Yamaha YBR 125 - RIDE AND REVIEW

[@darrenwebster2193]

I'm in my late 50s, have one of these and utterly love it..! Brilliantly agile, very forgiving, ultra frugal on fuel (100mpg) Still hits 70mph with a lump like me onboard.. 11/10

[@MechitBetter]

Couldn't agree more Darren. Great bikes for economical enjoyment. Ride safe good sir.

[@BritSniper303]

ALWAYS fit Michelin Pilot Street tyres for these YBR's..upgrade the headlight, also fully check out the gearbox for learner rider hammering, see if it selects neutral ok, how clean is the oil? then they're 110% brilliant.. My old Betsy has 31,500 miles on, still does 70mph and I'm 14 stone and has side panniers and a top box..!!

[@gideonsikk8733]

Yep my pussyfoot burns at ..80mph on a down hill .. 10 stone . Its all about momentum on a 125cc isn't it

[@joshuasalisbury789]

@@gideonsikk8733 80mph?! What u done to it

[@gideonsikk8733]

@@joshuasalisbury789 haha did nothing bro was always pushing that . Tell a lie I did put a dominated exhaust on her ...

[@gideonsikk8733]

167 on my 600cbrr 2008 ..stock bro not even cat delete or ecu dyno yet .....its in the blood 😆

[@joshuasalisbury789]

@@gideonsikk8733 ok bro

[@Kingfisherk26]

Great video... at the age of 57 I'm about to do my CBT on one of these next weekend. ...no fool like and old fool.

[@MechitBetter]

Fair play to you good Sir. Thanks for the appreciation. We didn't start until we were in our 30's and I think that was actually an advantage. Enjoy the experience and keep your eyes peeled. Winter can be a challenge but you'll be a pro by summer 😉👍

[@Kingfisherk26]

@@MechitBetter Thanks mate... "a pro by the summer" .. or it shall never be spoken of again. 🙄 I'll be working my way through your other videos to keep me motivated. Take care.

[@stevieboy4302]

I'm 60 I ride one,great bike.

[@Kingfisherk26]

@@stevieboy4302 Good to know... I bought one in February now in the process of getting some miles under my belt...

[@stevieboy4302]

@@Kingfisherk26 great stuff. Just keep off the cheap Chinese bikes like keeway.

[@TomBartram-b1c]

It's great being quite small and slim like you when you're limited to a 125. I'm happy enough to tootle along at 50mph but on that i'd look like a bear on a unicycle! Hence i ride a Jawa 350. Nice vid, thanks.

[@johnofypres]

Bamford and Castleton. Thought it looked familiar. Nice review. Thank you.

[@jackdaknife]

Round headlight on the YBR's is absolutely pants. I've got an '09 and i nearly shit myself riding back from the cinema one night, had to just follow the car ahead of me to get home. If you don't have accessories draining the battery i've heard you can upgrade the 35w bulb to a 55w without problems. I've changed mine out from the stock bulb to a halogen 35w which makes a difference but still considering the 55w.

[@jpgiebl]

I'm thinking about upgrading mine to led, that way I dont have to worry about the alternator not keeping up

[@mrmoon1482]

Same issue with my old one the headlights on these models are useless, they also keep blowing bulbs,

[@mrmoon1482]

Same issue with my old one the headlights on these models are useless, they also keep blowing bulbs,

[@jackdaknife]

@@mrmoon1482 It should honestly be illegal I changed my bike out for a '17 honda cb125f and the headlight is amazing

[@goldbunny1973]

OK now Im officially deaf in my left ear... once you get past the horrible choice of LOUD background music at the start this becomes quite an enjoyable & informative review : )

[@MechitBetter]

😄 Cheers for the feedback. Hopefully the right ear can stick around for other videos. I may be a bit bias towards my music preference. Apologies it wasn't to your taste. Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment though.

[@cerealtiller]

Yep...Motorbikes make their own Music....

[@BritSniper303]

Who put the 'Yamana' silencer on her..? I had a double-take at the name... 'YamaNa'... Good one..! Bike sounds better than a FI version..

[@MechitBetter]

It was on there when i got the bike... Dont know if its much different from standard as its the only one ive had on it. It does sound alright for a 125 though. Nothing too over the top or trying to make it sound more than it is. Pretty reliable little machine.

[@MrJmawiseman]

I passed my full test years ago, had a Honda cb750 and got a car again for various reasons. I currently ride a 2020 Brixton 125 but it's gutless and not comfy. Mate at work just offered me a 12 plate ybr with 25k on the clock for £700. Had a quick blast on the carpark at work and it felt soooo comfy and engine seemed willing. I'm five foot 11 and 110kg. Will the ybr still pull my weight ok? 😂. Mates bike is fuel injected and not carb. Will this affect power? I'm tempted to buy the ybr as it seems a good commuter and I'm not bothered with getting a bigger bike for now.

[@МОТОРчикЧичиркаМотоклуб]

Hell yeah, bro✌️

[@MotorbikeMan1965]

just got my son one of these. 2013. runs well enough for a 125. wont win any races. just 1 thing. anyone have any issues with neutral light not working? did you resolve it. ? cheers

[@mitchelrobins651]

Not sure if you'll see this or remember but what hand guards are those, I need them 😂

[@MechitBetter]

Hi, thanks for watching. The handguard were not YBR specific just a cheap/generic set off eBay. It was quite a while ago so I don't remember exactly which but I'm sure you won't have much trouble finding some. Definitely worth fitting some to deflect the chilly air, especially this time of year. Hope that helps

[@renostubbs8504]

I appreciate your the in making this video, thank you so much, man. I have one but it doesn't go fast at all, do you think that it is the carburetor that needs to change?? Had it cleaned, it coated me 200 dollars and it is still the same speed. Because I am tired of being so far back on a Sunday afternoon ride. Any help would be more than appreciated...PLEASE HELP ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE HELPFUL

[@MechitBetter]

How fast is yours going?

[@renostubbs8504]

@@MechitBetter Thanks for your response bro. I would say about 30 mph, it has to be something wrong, my buddies I ride with, who always leave me behind said that it might be the carburetor. What do you think bro???

[@MechitBetter]

You should get 65mph out of a carburettor YBR, so there’s definitely something wrong with yours if it’s only doing 30mph. What symptoms are you getting other than running slow. What happens when you hit 30mph? Have you checked anything so far? Has it always run this way?

[@Erii_SE]

How tall are you? Does the bike fit you for your size? I am thinking about buying one of these to start of but the seller was worried about my height and me being to tall. I am 191cm (about 6,2)

[@MechitBetter]

Hi, As I'm sure I've made clear, I thoroughly enjoyed owning this bike so you're on the right track. It's an absolute trooper ...if you look after it 😉 I'm about 173cm and felt like it was a good fit for me. This doesn't instantly mean it's going to be a bad choice for you. I would highly recommend getting your butt on which ever bike you intend to buy, or at least the same model, to let your body give you the answer. It's the best/easiest way to be sure and potentially the most accurate (even if you are just sat on it). All the little things like are the foot controls in a comfortable position, how much do you have to bend your knees, does the position of the handlebars force bad posture or put your shoulders in an uncomfortable position? etc All things that you just don't know without physically straddling your weapon of choice. Taller riders tend to go for the cruiser style bikes to get a bit more leg room but if that's not your style, a supermoto might give your legs the breathing room they need but retain the more typical riding position. It might be worth visiting a local motorbike shop to see if you can swing a leg over a few different styles to see what suits you best and then match it to your budget. Does any of that sound like it might be useful?

[@nadjib3ajib268]

Does it have vibrations ?

[@erickmelendez66]

this guy us crazy hes driving on the wrong side of the road, hes lucky the other people are polite

[@MechitBetter]

🤣 He’s a maniac!

[@alexonwheels4190]

Do you reckon I could fit a 100/90 on the back of mine rather than my current 3.00 inch? I believe the stock is 90/90!

[@MechitBetter]

The first question has to be; For what purpose? is it just for looks, to achieve some kind of physical change in how it performs or adapting it to the terrain where you ride it most? You can change a lot of the feel and capability of the bike with a good quality set of tyres. There are a whole bunch of options out there depending on your intentions but I would trust in the original dimensions the bike was designed with a just get some quality rubber to suit.

[@alexonwheels4190]

@@MechitBetter I want to fit a fatter tyre on the back so that it absorbs the bumps a bit better and maybe it will be a little bit grippier on the corners, maybe I am wrong? Another question I have is the electric start doesn't work! The person who had it before me says he bought a new starter motor so it's not that, I took of the starter motor and I think I found the problem. The cog inside the engine that starter motor connects to seems to be spinning both ways but not engaging with the gears so it just makes a wizzing noise but doesn't seem to engage! Do you have any ideas on what i could do to fix this?

[@mrmoon1482]

I did 28000 miles on my old ybr sometimes 2 up, had no major problems with it at all, being a 2 valve air cooled engine they ain’t the fastest 125 by any means, only thing I didn’t like about it they do struggle up hills, the MT 125 with the 4 valve liquid cooled engine pulls a lot better, The headlight on this model is terrible also,

[@MechitBetter]

Great effort on the milage. Was that all commuting or was it sprinkled with adventures? It's a great little work horse. I really did enjoy mine. I particularly liked it's combo of electric and kick start which has definitely come in handy a couple times. I agree it's not the fastest out there but that was certainly never the aim or a particular issue to me. It was always better uphill than John's Suzuki Address scooter so that was good enough in my eyes 😁

[@Rolomont]

Maximum speed???

[@tiggerlator]

What was the guy in front on?

[@MechitBetter]

My good friend was leading the way with his trusty Suzuki Address 110

[@georgogiannakis6123]

Sorry to bother, but is this a 125G. I’m new to bikes and just wanted to make sure I’m looking at the right one. If there are differences would you mind letting me know?

[@MechitBetter]

If I remember rightly, I think the G was only made for the Indian market. It had slightly more aggressive tyres, some crash protection and a higher enduro style front mudguard. I'm pretty sure the mechanicals were all the same they just changed a couple things to better suit the typical riding conditions of rougher roads. Mine was just a standard UK model as far as I know. Hope that helps.

[@georgogiannakis6123]

Mech it Better Thanks for the clarification! I was wondering why all the videos on it were in Pakistani...

[@Silverstain]

Hey! Im thinking of getting one and this will be my first motorbike so do you think its a good choice since a friend is selling one in great condition at a low price?

[@MechitBetter]

Hi, thanks for checking out the video and for asking the question. I honestly think it's a great little machine. It's a very neutral bike so it's a good starting point. The main thing is to be comfortable so if your friend is happy to let you sit on it and get a sense of the riding position etc then you should be on to a winner. You just need to be sure they have taken good care of it and are honest about its maintenance history. If it's in good condition AND cheap you have to ask why? ...unless it's genuinely a deal for a good friend or something. It was a fun ride and typically reliable and economical so if it all checks out, I'd bag yourself a YBR and enjoy. Maybe check out some of our other videos about basic checks and servicing to give you an idea what to do before/after buying it. Best of luck

[@Silverstain]

@@MechitBetter i asked him and its because he just turned 18 and is getting a car and he is selling his 3 125's so he can get a good car. He sent me a full record of the maintenance history and there was never big problems with it. We have been friends since middle school so that why he probably wants to sell it to me for cheaper he said he will charge me 800-900 for it but normally would ask around 1200-1400. He also probably wants to go on rides with me since he has asked me to get a motorbike before but ive never gotten around to it.

[@Silverstain]

@@MechitBetter Also thank you for responding. So rarely do you see content creator be so interactive when a viewer asks a question. I will be checking the bike out in a couple of days so i will probably get a small test ride on his property since its quite big.

[@MechitBetter]

That sounds great. If you trust the guy and you're happy with the bike/deal then go for it. It can be a real boost to have a friend to ride with, especially if you get some intercoms to chat while you ride. I would just recommend getting and wearing proper protective gear every time you get on the bike. While you're learning and less experienced at identifying hazards etc you're more likely to make mistakes so it's important to give yourself the best chance of walking away intact if something does happen. Just take your time. It's important to look out for each other. If we can pass on information from our own experiences, to help people, then it's worth doing. Get your CBT booked and look forward to some cool adventures.

[@Silverstain]

@@MechitBetter my father has taught me to always wear the proper gear and ive trusted the friend with more important things so.

[@SNPROPERTIESKARACHI]

Nice bike 👌 I use yamaha ybr 125

[@Silverstain]

thinking of getting one. Do you reccomend it?

[@MechitBetter]

Yes! They’re excellent little bikes 👍

[@music-ve1gx]

How would you rate the hill performance on this?

[@MechitBetter]

Never really had a big issue with hills. The beauty of a small, geared bike is you can just drop it down the box and give it a good twist of throttle and you're away again. It's only a noticeable difference if you're fully loaded, on a steep climb, with a blizzard in the face ...like our Northumberland 125 trip 🤦

[@music-ve1gx]

@@MechitBetter tysm for the reply will definitely be getting one as found a great deal

[@shameermalik5540]

Can the carburetor ybr upgrade to efi?

[@MechitBetter]

Anything's possible with enough time and money but it would probably be much easier to sell the carb bike and buy an efi one instead.

[@shameermalik5540]

@@MechitBetter First of all thank you for replying to a comment of your old video. Sadly, there are no efi bikes in my country. The only way you can get one is by importing one which costs you a lot because of the import taxes. Yamaha ybr is still coming new (2021) with carburetors here and i have the 2017 model. I recently learned that the international Ybr varient has EFI. I was thinking that since the model of the bike is the same and have same engine so maybe the EFI kit of the international ybr will plug and play fit into my carburetor one. Can you kindly give me a some tips on this idea. I will not be going forward with this project if i will need to make some heavy alterations on the engine block or something. I will be soon visiting UAE so i can get the EFI kit of ybr from there, that is, if it can be installed in my bike.

[@MechitBetter]

I guess the main question is WHY do you want to make the change? If the bike runs fine already, changing it could be a lot of expense and might not work. I don't think it would be as simple as replacing the carb with injector unit. There would be a different loom and potentially various electrical components, probably crank position sensor, ECU (or CDI), fuel tank would need a pump instead of gravity fed tap... I mean research as much as you can but, even if the conversion is possible, I can't imagine it would be a significant improvement over the original carb with the bike being so new anyway 🤷‍♂️

[@alexheslop8207]

Do you know if I would be able to fit slightly wider tyres on my ybr with standard rims?

[@MechitBetter]

I'm curious why you might want wider tyres? It might be possible but typically it's not wise to go more than about 5mm different to the designated spec. There are safety and/or clearance issues to consider. There is a lot of time and testing involved in getting the correct match for the bike characteristics. If you're not happy with the way the bike handles you might want to consider a better quality of tyre or one with different compounds for your intended purpose. I put a slightly more aggressive style knobbly tyre on mine (Anlas winter grip 2) which are the same standard size but look bigger than my previous Michelin pilot streets. Considering tyres are the one thing in contact with the road (if all goes well) its vital to get it right.

[@alexheslop8207]

@@MechitBetter ok thanks, I thought that wider tyres might improve the grip in wet as I'm also from the UK and I would like to be able to use my bike all year round! I was looking at purchasing some Michelin street pilots for my ybr, but now I am wondering if the other winter tyres that you mentioned might be more suited for the rainy British weather?

[@MechitBetter]

If you are looking for improved wet grip then I would still recommend sticking with the Pilots. They are a fantastic tyre for the bike and I can confirm that I've used them all year round in all but the worst conditions. I mainly changed to the Anlas ones to suit an adventure style theme I wanted for the bike. Once they're worn out I'm going back to the Michelins. What tyres do you currently have?

[@alexheslop8207]

@@MechitBetter ok thanks for the advice, the make of my current tyres is "vee rubber", the front one is 2.75" but the rear one worries me more when on the bigger roads only being 3.00"wide!

[@MechitBetter]

Yeah, those sound like the original ones... They are just terrible. Get the pilots. You won't believe how much of a difference the better tyres will make. Why does the rear wheel worry you? One thing to keep in mind about your idea of wider tyres meaning better grip... It's a common misconception. The wider they are, the bigger the surface area is. This means that the force being applied to the contact patch is more spread out, resulting in less grip. Stick with the standard sizes, you'll be fine.

[@maksympt1]

3:45 LOL

[@ryanl9041]

How do you recon it will run with a 5ft 7 and 18 to 19 stone bloke on it

[@MechitBetter]

Its a good, reliable engine. Its not likely to crumble with a bit of extra load. Most bikes are designed for the average male (12stone in the UK apparently) with the ability to also carry a pillion passenger. So, I wouldnt imagine that the weight would be a problem, other than maybe less top speed or just a bit longer getting there. I would say its more a question of comfort. Its a relatively small bike but they also do a "Custom" version which is more "cruiser" style which might be another option for you. Only way to know for sure is get your butt on a machine and give it a whirl.

[@ryanl9041]

@@MechitBetter thanks mate and yh i was looking at the custom and its seems to be more of my style bike thanks again

[@MechitBetter]

No worries dude. Best of luck in your search. Have you already done your CBT?

[@ryanl9041]

@@MechitBetter no not yet buddy booking it soon tho got any advice ??

[@MechitBetter]

Brush up on your highway code, you'll probably need it. Get a good nights sleep before you go and just relax, enjoy it. Its not something to worry about but absorb as much as you can. Once you pass, practice regularly. Learning to ride is one of the best things i ever did.

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

Which bike is better ybr125 or cg125 ?

[@MechitBetter]

That depends on how you judge it. Ultimately I don’t think one is really better than the other. They’re very similar.

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

Which model is this ?

[@MechitBetter]

It's the 2006, carb version. Hope that helps.

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

Mech it Better thanks sir what do you prefer for race this carb or cv carburetor +

[@MechitBetter]

Sorry, I have no experience of racing bikes or swapping carbs for non-standard. It's a fun bike to ride and I'm sure there's plenty you could do if wanted to race it in the safety of a proper track. Probably some online groups or forums that would be able to give you a better understanding than me.

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

And top speed of both bikes ?

[@MechitBetter]

I haven’t ridden the CG125 yet but I understand the top speed to be about 65mph with standard gearing. I think the YBR is around 70mph with standard gearing. Neither of these bikes is built for speed!

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

Mech it Better BRO in PAKISTAN cg is more faster than ybr feels weird 1970's tec is more faster than today's bike but they are giving cg and ybr at very high cost

[@MechitBetter]

Perhaps when I get the CG125 on the road, I’ll do a speed comparison with the YBR

[@YAMAHA_FAN_BOi_95]

Mech it Better if you have what's app group of your efforts on bikes let me know .

[@BritSniper303]

ALWAYS fit Michelin Pilot Street tyres for these YBR's..also fully check out the gearbox for learner rider hammering, see if it selects neutral ok, how clean is the oil? then they're 110% brilliant.. My old Betsy has 31,500 miles on, still does 70mph and I'm 14 stone and has side panniers and a top box..!!

[@johndoe-tk6en]

Wtf kinda aftermarket horn is that!

[@MechitBetter]

Hi John... I have to admit, as much as I'd like something like that on the bike, it is just a crazy air horn sound effect which I added to the video for a laugh.

[@johndoe-tk6en]

@@MechitBetter you got me XD

[@StoweLauren-t1c]

Young Elizabeth Miller Lisa Walker Joseph

[@JoeCharlotte]

Lewis Daniel Young Karen Lopez Charles

[@faruky8211]

Selam dostun video çok güzel olmuş bende böyle bi motor almayı planlıyordum videoların devamını bekleriz Türkiye'den selamlar Hi friend, the video was very nice, I was planning to buy such a motor, we are waiting for the continuation of the videos Greetings from Turkey