What's the catch? Kaisar etc.

[Brads45]

Hi,

Well I sold my car Wednesday night! :-) I have about £2k to go and spend on gear and a new bike, I haven't done my DAS yet, I plan to buy a 125 over the weekend along with my gear, and then practice on the 125 for a month, then do my DAS!

I'm looking on Autotrader at bikes and there are a few makes I've never heard of before, one bike I've seen looks gorgeous, a Kaisar XTR 125 and it's at a decent price - but what's the catch with these makes? because I've not been into bikes long it could be a well known make! but I want to know before I go and see it if I shouldn't bother. Are they a real trouble? any big problems with these bikes?

Thanks for any advice anyone can give me :-)

I would also like to apologise, I know at the moment all I do is ask for help but that's only because I can't contribute in any other way as I have no bike experience, as soon as I'm on a bike I'll be very active on this forum, telling you my stories and all that kind of thing!

But at the moment, I'm sure you're not interested to know about how the missus has broke up with me, how catching a bus because I now have no car is an absolute headache and all the rest of it!

[Spree]

Don't worry about asking questions mate, as my Dad always said "If you don't ask, you don't get!".

Not having heard about the bike then I can only assume that its made in China. There are thousands of bad reports about these bikes all over the web but you pays yer money and takes yer chance.

Personally I would look to buying a good secondhand Japanese model for the same money (this is what has been poorly copied anyhow) as the dealer backup is far better. They are usually tried and tested over the years and will most likely give you trouble free service.

[Brads45]

Well I was thinking the same and usually wouldn't give it a second look, but the dealer is offering a full warranty for 2 years and a years worth of road tax, it has 1 mile on it from delivery, and is £1,200...

It also looks really nice, so I don't know...would you still not touch it, even with the 2 year warranty from the dealer? it's the fact I will only have it for say 3 months max, but I'm concerned I wont be able to sell it again, if there's something about the Kaiser make of bike I just don't know about!

There's also a Skyjet make on there that looks great too, similar price, similar offer... :\

I'm very tempted but don't want to do somethign really stupid! there aren't that many 125's around, and I know I shouldn't be picky but I am - I want something with a fairing, that's all I care about to be honest (I want somehting to look decent when I pull up to work! I've just ogne from a very nice car and want to come to a nice looking bike...the ladies wont know the difference!!)

Placed next to eachother a Honda CBR125 or Aprilla RS is nearly 2k, which is obviously all of my money for a bike which will be temporary!

[dungeekin]

Hi mate, and welcome to the forums.

I asked the same question here very recently when I joined - the Kaisar was one of the bikes I looked at getting. I believe it's a clone of the CBR125, along with the Skyjet, the Superbyke RM125 and several others.

The general consensus from this forum and many others was that the Chinese bikes have terrible build quality, poor reliability and dodgy service/warranty, it appears like it may be hard to source spares AND worst of all, I had a major problem getting insurance brokers to quote for the Kaisar as most didn't have it on their lists.

I have also read horror stories on the Web of frames cracking under the seat due to poor metallurgy.

The flipside of that - a friend here at work rides a chinese 125 trailie, and it hasn't missed a beat - at least once he changed the oil, the spark plug and loctited every single nut and bolt!

Personally, I took the advice of the august members of this Forum, and went for a Suzuki 125.

Good luck with the new bike!

Neil

[Brads45]

Ah, OK that's sound advice and kind of done it for me then, cheer's Neil! being my first bike I really don't want a headache with it. Hmmm, back to looking around for a 125, I need to find one this wekend desperatley so please point me in the right direction guys if you see anything within 40 miles of CW12 3DZ!!!

I think I will have to slash my wrists next week if I have to put up with this "Public Transport" for another week, I hate how they advertise it as being easy, and it's never caused me such a headache! I have to go to a different town first, to then catch a bus to my own town, to then walk home, it's costing me £5.80 a day on bus fares, that's £25 a week, I spent nowhere near that amount on petrol in my car! so it's not even cheap either! I could deal with cheap and inconvenient, but seriously...

[Singh600RR]

Hi Brads, definitely get a Honda CBR25 - i sold my 2004 model for 1200 quid. Haggle - there are plenty of 125's out there. Don't pay more than 1300 for a 2004 or 2005 model.

My CBR125 was great - i still miss her - she was brilliant on fuel, quick around town, light, sporty - just don't expect much on dual carridgeways!

8 quid in petrol did me for over 200 miles!

[indie]

kaisar ? dont touch it, chinese crap, as others on here have told you there are loads of good jap 125cc bikes buy one of those.
stay away from the aprilla 125cc the engine is fragile and worse they are one of the most nicked bikes in the country, in a recent survey anyway, as much as i hate to say it, buy a cbr125 honda, good bikes, (its not that i hate hondas but everyones got one)

[dungeekin]

I can second what Indie says about the RS125.

A nephew of mine had one, and it was off the road pretty much all the time for repairs. One of my co-workers also had one, and I lost count of the number of times it wouldn't start, or seized, or any one of a million other faults.

I guess they're a great, quick bike if you're mechanically-minded and able to keep it in perfect fettle. But I haven't got a clue, so I went with a Suzuki Marauder (the CBR125 was just too small and delicate for my 14-stone bulk!)

Neil

[indie]

personally i think that if your gonna buy a 125cc bike then an offroad style would be best, older 125cc race reps are small and i would guess that most of your riding would be town/city? atleast with an offroad style bike you can see over the traffic and will be safer filtering, but thats my opion, and i know as with everything in life, opions differ

[Manky Cat]

Hi brads, definately stere clear of the unknown, I just sold my CBR 125, and have to say it was a cracking first ride, but yeah don't expect too much on dual carrigeways or up steep hills. It's a shame you did'nt have more cash as I just bought the Yam YZF 125, this really is a pocket Rocket!! I'd stay away from 2 strokes too especially the Aprilia, they are liable to blow up and the insurance will kill you. Good hunting.