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Honda CG 125 - 2002


rossibizatdi
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Review of Honda CG 125

Age 24

Height 5’ 11

Weight 75 kg (12 stone)

Cost £570

Insurance £200 fully comp


http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq73/rosschambers1987/IMAG0340.jpg


I bought my Honda CG 2002 plate in July 2012. It had around 37000 miles on the clock and had full service history with receipts etc. I got the bike of Ebay and was very excited for it to arrive so I could get back in the saddle after having not ridden for a year. My first and only bike was a Honda CBR 600F which I rode for about a year so I knew the speed would seem very slow on the CG but this did not bother me as the reason for buying the bike was purely for fuel economy and cheap insurance/servicing.

The reason for buying this bike was to commute from Chorley to Liverpool Uni. The fact that I’m commuting to Uni probably tells you that I’m a student and so need the cheapest transportation out there. I have been doing a similar commute to my summer work placement of around 60 miles a day. 30 each way.


The reviews I had been reading were suggesting I would be getting over 80 MPG from this bike and if driven carefully I could achieve over 100 which is what I was looking to be getting.


Anyway, I’ve banged quite a few miles onto the clock since I bought her and would like to pass some comments on about the bike and what actual fuel consumption figures I have been getting.


Review

My commute consists of A roads mainly so I’m sat at 50 mph for a large part of the commute. When I do arrive at 50 mph the engine does seem to be revving a little bit high but I soon get used to it and am comfortable with this rpm.

The brakes are drum on both the front and the rear and really are quite bad. This however is not an issue as long as you drive sensibly and don’t go tearing up to roundabouts only to find you have to slam on. I tend to use both the front and back whilst braking. The suspension is quite bouncy and the front forks do have quite a lot of movement on them. The bike is comfortable to ride mostly however I do get a slight ache in my back.


As you can see from the picture I have a windscreen and a top box which are both extremely useful and if you do have a CG I strongly advise you get these. The screen is excellent and stops the wind hitting me. I keep my rain cover and lock in the box whilst riding and my helmet and gloves in whilst I’m parked up, with the lock and cover being transferred onto the bike which takes about a minute. My bike is kept outside which worried me a bit but so far it’s fine, the cover is always on so it is all good!

When I got the bike, I changed the oil for Silkolene Pro 4 Plus as suggested by this website http://hondacg125.awardspace.com/oil.htm If you have a CG and have not been on this website I strongly suggest you read it, it is very well put together and really informative.


I have put an Iridium spark plug in of the “9” variety, instead of 8. This spark plug lets more heat out of the engine than the standard one which is useful as I’m doing a lot of top gear high speed riding.


One problem I did have recently was that the electric starter stopped working, it would just click but not start. I thought it might be that the battery was bad but after doing some reading I found a YouTube video of a man taking his starter motor off and cleaning the contacts inside it. I did this, cleaning it with WD40 and upon re-installing it, it worked a treat. No more looking like I’m in an old movie, kick starting the bike, even though I do think it’s pretty cool that I can kick start my bike if I feel like it lol. I think they removed the kick start on later models.


Fuel Consumption

Ok I’d been really excited to see how much fuel I was using on my journeys. I have calculated my fuel consumption after each fill up. Each fill up I made sure that the bike was resting on the back wheel and that I held the pump in at the same angle and depth each time so it was accurate.

Out of all the fill ups I’ve done since getting the bike I’ve had an average of 118 MPG. A maximum of 130 MPG which I actually achieved twice and the lowest being 105 MPG. I think this is quite spectacular to be honest!


Pillion Carrying

I took my friend on a 80 mile ride from Blackpool up near to the lake district. When he sat on the bike it did sink down a little as I had not adjusted the rear suspension as the C-spanner had rounded off a bit and wouldn’t grip the suspension to twist it to the harder setting. He weighs around the same as me, 75 kg (12 stone) and the bike was fine to ride. You forget you have a pillion until you try to go up an incline lol and it does struggle a bit. It was fun though, carrying a pillion and I would suggest giving it a go as long as your insurance policy permits this and you’ve passed your test. Just ride very carefully and plan well ahead.


Summary

To summarise my time spent with this bike so far I’d say it has done exactly what it says on the tin. It starts every time no worries, give great fuel economy, handles fine, cheap to insure, good engine. Yeah actually I haven’t really said about the engine or the gearbox, the engine is actually surprisingly nippy around town, it obviously gets out of breath when you take it over 50 mph but up to 30mph it is quicker than I thought it was going to be. The gear box is stop on also, nice and smooth, good ratios etc. If you’re considering this bike as a commuter or even just for a bit of fun I’d definitely go for it, brilliant bike!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Here's a brief review of mine, a 2006 model. I bought it 2 months ago and have done about 300 miles in that time. I am still on L plates. This is my first motorcycle.


Overall, I think this is a good bike, it has been reliable, and I feel comfortable on it (I'm 6ft 1). The switches feel solid and fall easily to hand, and the mirrors are good (better than my old Vespa). It handles quite predictably and is enjoyable to improve my skills on.


I feel comfortable at 50/55mph, the ride is smooth, it's just so much better at this speed as my Vespa. If you do this kind of speed regularly and are umming and urring about a motorcycle over a scooter (I did a lot of umming and urring), I would definitly recommend the 'upgrade'.


Saying that, low end acceleration isn't as good as I expected. This is my only real disappointment about the bike. It's quick enough to get away from lights, but would have liked a little more here. I weigh about 80-85kg...


I've not measured fuel consumption, but it feels like it's really good.


I changed the spark plug on it, such an easy job. Looking forward to changing the oil before too long! Apparently it's an easy bike to work on overall.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did my learning and test on one of these as i got the 33bhp licence. Was a hoot on lessons, very revvy but not too bad. The one i learnt on did have a disc brake mind so stopping wasn't too bad, especially not on MOD 1, emergency stop. I got told off for stopping too quick?!?


Nice bikes, currently looking for one for the missus to learn on.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...
Need help! It appears that my Honda cg appars to be a four speed gear box?? What speeds should I be shifting at aa I'm used to riding a five speed.


Atb

Nick

 

Should be one down four up. Maybe a faulty gear??


Good old bikes these - started on the Japanese model many years ago. Seems they have changed little in riding characteristics. Very easy to ride though.

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  • 1 year later...

I've had a lesson on one of these, the only other 125 I've ridden is a YBR125 (on my CBT) and I preferred the ybr.


Good points -

gearbox seemed good. gear selection was very positive.


Bad points -

Pulling away the throttle was tricky to manage - almost no movement between nothing and too many revs.

Indicator switch had a tendency to go in (as in to cancel) when trying to indicate leading to me to miss giving a signal a few times.

Struggled to get speed up (but then I'm 6'4" and a hefty 105kg)

no rev counter

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