Opinions on Honda Varadaro 125

exactiv

Hi.

I'm thinking of buying a Honda Varadaro 125 as a city runabout. I don't want to keep clocking up miles on my car for city driving.

I've had a scooter for about 4 years, but I want something a little bit bigger. I'm 25 and I don't want to be stuck on a 50cc forever! I'd like to do my test so I can get bigger bikes in future (BMW R 1200 GS, drool..... )

So, what do you think of the Honda Varadaro? Any good? Problems? Any alternatives?

My insurance should be about €380 for a year on a 125cc bike (scooter is currently €230!!!!! crazy or what like!!!).

Chunkylover

I know people that swear by them and recommend them to everyone, but Ive also heard people slating them (not as many though), only been on 1 twice before, nice run around, and easy to handle shoudl be perfect for city driving, only thing is if you are getting you licence, youll need to take it on a bigger bike, not sure what size it has to be, I think either 200 or 250.... and dont know what you are complaing about with the insurance, im 26 on a restriced 650 and Im paying over 900 for it

sutty

exactiv wrote:

Hi.

I'm thinking of buying a Honda Varadaro 125 as a city runabout. I don't want to keep clocking up miles on my car for city driving.

I've had a scooter for about 4 years, but I want something a little bit bigger. I'm 25 and I don't want to be stuck on a 50cc forever! I'd like to do my test so I can get bigger bikes in future (BMW R 1200 GS, drool..... )

So, what do you think of the Honda Varadaro? Any good? Problems? Any alternatives?

My insurance should be about €380 for a year on a 125cc bike (scooter is currently €230!!!!! crazy or what like!!!).

I dont think your insurance will be that cheap. You aren't factoring in what group the bike is in. Seamus has a Varadaro if I remember right.

exactiv

I'm not complaining about the insurance at all at all, I think the quote I got was quite reasonable. I was just compairing the scooter to the bike. It's crazy that the scooter is €230 and the bike is only €150 more expensive.

The 380 is a quote from AON. 4 years ncd.

dceire

sutty wrote:

I dont think your insurance will be that cheap. You aren't factoring in what group the bike is in. Seamus has a Varadaro if I remember right.

The Varadaro is group 2 insurance as far as I know so should be fairly cheap especially being 25 with NCB from your scooter!

exactiv

What sort of money are they going for these days? Like a 02' for instance? Less than €3000?

sutty

hmmm always thought it was in a higher group. Like 4 or something.

murphaph

exactiv wrote:

I'm not complaining about the insurance at all at all, I think the quote I got was quite reasonable. I was just compairing the scooter to the bike. It's crazy that the scooter is €230 and the bike is only €150 more expensive.

It should be the other way around if you ask me! Scooter drivers seem to have pillions on board far more often than bikes and it's well known that 70%+ of the claims against 'motorcycle' policies are from ilegally carried pillions (that's what Hibernian said when they pulled out of the market anyway).

I like the styling of the varadero, pity it's not available in a 250.

Oryx

Nope, def group 2. Afaik, good reliable bike, (four stroke) v comfy to ride, and a big bike so you wont feel like you riding a tricycle.:D As was said earlier passing your test on this only entitles you to a full A1 licence (not exceeding 125cc) so youd be as well to get a bigger bike before your test comes up.

PS your alternatives in group 2 would be 125 cruisers (marauder, intruder, virago, TDR125 (which is two stroke) Yamaha TW125) If you going to go bigger your best bet is a factory restricted bandit 600 or similar, group 5.

Chunkylover

KatieK wrote:

PS your alternatives in group 2 would be 125 cruisers (marauder, intruder, virago, TDR125 (which is two stroke) Yamaha TW125) If you going to go bigger your best bet is a factory restricted bandit 600 or similar, group 5.

yeah the tdr is great fun but you may get tired of the speed or lack of it fairly quickly.... and for the love of god stay away from the bandit... reliable as a grandmothers kiss at christmas but everyone I know thats got a bandit has changed for the worse, its almost as if they age by 20 years the minute they buy one

exactiv

I've no interest in a cruiser. I want to get a BMW F650 GS Dakar, but they're rare and expensive. I rang Ross Motorcycles in Cork at lunch hour, they don't have any Varadaros at the moment, but they siad a '02 should be about €2000.

Not too sure about a bandit either, buddy has one and he can't sell the damn thing!

murphaph

Check eBay UK for BMW F650's. The bikes over there are better anyway (cheap insurance so weekend biking is a realistic proposition). The VRT on slightly older bikes can be very little. The ferry costs are low for a bike too. You could pick up a bike in Liverpool/Manchester/Leeds/Birmingham and get a flight over and ride back the same day for reasonable money!

I love the beemers me. R1150 GS someday I will own!

exactiv

Nothing on ebay at all. Loads on AutoTrader though. Might consider it. VRT seems to be about €200-€300 for a decent one. Mobile.de have loads of them. I could drive one back from Germany....... although, having never driven a bike with gears I'm not sure how that'd go Think I'll start another thread on this.

seamus

Yeah, I have one. Love it to bits. Had a Suzuki Marauder before it, and the Varadero is far superior.

Very comfy, quite high (you'll struggle if you're less than 5'5") and one of the fastest in Group 2. It's a good quality build. I've had no trouble with mine in two years. As opposed to the Marauder, which just couldn't take a 20 mile commute every day.

As murphaph says, it's a pity it doesn't come in larger engine sizes (except the 1100cc, which is quite a different bike). It's solid even at 70mph, so it would be right at home with a 250cc or 400cc engine.

I'd strongly recommend going for one. Especially if I have to sell mine in May

Your other options are as KatieK said:
Honda NSR125R - Racing-style bike. IMO a little small, but NSR owners tend to love them. A little faster than the Varadero.
Yamaha TDR125 - Same style as the Varadero, but not as bulky, and a little faster. It is two-stroke though.
Yamaha XVS125 (DragStar) - Lovely-looking cruiser style bike. Like other cruisers, it's not as quick or manouverable as the Varadero, but it's comfy and cool.

Tree

More off-roady looking bikes include the honda XR and its predesecor the CityFly, neighbour has the city fly and she loves it, she had an NSR before that.

I love my Suzuki VanVan, nice little city runabout, big wheels great for mounting kerbs and it's also just a 125 so its group 2 insurance. And ive not seen many others about so its lovely and distinctive! (kinda girly though )

madrab

if you like the style but want a bit more power the transalp 400 is low enough insurance & is great on motorways (same engine as the almighty bros)

Garibaldi

Or you could get a restricted Aprilia Pegaso Strada 650. Saw one of those when I was in Italy the weekend before last. Man, those things look cool.

KTRIC

Garibaldi wrote:

Or you could get a restricted Aprilia Pegaso Strada 650. Saw one of those when I was in Italy the weekend before last. Man, those things look cool.

Check out those rims !!!!

madrab

K-TRIC wrote:

Check out those rims !!!!

funky

Garibaldi

They're not quite that bright in the flesh.

They're meant to mimic the OZ Racing rims on the Mille R. (never actually checked to see if the Strada rims were OZ)

modal_ie

Yeah I have one and love it - I know they aren't the fastest bikes in the world but you'll find it hard to get a more comfortable 125 commuter bike. I had a few problems with mine but mostly to do with the dealer I bought it from and nothing to do with the bike itself. The only thing that bothers me about the bike is the exhaust - it's black and even though mine is only a year old it's rotting already. When the weather picks up I'll be cleaning it off and re-painting it. Couldn't recommend the bike enough though.

Nice0ne

seamus wrote:

Your other options are as KatieK said:
Honda NSR125R - Racing-style bike. IMO a little small, but NSR owners tend to love them. A little faster than the Varadero.
Yamaha TDR125 - Same style as the Varadero, but not as bulky, and a little faster. It is two-stroke though.
Yamaha XVS125 (DragStar) - Lovely-looking cruiser style bike. Like other cruisers, it's not as quick or manouverable as the Varadero, but it's comfy and cool.

There's also the Yamaha YBR125 which is a cheap bike (€2500 new) and is very good around town. I bought one after having a moped for two years and am very happy with it. It's also a bigish bike so if you're over 6' it's very comfortable. However if you're going to be doing any motorway drving you'll need something bigger.

www.yamaha-motor-europe.com/ products/motorcycles/125cc/ybr125.jsp