Instant regret?

[eastema]

Just sold my wife's with 18 miles, bc of an injury she cant/won't ride it. Got her a Honda Rincon for the back woods instead. Me, I'm never selling my trail. It became my favorite bike to ride when I got it.

 

[Im.Crenshaw]

I see another Trail 125 in the classifieds today with less than 500 miles on it, joining many others there. I think the Trail 125 will go down in history as the most frequently sold used Honda motorcycle with less than 500 miles on it. What is the reason for that? I know there are many reasons, but what is the most frequent reason. Is it because it is the buyers first 125 motorcycle and they were expecting the power of a Rebel, or is it because they don't fit the motorcycle, or is it money related, or what? What is your best guess?

They buy it for the nostalgia and then don't ride it because they're old and then it sits there and their wife nags them to sell it because they never ride it. That's my guess.

I'm blessed enough to have a wife that bought a Super Cub so that she could go riding with me and was even willing to go off-road with her bike with me. She had so much fun, even though she dropped it in mud 6-7 times!

 

[Im.Crenshaw]

My question is: Why are people asking more money for them than what you can spend to buy them new?

I see another Trail 125 in the classifieds today with less than 500 miles on it, joining many others there. I think the Trail 125 will go down in history as the most frequently sold used Honda motorcycle with less than 500 miles on it. What is the reason for that? I know there are many reasons, but what is the most frequent reason. Is it because it is the buyers first 125 motorcycle and they were expecting the power of a Rebel, or is it because they don't fit the motorcycle, or is it money related, or what? What is your best guess?

 

[Farmer Mike]

100%. The Trail is great as a farm bike. The ideal owner is probably a small town farmer that needs something simple and reliable to help lug stuff around the farm, but can also run to the store.

Hey, don't be talking about me! I live in that 2 Traffic Light Town, and I love this thing... but then again I knew exactly what I was getting, and I've had all those other bikes from true dirt bikes to street demons. But at my age, and agility, this is exactly what I need/want. I don't use it a lot on the farm, I have a quad for that, but I do use it some. It's the perfect go to the mailbox (1/2 mile away), grocery store 4 miles, post office (3 miles), but I also drive in into the city 40 miles away, it's the perfect campus bike (if we you can keep it from being stolen). I'm still on campus a good bit (volunteer stuff), and God knows a full size truck on a major university is a terrible thing. The poor donkey, all the Groms just make fun of him! Honda should do something about that!

 

[AZ7000']

My question is: Why are people asking more money for them than what you can spend to buy them new?

My dealer wanted $2000 over list, I got them down to $1500 over…. That would be worth the 500 miles or so to me to save even $1/mile

 

[Im.Crenshaw]

My dealer wanted $2000 over list, I got them down to $1500 over…. That would be worth the 500 miles or so to me to save even $1/mile

Everyone here is asking MSRP.

 

[AZ7000']

Everyone here is asking MSRP.

Until I went to sign the papers…. $499 doc fee, tax, fee for the computers, title, etc

 

[TrailSnot]

I bought mine because in my mind it was ideal for a short commute and little runs to the store, plus as noted in the first post, it slaps of nostalgia. It does these things just fine, but I still crave more speed when I ride, so I found myself grabbing the keys to a different bike most of last summer.
I debated selling but my wife said "just keep it, it's paid for and you'll probably turn around and say you wish you still had it." (As I do with almost every bike I've ever parted with )
I had a stupid spill on an unusually warm winters day and after about 6wks the insurance and repairs are done with and I should be picking it up later. I think with a final total of $2650 of damage the thing would've been totaled if all damages were known upon the initial estimate. Part of me would have been okay if it had been written off.

Edit; just collected the bike from the shop with basically an entirely new front end. Backroads all the way back and no cagers encountered until the last mile. Enjoyed being back on it...I think it's just gonna be a love hate relationship.

 

[ssaigol]

The speed issue is the Trail125's weakness. Otherwise, it is a bulletproof all around bike. It can carry stuff. It can be started with a dead battery. It will not die because of the centrifugal clutch. It moves quickly at traffic lights. And you ride it sitting up, you don't have to hunch down to ride it like you do on a grom. It actually is far more capable as an urban bike than an off road bike.

This is your bike if the journey is more important than the destination.

 

[Farmer Mike]

I think you are spot on. While I have no desire to go faster on the Trail 125, it is sometimes necessary for safety, and to not impede traffic. Because of this limitation, I sometimes have to leave it at home and drive a 15 MPG truck, when I would otherwise just ride the bike. I spend way more time than I would like pondering if there is a reasonable route, and if the time of day (often the most important factor) for both my initial trip, and my return trip is acceptable for me and those around me. I suppose if Honda made the bike run 60, there would be just as many complaints that it won't run 75...

For me I'm just gonna give it a year or two, by then I suspect there will be firm agreement on and lots of experience with reasonable mods (BBK, and follow on mods that become necessary), to get me over the 55 MPH barrier. I realize all that exist today, but I'll want something proven over time not to just cause other issues, I'm not inclined to work on and repair the bike all the time, I want to preserve the bulletproof nature of the bike. I don't actually enjoy engine work, I much prefer to just to routine maintenance, and spend most of my available time enjoying the ride.

 

[m in sc]

im not sure where this 'bbk requires constant maintenance' ideology comes from. Its not true. from somebody that has run this platform for 10 years with BBK's of various types (1st setup was an OG grom), they are dead reliable when not taken too far. hence why i went with a 143 vs a 170 or 180 setup this time. the 143 with supporting mods will make the setup very reliable, and you can learn from everyone else's mistakes by reading up on it. By too far, my grom had a 170 4v that was tuned to the Nth degree and would just touch 100mph.. at just over 11k. which was too much and i eventually destroyed the rod. Don't do THAT. but a 164/143 is reliable. YES you need to address the fueling but again, if you don't go too far, it will be dead reliable. and much more useable. That's the reason i still have mine and use it a LOT. (just tipped 6k on it actually). .02

 

[Farmer Mike]

im not sure where this 'bbk requires constant maintenance' ideology comes from.

Well it comes from reading this forum, and vids on YouTube. At least a couple of people talk about multiple burned pistons, and some even bent a Rod or something . I get it that there is nothing forcing a man to try and destroy the engine stock or otherwise... and so maybe I should reconsider waiting. I definitely have no intention of turning 10K RMS's for any reason. I ride around at 38-41 because I don't even like to turn 6. I want this thing to last forever... within reason.

BTW I'm gonna catch you on miles... I use mine a lot, about to trip 1K... in 3 months. I suspect the riding season is much longer here, like 12 months of the year.

 

[m in sc]

no offense intended to most, but most people don't know shit about how a motor is supposed to be set up. you can't do just do one thing and expect it to be fine, it's whole system that needs ot be considered. Some get lucky.

Utilizing the stock ecm like i did keeps the stock rev limiter in tact, and it will be fine. I did kill a BBK, on the trail, and it was found to be a defective kit. that happens, (they agreed and gave me a full refund) but its EXTREMELY rare.
yeah i ride mine a lot but i also spread my riding over 12 bikes. .

 

[Farmer Mike]

No offense taken, while I've been working on stuff since I was a Kid... changed my first ventilated piston in my Honda 50 before I was 12 (with my dad's help). We had metal lathes, milling machines, and two of my family members were mechanical engineers. Making stuff, discussions on how to solve various issues, and tinkering was just a way of life for much of my life, but it was all straight mechanical... I fully recognize the setup in a modern a modern fuel injected engine is beyond my sphere of knowledge... times change, and I have never even looked at whatever an ECM does, much less know how to tune one to stay out of trouble. I have known several people who installed programable ones in their trucks a decade ago, and their lack of knowledge led to all sorts of heartache... so for sure I am loath to fool around with it. I'm sure I can learn it, not sure I want to... I'm looking for the easy kit... everything you need, and nothing you don't. Alternatively I could just go visit some people who do know, and trade a few bars of shiny metal for a worry free experience... there is always that.

 

[m in sc]

the way i set mine TBH up is all you need to do to get your goals, and, relatively, cheap. just ,02,

 

[Pittsburgh_Bob]

No idea why people can’t just ride stock like the engineers designed it. I roll my eyes at every knucklehead who put a pipe on any truck, ATV or motorcycle.

 

[dmonkey]

No idea why people can’t just ride stock like the engineers designed it. I roll my eyes at every knucklehead who put a pipe on any truck, ATV or motorcycle.

If folks left their bikes stock there would have never been a Honda Trail. Honda engineers didn't come up with the idea on their own.

 

[Kev250R]

No idea why people can’t just ride stock like the engineers designed it. I roll my eyes at every knucklehead who put a pipe on any truck, ATV or motorcycle.

I have no problem with people modding their cars/trucks/bikes...whatever. Modding is how innovation comes about, or as @dmonkey mentioned, sometimes a whole new class of bike. Can it be taken too far? Of course it can, I guess it just depends on your taste or needs for the bike. Personally my Trail is still largely stock, in fact one of the first things I did when I bought my Trail was to un-do many of the mods the PO had done; they just didn't match my needs or my intended use for my bike.

On a side note, I'm a collector of vehicles and all of them have mods of some sort (some more then others). A while back I loaned one of my trucks to a neighbors daughter to drive for a while (she needed a car and I needed a new engine I'd recently had installed broken-in before the warranty expired). This particular truck has a custom exhaust on it (though it's not loud, just has a deeper tone). A few days into her using it I was talking with her Mother who told me that she and her Husband liked the exhaust on my truck, because now they knew exactly when their daughter was coming and going LOL!

In the end do what makes you happy with whatever your ride of choice is.

 

[m in sc]

No idea why people can’t just ride stock like the engineers designed it. I roll my eyes at every knucklehead who put a pipe on any truck, ATV or motorcycle.

really? lol. Being an engineer... I have to laugh at this comment. the second gen grom motor was specifically changed by the factory due to 'knuckleheads' adding a oil filter cover and adding in a 5 speed, all aftermarket. The aftermarket accessory market drives the oem market a lot more than you think. -Knucklehead, esq.

 

[MonotoneCulprit]

Even aside from the innovation I don't really care what other people do to the things they own. As long as it isn't negatively affecting others go out and have the type of fun you want to have. I certainly don't think stanced out cars are practical or desirable, but it doesn't actively annoy me when I see one. If they enjoy it and it doesn't hurt anyone who cares?