Buying a 1987 Honda NS125F was the great event of my life back in 1989. It had already had three owners and done 27,500 miles. It came in blue, white and red, plus a large number of scratches and dents. The tiny bellypan was missing and the original exhaust was full of rust and appeared to have been chamfered down on one side due to exuberant cornering.
I had to have it, anyway. First kick was all that was needed to ignite the watercooled single cylinder stroker. The engine clicked and rattled a bit, but there was only a small amount of blue smoke pouring out of the exhaust. The bike felt dead right for my near six feet frame. I had tried an RG125 and been appalled at its smallness and the TZR was also all crunched up. The NS felt more like a 250 or 400 than a mere 125.
Controls felt light and smooth; suspension had amazing quality after an FS1E, but then that doesn't say very much. Now that I've owned a CBR600 for a few months I can see that the little Honda was very crude, especially the front forks which followed the contours of pot-holes and the like rather than absorbing them. The NS was made in Italy and came with Marzocchi forks which were more Italian than Japanese in compliance.
The rear end was to turn up the first serious problem with the bike. The Pro-Link set up was initially pretty good, taking out the worst of the bumps, but after two weeks the rear tyre started stepping out and a violent weave began above 50mph. The swinging arm bearings were shot. The local Honda dealer charged me £65 to replace them, after initially quoting £25. He reckoned he had replaced the spindle as well because it was pitted.
The Honda is a fairly mild bike and dead easy to ride. 12hp is made at 7000rpm. There is no real powerband, although it feels better once 4000rpm are on the clock. There is no need for an excess of clutch slip and revs to move off. It is, in fact, a very hard bike to stall. A new exhaust is needed to derestrict the engine, which is expensive if you buy a Honda one.
I have ridden a derestricted model. What Honda seems to have done is taken their normal model and stopped it working after 7000rpm by fitting a very restrictive exhaust. With the proper exhaust it is very similar below seven grand to the 12hp model, after those revs it screams mightily and takes off like no 125 should. Unfortunately, I had sworn on the good book to my father that I would not derestrict the bike - he was a keen motorcyclist and would occasionally use the Honda himself, so there was no possible way I could deceive him!
Top speed was an indicated 75mph. The bike was capable of cruising at 70mph all day long if you were willing to flick up and down through the gears so keep it on the boil in adverse conditions. Pillions dented the performance. On one occasion, with a fat bugger out back, and up a steep hill, the bike would do no more than 45mph. Under such circumstances, huge clouds of blue smoke appeared as if the engine was going terminal.
Pillions also affected economy. Solo she averaged around 80mpg, varying between 60 and 90mpg depending on circumstances. With a pillion on the back it could go down to 50mpg. For 12hp economy was not particularly good, but even a mere 80mpg meant that fuel costs were minimal.
With 35000 miles on the clock most of the performance disappeared and the engine made a dreadful racket. The top piston ring had become welded to the piston. Luckily, the bore was unmarked; remarkably for a little stroker it was still standard and within tolerances. I was able to get away with a new piston and ring set. There seemed a bit more blue smoke than when I bought the machine even after this repair but performance had returned to its original standard.
The same could not be said for handling, which had slowly degenerated after having the swinging arm fixed. Pumping up the tyres to the correct pressures helped a little but did not entirely eradicate the weaves and wobbles that I was experiencing down A roads. I let an experienced friend look the machine over. He diagnosed new steering head bearings and reckoned the pitted forks and leaking seals were not doing me any favours.
The new bearings took out the worst of the wobbles but the bike still weaved on fast bends. The wrap around rectangular frame looked pretty stiff, although a little dated these very high tech days. Working on the principle that stiffer springs would give the marginal damping an easier time, I fitted a set. Much improved stability was the result at the price of a rock hard front end.
Even the power of the single Brembo disc brake failed to produce any significant dive. This disc was allied to a rear drum, the combination able to produce startling stopping distances in such a light machine. Front pad life was a reasonable 12000 miles; the rear shoes were never replaced. I found that a pair of Michelin M38s gave the best combination of stability and grip, although I did think that a mere 8000 miles from the rear was a bit ridiculous. The front did 9750 miles, not very impressive either.
The only other consumable of note was the drive chain which had an easy life of it, lasting over 12000 miles and not needing very frequent attention. Engine maintenance was merely a matter of adding oil to the oil tank and changing the gearbox oil when the change started to become full of false neutrals. The gearbox was certainly slicker than that fitted to the CBR600. With newish oil false neutrals were rare although the change had become ever clunkier as the miles piled up.
Vibration was a background buzz and, with the miles done, was probably responsible for the exhaust downpipe cracking up. The paper thin remnants were artfully welded back together by a mate for a fiver. Tail lights were another casualty of the vibes; the indicators had been junked when they started flashing on their own accord. Vibration did not really bother me, I had done 400 miles in a day without being adversely affected by the buzz.
Comfort for a 125 was excellent. The riding position was relaxed in town yet able to take the travails of 70mph cruises. The bikini fairing was good for keeping the weather off the clocks but little else. The seat was okay on comfort, although after 150 miles in the saddle it was necessary to move around a bit. I had few complaints from pillions - they were either comfortable or so scared from my riding antics that they forgot all about personal comfort.
Various large items were bungeed on to the back without upsetting the poise of the machine, although it was remarkably easy to scratch or crack the plastic tailpiece. Rust eventually began to blitz the frame and radiator paint, although the black engine finish still cleaned up like new, as did the wheels which were relatively easy to clean. My mate with a similar machine found this annoying because his wheels and engine were a mess with half the mileage on the clock.
I pushed the clock to just past 52000 miles before I traded in to buy the CBR. At that mileage there was a slackening in performance, it was becoming a real struggle to get past 65mph. A proper rebore was probably called for. The NS125F had been a very easy and pleasant bike to learn upon. It has just as much style as the RG and TZR but is as user friendly as a CG125. Parents who are reluctant to let their loved ones loose on the screaming race replicas could do a lot worse than to insist on the Honda as a compromise.
There aren't that many about, which means finding a good one will be difficult (not to mention cheap spares in breakers). The obvious warnings apply as much to the NS as other 125 - they tend to get thrashed by people who don't know what they are doing and only realise they're supposed to put oil in them when the engine seizes. I wouldn't recommend buying one that has been derestricted (or has a noisy expansion chamber) as the increased power does nasty things to engine longevity. 50,000 miles is about tops for engine life - I later learnt from the dealer than the new owner of my NS had seized the motor after only 300 miles! I'm full of fond memories of my misspent youth on the NS, I hope you are as lucky if you buy one.
Peter Mapstone
****************************************************
Eight years and 26000 miles on a Honda NS125 have proved quite interesting. The bike was only six months old but had been crushed between two cars. Frame, wheels and forks were banana shaped. All were straightened out by a clever chap with a hydraulic press. I was impressed with the quickness and accuracy of his work. Still in 12hp form, I had few qualms about the chassis breaking up under the pressure of mere 70mph outings. I can recommend buying a crashed bike to anyone as it's proved a very cheap and reliable way into motorcycling. These days, new 125's cost silly money.
I wasn't new to the motorcycling experience, having hacked around on a series of tuned FS1E's - it's possible to put 55mph on the clock and very easy to fall off due to the pitiable front drum brake, not to mention that particular combination of madness and inexperience. In that context, the Honda wasn't that much of a step up, more a natural progression. In many ways the combination of improved brakes, milder power delivery and stiffer chassis made the 125 a much safer ride.
Safety being a somewhat vague concept in relation to doing 70mph down the local High Street and pushing things to the limit down the back roads. I was constantly surprised by the sudden appearance of wailing cop cars - rearward vision obscured by the ill-placed mirrors blurring under the onslaught of vibration. I was always very meek and submissive when confronted with trying to impersonate Barry Sheene (whoever he is?) by doing 75mph through a 40mph zone. Amazingly, this worked every time and after the usual tedious lecture I was sent on my way. The British bobby's hankering after power seems much greater than his love of paperwork.
The NS handled really well. Could be heeled right over until a boot started to caress the tarmac - any more then something would start to dig in, cause the bike to hop about. Chucking it from side to side needed hardly any effort and I found I could even brake late into corners with only the slightest of tremors from the chassis. The only thing it really objected to was skimming over white-lines when well heeled over. I tried several brands of tyres but they had no real effect. When the rubber let loose on the road markings it would swing out for half a foot, or more, until grip was regained. Easily solved by watching where I was going.
Twitchiness came in on wet roads. The bike felt like it was just about ready to aquaplane but never really went all the way. The answer was to ride sensibly, pick a taller gear and sedate revs rather than screaming up and down the rev band. The stroker engine could take this restraint without oiling up if Silkolene two-stroke oil was used and the spark plug chopped every 1000 miles (when it was a good idea to change the gearbox oil).
Slimy, pot-holed London roads, in wet weather, proved exceptionally taxing. Part of this was due to the need to pay more attention to the antics of the cages than the state of the road. Unexpectedly hitting a huge pot-hole had the front wheel all over the place, whilst my upper body received a blow that would've felled even a jack-hammer operator. Once out of the hole, the tyre waved all over the road for the next few yards. Quite often this happened between lines of cars and the bars would scrape off some of their bodywork. The chorus of horns were ignored as I scooted off down the road.
Other madness included trying to wheelie the beast, but in 12hp form it was a waste of time. No sooner did I get the front wheel a few feet off the ground than it slapped down again once the power ran out. The gearbox was notchy but precise if slow footwork was employed, not helping in the constant fight to extract power from the motor. Once it was derestricted, giving around twice the stock power, wheelies became easier, as long as revs were kept above 6000.
I think strokers are the business for learning upon because in soft 12hp form they ain't much trouble and once the test's passed they can be cheaply and quickly converted into a proper motorcycle. In the time it takes to pass the test the rider has the chance to become used to the handling and braking, making it much safer than just buying a bigger bike when the chassis, as well as the new power, has to be learnt all over again.
I can't say that I found the new power taxed the old chassis at all; it was just more of the same old good times. Top speed was an easy 85mph (on the clock), with as much as 90mph possible if the bike was really pushed hard, down a hill or with a following wind. On worn tyres there was a bit of a weave at speeds above 80mph but it never, not even when whacking into a few bumps, developed into a serious wobble. The chassis appeared built to a high quality, in all the years I had it neither bearings nor suspension gave any trouble. No doubt, its minimal mass and stiff frame gave everything a relatively easy time.
An example of the bike's ability can be illustrated by the way it'd keep up with seventies 250's, and the like. These devices might've had a touch more acceleration and power but show any of them a curve and they'd wallow all over the road. Oh, I had one hell of a lot of fun cutting them up on the inside, out-braking them into bends and accelerating away before they knew what hit them. Suitably enraged, probably thinking I was on a 12hp learner, they'd charge past on a long straight only to lose it all in the next series of bends. I went out of my way to take on bigger bikes.
Even some 400 twins and 550 fours proved easy meat for my ambitions, though they had to be two up to my solo status. Taking any kind of passenger on the NS made the power disappear rapidly (don't even think about it on the 12hp version) and made the back end wallow on fast corners (probably the rear suspension on the way out). The bike felt very nervous with so much mass out back. I'd also experienced that when I'd fitted a rack and top box, which did in the handling and eventually cracked up the rack (from the vibes).
Solo with a tank bag was the way to go. The latter was awkward to secure, often ending up so loose that I had to hold it with my knees until I could pull over. A potentially lethal distraction, as all my attention was needed on the road. The NS was a bit lacking in power for overtaking at speeds above 50mph and I always had to make sure that I didn't end up playing chicken with oncoming traffic. Some car drivers took a perverse pleasure in speeding up as I came alongside them and I didn't have the power to blast them off the face of the planet.
That was the one real constraint on life with the NS. On the motorway it was relatively safe, if a bit on the slow side, as their was plenty of room for overtaking and no oncoming traffic.
Comfort encouraged long rides. The riding position doesn't wreck wrists, the seat's comfortable for at least a hundred miles and the relatively large dimensions doesn't make a crunched up body necessary. Rival 125 replicas can't compete in this area. Five minutes on an RG125 was enough for me - what an abortion! The Honda's spoilt me, I think a lot of riders just don't realise how comfortable a motorcycle can be and put up with hell on earth out of sheer ignorance. Honda apply sensible ergonomics to most of the bikes in their range. Clever!
Not so intelligent was the front disc which corrodes at an incredible rate. The pads also wear out fast. The rear drum at least shows some form of intelligence from whoever designs the braking systems. Perhaps it's just English winters that cause the calipers to seize up solidly. I'm on my third (newish) set. Otherwise, the brakes are well up to the dynamics of the ride.
For those looking for a more sensible stroker replica, who want the style without the usual hassles (discomfort and peaky motors), the NS is the obvious choice. They are also cheap, nice ones available from £750 up.
Sam Lawson