Adventure on a VSR

"I have owned just about every kind of motorcycle you can think of over the years including BMW gs1250, Suzuki Hayabusa and others too numerous to mention. I was looking for a cheap but reliable 125 that I could use to do my 40 mile per day commute. The KYMCO brand had appeal to me as they have such a good history of turning out good reliable and affordable bikes going way back to the days when they used to build bikes for the mighty Honda. After a visit to my local dealer I thought that a VSR 125 would be just the job and at a little over £2k on the road an absolute bargain.

For the price I wasn’t really expecting much and as I already had a Vstrom and a Fireblade in the garage I wasn’t that excited about picking it up.
Anyway, the day came for me to collect the bike and within the first 5 miles I found myself thinking this is actually quite a nice little bike."

"I ran her in with care and had the first service done by the dealer. As the engine loosened up a bit it became noticeably more willing to propel my 14 stone bulk up the very steep hills on my commute to work.

As time went on I found that this charming little bike became my bike of choice for all of my riding, even at weekends. It was great fun to go out and plan a route of smaller roads where this bike has more than enough go to be interesting, it also handled pretty well when pushed in the twisty bits. Returning almost 130mpg I could ask no more of it.

I had a friend who, like myself is an experienced biker who had also got a 125 so we decided to leave our big bikes at home and plan a camping trip around Wales on our 125s. This coincided with what turned out to be the hottest week of the year. 

We loaded our bikes up with all we needed. The poor little VSR had a three birth tent, bedding, cooking kit and a whole load of other essentials for a week away loaded onto it plus my faithful sheepskin seat topper that I use on all of my bikes when I intend to put in some serious saddle time!"

"We planned a route from our home in West Somerset, avoiding all the fast roads that we could, seeking out the most scenic back roads and lanes. So, to Bristol, over the severn bridge and all the way up through mid Wales taking in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park and the Elan Valley then riding along the stunning North West coast line, around Snowonia national park and a circuitous route back home camping wherever we could find a site towards the end of each day.

We were putting in 8 to 10 hours per day riding with all of that kit, up and down the steepest of hills in blistering heat and the little bike just got on with it without any protest and never missed a beat.

I had done pretty well the same trip on my Vstrom a few months before but this time we were seeking out the twisty back roads and mountain passes which made it way more fun and felt like a proper 700 mile adventure.

My little VSR had managed to cover almost 6000 miles in 4 months. I serviced it regularly and it never complained and was always 100% reliable and up for anything I could throw at it.

So a message to anyone considering buying one of these charming and surprisingly capable bikes. Don’t just commute to college or work with it, chuck some kit on it and go have an adventure!"