Final mag

Tron-age gear that ‘ul’ save you today

CB125R - The markets’ best 125

So you want to traverse snakes pass or go camping at Snowdonia.

But you’ll need a brand new £13,000 BMW GS and about £4000 of high tech touring kit not to mention a high tech GPS system.

Well…. You’re wrong, completely and utterly wrong.

All you need is a 125 moped; a little bit of sun; a B&M £16.99 tent and a phone with google maps.

Last summer I took to the road to change the norm with touring. I started with a location in mind, I took to the internet to find a campsite in the Peak district.

The Peak District is one of the best newbie rides you can do, with its twisty roads and miles of surreal countryside it’s the north’s bike mecca.

Personally, I booked a campsite online before setting off, whilst this is a good idea for the inexperienced rider providing yourself with a direct route and final location if you prefer more of an adventure I recommend setting off with a general area in mind but just ride the roads and see where they take you. If you enjoy having a set destination I can wholeheartedly recommend Dale Farm and rural campsite.

The campsite welcomes bikers (which is seem-

ingly a problem for some sites) The site offers campfire/grill hire for just £5 and has a wonderful farm shop where they sell homemade cake and meat from the farm. The site costs £10 a night for two visitors.

When planning your trip I suggest looking out on bike forums for the best roads, trust me there are some great roads in the peak district and all over this country. Try to look around for the best roads and decide on a few places you would like to visit.

If you are going for a weekend or just a day it is essential to do some planning or you could end up in traffic for 40 minutes on a road with roadworks. Don’t fell however that you have to plan your trip down to the fuel stops but just be prepared to find your own way and don’t be afraid to explore the roads that look like they go nowhere.

small twisty fast roads. I installed a map on google maps as my phone signal was likely to be insufficient during parts of the trip. This simple step saves the cost of a GPS and allows for you to place an earphone into your ear to listen for directions rather than have another distraction in the form of a GPS with a screen.

My first step was to get my gear together and figure out how to place the equipment on the bike.

This I will admit would be one of the downsides of touring on a small bike with no panniers.

However, I managed to pack my equipment and even a pillow into my top box and strapped onto the rear seat with bungee cords. It is important to make sure you either know the route you will be taking towards the area you want to get to, in my case the peak district. As I was limited by my CBT I could not use motorways which in truth I prefer not to use and would suggest you do not. Motorways take away from the joy of

As I entered Manchester I first stopped for an obligatory pre-trip Greggs to get my steak bake fill for the weekend.

Avoiding the Manchester ring-road and finding my route through was admittedly confusing and caused me to go round a roundabout twice but as I started to hit the A-roads towards the peak district the fun began. The first set of twists I hit was just on the border of the peak district and was a steep incline to begin. I’ll admit I was definitely slower than the average motorist on the ups but the downs came faster and faster.

About an hour and a half into my drive and I had reached my campsite, I immediately ditched all of my gear (an admittedly bad decision) and headed out onto the roads.

The atmosphere of those roads with ‘proper bikers’ on their GS’s and sports bikes all nodding as I embraced the national speed limit signs I seldom see in the city

The atmosphere of those roads with ‘proper bikers’ on their GS’s and sports bikes all nodding as I embraced the national speed limit signs I seldom see in the city centre was phenomenal.

I must admit I got a little carried away especially as a somewhat new rider and a complete novice and the art of touring, however after a couple hours ‘obeying traffic laws’ I went to the next touring staple of some good old fashions pub grub

Now here is why I regretted just dumping my kit rather than setting it up when I arrived.

As I returned from my adventure I found it was getting dark and quickly it did. However, being a biker out of nowhere two experienced tourers on big GS’s came to my rescue with their help I was set up in no time at all. This really proves no matter where you are if you’re a biker you’re never alone. I spent the evening sat around a campfire with fellow bikers drinking lukewarm cider.

So knowing what I know now what would I change? Well, one thing for certain, whilst you can argue a bigger bike is more fun on the roads and will get you there quicker I would not change the bike for all the money in the world.

As a first touring experience, the bike performed amazingly and its agile characteristics made the trip. I would, however, suggest that if you are planning to try touring that you set up your tent before going out riding but most importantly, just go out there and do it.

0.094 seconds, the bag uses replaceable gas canisters to inflate the inner lining to act as an airbag.

With prices starting at £695 this tech comes at a reasonable price and with a piece of mind for your loved ones.

Photographs Courtesy OF Livemap

With an augmented reality interface, that allows for a projected image rather than a full display to distract you the Livemap Helmet seems to be the everyman’s jet fighter helmet.

So what’s the catch? Well at $2000 (£1417) it costs more than most peoples first bike did. However, with an inbuilt camera, communications and augmented reality GPS system included the price can be justified if you’re in the market for a new lid.

Photographs Courtesy OF Honda

Honda have finally released a new 125 into their range, and this time they have really stepped up their game.

The CB125-R Has finally brought Honda into competition with the likes of KTM and the Chinese Take-Away brands Lexmoto and Sinnis, at least in the terms of styling. About the styling I couldn’t help thinking the bike was a

Photographs Courtesy OF Helite

Every bikers worst fear is to come off their bike.

Well with the Helite Touring Motorcycle Air Jacket, you can be safer if (touch-wood) you do come off. The jacket comes with a inflatable inner lining and a computer that senses if you are in a crash whilst also detecting no significant slow speed crashes. The jacket upon sensing a significant ‘jutter’ the jacket inflates in less than

larger capacity and was generally impressed with the bikes domineering modern take on Café Racers. I just want to quickly bring up the full name of the bike before I return to the styling. Neo Sports Café CB125-R, wow that’s a mouthful but it’s a factor 100 on the cool ‘O’ meter and sounds like something straight out of the Matrix. Now back to the

Photographs Courtesy OF Rewire Security

Whilst it doesnt exactly look like a 10 we suggest you swipe right for this one. The DB1-Lite GPS Tracker (wow thats a mouthful) is a small tracking device that can easily be hidden in your battery compartment and uses a sim card

styling I really, really, really don’t like rear end it just sticks out too much on the 125 version of the bike. However, the Chinese markets have already produced a tail tidy and we will certainly see high-end brands follow suit. Other than the rear end the bike’s styling has an immensely attractive appeal and flows well front to back, it manages to maintain a Naked sports style whilst incorporating interesting sharp lines throughout.

Now onto the specs.

to locate your bike anywhere there is phone signal.

With gangs of motorcycle thieves carrying angle grinders and even acid its comforting to know that you can provide the police with up to the minuet info on where your bike is and has been, and with the included app you can check on your bike anywhere on your phone.

Priced at £120 and including a 1-year prepaid simcard, this is one of the best value trackers on the market.

The baby CB makes 13bhp with peak power coming in at 10,000rpm.

The engine behaves like a well-trained dog and purrs like a kitten.

I enjoyed the 6-speed gearbox whilst commuting but found the performance in the top gears lacking the oomph bikes such as the KTM Duke offer. On a final note, the brakes were exceptional and behave well at high speed.

At £3949 OTR the price is on par with the competition such as the £3799 Suzuki GSX-S125 and works out about £100 a month. At that price, the Honda is a great entry bike for the style conscious CBT