Post Listing Update: This RS125R was pulled off of eBay, final sale price unknown.
Honda sold the RS125 for decades, and from the beginning it was an excellent privateer race bike from the factory. Looking to learn how to race while dealing with a two-stroke powerband? Look no further.
Also known as the RS125R, Honda offered these bikes at $13,000 MSRP – but you’d end up doubling that with modifications if you were to compete at the highest levels. At those levels, you could see 44 horsepower from the 125cc engine! Think about it this way: if you had a literbike making similar power/displacement numbers, it would put down just over 350 horsepower. Wet weight is around 160 pounds. As is often the case with bikes like this, the numbers tell just a small part of the story. Here’s a recent tale from Emma Franklin, Production Editor at MCN, who shares why she loves her ’98 RS125 so much:
“All these factors combine to make a riding experience that’s just simply out of this world. Full throttle, sixth gear, tucked in, shut off slightly then barrel in; the RS’s lack of mass makes for corner entry and mid-corner velocities that are simply unthinkable on bigger bikes. After a race, my front slick looks more tattered than a superbike’s rear. Every lap is a rush of revs, razor-sharp steering, last minute braking and constant body position shifting as I try to maintain every shred of momentum. It doesn’t matter where I’m riding it or for what reason, whether it’s testing, racing or just a trackday, it leaves me trembling for hours afterwards. I’ve been lucky enough to ride a lot of bikes, but nothing, nothing, compares to this.”
This RS125 (VIN: JR01-0410524) seems to have a ’09 engine in a ’04 frame. It was acquired from Rising Sun Cycles and still has the original fairings and windscreen. It’s claimed to be in excellent condition though a scratched foot peg was the result of a lowside in Laguna Seca 5 years ago. Find this bike for sale in Angwin, California with bidding up to $500 and the reserve not yet met