Sex In The City - 125cc sportsbike road test
Heading my way? Three of the sauciest 125s ever made hanging out for slappers in Amsterdam’s De Wallen district
Posted: 7 June 2009
by Staff
“They sell porno vids in the service station,” teenager Sam returns from the magazine rack in the non-descript petrol station just outside Amsterdam with a wide-eyed look. “And you can buy this stuff at 16?” Clutching a copy of ‘Rocco’s Anal Adventures 22’ he starts to read the ‘plot’ on the back of the DVD, before realising he’s in a busy location and sheepishly returns it to the rack. “You might want to be careful taking that home, customs have big gloves and small patience,” policeman Ben warns. Sam’s looks says he isn’t 100% sure if Ben is joking or not. Despite the crowd of people queuing to use the coffee machine next to the magazine section no one raises an eyebrow at this interchange, it’s just another couple of foreigners in a country that’s made a tourist attraction out of vice.
Since it legalised prostitution in 1988 (although technically it had been legal since 1830) and decriminalised ‘soft drugs,’ allowing them to be sold in specialist ‘coffee shops,’ Holland, and Amsterdam particularly, has become a mecca for tourists wanting to legally expand their minds. Or explore their darker sides. It’s a city where anything goes, and usually does so at a pre-determined price. For a teenager wanting to dip their toe into life’s pool of pleasures Amsterdam is the place to start. But with only a restricted 125 for transport this European city of sin is tantalisingly out of reach. Or is it?
With the new breed of funky 125s also comes a new influx of younger riders, armed with bikes that are only restricted in their engine performance, not their potential for exploration. So we decided to unlock this potential and embark on a voyage of discovery to show a teenager on a restricted licence what is achievable after a few hours’ riding. But first we had to locate our willing teenager.
Trainee mechanic Sam had everything we were after: a restricted licence, passport and mind ready to be expanded. He was also 18 years old, the legal age to ride a 125 in Holland. Unfortunately what he lacked was a sense of direction. “Isn’t Amsterdam the other side of Belgium? That’s a long way on a 125,” was his first response when we asked if he was up for the trip. After a brief lesson in geography, he was more reassured, although he did confess to having never ridden outside the M25.
Things can get messy quite quickly in Amsterdam, (I have a hazy recollection to this day of ecstasy pills and four hookers in 1999) and for that reason we needed to bring along a voice of reason for when it all got a bit much. Ben Giff stuck his hand up at this point, and seeing as he’s a copper, and therefore trusted enough by the Met Police to bash crims over the head with a nightstick, he filled the brief perfectly as the sensible yin to Sam’s yang. Team assembled, time to embark on our voyage.
Due to Sam’s L-plates, taking the M25 to Harwich was out, so we cut through London and picked up the A12 heading east, soon entering uncharted waters for Sam as we slipped under the M25 barrier. On the open dual carriageway it rapidly developed into a slipstreaming contest as we tried to eek out every last mph. On the CBR125R Sam’s miniscule frame allowed him to exploit the frankly pathetic performance of the Honda and keep up with the more rapid Aprilia and Yamaha.
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For the last few years Honda’s CBR125R has ruled the roost, shifting a massive 2,738 bikes when it was launched in 2005, a feat that made it the UK’s best selling bike ahead of a row of big capacity race reps. This year it has been joined by Yamaha’s new YZF-R125, which has sold over 1,000 bikes in the 14 weeks since it hit these shores. As always Aprilia’s RS125 has been in the background, selling a consistent 800-odd bikes a year, the majority of which are restricted, but the two-stroke Italian mini-stallion has always tended to sell less due to its higher price tag. So why are they back in favour? As the tabloids are happily screaming at the moment times are tough in the UK, and the cost of commuting is high, especially in major cities. Small capacity bikes are back as commuters use them to either ride to the train station, saving miles on the family car and parking fees, or ride to work. For £120 you can get a CBT, which is all that is needed to ride on the road. Insurance is next to nothing and fuel costs negligible. Once the initial outlay of buying a bike is over the rest of the costs are minimal. Small capacity bikes are reliable, cheap, and almost maintenance free and unlike scooters not very attractive to thieves. And although the CBR was seen as the ‘cool’ commuter, last year Yamaha’s very basic YBR125 (costing £1,849) was the best-selling bike in the UK with 2,272 sold.
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