false sense of security. But its not any hard maintenance becasue they are just so simple and easy to fix. And nearly every job can be done on your own since you can pick up a whole 125 end without much difficulty lol. But yea splitting the engine case and replacing head gaskets is just like changing your brake fluid on a 50/125 lol.