2025 Yamaha XSR125 ridden! This peppy retro proves you don’t need huge power for max grin factor

Yamaha’s beginner-friendly XSR125 has undergone subtle tweaks for 2025, maintaining its charming, classic-inspired looks while gaining fresh colour options and making the jump to Euro5+ compliance.

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Customers can now opt for three £4951 standard versions, available in either silver, blue, or a matte red and white livery. Alternatively, for £400 extra, there’s the XT500-inspired ‘Legend’ model, which gains a painted tank cover, gold spoked wheels, and Metzeler Karoo Street tyres.

The previous Legacy was available in ‘Historic Black’ only – a mix of black, silver, and gold reminiscent of a JPS racing livery.

In terms of performance, there’s not a jot of difference between the two trim levels – with both bikes producing a claimed 14.8bhp at 10,000rpm. It must be said though that the pricier ‘Legend’ does look more premium in the metal.

We hopped aboard the CBT/A1 licence-friendly naked at the 2025 Malle Beach Race in Margate, testing it in anger firstly on the sand, followed by a more real-world open-road escapade.

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On the tarmac, there’s really very little to quibble about – it simply does as it’s asked, in an eager, if slightly uninspiring manner.

Power is placed at the A1 licence cap, and as a result the XSR is never going to set your world on fire. Like most four-stroke 125s, everything is delivered in a middle-of-the-road kind of way, offering sufficient pep to keep up with traffic and just about touch motorway limits – if you don’t mind laying on the tank, that is. 

Despite sporting six gears, the final pairing of cogs are really to be treated as more of an overdrive for keeping the revs low. Sixth gear will see the little bike slowly lose speed, whereas fifth gear sees it gladly zing along all day, happily pulling up to around 70mph – while returning in the region of 100mpg, according to the neat LCD display up front.

While the Variable Valve Actuation (VVA)-equipped motor doesn’t deliver thrills by the bucketload, it gets the job done well enough. The real star of the show, though, is the chassis – with Yamaha speccing sorted (albeit non-adjustable) suspension at either end.

It’s set up on the sporty side of compliant, offering 130mm of travel and damping that’s well matched to the spring rates – meaning the little 125 never felt out of its depth, no matter what you threw at it. 

Brakes are also good, with enough bite to scrub off speed without being overpowered for inexperienced hands. It’s also worth noting that after a full day of abuse, racing (and crashing) on the sand, our XSR was still running a treat – with no obvious damage and barely a drop of fuel used.