HONDA CB125R (2018 - 2020) Review

Good enough, a delight for new motorcyclists, and CBT pass riders.

Again, good enough. Power is fine.

Obviously built to a budget, this hasn’t prevented Honda from achieving a decent small bike. I don’t know it’s history, (I bought it a 3k miles and 3 years old) but I’ve added 3k miles in 3 months, and it’s been reliable and good looking.

Just chain lube, and normal checks for me so far.

Nothing on it really, abs isn’t intrusive at all, unless pushed to operate.

All round is good, reliable and without issue.

Capable at dual carriageway speeds, and easy in town.

Early days so far, but the general view of Honda is that these are reliable, so I’m hoping this is correct. No issues with the equipment, easy to operate, clear and easy to understand, and helpful to learn on.

I may even do the oil myself!

ABs is a great peace of-mind addition.

Proper bike bike feel with a 125 engine. Brakes are adequate but the bike is so light I guess anymore would be overkill.

Like all new 125s they feel strangled by restrictions, this is no different. Easy up to 62mph.. a full 79mph with head down on the flat! It took some getting there however.

You can tell this is a quality bike, from the way it looks, and the quality of the components through to the reliability that is all part of the beauty of owning a Honda!

Agreed it's not cheap but this is a premium branded bike. So buy cheap, buy twice as they say. As for MPG, I'm a 5'8 male, 13st and I could manage 111mpg screaming its nuts off.

Well, the display is informative, fuel and mpg... that's about it.

Front brake is fine, others find it spongy. I find the rear brake spongy, good for beginners as its progressive however.

No issues with the engine, gearbox likes false neutrals though, even after 3 years ownership i still get the occasional false neutral.

Only issue Ive had is with the indicators, if i ride in torrential rain for a long time the indicators occasionally dont work. Thats down to the switch, took 2 screws out, dried it up with a paper towell and fixed it, 10 minute job.

Do my own servicing.

Aside from ABS there is no additional equipment.

Love it.

Very good power delivery. Just wish I was a bit lighter. At 15st. 60mph is a good outcome but lacks a bit on any type of hill which, I suppose, is understandable.

One year and 1500 miles and no issues.

First service after 6 months and 500 miles. Thorough service, was in garage for over 2 hours. Have had no problems with the bike and it feels much better with age and mileage.

ABS as standard. Good lights. Tyres seem ok but I`m no expert. You have to take the seat and tank off to access the battery, so think they should include a battery hook-up under the pillion seat to enable easy re-charging over the winter months.

Absolutely lovely to ride. Brakes could be better but are sufficient

Could do with the couple more HP

Top class build

Really easy on fuel goes on the smell of it. Service was cheap at Honda dealer and runs better now.

Has everything and more for a 125

Having had a driver drive into me and a cb125 as a courtesy bike, the CB152R is in a different world in comparison. Shows forks make for a better ride. Higher seat makes you feel more confident on the road. The 13hp, 6 speed transmission makes for sporty feel without being intimidating for a new rider

Perfect commuter through London, enough low end torque to not be intimidating but still be fun off the lights. Average speeds to London about 50mph so comfortably in the mid range. At 70mph it is also plucky on the flat but uphill obviously struggles for power but nothing in comparison to other 125s

The battery is tiny and I've had one replaced and 3 flat batteries. Partly down to a faulty tracker. I can live with this though as it just means I ride it more

Servicing with Honda for first 3 services. I run mine for 60-70 miles to London office and back each week and costs £15 a week which is 2 tanks at £7-8 per tank! Cannot argue compared to the train at £500 per week!!!

People give the dash low ratings but they are 100% better than an analogue and more trust worthy. I haven't had any issues with sunglare but use the bike for commuting so early/late sun. You shouldn't be looking at your dash much anyway!!

It’s much better with the givi screen the rear seat storage is next to useless I can fit a disc lock in an that’s it.

It’s what you get from a 125

Led light are great Quality suspension compared to many of others that I looked at. Looks like a proper bike not the chicken chaser it is. Sounds ok for a 125.

Feels great, I often take a longer route home to add to the 45 mins I usually take just to enjoy the ride. Its lovely sweeping through country lanes.

For a 125 it's a peach, perky, and performs well.

It's a Honda, it's exactly what we'd expect!

Service intervals are fairly standard.

Had to take 1 off for the dash, other than that it's great.

The bike is light, nimble and agile. I tend to counter-steer round corners and if I feel I am running wide then I just counter-steer more. However, at really slow speeds it is better to turn in the direction of travel and shift your body weight in the other direction. The ride is firm and this is really good for stability, cornering and getting feedback from the road. As with all motorcycles the front brake is far more effective than the rear brake. The combination of brakes and Dunlop GPR300 tyres enables the bike to stop quickly.

After getting the full motorcycle licence I took this bike out onto the M25. I am 13 and half stone so the bike did slow down going uphill but on the flat I was easily doing the National Speed limit. The liquid cooled engine seemed capable of cruising at 70 for hours on end on a hot day.

It is a well built motorcycle but the exhaust is looking a bit tired for a bike that is only one year old.

The running costs are low so the only cost that I have to keep an eye on is insurance.

The bike was used for commuting so I did not need any additional accessories. I did buy some rear spindle sliders to protect the bike and so I could lift the bike up using a paddock stand in order to clean and lube the chain.

The seat is okay but it would be difficult to go more than an hour and a half without taking a break. The brakes work as you would expect them to.

My spark plug were black and oily and this suggests the mixture was too rich. The sensor in the exhaust pipe, the ecu and the regulator in the fuel injection system is supposed to deal with this. So this is not good for fuel for the engine or the fuel economy,

The issue I have had the bike from June 2018 to now 11 August 2016, so just over a year, is that the exhaust looks like it needs to be replaced. This was highlighted when I was looking to trade the bike in. The quality of the exhaust is bad.

The rusty exhaust has reduced its trade-in value as I was looking to upgrade to a bigger motorcycle. The cost of a new exhaust is £300 and I am going to have to fix it myself.

I am sure some propellor-head could point out, wouldn't it be nice to have a: 1) rear view camera 2) built-in sat-nav 3) on-board lavatory etc However, the best solution would be to slap the propellor-head.

Generally it's a very good ride. The way the bike is balanced makes twisty roads and navigating traffic brilliant. You can balance it almost at a standstill. Brakes solid to me.

The bike feels torquey and picks up speed quickly. The power delivery is linear all the way up to the top of the revs where there's a slight power bump at the very top of the range. There's more than enough power to keep with the flow of traffic and sit at the legal limit. I haven't ridden it much on carriage ways, just short stretches. Like others have said about smaller capacity engines, it's a lot of fun using all the rev range through the gears.

Build quality feels rock solid and well put together. No issues after 3 months of ownership.

Averaging around 120mpg and that's using all the rev range! The range is near 300 miles.

I like the lights and display. Not many accessories out yet for this bike.

Feels planted and is great fun down lanes and on bends.

Doesn’t feel underpowered, however I’ve never ridden a bigger bike

One of the smartest looking 125’s on the market, however the only thing that has let it down is the fact that on two occasions so far (in the 2 weeks I’ve owned the bike) it was refused to come out of 4th gear.

Can’t argue with £8.50 for a full tank of fuel. Average mpg is 120 at the moment.