BULLIT SPIRIT 125 (2017 - on) Review

The Bullit Spirit 125 is a fantastic looking café racer that is on fashion as well as on the money.

• Related: Best 125cc motorbikes

Its price alone makes it worth a second look and it’s a great intro to two-wheels for fashion-conscious learners.

The clip-ons aren’t too aggressive and the seat (which is a solo unit only) is comfortable.

Weighing just 118kg and riding on cheap suspension with questionable Timsun tyres does make it feel a little skittish in bends, and again it’s not a patch on something like a KTM 125 Duke, but it’s not that bad and I suspect most machines will spend their days in city streets anyway.

The brakes, which don’t have ABS but are combined to pass Euro4 regs, are weak in their performance but they do provide adequate levels of stopping power if you pull the lever hard enough and also use the rear to add some bite.

Bullit use a Chinese copy of Suzuki’s GN125 motor, an air-cooled two-valve SOHC engine that has been made Euro4-compliant thanks to a fuel-injection system.

This lump is as old as the hills and irrespective of where it was built, is highly unlikely to have any mechanical issues as it is only making 11.5bhp. It vibrates a bit and isn’t as smooth or powerful as a modern four-valve DOHC water-cooled 125, but in many ways this replicates the retro ethos of sacrificing performance for air-cooled authenticity.

We are talking a Chinese-built bike here so while the engine is unlikely to misbehave, there will always be a few question marks over the general level of finish and plating on its nuts and bolts.

When new the Spirit appears well finished, however a few years down the line may well tell a different story.

Our Bullit Spirit 125 owners' reviews do get across the lower-quality nature of bikes at this price point. 

At just £2395 the Spirit is great value for money, but it’s a Chinese-built 125 so you expect it to be cheap. The fact it also looks unique should help it hold its value in the used market, unlike most other run of the mill Chinese 125s, which is a bonus. Provided fashions don’t change…

The Spirit comes with a fuel gauge, electric start, chrome pipe, pillion seat cover, piggy-back style shocks, inverted forks, mini-indicators and a centre stand all on a great looking 125 that is even Euro4-compliant. Now that’s impressive, irrespective of where it was built.