How Tough is this Bike?

[RubyRed]

This is a question for all of you long time experienced riders out there. How tough is the Trail 125? I feel like I beat the hell out of this thing. I see YouTube videos of casual forest service road rides or back country roads and haven’t seen any from my neck of the woods. On the highways and backroads, which are never flat, it’s usually rung out most of the time. When I’m off road, which is most of the time I’m in crazy deep sand (for miles and miles at a time), big rocks, rutted out trails and generally really rough California desert terrain. So my questions is, how tough is this bike? I change the oil regularly. Adjust the clutch and chain tension. Make sure the tires are properly inflated and it’s always cleaned and waxed after a ride. But I use this machine. Is there anything else I should be doing to keep it happy? Thanks for the feedback.

 

[fmdualexhaust]

Sounds like you are using it as was intended.

 

[m in sc]

be adamant about checking the wheel bearings when you change tires. an high quality sealed bearing replacement should be relatively cheap when its time. also, check for the rear and front sprocket wear as the sand will wear them out very fast. thats about it.

 

[jimzpsd]

Sounds like you answered your own question.

 

[sieg]

This is a question for all of you long time experienced riders out there. How tough is the Trail 125? I feel like I beat the hell out of this thing. I see YouTube videos of casual forest service road rides or back country roads and haven’t seen any from my neck of the woods. On the highways and backroads, which are never flat, it’s usually rung out most of the time. When I’m off road, which is most of the time I’m in crazy deep sand (for miles and miles at a time), big rocks, rutted out trails and generally really rough California desert terrain. So my questions is, how tough is this bike? I change the oil regularly. Adjust the clutch and chain tension. Make sure the tires are properly inflated and it’s always cleaned and waxed after a ride. But I use this machine. Is there anything else I should be doing to keep it happy? Thanks for the feedback.

Don't forget the air filter!

 

[SneakyDingo]

I've only really heard of one or two people breaking their bikes in pretty harsh ways while beating them up off road. There was that guy not so long ago who bent his front forks backwards a bit, carved the center tread out of the tire on the cylinder head. Then there's Johnny Pow and Ang on the CT125 doing the TAT that busted their brake levers in identical ways. Then there's more of a "cosmetic" thing where a bunch of riders have the tab holding the left side rack breaking.

I think the biggest thing for all of those was that at the end of it they were still able to ride their bikes to safety. That's a pretty big vote of confidence in reliability.

 

[COhonda]

This bike can take it. A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from the County Clerks office after buying my new plates when a car going the opposite direction turned in front of me. They had been stopped and was just starting their turn when they saw me and stopped. Unfortunately, it was about 10 feet in front of me. I braked and couldn't quite avoid hitting them. I didn't come off the bike and stayed upright but kind of smooshed into their front end. Long story short, no damage to their Honda minivan and just a minor scratch to the CT and a couple scratches on me. I thought the little bike would be all effed up but it was fine. No one was hurt, the cops came, information taken and they got the ticket. They were pretty cool folks but...they just didn't see me??? Thankfully they were stopped and had just started to turn and stopped again or I'm sure the damage to both me and the bike would have been worse. LED headlight, bright red bike, 6foot 2 guy riding it and they didn't see me? Put the phone down, please!!!

 

[mcmd]

This bike can take it. A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from the County Clerks office after buying my new plates when a car going the opposite direction turned in front of me. They had been stopped and was just starting their turn when they saw me and stopped. Unfortunately, it was about 10 feet in front of me. I braked and couldn't quite avoid hitting them. I didn't come off the bike and stayed upright but kind of smooshed into their front end. Long story short, no damage to their Honda minivan and just a minor scratch to the CT and a couple scratches on me. I thought the little bike would be all effed up but it was fine. No one was hurt, the cops came, information taken and they got the ticket. They were pretty cool folks but...they just didn't see me??? Thankfully they were stopped and had just started to turn and stopped again or I'm sure the damage to both me and the bike would have been worse. LED headlight, bright red bike, 6foot 2 guy riding it and they didn't see me? Put the phone down, please!!!

Yeah, distracted driving is a real problem. Now some of these car companies are selling vehicles that offer hands-free driving. I suppose that's a sales job for those imbeciles who can't seem to put their phones down!