Hey all, I'm new here.

[MadCat]

Sounds like a great forum. I'm 25 from Saltash, Cornwall, and I ride a TZR125 that has the powervalve manually fully opened. I'm a short guy, 5'2", 110 lbs, and I have managed to get 110 indicated on my TZR (though not on the road). Well, that is, I was, until it seems to have had a seizure and no longer starts!!!! (I've got a post about it here in "The Garage" part of this forum).

I have rode lots of 125's, but I'm still on my L's That's not to say I haven't been riding a very long time. I've been riding dirt bikes since I was 6. I have a habit of riding too close to the middle of the road due to wanting to be noticed in the side mirrors of vans, etc. I'd rather ride near the middle instead of the kerb. Though in effect I have also problems with sliding on sometimes on the white lines due to riding too close to them, I've tried to get out of that though.

Currently I am without a bike due to my latest (the TZR) dying on me. I'm not a day rider at all, very rarely will I ride in daylight or good weather. I like nights, when there's not much traffic around, as well when it's raining hard. My bikes always hated the rain (RG125 Gamma HATED it more than anything else!). I think, riding in the wet constantly enables me to be more aware of things going on with the bike. You know, avoiding manhole drain covers when taking a junction, or corner, or even just in the middle of the road. Even horse crap + rain becomes slimey and slips like ice. That being said, one day I may take my full bike test, but for now and the probably a long time, I do not intend to step up to a bigger bike. I simply don't need the extra power.

Bikes I've owned and ridden are...

Some road legal pit bike cheap Chinese (2000)
CG125 (2002)
GS125 (2003)
RG125 (2005)
NSR125 (2006)
TZR125 (2008+)

And for the record, for any other 2t 125 riders out there, the RG125 Gamma flies but is very, very unreliable, esp the power valves. It whoops the TZR and NSR on both bottom and top end speed (in unrestricted form, that is, all at stock).

But TZR is probably the best bike I've owned until BANG!

[davethemonkey]

welcome along

[indie]

hi wecome to the forum, the old school rg125 gamma is the quickest old 125cc bike and if sorted correctly is also reliable, i used to deal in old gammas

[MadCat]

Thanks guys.

I heard heavily tuned up RG125's are still raced in Japan in some places.

You may find this weird, at least I do, but on fuel economy, my RG125 gamma was giving me 70-80 miles per gallon vs the 60 of my NSR and TZR. Thoguh I think a lot is to do with the weight of the bike, it's very light. Great bike, loved it while it worked, though they require a lot of care compared to some other 2 strokes.

Though nothing beats 130 MPG on the Honda CG eh!!! That thing never ran outta petrol but was slow! Still loved the GS and CG, both great bikes for commuting and you didn't have to change the throttle much they could keep it stable without having some mysterious seizure due to 2 strokes hating steady throttle.

[indie]

130mpg i can only dream of that figure

[grotbag]

Greetings and welcome to the forum

[Manky Cat]

Hi MadCat, welcome to the forum It sounds to me like your a bit of an adrenaline junkie as you keep souping up your bikes to get more power? Of course the down side it, that when you fiddle with your bike it's not meant to do the things you want, you end up thrashing it only for it to go bang!!

I know what it feel's like to want to push it and i'm 43 I've only been riding a short while, but have learnt that there is more fun to be had when you ride properly and safely Oh, by the way, there's a couple of lads on here who are from Cornwall who'd probably meet up with you for ride outs

[Singh600RR]

Originally Posted by indie

130mpg i can only dream of that figure

your not the only one mate!!

Miss the fuel economy of the old CBR125. 8 quid to fil the tank and she'd go for miles......

Kiddha MadCat by the way!

[emzed]

hello and welcome

[MadCat]

Originally Posted by Manky Cat

Hi MadCat, welcome to the forum It sounds to me like your a bit of an adrenaline junkie as you keep souping up your bikes to get more power? Of course the down side it, that when you fiddle with your bike it's not meant to do the things you want, you end up thrashing it only for it to go bang!!

I know what it feel's like to want to push it and i'm 43 I've only been riding a short while, but have learnt that there is more fun to be had when you ride properly and safely Oh, by the way, there's a couple of lads on here who are from Cornwall who'd probably meet up with you for ride outs

Hello mate!

I'm not really that much of an adrenaline junkie. To be honest I think I'm quite a careful rider most times. I have never, ever, been stopped by police for any reason that I was doing wrong. I mean sure I've done 40-45 in 30 mile zones RARELY and only when there is no one else around, or the odd overtake over the Tamar bridge. Actually here's a funny story you might laugh at.

I was coming over from Plymouth to Saltash on the Tamar Bridge and there was the 1 lane open, the other 2 were closed. Now, 90% of the time the middle lane is closed for both sides of traffic, so I use that for my overtaking on the bridge when cars and trucks are going along at 25ish. So here I am behind this massive truck trying to keep in his mirrors (lol), and I decided to overtake going into the lane that is nearly always closed for both sides. So yeah, I fly through without really even checking what's up front (BIG mistake), and it just so happened that the middle lane was OPEN for the other side of traffic..So I almost made a head on collision. That's the only near miss situation I've had. Even at 35-40 a head on like that can be fatal.

As for fiddling with my bikes, I haven't really done too much of that, never got into the mechanical sideo of things. I also don't do wheelies, stoppies or anything of that on the road. When I was a kid, and riding dirt bikes, a guy that I used to know that taught me to ride said this....or something very similar...

"You are never a safe rider when you abuse what power you have. A good rider is in full control and doesn't need to abuse the power that he has control over".

When I did finally get on the road, I remembered that. Sure there's been long stretches of road where I could have taken my bikes to the absolute limit, but there is one fact that remains.

Not to pick holes in anyone on here, but there are some riders that REALLY, really piss me off. The ones at lights that are on their GIXXERS, they look around at me and see the old L plates, I nod, they don't. I've probably been riding motorcycles, albeit only up to 250s (off the road of course) more than they have though, but anyway, they look in their mirrors and lift the front wheel up to look "cool" as they take off from the lights. Some even do stoppies when I am at lights behind me. Yes, I see them in my mirrors and the back wheel comes up as they come to a stop. Just annoys the crap out of me.

Originally Posted by Singh600RR

your not the only one mate!!

Miss the fuel economy of the old CBR125. 8 quid to fil the tank and she'd go for miles......

Kiddha MadCat by the way!
Honda CBR 600RR and proud!!

CBR125 returns a little less than the CG. Gets about 5-10 MP/H faster though. Great little commuters, and if you're a short arse like me, they're a good fit. I never had one that I owned, but I sat on one and rode it. A little more comfortable than the CG actually, quite liked it.

Sadly when I took the step up from 4ts (or down if you see it that way) to 2ts I really started to feel the punishment of less MPG. That and all the whole expensive Castrol TT.

It seems for every 30 quid I'm spending on petrol that would go in the 125 4 strokes, it's costing me 70 quid. The price one must pay!

And thanks everyone else for the welcomes. Real friendly place.