Long Distance Rides With Dt 125 Or Ts 125

[octabrain]

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a Yamaha DT 125 or Suzuki TS 125.
Does anyone know if this kind of bike is suitable for "long" distance rides, like about 400 km. I don't worry about comfort, i just wonder, if the engine would play along on a ride like this.

Thanks for answers.
Bengt

 

[Blue Max]

octabrain wrote: Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a Yamaha DT 125 or Suzuki TS 125.
Does anyone know if this kind of bike is suitable for "long" distance rides, like about 400 km. I don't worry about comfort, i just wonder, if the engine would play along on a ride like this.

Thanks for answers.
Bengt

I had one of the DT 200s back on Koh Tao. Great little bike, clunking engine but it got me around the island. For long distance this might be a clunker to far though

 

[gobs]

Hi octabrain,

As Captain I owned DT 125 and 175 in these 70s years and never had any problem even on some long distance trips...
Strong engine and reliable bikes in the "late 70s" style... Easy to handle, care, and maintain... And fairly brilliant for their displacement...

But then I was in my 20/30 y.o. and in these times nothing IS a problem!

If they are in good condition, 400 km is not a problem for these bikes...
8)
If YOU are not in good condition, 400 km may be a sort of a problem for YOU on these bikes...
:wink:

I must confess years going on and on, I now feel better on "bigger" bikes for "comfortable" long distance trips...
But maybe it's me...
:wink:

Good luck,
Gobs

 

[Pikey]

Agree 100% with Slash & Gobs. Back in the late 70's/early 80's I was led all over the place on a Suzuki TS185 by the trouser-dwelling "little Pikey".

My questions nowadays would be about spares availability and ensuring it was in good condition - old air-cooled two strokes being thrashed in this climate could easily lead to a heat seizure. Good 2-stroke oil and a properly adjusted oil pump would be a priority!

Post a pic if you go for one!

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[Muzz]

I rode a TS 185 all over Turkey back in the early 90's. A great bike. I also started out on a DT 125 which I rode 100's of miles on up and down the canal roads in England when I was an early teen, so no problem at all for a few hundred KM's in a day. Great bikes they were indeed.

 

[penetrator]

Are we talking air cooled or water cooled DT/TS125's as there are both in either model. For long distance rides I see no problem with either other than comfort as long as it's cruising speed, you're bound to stop occasionally anyway to stretch your legs and give your arse a rest. Not sure how the air cooled versions would hold up in the traffic of Bangkok though. I've had quite a bit of experience on all of them and they're all good bikes, although not as good as my old KMX125 I had back in the 80's

 

[Muzz]

I used air cooled versions. Even in Bangkok I can't see an air cooled bike being a problem of his size as you can keep them moving fairly easy if it is not a big bike.

 

[penetrator]

Me and a friend had an old DT125E field bike when I was about 14, it had a big old generator on it instead of the magneto of the later model and would not run without a battery which it failed to recharge so we was constantly having to use a battery charger. I struck upon the idea of fitting a magneto from a C50 on it and with a few modifications we got it fitted and the thing started and sounded better than ever, we both jumped on it to take it for a test ride and the thing went backwards into my friends side gate. We'd got the timing wrong and it must of backfired and continued going, anyway a quick adjustment of the timing and she ran perfectly forwards, was a big suprise that first attempt though :lol:

 

[KZ]

The first bike I had in Thailand in 1993 was a relatively new DT200, it went like stink (literally). Bought it off a dealer in BKK and returned and hour later, it was overheating even though it was watercooled! Turned out they didn't even check the coolant level, the radiator was almost empty. Later traded it in for a XT400 which seemed to have less power.
Bengt, why would you choose a DT125 or a TS125? It's easier to turn up an older MTX125.

 

[octabrain]

Hi,
thanks for all the input.
One guy wanting to sell a TS 125 told me that I might get problems running a bike like this for long distances and as far as I understood he wasn't talking about comfort, but the engine. But I didn't understand too much of what he was trying to explain. That's why I asked this question here to get some more input on this. I don't worry about comfort so much. I rode my small Yamaha X1 through all of northern Laos and on a Honda Dream with 2 adults and 1 child and one big backpack all the way from Pai to Chumpon. Yes, my ass hurts, when I do things like this, but I can deal with this.
If it's a water or air cooled engine depends on what I can find. But none of the ones I had a look at so far was water cooled.
The reason why I would choose one of these bikes, is the looks. I really like the looks of these oldschool bikes. I'm being offered MTXs sometimes, but I don't like the looks.

 

[Franz]

Honda MTX125 might be the better choice as I think it's newer and also watercooled, had one 22 years ago and was never let down. Happy trails, Franz