Honda CR125 and a brand new rider?


JayOne

Member
Apr 27, 2010
5
0
I got a Honda CR125 2006 model. I have never ridden before and got it to learn on.

We took it out the other day for the first time. My brother is a rider, and he was going to teach me, but after using it he said its possibly to fast to learn on.

When I say I've not ridden before I'm new to it all, clutch, gears etc. In theory I know how it all works, but I dont want to jump on it, pull the throttle back to much and end up on the floor.

So I'm stuck with 2 things, either decrease the power of the bike temporarily, or jump in the deep end and if I fall off get back up and try again.

Any advice/tips?
 

JayOne

Member
Apr 27, 2010
5
0
YZ__rider said:
How old are you? Height? Weight? What type of terrain are you riding?

I'm 25, around 5ft 11 and was riding on grass land (Although I didn't actually get to ride it).
 

dirt bike dave

Sponsoring Member
May 3, 2000
5,349
3
125 race bikes are not good beginner bikes, IMO. I'm sure many have 'jumped in the deep end' and learned to ride on them, but it's not the best choice for most new riders. But at your size and age (maturity) it's probably worth a shot. Just be patient, and don't get too aggressive until your skills improve.

Detuning is not commonly done. I guess it could work, but it's not going to be easy to get a little bit of nice smooth beginner friendly power out of a full race 125.

If you are easily intimidated or will get frustrated by crashes that you would not have on a true beginners bike,
you could pick up a more beginner friendly bike, learn on it for a few months, re-sell it for close to what you paid, and save the CR125 for when you have learned the basic skills.
 

YZ__rider

Member
Jan 16, 2010
152
0
You should be able to handle a CR125. The thing that you will learn about a 125 2 stroke is that their power comes on very sudden and strong. The power is very peaky, some liken it to a light switch...on or off. You would probably be better off to learn gear and clutch control on a 4 stoke...but if you use your head, you should get it down.
 

JayOne

Member
Apr 27, 2010
5
0
Could you recommend a good bike to practice on?

My main concern is having to learn to control the bike and use the clutch, gears etc etc. Once that becomes "natural" to me jumping on the 125 will be case of taking it slow and get a feel for its power.

Thanks for any advice.
 

mathd

Member
Oct 11, 2008
208
0
You can do it, its not that hard and will make you a better rider.
Make sure you have all the gear, setup the suspension for your weight and make sure your friend cover the basic with you. Do not start on tough road/trail obviously.

You will fight against the bike while learning so you will go slow and this is normal. After about 10 ride you will feel much better on it and you will be impressed about how much you improved yourself.

Take it easy and dont see it bigger that it really is.
 

JayOne

Member
Apr 27, 2010
5
0
Thanks MathD.

Does the suspension have anything to do with the control of the bike? Just a question. Because when my brother was riding it he was saying everytime the power band kicked in the front wanted to lift up even when he had his weight over the bike.
 

YZ__rider

Member
Jan 16, 2010
152
0
A good beginners bike would be a 4 stroke, such as a Honda XR250/200 or a Yamaha TTR230/250. You may be too big for a TTR125 or CRF150 4 stroke. Of course, the person loaning you the bike would have to understand that you will likely lay it over a few times learning to ride.
 

rmc_olderthandirt

~SPONSOR~
Apr 18, 2006
1,533
8
Go to the "What bike do I get" forum and fill out the "sticky" form. With all that information we can give you some good advice.

That said, I suspect that since you already have the bike it will be the one you learn on.

I predict that you are going to end up falling quite a bit so get used to the idea of dusting yourself off and getting back on the bike. Most of your falls will be fairly gentle tip overs but there may be a few that beat you up pretty good. Make sure that you have the proper safety gear. As a minimum:

Helmet
Goggles
Boots
Gloves

I highly recommend a chest protector.
Riding pants will survive the abuse a lot better than a pair of jeans. Believe me, it will be cheaper in the long run to wear riding pants.

It took me a while to convince myself that I need them but now I don't ride without shin/knee guards, padded shorts and elbow pads.

There really isn't a good way to limit the power on the bike so you are just going to need to learn how to control it. If you have never driven a clutch before that will take some learning and you will probably stall the bike a lot. A 125 will require a fair amount of clutch slipping to get up some of the hills and that might be a little frustrating until you get the hang of it.

One thing that you might want to consider doing would be to change the front chain sprocket to a smaller size. It probably has a 13 tooth on it now so change to a 12 tooth. This is a fairly significant change in the gearing, which will dramatically impact your top speed but will make climbing hills slowly a LOT easier.

Otherwise, take it easy and have fun!

Rod
 

IndyMX

Crash Test Dummy
~SPONSOR~
Jul 18, 2006
5,548
2
Amo, IN
At 39 I learned on a YZ85. I had previous experience, but not recent, and not on dirt. You'd think a YZ85 would be easy, it's small, the engine isn't that big and it's small!

I'm 5'9 210lbs.. That bike was tiny.

But.. It was handful. I quickly made my way onto a CR125 and then onto a CRF450.

Learning on the small light switch of a bike made it much easier for me to feel when the power was coming on.

I crashed a lot.

Good luck.
 

Joburble

Bring back the CR500
~SPONSOR~
Jul 20, 2009
417
0
mathd said:
You can do it, its not that hard and will make you a better rider.
Make sure you have all the gear, setup the suspension for your weight and make sure your friend cover the basic with you. Do not start on tough road/trail obviously.

You will fight against the bike while learning so you will go slow and this is normal. After about 10 ride you will feel much better on it and you will be impressed about how much you improved yourself.

Take it easy and dont see it bigger that it really is.

I agree.

When I was 15 I learned to ride on a YZ125 (lots of switch-like power, crap steering, suspension and brakes) and I guarantee your CR125 will be easier to ride than that was. Just get the feel of the throttle and don't try and go fast. Ride on some flat ground, do some stops and starts, go through the gears. After a few rides learn to rev it a little more and gently learn where the power is. Yes you could learn to ride on an easy 4 stroke, but there's no real need, just take it easy and don't push yourself. Yes you will stall it a few times and when it starts to pull away don't just drop the clutch, keep feathering it out gently until you get the feel of things. Wear good safety gear.

Tip: Sit up front when accelerating and maybe grip the tank/seat with your knees coz if you find the power the natural tendancy is to roll the throttle on as you slide off the back. Gripping the bike will stop you sliding off and give you time to throttle off.

Have fun.

P.S. Someone suggested putting a smaller sprocket on the front, all that will do is make it wheelie more easily, and make the bike more snappy in the lower gears. Yes it may make the bike climb hills more slowly, but you don't want to be tackling hills or tricky terrain until you have mastered the control of the bike on easy flat terrain first. To do that, you would do better to keep the standard gearing. To feel confident it may take 5 - 10 rides depending on your progress, give it time. It is better to be patient than to be a patient.
 
Last edited:

Top Bottom