SINNIS OUTLAW 125 (2022 - on) Review

Sinnis have been importing Chinese-built small-capacity motorcycles and scooters since 2005 from their Brighton-based headquarters.

With an emphasis on their range being both fun and affordable, the company has grown and now claims to be the UK’s leader in their field with a 125 range that includes a race-rep, mini adventure bike, naked bike and even a V-twin.

New for 2022 is the Outlaw, a retro-inspired street cruiser with a low price tag that is designed to appeal to urban riders looking to make an impression when they arrive.

• Related: Best 125cc motorbikes

Despite a slightly frustrating lack of speed, the Outlaw is an appealing 125 if you are after a cruiser-styled A1-legal bike. The riding position is comfortable and does feel quite Sportster-like in its stance and Sinnis have done a good with its styling, even going as far as adding ‘air-filter’ covers on the side, just like a Harley.

In terms of value for money, its price tag is right and despite its lack of speed the air-cooled motor is not only incredibly reliable but also frugal to run. The brakes could be better and the fact the mph numbers are so small on the clock is really annoying but otherwise there is little not to like.

If you are comfortable buying a Chinese 125, and with their established dealer network Sinnis certainly ease fears on this score, the Outlaw isn’t a bad bet. It could be better but its faults are fairly small and when you look at its price tag you can’t complain too much – as long as you aren’t in a rush...

The Outlaw does have the feel of a small Harley Sportster about it with high bars and a low sat, which is quite pleasing. The ride quality is ok if a little firm at the rear (the shocks’ preload can be altered) and despite its skinny 18-inch front and fat 15-inch rear tyre combination, it handles ok.

Not brilliant but fine for cruising around a city on and making steady B-road progress. Slightly annoyingly the speedo gives kph precedence over mph but the array of gear indicator lights is a cool touch.

Like many budget small-capacity bikes, the Outlaw has linked brakes rather than ABS, which it is allowed as it is a 125. The single front caliper has three pistons with two operated independently to the rear via the front brake lever and one piston linked to the single piston rear caliper’s activation.

Despite braided lines throughout, if you rely on just the front stopper alone it feels underpowered but if you use it alongside the rear there is adequate stopping power, which is probably a good thing to do as this spreads the stopping forces more evenly between the tyres rather than chance overloading the skinny front tyre with its pretty budget-feeling rubber.

The air-cooled SOHC two-valve fuel-injected motor is as old as the hills but Sinnis have brought it  up to date and made it Euro5-compliant.

The five-speed single is never going to surprise and while Sinnis call it a ‘high-output’ motor, with just 10.5bhp and 6.6ftlb of torque it is well short of the 15bhp A1-licence holders are restricted to so this isn’t really the case.

On the go it is undeniably a bit of a slug and while you can hit 60mph, realistically 55mph is your cruising speed, which is a bit of an issue as it makes keeping up with traffic on faster A-roads a struggle.

If you ride in a city it’s not a worry, and the gearbox is slick and the clutch feather-light, but out of town it’s is left feeling a bit out of its comfort zone.

Pleasingly it will happily average around 100mpg, giving it a huge 250-plus mile tank range, and it is known to be virtually unbreakable no matter how much stick you give it! And riders do give it a lot of stick!

Reliability is a big concern for buyers as there is an impression that Chinese bikes will be built to a budget and build quality and reliability will suffer as a result.

Reassuringly, all Sinnis models are sold with a two year warranty on parts and a single year warranty on parts, labour and breakdown.

The company claim to test and evaluate every one of their models themselves in all conditions before feeding back to the Chinese manufacturer about what needs changing or improving and they use firms that are partnered with the likes of Yamaha, Suzuki and Harley to build their bikes.

As they have been selling bikes in the UK for over fifteen years the sales network is well established and consists of consists of 68 dealers in the UK and Ireland, which is always good to see. The company runs an online parts store, which even offers next day delivery and a 'click and collect' service from the warehouse in Southwick.

There are quite a few Chinese-built retro 125s for sale in the UK with the £2699 Outlaw’s obvious competition coming from AJS with their Roadster or Scrambler (both £2899), Benelli with the Leoncino (£3499), Bluroc with the Legend 125 (£2499), Herald with the Classic (£2299) or Brat (£2999) and Mash with the Seventy (£2799) to name just a few, there are probably more.

In this company the Sinnis is competitively priced and spares are also very cheap. Thanks to its excellent economy the Outlaw is cheap to own and run and most owners will do the basic servicing themselves, if they remember...

If you want to take it to a dealer, even a valve clearance check and service will be less than £200 as the single over-head cam motor is far from complex or time-consuming to work on.

The Outlaw lacks ABS and instead has linked brakes (with braided lines) but the dash does contain a fuel gauge with a series of lights displaying your gear, which is cool.

The shocks feature adjustable preload but that’s about the extent of the features on the Sinnis. It’s a budget-conscious bike and this is reflected in its spec list. There are two colour options, black and yellow.