I've owned a YBR 125 in Beijing for several months now, and felt it was time to let others know about my thoughts. I think a lot of people are seriously considering this bike, as it is a great commuter in the major cities (and legal), it isn't too expensive, and has the "Yamaha" brand name. It is made in China by the JV Jianshe Yamaha.

In late winter 2010/11, I paid about 10,000 rmb (new) plus tax, reg, insurance and plate. I bought this bike for several reasons:

1) As an in-city commuter. Anyone who lives in Beijing will understand the value of a narrow 2-wheel motorbike. Commutes are effortless & front-door parking is always available, and usually free.

2) It is a good learner bike for my sweety, as well as a few others whom I am teaching how to ride at a more intermediate level.

3) It is 100% legal anywhere in Beijing, and can easily cruise at 90 to 100 kms/hr.

4) I have always liked little bikes, as they are a complete blast in most non-interstate highway conditions. I grew up on a farm with Honda 50s and 90s ... little bikes are in my blood.

I own several bikes in Beijing, varying from scooters to huge cruisers, but this Yamaha has become my go-to bike for most trips I make inside the city. Actually, it is tied with a little Suzuki 125 scooter I also have - the scooter can carry a lot more groceries in all of its nooks & crannies, whereas the Yamaha can carry nothing.

So ... getting started with the review:

The Purchase:

I bought it from Qili Motors in south Beijing. Qili is one of Beijing's largest MC dealers, but it is not the authorized Yamaha dealer. The Yamaha dealer is near impossible to find, despite several attempts, so I gave up on them. Anyways, I had bought a few bikes from Qili and it knows me.

I had to wait several weeks for the A plates, and although the price of A plates rose during that period, Qili honored its original A plate price (a rare thing in China).

The bike was sitting in the showroom, so people were all over it while it waited its plates. Nevertheless, when I went to pick up the plated bike, there were not any scratches or signs of visible damage.

The bike was delivered "Chinese-dealer-style". Basically, they rolled it out of the showroom onto the sidewalk and handed me the keys. As usual, they reminded me where I could buy gas, as they only put a thimble's worth in. They "forgot" to give me the owner's manual, they "forgot" to check the bike over, and so on - basically, it was a Chinese delivery ... we've got your money, you've got your bike, now get lost.

After "discussion", I got the owner's manual and I had one of their "mechanics" do a quick check. But the mechanic was so reluctant and so incompetent (he "checked" the tire pressure by putting almost 40 pounds in the front ... until I insisted he go back to his shop and get a tire pressure gauge ... idiot), I ended up realizing that I better just get it home and do my own delivery set-up. The bike looked ok to ride the not-too-far distance home.

The ride home:

Well, with a fresh tank of gas I headed off ... and the bike stalled, and stalled, and stalled ... and then over-rev'd and over-rev'd and over-rev'd. This is a carburetor model.

The front brake also needed adjustment, as did the clutch. I did a quickie at the gas station.

Grrrr ... Chinese "mechanics" and Chinese "post sale delivery service"

By the time I noticed that these over-revs and stalling was not due to my unfamiliarity with the choke, I was already half way home, and I had other appointments I was already late for. I just took the bike home and parked it.

The first few weeks:

After a few days, I went over the bike ... sure enough, things were mounted incorrectly, fasteners were loose, the chain wasn't adjusted properly (or lubed), and so on and so on. But I've been in China long enough and bought enough bikes here to realize this is the norm. So I did a quick once over and fixed what I could.

I took it out for a spin - same thing - stall, over-reving. OK, back to Qili.

Down at Qili, they assumed that this dumb foreigner didn't understand anything ... and their brilliant mechanic simply adjusted the idle screw and tried to send me on my way. He tried to tell me "yeah, sure, idling at 3,500 RPM is ok for a new bike ... then it won't stall."

I refused to accept this idiot's diagnosis & solution, but Qili said I couldn't leave the bike there because they had no room. Fine. I took the bike back home (stall, rev, stall, rev, stall, rev ... etc).

A few days later, I managed to chat with the owner of Qili and convinced him that this 125 wasn't running properly ... and to please give it to someone competent for a few days and let them use it, and see for themselves. Fair enough, I dropped it off the next day.

Still a few days later, I picked the bike up ... Qili assured me everything was now fine. It had been fixed. OK, great. Rode it home ... stall, rev, stall, rev, stall, rev. WTF?!?!?!?! Those bastards didn't do a damn thing!

Back to Qili later in the day ... furious! I finally blew my gasket and ranted at the idiots. Within 2 hours, I had a new carb - pirated off a showroom bike. Frankly, if they didn't do it, I was going to. I had brought my own tools. At a minimum, I was going to take the carb off, myself, at Qili, and teach the moron mechanic how a carb works and why it would be doing this.

Rode it home with my new carb & it ran perfectly. It has run perfectly since. Starts effortlessly, idles perfectly under all conditions, and never skips a beat. Wonder what happened to my old carb? I can almost guarantee you it is the next customer's problem ... the one who subsequently bought the showroom bike my new carb came from.

The moral of the story ... when one Chinese dealer recognizes that there is something called "delivery set-up" and "post sales service", that dealer will have foreign customers beating a path to its door. The problem is ... nobody gives a sh1t ... and it almost seems as though everyone accepts this abysmal state as perfectly acceptable. I guess 99% of the dealers' customers don't know any other way.

So, the YBR 125 had a rocky start due to the dealer, not the manufacturer (I'll have plenty to blame Yamaha for, later).

But, a thousand kms in, the bike runs perfectly every time now.

pics to follow, as well as more info on how it rides, handles, and its quality-control issues.