Motorini provides Italian style at a low price

There was a time when every teenager’s bedroom had an Italian 125 on the wall and the very lucky ones even had one in the garage. These days the options are slim and the new Aprilia RS125 is a cool £4700 – even the Rieju RS3 125 is now £3499 – so there’s an obvious gap in the market. Enter the Motorini MT125RRi: a new sports 125 from the Italian-inspired brand.

Now hold onto your cavallos; the Motorini isn’t actually built in Italy but it does have Italian style. It is in fact built in the Far East but that doesn’t mean it’s missing out on the latest tech. The MT125RRi is fuel injected and has combined braking (although it doesn’t have ABS). It’s got 30mm USD forks, reasonably fat tyres (140 rear) plus LED daytime running lights, while the smoked screen and colour-matched seat cover make things look extra sporty. If you want to be really flash, there’s a range of accessories plus a sports exhaust.

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Being L-plate friendly means being friendly for those who are totally new to biking and the Motorini shines here too. The seat height is just 770mm, which is 50mm lower than a Yamaha YZF-R125 and it’s just 130kg dry. The MT125RRi is powered by an air-cooled 125cc engine, so it should be pretty low maintenance, although that does mean it’s down on power compared to the big-brand rivals. The Motorini makes just 9hp, compared to the 15hp from everyone else, which is a big difference on such a little bike. However the Motorini has a trump card: brand new, it’s just £2199, so it’s less than half the price of the competition. 

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