The begin-again bike
It might only make 11bhp, but what you're looking at here is one of the all-time greats; especially at this time of year...
As the motorcycle that launched probably millions of biking careers, Honda’s CG125 ran from 1975 to 2008 before it was replaced by the CB125F. It epitomises the premise of ‘basic biking’; I doubt there is a more simple motorcycle. We took out a 2005 model with an astonishingly low 1550 miles on the clock (post test ride!).
Give me some spec
A 124cc single-cylinder engine putting out 11bhp and 7ft-lb of torque lives in a simple steel tubular cradle frame, hauled up by a single 240mm front disc and 110mm rear drum. Changes to the CG125 were minimal throughout its life, but were always useful: pushrods did away with seizing problems on early models, and towards the end of its time the bike got a front disc instead of a drum(!), more comfortable saddle and improved mirrors.
So what’s it like to ride?
If this is your first bike, you know no different. But if you have been riding a while on larger capacity machinery your initial thought will – I guarantee – be “what am I doing?”. To begin with, it all feels very wibbly-wobbly; sitting precariously on those slender tyres, with weedy handlebars sat in front of you and next to nothing underneath. But, after a while – and you will have to give it a little time – you start to appreciate the CG125’s charms.
It has a nice slick little gearbox. First gear gets you going smoothly (look to change quickly), second takes you to 40mph (at a gripe, I usually went into the relatively broad third at 30mph), third will get you to 50mph. Fourth gear has you humming along at 50mph with no effort and the CG is enjoyable to ride at this pace. I even made a couple of carefully planned overtakes. The max speed of 63mph can be held in top easily enough.
It’ll corner well enough. Once we’d been out on the road for a while I was getting frustrated with other road users slowing down for bends that the CG was happy to take faster.
It does the ‘town thing’ well, being small, light and low. Let’s be honest, the suspension is made from old bedsprings – the CG will bounce from pothole to pothole on rougher roads – but it copes well enough with the average surface. And the brakes require careful planning, they’re weak but the target audience for this bike (UK: learners, Asia: basic transport for the masses) don’t want or need any more.
What nick is it in?
Really good. Then again, averaging140 miles a year it should be! I understand it was bought to pass CBT and log some miles before it was put away. It had some fuel drip from the overflow; the tank may have been overfilled – the dealer is going to check.
What’s it worth?
The dealer wants £1599 for a 2005 model with a paltry 1550 miles logged, in great condition. There are CG125s out there; my dealer search revealed a small number of tidy examples, ranging from £1495 for a 2007 model with 3600 miles on the clock, to another 2007 bike with 4300 miles racked up for sale at £1995.