Facts first - my Honda CG125 is T-registered, the pushrod engine produces 11hp, the bike boasts 5 gears, drum brakes and has a fully enclosed chain. Thrashing it daft the bike does about 100mpg, rising to a shade over 125mpg when pottering. It can cruise at 45mph, whilst flat out is 65mph.
I bought mine as a broke student. Two days after purchase, I loaded the thing up with 11 stone of rider and 3 stone of luggage, riding from Whitby to Liverpool. 147 miles including North Yorkshire moors and the Pennines (on A roads), took me just under four hours, one tank of petrol and a sore backside. I used to do that journey frequently and that was the CG at its worst - a 125 is not a sensible bike to cover long distances on, and even a low mileage specimen like mine was struggling to maintain 40mph up steep hills and against strong winds.
Apart from being slow and hard work over long distances the CG impressed me enormously. In town the acceleration was enough to surprise most drivers and keep me out of trouble, whilst the low mass (225lbs) meant the handling was light and responsive. The economy is something else. Even used in town traffic it consumed so little petrol that I used to feel quite hurt when I had to make a rare trip to the garage. I certainly never used enough to have enough tokens for a free sherry glass, plastic storage jar or useless whatnot that was on offer at the time. My best ever run was from Whitby to Liverpool on £2.70 of petrol when petrol was nearly £2 a gallon.
The CG suffered badly in Liverpool. As it cost me £200 (a lot out of a student’s grant) I had to prevent Liverpool’s practical socialists redistributing my property (nicking my bike) with a steel hoop lock. When the bike was locked to something solid and immobile it was safe. So unable to nick it, the local Toxteth estate youths vandalized it instead. Sugar in the tank and all the cables and pipes cut. I was desperately upset. I was also desperately hard up, so I only replaced what was needed to make it move: and didn’t bother with things like speedo cables.
Back home in North Yorkshire the bike was not threatened by mindless destruction but by my poor punctuality instead. All my life I have had an appalling habit of setting off 5 minutes later than I should. I had a job in a pub (a rigid anti biker policy - it went against the grain, but I was hard up). Eight hilly miles away from work, I used to ride the CG on the limits of its roadholding to get there on time. Once I was on the open roads, flicking the CG through a series of bends would cause a satisfying shower of sparks from the grounded stands. Only when I was really late did the whole back end judder and threaten to overtake the front wheel.
The bike often stood outside in the pissing rain or very damp coastal fogs for hours on end and it never failed to start after a couple of kicks. I was never wildly impressed by the headlamp and I would have liked more efficient brakes. The electrics only failed me once. I was thundering home from work one night and I switched on the full beam. To my dismay everything went pitch black, thanks to a blown bulb. Self and bike ended up on the verge at 40mph and skidded along for 35 yards or so before I switched back to dipped beam to see where the hell I was heading - straight for an old but nonetheless solid wail. Brakes on and the whole outfit slithered to an ungraceful halt. I got off to collect my wits, such as they are. Sitting on a fencepost about six feet from me was a barn owl, looking very beautiful, but blinking at me in contempt. It was one of those bonuses that you don’t get cocooned in a car.
Anyway, enough of nature notes, back to the bike. Maintenance is a doddle - just do what Haynes says. The bike is T-reg, looks a bit tatty but still runs quite well. One thing that is worth stressing is to keep the whole chain guard, because running with the bottom half missing will wreck the otherwise exceptional chain wear (18-20000 miles). The brakes are far from wonderful but just about adequate for a light bike. The bike is comfortable and the riding position good for the sort of distances that the CG was built for. I like the CG’s looks, it’s cheap to run and a very practical commuter and hack.
But a final cautionary note: as I've said, I do quite large mileages on mine, and after 60 miles the vibration is noticeable rising through intrusive to unbearable somewhere about the 110 mile mark. The UMG wisely recommends that KH250 owners carry a spare set of spark plugs, I would counsel that long distance CG125 riders carry a spare set of testicles.
Peter McGraft