That's an interesting report of what is apparently a not coddled bike. I think most of us wished we had picked up a few older small bikes 15 years ago when they were more common and cheaper. I've been looking for a decent Honda (CL90 to CB125) for years but either the bikes are neglected, missing paper, or the owner wants too much (for me). The few decent bargains are scooped before I can respond - I have to drive 3 hours to the LA area. In the meantime I've picked up a couple small dualsports but face it, XT225 and the like are plain ugly compared to the stylish little street bikes of the past.
If someone can turn this big bag of ugly Into this On what is basically a small budget, then I think you can turn your ugly XT225 into anything you want, given some time and effort.
Just installed a 3.50 IRC GP 1 tire it's 2" taller I may go back to the stock 16t now, I just did a little die grinding and all was good for clearance.
Glad to see more smaller cheap simple bikes for sale here. But I think 150cc would be too small for anything but around town work. While the TU only makes a little more power, its got a really broad power band that makes up for the lower power output. I find the power of the TU JUST enough to get the job done 95% of the time in flat New Jersey with 65 mph speed limits (everyone does 70). Maybe they will come out with a 250. Or a 350..... A 350 would be just the right size for the US I think. A 350 with a 6 speed would be sweet!
SYMs 250 is coming out in the US in a couple of months. But it's not "classic" http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766954
A couple of things... fir those of you who do not pay attention, Taiwan is not China and it is not part of the PRC. It has a separate government... And if you watch M13 video's on you tube, you can see how freakin beautiful it is. Honda could not possibly make all of it's vehicles in honda plants in Japan. They sell way too many for 1 plant to meet the demand. They outsourced constRuction to many other plants and companies.. IE.. SYM. Yep, there is a good chance that the Honda you ride was built in this factory. There was sum hullabaloo between Honda Japan and SYM (my GUESS is that it was about money, cuz isn't it always.) Anyway, you can barely get Honda in Taiwan, as I hear that it is totally expensive even compared to Yamaha. Anyway... Sym has all these Honda tooling and specs for all the Honda's they made with a honda badge on it. Now, they are making them with their SYM badge and they are really great. This wolf classic is a sweet looking bike to be sure. It is however new. I was racing when watercooled bikes were introduced to the dirt tracks. Man, did those things meet with a ton of resistance. Anyway, I hope one day that sym will overcome this resistance. They are having distribution problems tho, along with a shady fire a year ago and blah blah blah. Frankly, with the failure of the symba, I am not surprised that Honda doesn't make smaller displacements in the USA. The us just doesn't accept the viability of a small displacement MC.
I dont go by the adage you have to go 80-85 on the super slab or get ran over. People who run into people will do it at any speed. I ride on the super slab 70 miles round trip every day in a major metropolitan city and I ride 60-65mph most of the time and I hardly ever feel threatened (heck, i only do 65mph in my jeep-better gas mileage). I have more close calls when i run 70-80mph. "ran over on the super slab"-just redneck excuse for running 15-20 mph over the speed limit, total BS excuse. Please dont go by the statement "speed will get you out of trouble", another total bs statement=not a production bike on the planet that go from 0-60 in a shorter distance than 60-0 (not even the s1000rr), in other words, a proper motorcyclist can slow down/stop in a shorter distance than they can speed up.
First of all, I plan to buy one of these-soon. As soon as my local SYM dealer can get one in. They had one that I gave a good looking over, and was about to buy it but someone bought it right out from under my nose. First of all, you cannot in any way compare this to the TU250. They are the same quality, that's about it. The Wolf is 100cc smaller, but I have two 125cc scooters and one 150cc scooter (Genuine Stella 2 stroke) I recently owned a Kawasaki Eliminator 125, built in Thailand. While I own bigger bikes, these small bikes are just a blast to ride. I can get a brand new Wolf for $3199 OTD. A TU250 from a Japanese powersports emporium will cost you $5000 OTD, by the time they add on all the bogus dealer fees Japanese dealers are famous for. So it is not a $1000 difference, it is almost a $2000 difference. The Wolf has a centerstand (wow you can actually fix a flat out on the road) and a kickstarter. It also has a good old fashioned carb that you can work on, instead of the TU250s nightmare EFI. The Wolf looks better than the TU250, and should at least have the performance of the Eliminator 125, which I found fine for a small bike. Better yet, the Wolf is freeway legal. Though NOT legal, I have ridden my Vino 125 hundreds of miles on the freeway without any issues at all, maintaining 50-55 mph. Just stay in the right lane, wear high visibility clothing, and you will be fine. This does not include urban freeways, which are about the same as demolition derbys. I'm afraid to ride my 1100cc cruiser on those. As far as getting a "real" Honda, when is the last time you saw a Honda CB125 for sale? And as for getting parts for a 30 year old Honda it's not going to happen. Honda builds high quality bikes, but they are built to be disposable. Once past 10 years old, parts availability starts getting sketchy. My local powersports emporium will not even order parts for a bike more than 10 years old. Thank goodness for places like cheapcycleparts.com and bikebandit.com, though even they will not have parts for a 30 year old Honda. SYM IS NOT a Chinese manufacturer. They are Taiwanese, and have the same quality as Kymco. And most of their dealers will not rip you off with bogus fees like Japanese dealers will. Apparently the Taiwanese have not yet learned this practice. Read the ride report by the couple who rode 25,000 miles on two SYM Symbas. Those are 100cc Cub replicas. SYM has built over half the Cubs ever sold by Honda. I was actually looking for a Symba when I found the Wolf, and just had to have it.
The SYM sort of reminds me of the CD250U sold in australia from 1989 to 1992 when the nighthawk 250 took over, same engine, twin carbs on the CD to single on the CB. The CB125E went on sale in australia last year and became a big hit, sold out at $2000AUD!, comes in three colours, red, white or blue, this bike is made in china. These also sell well, a smaller clone of the CBR250R, CBR125, they come in repsol, black or tri colour, $4000AUD, made in thailand. 125's are alive and well depending where you live!
These are being released very soon as well, no price yet, XR125 made in china, 19" front wheel and very low seat, not a real off road bike but dirt road capable, these are already sold in many places around the world.
