Yamaha YBR 125 (2005

There is nothing at all wrong with basic and while the Yamaha YBR 125 is very much a budget commuter and certainly not a very flashy 125 motorbike like some modern alternatives, it fulfils its role in life brilliantly well.

Yamaha sold 150,000 YBR 125s in Europe and a staggering 50,000 of them found their way to the UK! What makes this sturdy commuter so popular? It's cheap to buy, cheap to run, easy to ride, you can maintain it yourself and it's incredibly reliable, which makes it a fantastic bike to learn to ride on.

Released in 2005 as a replacement for the ancient Yamaha SR125, which had run from 1982 until 2003, the YBR 125 brought with it more modern naked bike styling but with tried and tested technology to ensure reliability.

Although it gained a few updates over the years including fuel-injection and even a bit more weather protection and a cruiser option, the YBR essentially remained the same until it was discontinued in 2016 and replaced by the YS125, which has continued the tradition of delivering frugal motoring to the masses.

Although a teenager looking to impress will almost certainly turn their nose up at the slightly dowdy YBR and look towards a bike with a touch more attitude and visual appeal, these buyers aren’t really the YBR’s core audience.

YBRs are sold to those looking at hacking through an urban environment on a bike that will cost them a fraction of the price of public transport and also require very little home maintenance. If that sounds like you, after the cost of a CBT test you can take to the roads on a decent YBR for less than £1500.

Once you've finished reading this in-depth review and our extensive suite of owners' reviews, why not head to an owners' club to join the conversation? We'd suggest the Yamaha YBR Owners' Club on Facebook.

The YBR isn’t a bike designed to destroy bends and with its twin shocks (which have preload adjustment) and spindly forks, not to mention its narrow 18-inch wheels, the Yamaha isn’t a brilliant handling bike. But it isn’t aimed at being such and where the YBR excels is in an urban environment.

A low 780mm seat height is reassuring for all sizes of riders and the soft suspension is ideal for soaking up jolts from potholes while the light 113kg dry weight means you can easily manhandle it in or out of parking bays and through gaps with minimal hassle. On the go the seat is fairly comfortable, the bars quite high and there is an option of a small nose fairing and even a cruiser-styled YBR (called the Custom and launched in 2008) if you want something a bit different.

When it comes to brakes the YBR is very much budget and while the one-piston sliding caliper grips a disc at the front, the rear has a drum brake, so obviously ABS wasn’t an option! Like the rest of the bike, the brakes are adequate but not outstanding however there isn’t really much you can do about it aside from change the pads.

On the plus side, rebuilding the caliper is very cheap and easy to do should it be required. When buying used be wary of the rear drum brake as it is easy for the friction material to wear away unnoticed, causing damage to the drum itself.

Owners also report that the chrome on the forks sliders is poor, leading to pitting and rust forming, which can cause the seals to fail more regularly than expected.

The YBR 125’s air-cooled 124cc single overhead cam engine is incredibly basic and only has two valves, making it really cheap and easy to service. Not only that, it even has a kick start that sits alongside the electric start should you accidentally let the battery run flat!

Producing just 9.8bhp and 7ft.lb of torque it is pretty slow, sounds pathetic and struggles to clear much above 60mph (it also only has five gears) however it sips fuel and figures of between 100 and 120mpg are common. It is what it is and as long as you keep fairly close to its 3500 service intervals, which involve the valve clearances being checked every time, it is highly unlikely to ever go wrong. And even if it does in a major way, you can buy a whole new motor online for just £300 including postage.

The only real concerns that owners report are the exhaust rotting through, which can be replaced for as little as £80, and finish being a little poor with flaking paint quite common. If you want to service it yourself, a kit will set you back just £25 and includes oil, a spark plug and filters. As on all 125s, be wary when buying used bikes with low oil levels as there is only 1.2 litres of it in a YBR and if it runs low it can lead to major engine damage.

Yes, the YBR is built to a budget, and yes, it is a bit dowdy, however its build quality isn’t horrific. There are a few stories about clutch cables stretching, fuel pumps failing and the occasional starter motor giving up but these are all very cheap and easy to rectify – which is key to life with a Yamaha YBR 125. If you are happy to get the spanners out, maybe valve clearances aside, everything is really easy to get to and swap if necessary.

The only real worry as such is the forks, which if they become pitted (the chrome isn’t great) are a bit more costly to get sorted. That said, you can buy a used set for £100 or brand new tubes for just £30, so even this is no major drama. When you are talking reliability, it seems the YBR 125 very seldom lets owners down and most start on the button (or kick if the battery is flat) every time.

Our Yamaha YBR 125 owners' reviews hold a massive amount of reliability information too. The majority of the comments are positive, but there are a few questionmarks over build quality. We'd expect that for a bike of this age, though. A lot of owners state that this is a brilliant bike on which to learn to ride.

Q. Just recently my YBR125 has started mucking around when it comes to shifting up from first to second. It will eventually go into gear, but only after several de-clutchings and an embarrassing 30 seconds on the road.

All the other changes are OK, up and down the range. It feels like I haven’t pulled the clutch in, yet occasionally it goes through fine. It all works perfectly when at a standstill.

The chain and sprockets are OK and the clutch is adjusted correctly and I haven’t dropped it or worked on that area of the bike. Blake, MCN forums

A. It seems that the YBR is sensitive to clutch drag caused by the oil. If you go too long between changes or use oil that is a high viscosity that can cause problems, so give it an oil change and don't fill it to the maximum.

We've heard that play in the gearshift shaft can also cause problems, and some owners have made a spacer between the shift lever and engine case to force the shaft into a better position.

Q: I bought a 2005 Yamaha YBR 125 privately a few weeks ago, it didn’t tick over very well then but I thought it just needed a good service. It starts OK but after it’s warmed up and ready, if you throttle on and off the revs hang up at 3000rpm for a few seconds then slowly drop down to a tickover around 1500rpm.

If the throttle stop screw is turned out any more it cuts out instead of ticking over. The carb, jets and air filter have been cleaned out, pilot air screw adjusted to 1 1/2 turns out, throttle cable adjusted OK and throttle slide sits down after closing the throttle. Roy Wilson, email

A: It sounds like you have an air leak. You need to do a good visual check for cracked intake rubber; maybe the airbox trunking is off or has a clip missing.

If there’s nothing obvious, the next step is to get the bike hot and misbehaving and then spray the intake area with WD40. Spray the whole area with plenty of WD and once the engine sound changes put the straw onto the WD can and the more focused spray should enable you to pinpoint the air leak as the change in engine note is from it revving on more as it sucks the WD into the motor...But, if you are in any doubt about spraying inflammable liquid around a hot/running engine, get another pair of eyes on it or book it in.

If you are happy to put a bit of effort in, be that keeping it clean or some home DIY, there is no reason why running a YBR should cost much at all.

Servicing is cheap, economy is good, parts are plentiful and low cost and insurance is also next to nothing as generally its owners aren’t teenagers and are in their 20s with a bit of motoring history to reduce premiums. And the value of the bike is a similar story.

With a budget 125 such as the YBR they tend to drop in price until they hit a plateau and as long as it has an MOT and starts, that’s the lowest it will drop to. In the case of the YBR that’s about £1000, which will get you a well-used but running bike, but if you pay just £250-500 more you will get a far nicer example in a private sale. Considering you can get a brand new YS125 for £3000, don’t pay any more than £2300 for a YBR.

A top tip when buying used is to look at its recent MOT history to see if it has any advisories and then check if they have been fixed. Sometimes they are ignored by the owner and that can save you from a bill replacing items before the next MOT.

First published by Trevor Franklin

There are few things in life that absolutely will not change with time. Vying to be first to wherever, or just the fastest L-plate rider on the road are just two of them. It was 30 years ago when I first got to grips with a bike on L-plates, and 21 years since I rode to the South of France on a restricted 125cc. Both events ended with a cricked neck and ripped shoulder muscles from riding flat on the tank.

I’m now 47, with a deep feeling of deja vu. On top of the Kymco Pulsar’s fuel tank is 15-stone of body mass. Beneath it is a Chinese-made single-cylinder 125cc four-stroke engine, and it’s revving its head off. I think the two are connected. Unlike my gonads, which, because of the vibration, are detached from their wiring and bouncing around inside their hairy holdall like bingo balls.

At an indicated 55mph the Pulsar is red-lining. When it hits an indicated 65mph the engine speed has moved to industrial sewing machine velocity and acceleration (joke) has hit a brick wall. The vibration has calmed, though. Either that or a black hole has formed in my undercrackers because of two high-speed particles colliding.

Meanwhile the Yamaha YBR125 and Honda CBF125 riders are bolt upright, and have extra speed to spare. They’re laughing at my struggle to overtake an empty HGV. The YBR and Honda then pull away from the Kymco – even though their speedos show the same recorded 65mph.

By the time 70mph shows they’re many yards ahead. Not long after this they’re out of sight and I’m alone fighting off the attentions of white van man with trailer in tow. Round one, motorway commuting, goes to the Japanese brands (although the Honda’s built in India and the Yamaha in China).

Maybe the Kymco will fare better on the speed-capped streets of London? Instant braking and supple forks make short work of town life, from the Honda rider’s point of view. The Yamaha forks have the same amount of lengthy travel as the Kymco, but the movement is more refined. The reason for the Kymco’s 1980s fork action is the single front brake. A dead feel at the lever combines with damp-like pad material/poor disc metal, so strong brake action only happens after a yard or so of heat build-up, or with a milkman’s finger grip on the lever.

All three bikes are light and agile to be steered into any gap. If only the riders were equally lightweight and slim, then moving alongside queues and the opposing flow of cars would be easier. Traffic-free bus lanes are cool as long as they don’t go uphill and the following bus driver isn’t sure where the next speed camera lies. Taxi drivers are a law unto themselves when it comes to bikes in their path. Lion and two-legged Scrub Hare spring to mind.

Short and slow-revving 125cc engines deliver lowly torque and power outputs and demand a million gearchanges in heavy traffic. This is not a problem with the Honda and Yamaha, but this Kymco Pulsar has a problem with too much play in the gear linkage, a lifeless gearshift selector and consequently an overheated clutch. No matter how hard the Kymco lever is stamped on, or lovingly tapped, second and first gears frustratingly play hide and seek far better than third and fourth. Plier teeth marks on the clutch cable sleeve suggest a fix of sorts has been tried and failed.

Needless to say I volunteer someone else to ride the Kymco the 74 miles back to MCN’s straw shack. Surprisingly, the Pulsar is a lot less cramped than the Yamaha which gives up (milder) vibes at high rpm. The ride home entails full throttle and much slipstreaming antics between the two Japanese machines – the Pulsar only gets wrenched throttle action trying to keep up. But, bless it, despite the irritating gearbox and lack of speed – and the anger vented upon it – the little Kymco completed its task.

The spindly feel of the chassis, cheap action of the component parts and lacklustre performance conspire against the Kymco to knock points off what could be a useful, cheap, across-town machine. The Yamaha and Honda aren’t streets ahead in performance, and all three bikes will easily fulfil the fun and experience criteria of motorcycling. But the Honda has the edge because it doesn’t look or feel like a cheap, entry-level, low-thrills machine that it is sold as. Try another view: if these bikes were beds the Kymco would be a slatted park bench, the Yamaha a blow-up single mattress, and the Honda a memory foam divan.

While you get a fuel gauge, in terms of equipment the YBR is pretty limited. A nice touch is the fact a centre stand comes as standard to assist lubing and adjusting the chain but aside from that there isn’t much to get excited about – aside from the kickstart that sits alongside an electric start! But should there be? This is a budget commuter and that means basic is often better.

A lot of owners make their YBRs more practical and top boxes are very common alongside heated grips, screens, bar muffs and crash protection. As the YBR is so common, there are loads of aftermarket firms supplying replacement parts such as Yamaha YBR 125 exhausts, chain and sprockets, oil filters etc and if you want to save even more cash, online auction sites are full of used parts from YBR 125s that have been scrapped. A lot of owners upgrade the light bulbs as they are pathetic but that’s about it - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!