Versus: Yamaha YZF-R125 vs Honda CBR125R
Stuck deciding between the UK's two best-selling sports bikes? We can help
WHAT would you guess were the UK's two top-selling supersports bikes? Kawasaki's ZX-6R and Honda's CBR600RR perhaps?
According to industry figures, which include litre superbikes, 125s and all other capacities, it's the Honda CBR125R and Yamaha YZF-R125.
And despite being £850 more expensive, the Yamaha is giving the Honda a convincing pummeling, with 1,419 YZF-R125s registered between January and October this year compared 782 CBR125Rs.
But they're exactly the same capacity, almost exactly the same weight and make about the same power - so can the Yamaha justify the extra expense? Or have 637 people got it wrong this year? Don't decide before reading this.
Reasons to buy Yamaha YZF-R125 | Reasons to buy CBR125R |
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Price: £4,349 OTR | Price: £3,499 OTR |
Our choice: YZF-R125
Save your money and buy a bigger bike after getting a full licence blah blah blah. We don’t go for that old argument. With all new riders aged 17-19 now restricted to a 125, we think many will simply want the best one they can get, and why shouldn’t they?
The R125 is pricey. It’s also one of the sharpest looking and handling 125s you can get. Possibly not as novice-friendly as the CBR, with a higher seat and lower bars, but you’ve got two mandated years with it – how much of a novice will you be by the end of that?
The CBR’s a lot of fun and might have won if it made the full 15hp permissible under licence terms. Surely the law is restrictive enough without Honda holding back more?
