125 inferiority complex...
 

Does anybody else have or has anybody ever had this?

Last Fri I went out for a ride and was practicing in one of the local towns...about 10 'proper' bikes filed past me at one point and I ended up tagged onto the back of them...then as we went thru the town there was quite a few bikers parked up near the town centre. It was sooo embarassing...I wanted the ground to open up and I would have been happy to fall off the bike into it never to be seen again! There's me on my little hairdryer (which I love to bits) and them with their meaty engines thrumming away :rolleyes:

Then last night I stopped for petrol and as I was about to pull away 3 bikes turned up...it just makes me feel like such a t*t...I know other people have been there...everybody has to start somewhere but I feel like such a plum. Plus as I'm little everybody probably thinks I'm a 17 year old kid :D

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Bikers are bikers and look after their own mate. There's nothing at all wrong with owning a 125cc. Everyone had to start somewhere and you should see no difference riding a 125 as to riding a litre bike.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Yeah it's all in your head

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

i give a nod to most bikes it wasnt long ago i was on a 125 learning.Respect to all :cool: who cares what folk think anyway enjoy;)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Yeah I know I shouldn't be so self-conscious...it's hard not to sometimes tho. It makes me feel better when people give me a nod and I feel a lot better now my bikes run in :D

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

you will pass your test next time.You know how to now ,remember to give them learners that nod .A nod is good ecspecially when learning lol :smt045 (can i spell ecspicially )

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Nothing to worry about. Bikers is bikers. :cool:
It wasn't so long ago I used to buzz about on a Cb250 - looked like a BFG on a monkey bike. Nobody gave a toss, even my mates on their gixxers/(insert random big bike here)

So there.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I was once chatting to a kid on a 125 who made disparaging remarks about my SV. Stuff along the line of how when he was older he'd have a proper bike.
After he started gobbing off about my fender extender I asked him how old he was. He sed 19, I said, "Good, old enough for a smack in the mouth then." :)

The point being, there are always going to be people with bigger faster bikes. Don't take the pees out of them or they might smack ya one... Wait, that doesn't sound very helpful...

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I used to hate it when I was riding around on my 125, the looks I got... I'm pretty sure some people thought it was a Harley. The shame :)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

The guys on 125s in Moto GP are faster than Rocket Ron Haslam round Donnington - and he's on a Fireblade!

Bikers are bikers :cool:

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

If you're that worried about the size of your engine....well then find a different hobby. i've passed many a bike bigger than mine on my sv650... sure they passed me on the straights, but that was about it.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

U is mi hero!

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Hey - at least you still get to look down on scooter riders. ;)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I know what you mean. I'm way past 17 but learnt on an NSR125 (passed in April). I felt a bit inferior at the time too. As everyone says though all the other bikes still used to nod and stuff it was all in my head. Bikers are very inclusive to all I think.

Getting the SV (restricted) after I passed was still amazing though, it felt like a rocket compared to the 125.

I think I've read a post by you before about the DAS test? I tried DAS first and simply could not do a U turn (failed once just on the U turn no minors, how p155ed off was I?). So I gave in and did the normal test on my own bike. I was so much more comfident on test day and I think this is because it was my bike, I knew it well and had done a million U turns by this point. I can cope for two years on a restricted SV too, it's still great fun.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

i still every now and again ride my dads 125 its a HOOT!:)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Cheers everybody...I know I'm just being daft. I'm going to get my test booked again asap...at least then I'll get my L plates off!!

Can't wait to get out on my sv as I still haven't had a proper ride on it...it's stressing me out parked in the garage doing nothing, I'm worried that the bike's going to suffer as a result...

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Nowt wrong with 125's

I nod to everyone, even harley riders!

I have concidered getting a 125 for winter just to keep my skill up, i dont want the SV (bearing in mind its a Suzuki) disapearing into a pile of oxidised metal over winter!! LOL

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I've got an XR125 with L plates, I'm quite proud of it coz it looks good and is bigger than most 125's. However I lost all proudness after a bloke in a petrol station came up and said "That's a nice little looking thing isn't it!"..... not happy!!
Since then a few people in different situations have all called it 'small', 'nice' or 'little' whilst complimenting it.... just wait until I get my restricted SV650! :nomore:

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

As long as it has two wheels and gears - it gets my respect. (And normally a nod)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

i quite often borrow my girlfriends CBR125 (complete with L plates and sparkly heat shaped stickers!) cos it's just quicker round town and runs on thin air. I'm not too fussed what other think but I do notice that other road users are far more likely to cut me up or assume I'm going slower than i am than if I was on the SV :smt013

i see quite a few 125's on the way to work with L plates and always give em a nod. They commute through all weather just like me so why not - they r bikers too.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Loulou.....surely you can just use your feminine charms :)

One of my neighbours recently purchased a bike for his son(17) who hadn't done his license/CBT at the time. It was only 20 miles away and he asked if i wouldnt mind riding it back. No big issue so i said yes.

Even though i did ride with l-plates back in the day, it was still quite a revelation riding with them again and on a small bike. As philbut said...you get treated like crap. Im not sure i could do that everyday :)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I've noticed that even when drivers quite can quite plainly see you that they still insist on pulling out etc...although I have to admit that some have been reall courteous too. There's a few single track roads round my way with passing places where cars have given way to me...which is nice :D

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

nothing wrong with 125. ive still got mine a cagiva planet and i still ride it now an again. it mite be slow compared to the sv but it goes round bends loads better coz its so light

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I didnt have much of a problem on my 125. The first day i got on my SV I had two people try to kill me though.
The problems i did have with my l plates was chav drivers racing or trying to 'Bully' me on the road.
Didnt have none of it.
You pay your road tax, You arent on a moped wearing an adidas tracksuit with your helmet undone, You get a nod from me.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

LouLou, dont knock it, enjoy it. I can remember thinking the same when I had a 125 with L plates, but when I lost my licence for 18 months through illness....man....that sucked big time, I would have given anything to even be on even a 50cc ped! (I would have preferred losing it for speeding but Im proud to say I have never had a single point in 30 years as a road user) :cool: :D

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Lou, I rode my baby Vara for five years, circumstances prevented me from taking full test on two occasions, before I got my SV and I loved it. Embrace your 125ness its still biking.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Hey I started out on a 125 Vara too!

Don't worry Lou, spare a thought for my girlfriend a month or so back...the only spare set of clothes I have are, obviously, mine. I'm 6'3" and she's 5'3", so she has to dress up in what looks like clown clothes whenever we go for a ride. Ended up at the Whistle Stop cafe in Whitby on a bike night. She had rather red cheeks getting off the back, looking like Warwick Davies, in front of about 100 bikers!

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Lerner riders are scum, simple as that, you have every right to be embarrassed!! :D

But at least you won't be a learner for long 8) ... when you pass you can look down at learners, spit on them if you feel like it!! :lol:

The only thing you have going in your favor at the mo is that you are a wench (if not you have a really camp username and Avatar :D) ... men are not going to like a woman turning up on a better bike than theirs!! I'd be more pleased to see snatch turn up on a 125 than a Gixer thou!!! I'd feel intimidated not excited by the latter!! :D

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

I wouldn't give it a second thought. Bike snobbery is not something I've ever really considered...then again there are the London scooter riders (and cyclists)who should know their place when around proper bikes.;)

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

LouLou I was like you on my first trips out on the local roads but that all disappeared when I went on a rideout with my mate on his CBR600RR and his girlfriend on an identical bike as mine. We went to Henley and the cafe stop just outside (forget the name!). Pulled up with all the bikers watching any bike coming into the carpark, no bother. When I came out of the cafe, I noticed some people checking out the 2 'little' bikes. Went out for a ride, came back and I managed to drop the bike whilst going about 1mph, too much front brake on broken tarmac! Was I embarrassed, No I couldnt stop laughing. Since then I have not had those thoughts again - a trick you could use is to spark up a conversation with the bigger biker something like "nice bike, cant wait to get my full licence", they will respond with a positive!
As you said, get out there and practice your roadcraft and you will pass your DAS.
I havent the monies to get my SV yet, so Sat and Sun I will be 125ing it around the roads of Frimley, Camberley, Deepcut and Ligh****er learning all the time - first time without my L plates.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

It's the biker and not the bike that makes the community. We were all there once and to be honest I miss my 125's.

I remember when I went to a large biker meet on my RS125 complete with L plates. As I pulled into the carpark i noticed that all the learners seemed to be parked up in one corner. I thought sod that and and plonked mine right in the middle. Most people were very nice and asked lots of questions about the bike and gave me encouragement on my up and coming test. I did get some looks of "Why have you put that there" but I suppose every community has to have some kn$bheads in its ranks.

In short dont worry.

Re: 125 inferiority complex...
 

Nowt wrong with a 125. The CG125 I had was (as Jezza Clarkson would say) 'EPIC FUN'. I had an absolute ball on it. The drum brakes added to the fun!!

Regret selling it to a friend, who has left it in the back of his garage unloved.

If other bikers don't take you seriously, then that's their problem. I respect you far more for being on a 125 with L plates then some arrogant bloke boasting about his 2009 model Kwakazukiitchyfanni 600!!