3 Commando Brigade

Another thread about those motorised bike things.

Avoid Chinese bikes. As cheap and attractive they are, they are unreliable at best and death traps at worst.

Second hand bikes hold their value really well. You're looking at £1-1.5k for something reliable and it will sell for the same in 6-12 months.

Bike wise for 125cc you're only really looking at Honda or Yamaha. CG, CBR, YBR and YZF-R125. The YZF is an awesome bike, I had one and parker has just bought one. A bit pricey though. You won't get a decent one for less than 2.5k but they do good finance deals.

Most YZF-R125 users own bigger bikes but use them for commuting as they are a good size, fast (for a piddler), do 100mpg+ and most importantly handle well and are a hoot to ride. Downside is insurance is expensive, at least twice that of a super/hyper bike and you'll lose money from the new value. But that is offset by its running costs, especially if you have a long commute (mine was 140miles per day when I had mine so made economic sense)

Your options open up more for a 125cc scooter but they are awful to ride.

Benzy, on the scale of things, the Honda CBR 125 is pretty low on it. They are god awful bikes but much better by a wide chasm compared to chinese s**t. Yamaha do 125cc much much better. Bigger bikes I'd go for a Honda no questions asked. 

The honda CG is the most successful vehicle ever made, bar none, they lost their way a bit in the lower segments of the market since then, a segment Yammie and Aprillia have more than happily picked up.

My beauty

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Yamaha all day long. Guy I work with has the Honda cbr125r and it's only 13.1hp it's so slow and handles like poo.

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Removed unnecessary posts. Please stay on topic lads. Cheers.

Also congrats on the job Null!

for my tuppenceworth, the CBR 600 is a  good first bike, there are plenty about and if looked after, should be fine for 100k miles. You might find the race riding position a bit focused (read uncomfortable) for commuting, especially if you have a slow route in (race bikes rely on wind hitting your chest to keep pressure off your wrists and bars) the CBF600 is a cracking little bike, easier to ride in trafic and normally attract the more mature rider, so you are more likely to find a decent second hand one.

Im no expert on 125's, its been a long long time since I had one, but I totally agree with the 'keep away from chinese crap' comments, I advised a mate the same about 4 years ago and he went for a yamaha something, hes now selling it for pretty much what he paid for it.