I think the Chinese bikes are catching up with Japanese machines very quickly. I remember back in the 70's everyone was slating the Japanese machines in favour of British bikes. The Japanese bikes then went on to kill the UK bike industry within a few years as they were cheaper, better built, faster and more reliable.

Most of the Japanese bike parts are manufactured in China anyway. This Monster I have is taller than most other 125's I have come across. It cruises happily at 60mph and will push up to 70 without too much trouble, when it is needed. I am still running it in so I avoid high revs and speeds at the moment, but lets face it, you have to find out ;-).

For what I have paid, new and on the road with 2 years parts warranty, I could maybe have afforded a 3 or 4 year old Japanese bike. It is a no brainer. There are 12 UK distributors and dealers so far (I am lucky and have 2 within 20 miles of me). You can also deal direct for parts with the importer, based in the UK.

Once the warranty is up, it is such a basic but well made piece of kit, it will be so easy to maintain it myself, no complicated electronics to deal with, a simple CDI ignition system with a carb fed engine. Simple but very effective.