Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Tuono 125 is an Aprilia RS125 with the fairings ripped off. Flat bars make it more comfortable and easier to throw around, but it retains all the sporting prowess of the donor RS125 as any good streetfighter should. Reliability is sound as long as it's looked after and fed (expensive) high quality 2-stoke oil.





Honda CBF125







The Honda 125 CBF may not be as sexy as some of the other models here, but at £1,795 new it's an absolute bargain and cool because of its humility. Unlike it's predecessor the Honda CBR125R, it doesn't make any false hints at a racing pedigree, it's just an honest and accessible way into biking that could tempt a few new people on to two wheels.







The SX125 has all the tricks bits you could ask for - Brembo brakes, alloy spoked rims and a digital dash. The fact that it's kickstart only is supermoto-cool, but the novelty will be short lived. The SX125 gives you the style of it's bigger brother, the hardcore Aprilia SXV, but performance doesn't match the looks.





<strong>Derbi GPR125





rgeous angular bodywork and underseat exhaust give the Derbi a supersports look, plus it has the specs to back it up - 2-stroke engine with a claimed 33bhp, radial brakes and suspension developed from the Derbi 125 GP racers. The GPR125 was made for carving up roundabouts.





Yamaha XT125R



Yamaha XT125R

The XT125 was the winner of a recent MCN 125cc road test in London. The wide bars, low weight (111kg) and 4-stroke powerplant make it great for dicing through traffic. When you put that together with the XT125R's high-level can and bash plate you also get a bike capable of gentle off-road work.



Aprilia RS125







The RS125 has long been the bike to have for 17-year-olds everywhere. It remains one of the best handling bikes ever. However the 100mph motor is fragile and needs love and fully-synthetic 2-stroke oil. It also needs to be warmed up properly, but on the plus side this is a great excuse to stand and look at