The Honda CBF125 may not be as drop dead gorgeous as Yamaha’s stunning YZF-125 or as sporty looking as their best selling CBR125 but it’s a whole lot more practical, quite a bit cheaper and its not bad looking either. It sold 334 units in September 2012, which put it top of the 125cc and naked classes.
The 125 class is still hot (showing an 11.6% rise over the same period last year) as more and more folks realise the benefits of two wheels, both from a cost and a time saving point of view. Not to mention the fun and social aspects of riding a bike or scooter. For a few years twist & go scooters kicked sand into the faces of puny learner legal bikers, mainly because they were new and refreshing and offered storage as well as tuning potential and street cred but smaller capacity geared bikes have started to make a comeback too.
Honda replaced the tried and trusted CG125, a machine that has earned its keep over the last three decades with the all-new CBF125 in 2009. The CBF itself is cool in its own bargain priced way, it’s not dripping in exotic parts and it’s not styled to mimic a larger capacity sports bike but it still looks tidy and does exactly what Honda set out to do, that is to build a good dependable and safe bike that was both affordable and cheap to run. Fuel economy is one item that scores quite highly on most peoples shopping lists these days and Honda claim a whopping 134mpg from the
CBF (I thrashed one to Skegness and back for a Honda economy test and still achieved 123mpg which was very impressive). The factory figure may be measured in stricter conditions but even allowing for the odd quick blast and the stopping and starting most commuters are used to the bike should still do over 300 miles to the 13 litre tank. Let’s say the average daily commute is around twelve miles, that’s 25 days travelling, or five whole weeks at a cost of about £12. Try saving five weeks worth of bus or train fares, (or even five weeks worth of car journeys) and you’d have a hefty deposit to put down on a new CBF125. Don’t forget to take into account the amount of time you’ll save by going to work on a bike and a frugal 125 starts to make a whole lot more sense. Riding to work starts the day off perfectly and the art of nipping through busy traffic heightens the senses and wakes you up in a morning, it’s also great for stress relief at night. Riding is much more fun than being cramped up on a bus ingesting the annoying beats of passively overheard iPod tunes in a morning…and the aroma of less hygienic commuters.
The CBF’s engine isn’t anything remarkable, although it does come with fuel injection but the five speed, air cooled motor starts easily on the button (as you’d expect) and chugs away evenly at tickover. The note through its matt black exhaust is quiet but not too wimpy but no doubt the coating won’t look quite so good after a salty British winter. The riding position and decent sized seat are comfortable and at just 792mm high it’s perfect for shorter riders, or for inspiring confidence in novices. The pegs are low enough to allow your legs to keep cramp at bay and the handlebars are just high enough to stop anything aching (as my Skeggy blast found out), there’s no bum in the air sports bike style Kama Sutra involved for the owners of this bike!
After prodding the CBF into first and letting out the light clutch I must admit that the engine actually surprised me. The majority of small capacity four strokes take some winding up to get the most from them but the Honda engine is willing and able. Having a learner legal 125 with mediocre power available can be a daunting experience when faced with modern traffic conditions, riding a sluggish machine doesn’t help you to avoid myopic motorists and suicidal cyclists, so it came as a relief to be able to get out of harms way a bit faster than expected. Even though the bike was brand spanking new the motor felt loose enough to wind it up a bit. Blasting through the gears soon saw 70mph on the clock, a respectable speed on the flat and not too hard to achieve either. With a few more miles on the clock it starts to loosen up a bit more as well. The bike handles well too; despite the slightly weedy looking swinging arm and the virtually unknown tyre brand (TVS to be precise) it goes around corners very well and holds quite a good line during multiple roundabout laps.
It’s quite easy to simply dismiss smaller capacity machines once you’ve gained a full licence but on the right type of road they can still be a lot of fun and save you a fortune too. I might not be tempted to trade in any of my own machines for one but if I was looking for an honest, dependable machine to get me back on the road (or on the road for the first time) for very little money the Honda would be fairly high up on my wish list. Visit your local Honda dealer and check out this competent commuter.