Hacking: Suzuki GS125 capers

An A reg, woman owned, 4000 mile, GS125 turned up in the local paper just when I needed one. After a test ride and agreeing a price, the bug hit me again - I was pleased as punch and grinning from ear to ear - until it poured down with rain on the way home and I recalled just why I’d given up biking all those years before.

The little Suzi was a dream from day one. She was averaging .up to 100mpg at cruising speeds up to 55mph. If thrashed at 65mph it’d do around 85mpg, whilst top speed was around 70-75mph, but this kind of treatment wasn’t recommended because it revved the socks off the engine.

Mechanically, the GS is a sound little number. DIY is a piece of cake - tappets are screw and locknut, easy to do and require infrequent adjustment, the camchain has to be adjusted more frequently to avoid an annoying buzz. As a money saving exercise these SOHC singles are a real boon.

Insurance is only £17 (I’m thirty), tax a tenner and the resale value is very good due to the learner laws (useful for tearaways sitting the test as it has a more conservative image than the strokers).

Chain adjustment is needed every 150 miles, oil change every 1500 miles, oil filters at 3000 miles.

Rear shocks are a little on the soft side but absorb bumps well, the Jap tyres are fine in the dry but a little dodgy in the wet - nowhere near as dangerous as the older stuff, but not to be treated with disdain.

There are two gripes — the selection of neutral usually takes three of four attempts, although the box is otherwise quite ace, and the SLS front drum is straight out of the ice age (the deluxe model comes with a disc) and only useful up to 50mph; beyond that speed it’s down to stamping on the rear brake, front on as hard as possible and quickly going down through the gearbox.

Despite revving all the way to ten grand there’s a surprising amount of low down stomp for such a small engine. It’ll potter or rev as much as you want, the lack of cubes only being felt into strong winds when you need to drop a gear or two to maintain reasonable progress.

The brakes are a little dangerous for learners, especially those who seem to like to hang onto the tail lights of cars, and it‘s important to maintain a reasonable braking distance. It may well be worth tracking down a disc brake front end off the deluxe model or trying to find some better brake linings for the stock set-up.

Except for the brake, the GS125 is a perfect little bike, with adequate performance good handling, smart looks and excellent economy, not to mention low running costs.

Keith Rose