Honda 125 VARADERO XLV 2008 — Specifications

When the Yamaha TDR and Cagiva Supercity disappeared from the catalogs without warning, Honda found itself alone in a niche that many considered doomed: the road trail in 125cc. The Japanese manufacturer had no intention of leaving the field open. The Varadero held the guard for years, and those looking for reviews of the Honda 125 Varadero XLV 2001 or the Honda 125 Varadero XLV 2005 will find a serious, well-built machine, but one whose design was beginning to show its age. In 2008, Honda reset the counters on the styling, without touching the essentials.

The visual result is frankly successful. The front optics borrow the CBR 125’s sharp look, which contrasts with the roundness of the previous generation. The flanks evoke the Transalp 650, with this mixture of taut lines and generous volumes that give the machine a stature above its displacement. The rear lights, close to the CBF 600 style, complete a coherent picture. The dashboard, complete and readable, further gives the whole thing the look of a real motorcycle, not a learner’s permit toy. At €4,999, the price is salty for a 125cc, but Honda is clearly selling added value as much as transportation.

Under the bodywork, the 90-degree V-twin of 124.7cc is carried over in its configuration, but enriched with PGM-FI injection, the same evolution that the CBR 125 had experienced in 2007. This single modification is enough to bring the Varadero up to Euro 3 standards and should improve consumption on a 16.8-liter tank, which is good news for those who want to cover kilometers without stopping every hundred miles. The 15 horsepower at 11,000 rpm remain identical, and that’s where the shoe pinches: facing the 169 kg when fully fueled, the engine does not progress while the weight, it, does not decrease. It will be necessary to exploit the high range of the revs to take advantage of the torque of 9.8 Nm, available at 9,500 rpm. This is not a motorcycle for the lazy right wrist.

Those who consult reviews of the Honda 125 Varadero XLV 2007 know that the riding recipe has not changed: you have to take it up to the revs, accept working the five-speed gearbox, and do not expect a suppleness that it has never claimed to offer. In return, the 35mm telescopic fork with 132mm of travel and the 150mm rear mono-shock ensure correct comfort on the road, without off-road pretensions despite appearances. The 800mm seat remains accessible to a wide variety of builds, making it a good candidate for a first A1 license with ambitions of long trips.

Honda was intelligent to offer a catalog of accessories to transform this trail into a micro-GT: 45-liter top case, heated grips, center stand, engine guard, aluminum handlebar riser. Just practical, nothing gadgety. The target audience is clearly the young driver who wants to project himself into travel and leave for a weekend without feeling cramped on a motorcycle that is too urban. In this respect, the Varadero 125 remains without a direct rival in its category, which is both its strength and its limit: lacking competition, it has no pressure to progress technically. But for carrying luggage and crossing France with an A1 license in your pocket, few machines do better.