THE BIKES
Being on a tight budget and never having ridden a motorcycle before, we picked the trusted Yamaha YBR 125 to be our companion for our first motorcycle adventure. Although the bike has only a meagre 10.06 Horsepower, its 4 stroke, air cooled, single cylinder engine with a displacement of 124cc is capable of top speeds of around 70mph (which we've found can be pushed a little further downhill).
The main draws for us were:
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Fuel economy: we can cover 200 miles with a £10 tank
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Price of the bikes: we both got relatively new fuel injected models for under £2k
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Learner legal: as neither of us had ridden before we can ride them with L plates.
What we will soon find out is whether they are up to the task of travelling long distances, and carrying a fair bit of weight.
Yamaha YBR 125 2014
My bike is a 2014 YBR . So far I've ridden it 6000 miles commuting over autumn/winter. I've had to replace the handlebars after I came off on some black ice and bent the old ones badly, I've also replaced the clutch cable which snapped at one point and had to fit a new brake lever twice already after dropping it.
In order to fit panniers I had to have a luggage rack from an older model modified and fitted as there is no rack available to purchase for the bike.
I've had some new Michelin tires fitted which made a massive difference to the bike's handling.
I've fitted a 34ltr top box, 2 x 25ltr soft panniers, a 50ltr duffel/tail pack, and a 6ltr tank bag. Fully loaded it feels like a different bike, no longer nimble and light, but rock solid, and not really comfortable at speeds above 50mph anymore.
Yamaha YBR 125 2015
Mine is a 2015 model YBR. I've also fitted a luggage rack to take panniers, a 37ltr top box and a 50ltr duffel bag as well as a 6ltr tank bag. I've added some Chinese hand guards which although cheap seem do a great job. The bike has under 4000 miles on the clock and with new Michelin tires fitted is more than to go.
I've only had trouble with the engine once after riding through a rather deep ford one too many times!