HONDA CB125R (2018 - 2020) Review

Overall rating

The Honda CB125R was introduced as Honda’s stylish, well-equipped, top-of-the-range A1 125cc class offering in 2018 and as such was a replacement for Honda’s previous, best-selling, fully-faired sports-styled CBR125R – which just goes to show how popular racy, 'naked' learner 125s have now become.

• Latest news: Honda unveil 2021 CB125R
• Related: this bike appears in our Best 125cc Motorbikes article
• Related: Honda 125 model history

It’s been a big hit, too. With its retro/modern 'Neo Café' styling echoing that of Honda’s bigger CB300R, CB650R and CB1000R, the CB125R is one of the smartest looking 125s on the market.

Being an upright roadster it’s manageable and learner-friendly. And it also benefits from quality touches like beefy, 41mm, 'upside down' front forks, a four-piston, radially-mounted front brake caliper and also has a flashy digital LCD dash. Together, these all give the CB125R a layer of sophistication not really found elsewhere in this class.

Its liquid-cooled, single cylinder, four-stroke motor, although not the most powerful in the class, is a reasonable performer. Being a Honda the CB125R is well built, it is also comfortable and easy to ride, has a reputation for durability and reliability and benefits from a great dealer network. While on top of all that – and amazingly so considering that it’s a 'quality Honda' – the CB125R is also impressively affordable, although prices have risen since its launch.

The sum total of all this makes the CB125R one of the most attractive and popular of all A1 class learner machines. That said, it’s not without fault: the slightly underpowered original engine has led to a significant update for 2021 with an all-new, now 14.8bhp engine while, its seat height, at a fairly lofty 816mm, is taller than many rivals and may be off-putting for shorter novices.

A further occasional complaint is that, despite its impressive spec, the CB’s front brake lacks a bit of bite. But those are mere niggles. This is a great bike for a first time rider that no one will be disappointed with.

Ride quality & brakes

Honda has a deserved reputation for building learner-friendly machines that stand out for their great ergonomics, easy manageability, durability and versatility and the CB125R more than maintains that tradition.

Around town the great riding position is comfortable and confidence inspiring and helps to cut through traffic. The quality suspension front and rear gives a ride that’s plush and forgiving, ironing out all but the largest of road creases and bumps with minimal fuss.

While as well as being comfortable, the CB125R is also refreshingly nimble thanks to not only light and precise steering but also great balance, grippy Dunlop Sportmax GPR-300 rubber (including an impressively fat rear hoop) plus a claimed kerb weight of just 125.8kg – all allowing you to scythe through congestion with ease. 

But the CB125R is not just an impressive, stylish and comfortable town bike or commuter. Away from the city centre, the little Honda is also perfectly competent when the going gets twisty, with plenty of ground clearance to inspire healthy lean angles and a mildly aggressive riding position.

Here, the quality suspension comes into its own, the ride is sufficiently firm, it’s both fun in the corners and impressively stable and the tractability of the engine means you don’t have to be constantly dancing on the gear lever.

Yes, it could do with slightly more power when the thrashing gets going – but that’s where the new 2021 version comes in – the brake, though acceptable, doesn’t quite live up to its looks, but there’s very little here for anyone to complain about.

Engine

At the heart of the CB125R lies a peppy, 125cc 2v SOHC liquid-cooled single cylinder engine producing a peak of 13.1bhp. Although that’s up to 1.7bhp down on its main rivals such as Yamaha’s recently updated MT-125, in reality it’s actually more than capable of first getting ahead and then staying ahead of the urban sprawl.

While satisfied owners have reported that in the real world the little CB (in truth, it’s not that little, it definitely has the presence and proportions of a full-sized bike) has more than enough power to keep with the flow of traffic and sit at the legal limit. All that said, however, the updated 2021 version of the CB125R has a new engine that makes up for that deficit so bear that in mind.

That’s mostly because its power delivery is so linear and predictable it really allows the CB125R to stretch its legs. The impressively strong low-to-mid range pulls comfortably all the way to the 11,000rpm redline - producing a characterful warble reminiscent of a low capacity trail bike as it does so. Interestingly, this distinctive exhaust note is audible at all times, too – thanks to a deliberately up-turned muffler, which Honda say they designed to help novice riders operating a motorcycle for the first time!

Reliability & build quality

Honda have a deserved reputation, too, for quality and reliability and the CB125R again scores on both counts. Almost everything about this stylish 125 indicates quality: its paint is glossy and deep; its metal finishes are generally good (but there is an exception to this that we’ll come back to) and all components, cycle parts and ancillaries such as switchgear, mirrors and more, are almost without exception top drawer.

What’s more, the owners' reviews for the CB125R are overwhelmingly positive so far and it scores a 4.4 out of 5 stars for reliability, so that legendary Honda build-quality is still worth the hype. The single-cylinder engine is well tried and tested, too, with no significant problems reported at all.

But it’s not perfect. When we first tested the CB125R on its press launch in Portugal, on a few occasions the transmission mysteriously refused to click from neutral into first gear. At the time we put it down to being a 'sticky', low mileage, pre-production machine and we haven’t heard of any owner complaints since so we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

As mentioned earlier, the front four-piston radial caliper also sometimes is vague, lacking that initial, confidence-inspiring bite that learners desperately need. Some owners have also mentioned this so it’s not a one-off.

There’s more, too: the positioning of the battery under the tank is another regular complaint and something that makes it difficult to set up a USB power socket. But the biggest complaint of all with the CB125R concerns the paint finish on the black exhaust, with more than one owner noting excessive corrosion within a year of ownership. Be sure to check this on any used bike and, as an owner, regular cleaning and protection with the likes of ACF-50 is recommended. Mechanically, however, nothing goes wrong.

Value vs rivals

Honda’s stylish CB125R is not just a great bike, it’s serious value for money, as well. When new, it was the second cheapest offering in its class (sitting behind the lesser-equipped Suzuki GSX-S125) while also boasting a similar spec sheet to the significantly more expensive Aprilia SX125, KTM 125 Duke and Yamaha MT-125. The Honda is also impressively affordable to run and, as a used buy, with proven reliability and plenty of quality, it represents even better value still. So, yes, you can have your cake and eat it with the little CB.

Being a Honda, you also get the added bonus with the CB125R of benefitting from a strong dealer network – something not shared anywhere near as much by the Aprilia or KTM. While in terms of running costs, there should also be little to be concerned about.

Fuel consumption figures approaching 100mpg have been reported by owners and the CB125R's slightly 'softer' performance compared to rivals such as the MT-125, mean that its hunger for consumables such as brake pads, tyres (although that fat rear hoop will be more expensive than most when the time does eventually come to replace it) and the chain and sprockets should be fairly slight, too. And, although Honda spare parts aren’t the cheapest, the CB125R’s service intervals are fairly standard and owners report annual servicing costs of around £150 (admittedly this will be significantly more for a major valve adjustment check) which shouldn’t deter prospective buyers either.

As a used buy it makes sense as well. Apart from the exhaust paint problem, durability is good and although Honda residuals are better than most and the CB125R is a popular bike, the low initial purchase price means used prices aren’t prohibitive. Find a good one and you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Equipment

Replacing the outgoing fully-faired CBR125R sportster as Honda’s flagship 125, the CB125R adds a level of sophistication to the roadster genre, offering big bike looks and components alongside a claimed lightest weight in class and near 300-mile tank range.

With an easy to read and operate LCD dash, the CB also shares the same frame and 41mm upside down Showa forks as its larger brother, the CB300R, which explains why the 125 seems to have more purposeful, 'big bike' proportions. They also help make the CB125R more than adequate for experienced riders looking for a cheap inner-city commuter. 

On top of that you also get an appropriately-damped, non-adjustable rear shock, full LED lighting front and rear (including indicators), IMU-operated two-channel ABS and a fancy four-piston, radially-mounted front brake caliper, even if it doesn’t offer as much bite as expected. 

But again, however, it’s not perfect. The fancy, 'reversed' LCD digital display may be stylish, generally clear and easy to read and handily include not just a fuel gauge and gear selection indicator but also a clock, but in certain conditions such as bright sunshine it is also susceptible to glare.

Nor are many official Honda accessories available for the CB125R yet – although there is an increasingly amount of aftermarket ones. Nose cowlings by the likes of Givi or Ermax are popular and help deflect some of the windblast this naked bike suffers from on longer, faster journeys, crash protection would be a wise move considering the Honda’s quality and likely novice appeal, while a top box might appeal to commuter types without compromising its manoeuvrability through traffic.