Did anyone ever own a Honda Sonic 125? Are they any good? Reliable? Thrifty on fuel? Do you have to change gears every 500 metres? Do you have to drive with the throttle wide open all the time? What's not good about them? Would you recommend it or not as an urban commuting bike? They're quoting 48, 000 for them in one of the dealers on Rama 4. Anywhere cheaper?

A moped's a moped!!!

Hey!! What are you talking about??! It's got a clutch!!

A moped's a moped!!!

...and an SUV's an SUV, and Frank Butcher is a used car salesman.

Did anyone ever own a Honda Sonic 125? Are they any good? Reliable? Thrifty on fuel? Do you have to change gears every 500 metres? Do you have to drive with the throttle wide open all the time? What's not good about them? Would you recommend it or not as an urban commuting bike? They're quoting 48, 000 for them in one of the dealers on Rama 4. Anywhere cheaper?

The boy has one and has very few problems. Good fuel economy. You'll be changing gears every 100m. Prices may vary by 1000-1500,go to a couple others and say you're paying cash.

A friend of mine from Jomtien used to ride motocross and other competitive events in California. That was in his younger days and he is now retired here. He bought a Honda Sonic second hand and rode it for about two years without any problems at all. He thought it was a great bike for a 125. He has since bought a 150 Honda of a similar style. I forget the model.

I've been riding my sonic for 2.5 years & I think it's great. As a city bike it can't be beat, unless you're a big guy in which case most Thai bikes will be too small for you. Yeah, I change gears every 100-150 meters but it's quick, has good brakes & is very maneuverable. I've even gone on a few long road trips (e.g. Chiang Mai - Mae Hong Son) & it'll do fine on the highway too, though I prefer a bigger bike for the open road. No problems save a replacement rear tube every 2 months & recently replacing the rear brake pads. I bought mine second-hand at a dealer (excellent condition) for 35k in late 2003. All in all I'm very happy with it. If you'll be doing a lot of riding with a passenger on the back though, you'd probably want something bigger. But my advice is... find a girlfriend with a car

By Thai standards, the Sonics I've seen are surely not in the moped category, even though they have step-through frames. They're four stroke engines, six speeds, real clutch, often two disk brakes on two alloy wheels. They seem to be a sport bike without going all the way up to the faired CBR150. Being Hondas, they're probably bullet proof. Being made in Thailand, parts are probably cheap and available.

Changing gears every 150 meters is fun!

I bought the wife one about 6 years ago and we had it for about 3 years no trouble at all but she wanted to change it for a honda phantom chopper which I liked a lot. After about 6 months we had to sell it as she could not get it out of some of the parking spots on her own so back to a new Honda sonic but with electric start and she is happy with that for the moment

Used to ride a Sonic all around Chaing Mai for a few months and had much more smiles for my miles than my mates bumming around on clutchless Dream/Wave. Super agile with excellent brakes and as much fun on twisty roads as it is in the city.

The CBR1500RR is a few grand more new, whilst although not quite as 'throw-aroundable' as the Sonic, offer better riding for longer journeys. Both execellent urban commuters and loads 2nd hand from about 35k upwards.

Do you have any new on the Suzuki Raider? 150cc Sonic-like with LCD dash? Seen Tata Young ona few ads, hence never really looked at the bike too much

Jim, I drove my CBR150R around Chiang Mai and adjacent provinces for two years and 30,000 kilometers, but I only wish it were a CBR1500R. There's a general rule in motorcycling, that if you paint flash colors on it, it increases the horsepower by 0.1. Each "R" in the name is 0.05 horsepower more. I have a CRBRRRRRR150RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Yep, they are sweet little bikes. I had one for a week, but swopped it for a 2nd hand VFR400 Nc-30 as the extra horses loved the mountain roads in the north. Lucky for me, my bike is in the HRC Team Repsol colours - surely worth more than a meagre 0.1hp thanks to an orange tank!

Riding around Nan, Phayao, Chiang rai is the most enjoyable riding I've ever done. Thought the Mae Hong Son loop was a bit dodgey due to the road conditions, epecially around Pai. It was a shame, as I missed most of fantastic views as i was keeping a close look out for pot holes!

now I moved down to nakhon pathom, a few clicks west of Bangkok, the rolling hills have been flattened out and the fun has gone anyone know of any lovely rides in the Kanchanaburi region?

cheers, Jim

I bought one for 46k 3 yrs ago and enojoyed it initially, For whizzing around town

it was fine, however after some months it became boring and i end ed up buying a 2nd hand Kawi 750 that has been nothing but trouble since, My mistake was not keeping the 125 as back up.

I have a Honda Sonic 125 and love it.

Fantastic motorbike and definately not a moped.

I would choose one of these over a Wave or a Smash any day

totster

I was reminded again last night that however fun the & reliable the sonic is, Thai girls are not impressed with a farang owning one. Personally, any girl who judges me based on my bike isn't worth my time. But I do get a lot of kidding about my bike from my Thai friends - they like to call me saap. Anyway, just thought I'd mention this.