My First Bike Review, published in mouthshut.com

Yamaha SS125:

 

I got my SS125 just 3 days back and have done hardly 150 kms on the bike. I want to share my true experience with the bike till now.

About SS125:
SS125 is the successor to Yamaha Gladiator Type SS, and Yamaha completely dropped the Gladiator name now. Through the years Gladiator has been re-designed and refined 4 times. And SS125 is the latest version, with the best design and graphics and the best handling. The SS125 and Gladiator Type SS have all similar specifications(Physical, Electrical and Mechanical) except the colors and graphics.

Why I bought this bike:
I consulted mouthshut.com and read alreviews of Gladiator before buying it. Gladiator Type SS had the highest rating among all the bikes I had listed for buying, and it had a 99% recommendation. My friends had short-listed the following bikes: Honda Shine 125, Bajaj Pulsar 135LS, and Yamaha Gladiator/SS125.
Honda Shine was fine and engine sound was really smooth, but it lacked the good looks and the features that other bikes in its class had.
About Pulsar I’d like to say, Pulsars have become too common these days. I mean, just throw a stone randomly at a bike in traffic and it would be a pulsar. Moreover I personally don’t prefer Bajaj.
Yamaha SS125 was like the solution to all my needs. It had the best looks, comfortable riding posture, great handling and awesome power!

My observation in the first 150 kms:
The bike is equipped with a 5 speed gear box and a tachometer which makes the bike sporty. Front Disc brakes are perfect. The only thing this bike lacks(and could have made this better) is a digital console which most bikes have. In addition it has a Racing Cowl, which they call the engine cover, which adds a lot to the sporty look.
I am a 6 feet tall person and I was worried about whether a 125 cc bike would look good for my height, but its amazing to find this bike suits me perfectly and I’d recommend it to tall persons too. It has decent dimensions for a tall person:( Overall length x width x height                                    : 1995 x 730 x 1110 mm).

Performance is amazing, but the only con is a bit low torque at 3000-4500 rpm(Initial Pickup is bit poor). But I can assure it, the bike is a beast at more than 6500 rpm. So, the bike is not so good for very heavy traffic like Cuttack city in Orissa. If yours is a metro or a semi-urban with medium traffic then this bike is gonna rock.

The gear shifting pattern(1 Down, 4 Up) is again sporty and comfortable. The bike may fail to start if it is exposed to very cold weather and/or left abandoned for a lot of days. But in that case, the choke works quite well.

I wasn’t sure about road-grip when I found this bike doesn’t have wide rear tires (my first bike was a Bajaj XCD with narrow tires, and its grip used to suck!). But when I rode SS125, I found the road grip is excellent for the narrow MRF Zapper tires too. You don’t slip off on wet and sandy roads.

It has a half-chain cover and machine gun type muffler (silencer) which again adds to the sportiness. The silencer runs parallel to the rear seat, another trait of a superb design!

Mileage:
The last time I refueled, I got a mileage of 47kmpl, which is not bad for a new bike without even the first service done. And I have been riding almost all of the time with a pillion. I had talked to other customers of the SS125 in a Yamaha Service center in Bhubaneswar and all of them claimed that the mileage goes up to 55-60kmpl after the service.

Performance:
I haven’t yet tested the acceleration from 0-60kph yet. But I guess that will be around 7-8 seconds. I’m not quite sure. The best part of performance is that the bike doesn’t vibrate till 65 kph. I haven’t rode faster yet. Accelearation is the best at a range of 6000 rpm.

Cons:
The only noticeable con is a bit low torque at lower engine speeds. But it isn’t very less. It’s Ok. But its a bit less then Honda’s CB Twister 110 cc. But the CB Twister would shake and vibrate your balls off at speeds greater than 60kph and SS125 will take you to 120 kph easily. So, I guess a small ’con’ for this bike wont really matter for all the good features it has.
Headlight luminosity is slightly lesser than the Honda Shine, but its isn’t that bad. Its Ok.

Lastly, I have trusted Yamaha and have been obsessed with buying Yamaha bikes. I had a RX135 bike once, and it used to rock. And I believe this bike wont let me down too.

If you are a youngster and looking for a sporty and reliable bike with great performance in the 125/135 cc segment, then go for it! You will never regret.