Honda CB125

After the Suzuki FR80, my next step into the world of motorcycling was a Honda CB125. At the time it felt like a serious machine. Compared to the little Suzuki, the Honda looked bigger, sounded bigger and, most importantly to a young rider, felt much faster.

The CB125 was my introduction to proper road motorcycling. It carried me through the usual mixture of commuting, evening rides and weekend adventures that seem so important when you are young. Looking back now, the distances were probably quite modest, but at the time every journey felt like an expedition.

Like many Hondas of the era, the little CB was reliable, easy to maintain and remarkably tough. It tolerated enthusiastic riding, less-than-perfect maintenance and the sort of mechanical experimentation that often comes with learning about motorcycles. It taught me how to service a bike, how to diagnose faults and, occasionally, how to push one home.

The Honda also marked the beginning of a pattern that would continue throughout my riding life. I was never particularly interested in motorcycles as fashion accessories. I wanted bikes that could take me somewhere. Even on a 125, the attraction was always the journey rather than the destination.

Viewed from today’s perspective, the performance was modest and the handling fairly ordinary, but that misses the point entirely. The CB125 represented freedom. It opened up possibilities that simply didn’t exist before. It allowed me to travel independently, explore new roads and begin a lifetime relationship with two wheels.

Many bigger, faster and more sophisticated motorcycles would follow, but the Honda CB125 remains an important part of the story because it was the machine that really started it all.