31st Jul 2006, 08:36

I work for a multi-franchise dealer and was shocked to read your comments. The GN125's we have sold have never failed, the bike has proven itself over and over... Are you new to biking? Could you be making a few mistakes and not realising?

The odo leaking should be rectified for you, ie a replacement under warranty. If your dealer isn't being helpful, there are plenty out there who will be more than willing to help you, or drop Suzuki a line and see what they have to say...

19th Oct 2006, 08:22

I also am fairly surprised with what you have said regarding this bike.. I have a 1995 which I've had for 2 years, and yes I've had my problems, mainly put down to the previous owners not keeping upto date on the maintenance properly, but all in all, it's a great bike and an extremely reliable one at that (in my opinion).

The engine's still running strong and no sign of wear, and I've had an indicated 75mph out of mine on many occasion's.

Sorry your experience hasn't been as good.

28th Oct 2006, 08:11

I cannot believe the comments on the GN125. It's an excellent bike. If yours is struggling at 50/60 mph there is something wrong with your bike. Mine does 75 mph and will happily do that speed all day!

And for the individual who commented it doesn't wheely, even in first, mine does, but poorly. Then again, what do you expect from a 125?

It's one of the most reliable bikes on the planet (if you perform the maintenance you should be, look after a GN and it will look after you).

The brakes are effective and the handling is brilliant. I can scrape the pegs when going round a tight bend.

Also it's the fastest 125 about in acceleration and top speed. I leave CBR and NSR 125s well behind, looking down at their bikes wondering why that ten year old bike just flew past their brand new CBR! I'm not slating Honda though, they are the makers of the Fireblade after all!

19th Nov 2006, 18:34

I have a Suzuki GN125 1993 mdl. It does 93mph or I mean it did... I have a done a full engine rebuild, new piston valve's ring's etc. but it won't fire up properly. When it finally does it smokes quite a lot and then dies out.

CAN ANY ONE HELP ME, IT WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED? THANK YOU.

21st Nov 2006, 09:54

It sounds like the idiot you got to do the work has not shimmed the top valves properly. There is a lot to be said for either turning wrenches yourself or paying somebody who is a trained professional to perform such a rebuild. There are plenty of take your hard earned cash then fly by night types. Avoid big mouthed characters who say they can rebuild bike engines like the plague, especially if they are drunk loser types.

18th Feb 2007, 21:28

I agree take it some place else and get the valves re-shimmed out to factory floor specifications. There is no excuse for a dealer doing such routine maintenance incorrectly.

13th Mar 2007, 04:58

I had a 05 GN125. Overall it's a very good bike!

The only problem is the tyre, as I can't get a tubeless tyre anywhere!!!

20th Sep 2007, 08:37

Have an 03; runs perfect, a little hard getting neutral when hot, but I crashed and the gearbox took a big slap.

65 mph on the after market clocks; could do with 1 more gear as I think it would keep pulling.

15th Nov 2007, 06:03

I recently bought a scrapped 1996 GN125. The engine is still very fresh, although I've left the engine standard I have changed to a K&N filter and re-jetted the carb to 115 size (easily done-just need two screwdrivers).

I've cut down the seat to make it a single seat, shortened the rear sub-frame and added a fender off an old Kawasaki chop, and I also lowered it by 3 inches for a rat/chop look!

These bikes are easy and cheap to maintain and I cannot believe some of the negative comments posted about them. the GS125 and the GZ125 (Marauder) use the same engine and carb as it's so reliable.

6th Mar 2008, 12:51

Completely forgot I posted this. Eventually the dealer agreed to take the bike in and have a proper look at it, and it turned out that the diaphragm in the carb was faulty, which was causing the lack of power and firing problems. A replacement under warranty cured the problem...

But never mind that as the bike was stolen off my drive in March 07 and was found 3 months later in the canal about a mile away...

I now own a Suzuki EN 125.

9th Jul 2008, 05:55

I own a GN125, fantastic bike!

It's on an '06 plate, owned since new and have ridden it in all weathers, and to date clock 17,000 km. Yes I have replaced a few bits i.e. both tach and odo drive cables, rear brake rod and a rear tyre! And that's it. Oh.. and I have replaced the rear light with one off a Bandit.. Looks far better now.

It has a top box and a tinted front screen. I have lowered the handlebars as they were a little too upright for me, and this provides a much better riding position.

As for performance, try an iridium plug, and you'll see past 100mph! And I pulled a wheely on my CBT! (by accident! The instructor was impressed) and that was before iridium.

The bike has only let me down once, and that was a corroded battery terminal that I had overlooked. A 5 min roadside repair using the on board tool kit, and off again.

Overall... I love it! And it's more economical that the family car Audi A4 2.4 Quattro, but you can't tow a caravan with a GN.

17th Jul 2008, 17:39

I bought my wife a VL125 as a pressie for passing her CBT. She didn't get on with the weight as shes only 5'2" and has a gammy shoulder. So I went back with her to find a bike she felt comfortable with, so we came back with a brand spanking GN125 beginning of Feb this year.

To give an idea of usage, it went for its first service at 500 miles in May, and it's about 800 miles now. Wifey only rides when it's dry as she's still a little nervous, and it's only been out in the wet (not rain... after rain wet) 3 times and wiped down after!

A few little things and a couple of questions to ask now!

1. For a 6 month old bike kept dry and garaged when not used, there is an awful lot of rust round the frame, especially round the welds and nooks and crannies that are less accessible when the frame was coated. (so I'm not too chuffed at the quality of finish)

2. The clocks are s*ds for getting condensation in (this I attribute to sweating when under it's jacket) but still not a sign of quality. There is even a quite large fly that has appeared in the rev counter (which I have to laugh at because on reving, the dead fly seems to get its groove on and starts jigging around the dial, LOL).

I have a 94/95 CBR1000f hack that stands out back rain, shine, sleet & snow that's had some abuse over the 8 previous owners, and there is less rust and the clocks are still water tight!

3. The chrome exhaust has started pitting and bubbling in places, which can't get knocked or scratched.

4. Boy does it vibrate!! When you get it up past 4,500 rpm your fillings start to rattle, above 7,000 your bum hole physically twitches (now that's weird!!) It's like they purposely unbalanced the engine to achieve that effect. (I won't repeat what my wife thinks of that, but it saves me going to Ann Summers! LOL)

5. For some reason I can't remember, I had to lift the front end up or over something... I can't remember, because after just getting the wheel clear of the floor, the handle bar bent and I spent the next 20 minutes removing the bar and straightening it!

Had no engine problems as such! Other than the mix being so far out it was unreal, it was rich, very rich... very very rich, as in the dealer was surprised it was actually running!

Before I go into the questions I have to ask, the answer is NO having the carb reset did not fix the performance issue I raise next!

Now for the question:

1. I know it's a 125... but it pulls like a spider wading through treacle. I have actually had to get off and push it up a hill near here (takes me back to my plastic pig days, just thinking of that old stomp box and feet down running as well for extra speed... OK, maybe not the best memories of my youth). The VL125 went up fairly easy a gear or 2 down, but still at a reasonable pace, not embarrassingly slow!

Is this normal, because there is a post here saying it's got some poke?

2. Someone else said they got a steady 75mph out of it; is this standard/unmodded??

I can make about 50/53mph, about 60mph down a hill (if I can put up with the twitching for long enough!).

The wife says shes got just short of 60mph, and the book says 56/58mph ish (that's my conversion from kph)

3. (last one) These posts vary from excellent to rubbish... are we all talking about the same bike here?

My closing statement:- when you go from 4th to 5th gear, it doesn't accelerate or even cruise... it slows down.

And someone said they wanted another gear!!

Granted based on the revs at 50ish, yes another gear may be nice to cruise, but with the guts this has it would be a waste of metal, and the added weight of another sprocket in there would probably take another 5mph off your top speed!

As for my overall thoughts on the bike, 3.5/5 as a beginner bike or light weight hack, it's like the budgie... cheap, cheap! Cheap to buy, cheap to run, tax and insure and cheap service and maintenance costs. And you wouldn't mind spilling on it in winter (most you'll get is a few cuts & grazes; you would probably destroy the bike though! LOL)

I'm a seasoned rider with a lot of experience, and having ridden bikes from customs to super bikes (C90, RS125, BSA Bantom, Super dream, 1750 Screamin Eagle Fat Boy, 1200 Dragstar x2, 1100 ZZR, 1100 Super Blackbird, 1100 GSXR, R1 to list the most popular ones currently on a CBR 600F for practicality), and this is the scariest bike I've had the misfortune of riding, it feels like it's going to rattle to pieces, seems like it's held together with postage stamp glue and gaffa tape.

And the scariest thing of all is the corners... with the lack of power in a high gear, and hitting the limiter like a concrete wall in a low gear, it's really not designed for riding, it's designed for pedaling. Every bend or corner you encounter makes you want to fall inwards, or slow enough to go round upright with your feet out just in case!