The Yamaha SS125. Review on Yamaha SS125

A little motorcycling history

I had a beautiful 1986 Yamaha RX100 a long time ago. Almost 8 months ago or so, I had a chance to test ride the KTM Duke 200 and it just made me think I am 18 years old, bunked my classes from college and I am on my way to nowhere riding like an absolute hooligan. At the age of 33 that was quite a rush to time travel backwards. It was quite a lovely feeling. Not that I don't wish I could buy, but a lot of commitments, family, kid, school, fuel, rent and the usual rants of an average middle class bloke.

I really cannot afford a KTM at the moment, but it made me think, why not a smaller motorcycle that could do the daily bumper to bumper circus around the town? Why should the good old Royal Enfield take all the beating? After all I have been on the Royal Enfield since 2005 and it serves me well but I thought if I could get a motorcycle that looks, feels and rides well with a decent 50 km/l or above mileage for the golden juice, I could have my RE take some time off and be a weekend ride.

Initial thoughts and the decision making

I didn't want to go for a Bajaj plainly because there were millions of the same thing everywhere and you'd literally get lost in the crowd. So I had the CBZ Extreme in consideration. I walked in to the showroom and almost had a heart attack looking at the pricing. It just didn't make any sense. The CBZ Extreme has the same engine from the good old CBZ and all that has changed is now that thing has more plastic, more graphics and there's absolutely nothing new in it. I still feel except the Splendor any other motorcycle from Hero Motor Corp is pointlessly expensive.

I now turn to Suzuki, my first love as I was fortunate to have my first motorcycle, a Suzuki Shogun. Need I say more. I walked in with huge expectations but what I saw was a motorcycle that looked like a Suzuki Samurai on a diet and this was the Suzuki Hayate. I hated it instantly. I had a TD on the GS150 and I liked it. But I wasn't sure what sort of a motorcycle it was. It had a very sporty styling but you sit on it like you sit on the good old CD100. I wasn't quite confident with what Suzuki has in the market now. So that was it then.

I walk into Honda not once but FOUR times and nobody cared, nobody asked me why I was there and I felt like I was visiting a museum of some sort. I could easily guess what the after sales service or support if any would be even though they had some great motorcycles that was within my reach.

Finally!.

I kept Yamaha as the last one as I knew deep inside I am going to end up with one anyway. When I walked in, the baby FZ caught all my attention and thankfully they were kind enough to give me a TD of whatever bikes they had in the showroom. I took the TD of the FZ16, the SS125 and of course, the R15 V2.0. I absolutely loved the FZ for its handling and riding position and it was just the thing I was looking for but, my budget. Then it was the R15. I initially thought it was just another 150cc with a lovely fairing, but boy I was horribly wrong, twist open the throttle beyond 6000 RPM and the thing transforms into another beast, I loved it. My budget again. Damn I wish I had a little more juice to buy the thing.

I took the SS125 for a ride again just to make sure as I liked a few things that I was looking for. 1. I wanted a 125 cc motorcycle. 2. It should look sporty 3. It should have a soft suspension setup as I am not going to go on a cross country tour with it anyway. 4. It should be easily manageable in heavy traffic. And 5. It should have a rev counter:) just for the heck of it.

I liked the road manners of the SS125. It was a very slim motorcycle even with its crash guards so parking it on an over crowded parking lot should be a cakewalk unlike my Enfield which gives me a proper pain in the neck parking it. The engine was butter smooth, had a very nice exhaust note, although that was nothing compared to my 350 cc beast. I booked it and the next day they delivered it.

Living with the SS125, not as easy as I thought

The odometer on the SS125 now reads 1896 km as I write this and there are a few things that I am a bit disappointed with now. When I took the test ride, I had a really good feeling on the SS125 but on mine, I am really not sure about the seat. Whenever I ride it for a long time, I feel like it is going to cut me apart from my butt crack and upwards into half. The seat over the period of time has become horrible, for me. The other thing I am not pleased about is that no matter what you do with it, it just will not idle freely. The tachometer has a needle that runs up and down between 4000 and 1000 when I am waiting for the green light. I took it to the Yamaha service, they did something and it held good for a couple of days and after that, the same thing happens again. I have been running in the engine even now but still I don't get the same feeling I got from the motorcycle I used for the test ride.

I suggested the same motorcycle to one of my friends and both of us bought them pretty much around the same time, so just to clear my confusion I took a TD on his SS125 which at the time has done 2000 plus km on the odometer. It was completely different! It felt like a scaled down R15! The engine revved all the way to 8000 RPM without breaking a sweat or crying for its dear life and within no time I was doing 100 kph! So I took it to the Yamaha service again and this time they did a little more tuning and thankfully it still holds good. So then, may be it was a badly set carburetor settings that spoiled the party and now the thing works like what a real little Yamaha should be. But god I wish I had a seat which held my butt in place. But anyways, not an easy ownership experience initially but it definitely is getting better now for good.

What I absolutely hate to see on the SS125 are 2 things. 1. The instrument cluster. It is just too big and horrible to look at. I sometimes think if they weren't sure about what they should have done with the instrument cluster, they should have stuck to the Yamaha basics like the ones you see on a RD350. But on this it is a big ugly block of plastic with two meters planted into it with a fuel gauge stuck in the middle. 2. The switches. One word, hopeless. My father's Ind-Suzuki had better switches on the handlebars. The cost cutting is all over the handlebar towards the left side, but thankfully the engine kill switch is of good quality, somehow.

What I like about the SS125 are many. Chiefly among which is the engine. It is butter smooth and if you ride it at its sweet spot at around 5500 RPM and 7000 RPM you would get quite a rewarding ride as it has a healthy low end and mid end torque, and that is really impressive considering this is only got 125 cc to play with. However there is very little torque when the revs climb higher and that is pretty much understood as this is a motorcycle made with sedate riding commuters who crave for a little bit of styling to go with. The bike is lightweight so if you fancy riding fast on a windy day, you would feel like a kite and you will be dropping bricks in your underpants. It simply is not the sort of motorcycle built for that purpose.

The other most important thing I love about it is the suspension, even though it is a soft setup, it could make you corner like a pro for a motorcycle of its class. It takes all the undulations of Bangalore roads with ease and gives you a comfortable ride. The fuel efficiency is also great for a 125. Right now my SS125 gives me a steady average of 54 km/l and with the present fuel prices it ain't bad at all.

If Yamaha India would have taken ergonomics a little more seriously on the SS125 it would have been a great package overall and proper bang for the buck. But otherwise to live with, it is a great motorcycle for someone who has a lot of boxes to be ticked.