Great little vid, did mention that he had a flat tyre a few too many times though.
I wonder if he’s ever been shown how to do it properly?
I wonder if he’s ever been shown how to do it properly?
Honda CT125 Hunter Cub
- Thread starter Warlord
- Start date
Just nosing around the used bikes at the local dealer yesterday I noticed this slightly used, 2022 Trail 125 with 255 miles. Long story short they accepted my offer and loaded it in my truck. I guess I should have offered less!
Today I took it out for a couple hours on various roads from gravel to 55 mph 2-lane highways then on some trails here. With top speed of around 50-55 on level, the bike is enjoyable on all types of roads up to 45 mph ones. On the highways I sometimes found myself WFO going 30 mph up hill, which was fine, other than the truck right behind me wanting to go 60!
Next I rode it on some the trails here that I walk and take a SXS on and ironically this type of riding is where the bike has been compromised compared to the original Trail 90. It's light enough and has plenty of steering lock, but with no low range and only 4 speeds, 1st is simply too tall for real trail riding. To lower the overall gearing enough to make 1st a trail gear, 3rd and 4th will be too low for the road. Honda really should have incorporated the 2-range 4 speed transmission or designed a single range transmission to be have 5 gears. Gears 2-5 for normal riding plus a creeper 1st gear for 3-10 mph riding through the woods, ruts, etc.
IMO the Trail 125 is not a trail bike, but is ideal for tooling around town and on small paved and dirt roads with up to 45 mph speed limits.
Today I took it out for a couple hours on various roads from gravel to 55 mph 2-lane highways then on some trails here. With top speed of around 50-55 on level, the bike is enjoyable on all types of roads up to 45 mph ones. On the highways I sometimes found myself WFO going 30 mph up hill, which was fine, other than the truck right behind me wanting to go 60!
Next I rode it on some the trails here that I walk and take a SXS on and ironically this type of riding is where the bike has been compromised compared to the original Trail 90. It's light enough and has plenty of steering lock, but with no low range and only 4 speeds, 1st is simply too tall for real trail riding. To lower the overall gearing enough to make 1st a trail gear, 3rd and 4th will be too low for the road. Honda really should have incorporated the 2-range 4 speed transmission or designed a single range transmission to be have 5 gears. Gears 2-5 for normal riding plus a creeper 1st gear for 3-10 mph riding through the woods, ruts, etc.
IMO the Trail 125 is not a trail bike, but is ideal for tooling around town and on small paved and dirt roads with up to 45 mph speed limits.
I'd go with your assessment Clifton 
Which sums up why it's ideal for me
Which sums up why it's ideal for me
Dave, owner of The Buccleuch Arms at Moffat had one made by Mark at CymarkI've seen posts of your wonderful ride and the Trail is an ideal motorcycle for it!
When you find a dog you'll have to adapt a box on the rear rack to carry he/she along.
Congratulations on the new bike Clifton, hope you enjoy.
Agree about its usefulness as a small, light bike which you can have big adventures on - just look at what Micky has done with his recently.
With regards to their off-road abilities, there’s plenty of owners over here in the Uk who use them regularly for a range of trail riding , including the tougher stuff, with no problems and a lot of fun. The bits I’ve struggled on most have been in deep ruts, but then It’s never going to be a full on enduro bike, and that’s a good thing in many ways as it can still deliver a huge amount across a reasonable range of the types of trails we have here, with just a few minor tweaks to cover off the limitations and a bit of patience. I do agree though that Honda missed a trick by not fitting the dual gear range they put onto the earlier models!
Have fun with yours whatever you decide to use it for and look forward to seeing lots more photos of it out in the wonderful wilderness you have access to out there
Dave, owner of The Buccleuch Arms at Moffat had one made by Mark at Cymark
Excellent job there
Love reading your posts Clifton, and that lil Cub is cracking.
Thank you, Todd and Oldrat!
Todd your rut example is a good one. I found the clutch ends up doing a lot of slipping when trying to power out of a rut, or over a ledge. The other area I noticed is when wanting to go slow (like walking pace around roots, rocks, etc.) up hill. The only way to go that slow is for the clutch to be slipping. So I'll just avoid riding this bike on trails with those conditions.
My use for it will be riding around local small roads and maybe take along in the truck when car camping. Also it might make a good bike for my 9 and 11 year old grandsons to learn on.
It's such a cool looking little bike I was thinking of moving into my living room for Winter. It could sit where the TV (that I don't use) does currently. But that's not far from the wood stove and I wonder how feasible it would be to thoroughly drain its petrol tank?
The art of riding over roots or out of deep ruts, is to stop, engage first or even second gear, keep your foot on the gear change, apply a few revs and then let go the gear change. Sufficient revs and you will clear whatever you're trying to get over .... to many revs and maybe even the next obstacle
Didn't work for me ... there was no one to catch me
I still haven't got used to the bloody gearbox/clutch. If I go up through the gears (downwards with the toe) and stop in fourth, once stationary another notch down on the gear-lever and I'm in neutral. If I stop in a lower gear that doesn't work, I have to keep nudging the gear change lever down to cycle it through the higher remaining gear(s) Heel it down and you get the same result
Wouldn’t the Monkey 125 with a 5 speed box and balloon tyres be better ?
No JB …. it’s not an ‘Adventure Cub’ 
But Micky I was IN 1st gear the whole time I was riding on trails. Are you suggesting come to a complete stop in 1st, keep foot on (press down?) on the gear lever, rev then release the lever? Wouldn't that put it in neutral?
I had a Monkey and it was pretty jarring on small bumps so I never even tried it on trails. I can't recall if first was lower than the Trail or not? It did have plenty of ground clearance though.
IMO one of the nicest little street legal trail bikes being sold now is Yamaha's XT250, but I don't think it is sold in Europe.
At 290# wet it's 40 pounds more than a Trail 125 however its 18hp is double. It comes with 18/21"wheels and a wide ratio 5-speed with a very low 1st. It also sports a low seat height yet a lot of ground clearance. Top speed is about 72 mph with a comfortable cruise speed around 60 mph and it has a 2.5 (US) gallon tank. It's FI, air cooled, relatively inexpensive, easy to service, and manufactured in Japan.
But Micky I was IN 1st gear the whole time I was riding on trails. Are you suggesting come to a complete stop in 1st, keep foot on (press down?) on the gear lever, rev then release the lever? Wouldn't that put it in neutral?
From neutral just depress the gear lever down but keep your foot on the gear-lever …. increase revs and take your foot off the gear lever, it’ll pull one helluva wheelie. Don’t ask me how I know
The weird bit I didn’t get my head around to start with is that that that the clutch is effectively all controlled through your foot. So rather than change gear with your left foot then feed the clutch in through your left hand, it is effectively all done through your foot control
I’m just starting to get the hang of disengage drive by shifting with left foot, hold it down to match revs on down change and then feed it all back in slowly, again using left foot.
The good news is you can’t stall it so you can fuck it up as much as you need whilst learning! Just beware dumping it and locking the back wheel and doing a massive slide (DAMHIK)!
So what has worked for me to some extent, but not without drama, is to assume the clutch control is on my left foot/ankle.
It/s a bit of a challenge, but hopefully worth it in the end
I’m just starting to get the hang of disengage drive by shifting with left foot, hold it down to match revs on down change and then feed it all back in slowly, again using left foot.
The good news is you can’t stall it so you can fuck it up as much as you need whilst learning! Just beware dumping it and locking the back wheel and doing a massive slide (DAMHIK)!
So what has worked for me to some extent, but not without drama, is to assume the clutch control is on my left foot/ankle.
It/s a bit of a challenge, but hopefully worth it in the end
OK, still seems like it'll just rev in neutral but I'll give it a try; down to neutral which is at the bottom, continue pressing down, rev then release the shifter.
Let us know how you get on guys
I just had mine out and when I do as you describe which is from 1st, press down to neutral (neutral light on), continue pressing down, rev motor and quit pressing down (releasing the shifter), neutral light stays on and it just stays in neutral. As it should IMO.
Now if from neutral if I would rev the engine then at the same time shift up to 1st, it would obviously lurch forward. But that couldn't be good for the transmission.
Now if from neutral if I would rev the engine then at the same time shift up to 1st, it would obviously lurch forward. But that couldn't be good for the transmission.
Best video yet .... for any doubters
Thanks Mickey. I just watched the first few minutes and on his Canadian spec Trail, neutral is up with all four gears down in order. (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th). However if you shift up from neutral it selects 4th!
On my US spec bike neutral is at the bottom (can't go any further) with all four gears up in order. So a conventional gearbox (up to upshift, down to downshift) other than neutral is at the bottom instead of between 1st and 2nd.
On my US spec bike neutral is at the bottom (can't go any further) with all four gears up in order. So a conventional gearbox (up to upshift, down to downshift) other than neutral is at the bottom instead of between 1st and 2nd.
Similar threads
