Yamaha Yzf-r125

"The smartest used 125 buy if you inspect it properly."

The R125 is genuinely the best-looking 125 you can buy used, and Yamaha's build quality means even tired examples hold together reasonably well. That VVA engine is smooth and rev-happy, pulling decently to its 10,000rpm limit once you're past the flat spot around 6,000rpm. It's not fast — let's be clear about that — but for city commuting and A-road blasts it's more than adequate, and the chassis is surprisingly planted for something this small. Used, you need to check three things hard: the exhaust collector, which rots from the inside out on pre-2019 bikes; the front forks for oil seepage; and whether anyone's fitted a non-standard exhaust and potentially invalidated the insurance. Service history matters more here than on bigger bikes because neglected oil changes punish the little engine fast. Avoid anything above 20,000 miles unless the price reflects it significantly.