Rider weight

[Jkmicou]

Hi all, new to forum. I wanted to come and ask owners and users of the 125 before I pulled the trigger on one. I'm looking for a mini moto to have riding rivers while fly fishing, to have around camp, ect. The trail obviously fits that role wonderfully. I could even leave waders and boots on thanks to the heel toe. Its smaller, lighter and easier to carry than my adventure bike. So it should be a no brainer right? My issue is with weight. I'm not a lightweight guy, dressed I'm a few pounds over the listed weight limit (I'm 266) and with fly gear it'll only be more. How much of a problem would this be? Love the idea of having one but if it can't handle my fat butt, or would need a lot done to it to handle it, I'd like to know. So if I can get some no BS real world feedback I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[jlars]

Im 6'3" 250lbs. Had a backpack with gear and rod strapped on. Put 160 miles last weekend in northern Wisconsin. I can max speed 54 on flat ground. Cruises great down the backroads at 35.

 

[oldskool]

You have me beat by 100 pounds but I think the answer is your expectations. Putzing around logging roads, non challenging trails with light grade, campground and blacktop 45ish mph it should be fine. Working it like a rented sled dog ...probably not. She is a nimble little bike that will serve a person well if used within its intended use. It is a burro not a mule or race horse. A burro can handle more weight than one might expect if not pushed too hard I am sure some of the guys on here load the bike up more than a little more than the manual rated limit. I think the US manual limit is lawyer hobbled.

 

[Jkmicou]

Im 6'3" 250lbs. Had a backpack with gear and rod strapped on. Put 160 miles last weekend in northern Wisconsin. I can max speed 54 on flat ground. Cruises great down the backroads at 35.

Is yours stock or done suspension upgrades or anything?

 

[Jkmicou]

You have me beat by 100 pounds but I think the answer is your expectations. Putzing around logging roads, non challenging trails with light grade, campground and blacktop 45ish mph it should be fine. Working it like a rented sled dog ...probably not. She is a nimble little bike that will serve a person well if used within its intended use. It is a burro not a mule or race horse. A burro can handle more weight than one might expect if not pushed too hard I am sure some of the guys on here load the bike up more than a little more than the manual rated limit. I think the US manual limit is lawyer hobbled.

Yes all my intended use for it is around campsites, unpaved roads following rivers like national forest or park roads, a little pavement around the rivers. Not looking to trail ride, cruise, nothing like that. Just something instead of a full size adventure bike it can get put on a hitch carrier and bummed around on.

 

[jlars]

Mines a stock 2022. Took the toe heel shifter off and replaced w just a toe. Have big feet 14. Also rotated the kickstart back to give my foot more room

 

[Jkmicou]

Mines a stock 2022. Took the toe heel shifter off and replaced w just a toe. Have big feet 14. Also rotated the kickstart back to give my foot more room

That's very promising. And after getting on one in a showroom I already know I'll have to extend the length of the heel toe. I'm a 13 and a 16 in wading boots. Appreciate your input man

 

[oldskool]

Yes all my intended use for it is around campsites, unpaved roads following rivers like national forest or park roads, a little pavement around the rivers. Not looking to trail ride, cruise, nothing like that. Just something instead of a full size adventure bike it can get put on a hitch carrier and bummed around on.

Sounds to me like it will work well. There are some gurus on here that know what may need to be done to beef it up a bit if needed to suit your needs and expectations.

 

[jlars]

I also put some extended mirrors on. I was looking at my shoulders w the stock.

 

[Jkmicou]

Sounds to me like it will work well. There are some gurus on here that know what may need to be done to beef it up a bit if needed to suit your needs and expectations.

I hope so, it would fit the role for what I need beautifully. Not the bikes fault I'm fat

 

[mcmd]

I hope so, it would fit the role for what I need beautifully. Not the bikes fault I'm fat

Hi,
I'm a big guy like you. All muscle, no fat..... NOT! Here's the low down on weight as it applies to this bike. The bike performs quite nicely on flat and lesser inclines. On step hills it slows down a bit. With that said, if you're not on a road with a bunch of cars backed up behind you, just downshift to a lower gear. Depending on the hill, if you've got a good running start try 3rd gear, with no running start perhaps 2nd. If the hill is extremely intense, 1st will take you just about anywhere. I've never had to downshift into 1st on a hill. As long as you're not worried about backing up cars on a busy road this bike will be fine. It sounds like you're just going to use it on forest roads and around camp. This should be no problem. As far as mods, you'll likely need the mirror extenders or new mirrors. I've kept my mods to a minimum, just the things I felt were essential. As mentioned, I have the cheap-o mirror extenders, a nice seat pad, a small piece of pool noodle on the bar just behind the seat to protect my tailbone, A GIVI case on the luggage rack to stow my helmet in rather than carry it around in my hand when off the bike or in a store. Btw, the GIVI case has a padded backrest which is nice. I recently added a small canvas bag to the handle bars to hold my wallet and other small items while riding. The small bag attaches with velcro. I added a couple of zip ties to make sure it was secure. I was afraid that my wallet would fall out of my pocket while riding. I'll attach a few pics below. Hope this helps. I think this bike will work for you.

 

[Jkmicou]

Hi,
I'm a big guy like you. All muscle, no fat..... NOT! Here's the low down on weight as it applies to this bike. The bike performs quite nicely on flat and lesser inclines. On step hills it slows down a bit. With that said, if you're not on a road with a bunch of cars backed up behind you, just downshift to a lower gear. Depending on the hill, if you've got a good running start try 3rd gear, with no running start perhaps 2nd. If the hill is extremely intense, 1st will take you just about anywhere. I've never had to downshift into 1st on a hill. As long as you're not worried about backing up cars on a busy road this bike will be fine. It sounds like you're just going to use it on forest roads and around camp. This should be no problem. As far as mods, you'll likely need the mirror extenders or new mirrors. I've kept my mods to a minimum, just the things I felt were essential. As mentioned, I have the cheap-o mirror extenders, a nice seat pad, a small piece of pool noodle on the bar just behind the seat to protect my tailbone, A GIVI case on the luggage rack to stow my helmet in rather than carry it around in my hand when off the bike or in a store. Btw, the GIVI case has a padded backrest which is nice. I recently added a small canvas bag to the handle bars to hold my wallet and other small items while riding. The small bag attaches with velcro. I added a couple of zip ties to make sure it was secure. I was afraid that my wallet would fall out of my pocket while riding. I'll attach a few pics below. Hope this helps. I think this bike will work for you.

Thank you for the input, that helps. Definitely not expecting the power and torque of my built softail, but for what I need it sounds like it's got plenty. And truth be told I'd be ok being slowed down. Putt around and enjoy the little things let fast paced rat race go by. Mods that I've thought about so far is a milk crate for the back rack, I'm a fabricator for a living so I could fab up rod holders/rod tube holders, extending the shifter out to fit big feet better, possibly a fender lift and 3.00 Shinko 244s, possibly a tooth change if need be, and suspension mods if need be. Want to keep it simple.

 

[Shoot870p]

I think it will work fine for you. Of course, you will have to do some mods because, well, it’s yours!

 

[SneakyDingo]

Is yours stock or done suspension upgrades or anything?

I would use an aftermarket rear suspension at that weight. I personally went for the Treatland suspension and the difference was night and day. The bike can handle it on the stock suspension, but cornering and the overall experience will be substantially better. I'd also add a small amount of preload spacing on the front suspension, which will help with bottoming out.

 

[Jkmicou]

I would use an aftermarket rear suspension at that weight. I personally went for the Treatland suspension and the difference was night and day. The bike can handle it on the stock suspension, but cornering and the overall experience will be substantially better. I'd also add a small amount of preload spacing on the front suspension, which will help with bottoming out.

I've looked a little at suspension and seen the YSS, Ohlins, Gears and others but have not seen Treatland. Is there a best of the best for aftermarket rears?

 

[Backwoods]

I would use an aftermarket rear suspension at that weight. I personally went for the Treatland suspension and the difference was night and day. The bike can handle it on the stock suspension, but cornering and the overall experience will be substantially better. I'd also add a small amount of preload spacing on the front suspension, which will help with bottoming out.

The Treatland shocks has been my worst purchase to date! Over $200 and they ain’t as good as the 2023 OEM. I put them on my 2022, they have rebound bounce when I cross a bridge or hit very small bump, don’t matter where I adjust them to. Now I have them at max adjutment and they still sound like a ” hoot hoot” horn sound every time the suspension rebounds. I’ll adjust them different and they quiet for maybe a day before the horn sound returns and it’s noticeably loud sound. The biggest grip is they dont perform as well as the 2023 OEM I have set on maximum. 2023 stock shocks are excellent. Also the front suspension will need upgraded for 260lb rider, I got away using the Chimera fork caps, but I’m 160ish, not 260ish.

 

[SneakyDingo]

The Treatland shocks has been my worst purchase to date! Over $200 and they ain’t as good as the 2023 OEM. I put them on my 2022, they have rebound bounce when I cross a bridge or hit very small bump, don’t matter where I adjust them to. Now I have them at max adjutment and they still sound like a ” hoot hoot” horn sound every time the suspension rebounds. I’ll adjust them different and they quiet for maybe a day before the horn sound returns and it’s noticeably loud sound. The biggest grip is they dont perform as well as the 2023 OEM I have set on maximum. 2023 stock shocks are excellent. Also the front suspension will need upgraded for 260lb rider, I got away using the Chimera fork caps, but I’m 160ish, not 260ish.

I'm not a suspension equipment expert, that's just what I went with. What I did notice was without it, cornering would result in the back wheel having a very unstable feel and like the rear wheel was going to wash out. There's better options for sure; I don't remember that being a particularly expensive purchase. But I'm also pushing higher than 160'ish lbs, so I feel like different strokes for different folks will apply here.

The nice thing about the suspension is it's a generally very easily reversed process.

 

[mcmd]

I'm not a suspension equipment expert, that's just what I went with. What I did notice was without it, cornering would result in the back wheel having a very unstable feel and like the rear wheel was going to wash out. There's better options for sure; I don't remember that being a particularly expensive purchase. But I'm also pushing higher than 160'ish lbs, so I feel like different strokes for different folks will apply here.

The nice thing about the suspension is it's a generally very easily reversed process.

Interesting, as I have experienced that unstable rear wheel feeling when cornering. I'm the furthest thing from a mechanic. I may need to have this done by a real mechanic at some point in the future. I suppose tires play into this, as well. I'm running the original tires.

 

[SneakyDingo]

Interesting, as I have experienced that unstable rear wheel feeling when cornering. I'm the furthest thing from a mechanic. I may need to have this done by a real mechanic at some point in the future. I suppose tires play into this, as well. I'm running the original tires.

I originally made the switch on the original tires, but felt they were sticky enough in every other way that they weren't the problem.

My reasoning came from riding on bicycles using vertical dropouts with loose rear axle nuts / QR skewers where the axle would move slightly - the wheel washing out feeling felt a lot like the wheel was not staying rigid relative to the swingarm (i.e. if you had a gopro strapped to the swingarm, it would look like the wheel was flexing left and right under compression). I surmised it was possible that the stock suspension, designed for a much lighter rider, was compressing unequal amounts on the left and right sides just based on how it felt, and that choosing a different suspension setup would result in a different feeling. The problem went away completely after the suspension switch, where cornering at even 15 mph would result in this unsteady cornering feeling - changed to 30 mph, no problems.

Again, YMMV and this isn't an endorsement for that specific suspension. Just that my problem was definitely suspension and fat rider.

 

[dkounelas]

i am about your weight and have a 2023 trail. no issues pulling my weight around. i've added a trunk and spare gas can for accessories. took it down a fairly rough class 6 road and never bottomed out with shock pre load at the factory default. i was impressed and had a blast!