17th Oct 2008, 18:20

Hi there, my Suzuki GN125 is a '97 with 11000 when I bought it. I have abused it for 4000 km. It was and still is in excellent condition, and I can say based on 4000km, that it is super duper motorcycle.

It has a bullet proof engine, a little bad finish paint on the swingarm going off where little rocks kick it falling from tire, but that is it.

Mine goes to 10000rpm, and the red starts there, and it pulls still.

Have ridden it at 110km/h.

It's good bike all in all. Commenting on its speed and power as well as stability etc. Well to shorten it, it's a 107kg, 11hp 125cc bike, get serious, what do you expect, but for what it is it's great.

Only one thing that I can say is really crap; it is the rev counter, which is driven by a cable, not electric one, and it goes off, the cable snaps. An electric one would last forever.

That's it, it beats any scooter, and that's its category really.

I think mine is average bike, no mods whatsoever, so all of you who have slower machines, go to a mechanic.

22nd Oct 2008, 13:31

Mine's a 1996 N reg with 22000 miles on it, still runs well and starts first time... maybe the new ones are crap? ps. no major rust.

21st Nov 2008, 07:29

I own a 2004 GN125, it's done around 8500 miles and all in all I think it's a pretty good bike. Starts every time, even on the coldest mornings, but does take a little while to warm up properly. I get about 140 miles from a tank and it can do 70mph all day like others said.

The only negatives are the lack of fuel gauge, but I just set my trip when I fill up, then I know when I get to 130 miles it's time to fill up. Also as someone said, it's not the best around tighter corners, especially on a camber, but I guess most bikes struggle with that.

I would recommend it to anyone who just wants a cheap 125cc bike.

27th Jan 2009, 10:27

I have a Suzuki GN125 03, I had it stolen and recovered a few months ago, just got it back on the road and noticed I can drive in 5th gear at 9000 RPM and only get 40 out of it, I used to get 75. Could anybody tell me what the problem is, are the gears screwed? Thanks.

19th Apr 2009, 15:10

I just got a 2003 Suzuki GN125 to learn on, and I love it!! It's so light and easy to ride, and puts up easily with my lack of experience on a bike. The only annoying thing really is a squeaky front brake, and a top speed of about 63mph when some people are saying they had over 70 on theirs. However mine's got a km/h speedo that's been converted to read miles, so maybe it's not too accurate...

I've been driving for a few years now, but this biking thing is a whole different ball game! I know sod-all about bikes, but I really do love the little Suzuki, and can see us having many happy miles together...

28th Apr 2009, 02:56

I am very curious now where these motorcycles are manufactured. I think the GN125's newer than 2004 are made in China. In case of quality issues... can anyone confirm this?

7th Jun 2009, 11:06

I have a 2005 GN125 and I bought it after owning the GZ125 Marauder.

Yes they did stop making these in around 2000 (not sure of exact dates), and they are now all Chinese imports, which is why the clocks are in km not miles. Unfortunately there seems to be no consistency in quality with these imports so you may get a good one or a bad, hence the mixed reviews.

They suffer from top end wear as do all the 4 stroke 125 range GN/GS/GZ etc, so be careful and change the oil twice as often as you think, and the filter every other change.

There is a common fault also with the speedo and rev cables, and they wear out really quickly, it's also hard to source new cables are they are not all the same. When you find a source buy 2 IMO. PTFE and grease to help with the water seepage problems maybe?

Saying all that aside, I bought mine in a hurry because I needed wheels for work, and apart from the faults I've listed above, it has been fairly reliable.

BTW I found this site whilst I was searching for somewhere to source the cables that I need.

21st Jul 2009, 17:37

I've noticed the GN125 is very sensitive to weight; I've known an 9 stone woman to get it upto 74mph, which is quite impressive for a 125cc.

I did find the front brake a bit naff, but I simply replaced the disc and pads with SBSs and they had much more stopping power.

I've also found that the power of the machine decreases over time, so try replacing the carb with a new one if yours is quite old like mine (1994). I did this as well as adding a NGK plug, a new oil filter, oil change, cables and air filter etc... I generally upgraded a lot of parts and it performed better than ever!!! A lot of cost I know, but getting a Haynes manual will enable you to do all this yourself and there's always cheap parts knocking around on eBay etc. Try playing with the sprocket sizes too so that you can get more top speed or acceleration, depending on what you prefer.

All in all, the GN125 is a great bike but requires maintenance as it gets older (as you'd expect). The simplicity of the engine means that this bike is not only great for learner riders, but is also great for learner 'tinkerers' as well, since the machine can be played around with and will still run no matter how many mistakes you make. Any problems you cause can be easily fixed on your own accord without having to take it to a garage. There's not many bikes like that around. Enough said!

16th Aug 2009, 17:08

I have had my 2003 GN125 since April, she won't tick over, or she will over run up to 4-5,000 revs, and stick there until I rev her out.

Sometimes she don't want to start, I have her attached to an optimiser all the time, or she wouldn't start at all. I have a new battery on it.

I refer to her as she, as I love the riding position, and bike. I just hope she will start on test day next month, then she will have served her purpose.

Suzuki made these til 2001, then made a deal with the Chinese, and made them with them!!!

Seems to be luck of the drawer with them, but I have had to learn how to bump start a bike with this one ha ha.

Put a kickstart on all bikes, then no problem!!!