Yamaha YTX 125

When you take a simple glance at the Yamaha YTX 125, you will immediately realise that design is surely not a forte of this basic commuter motorcycle. Yamaha has kept the design of the YTX 125 as simple and frills-free as possible, which makes it too utilitarian to look at.

The Yamaha YTX 125 looks functional with a very basic round halogen headlamp at the front, which in traditional norms get a decent looking chrome surround. The headlamp comes fitted with simple-looking amber coloured turn indicators to its either sides – and that’s it. The front fascia looks tad too simple and somewhat dated. The front fender is finished in black and is long enough to add some visual mass to the front end.

The side profile of the Yamaha YTX 125 is simple, but not too bland by any means, and that is largely due to the contemporary looking fuel tank. The Yamaha YTX 125 shares its nicely carved fuel tank with the Yamaha Saluto 125, which is available in a couple of Asian nations, which come with added mild body graphics on its lower edges.  The black finished Y-shaped side body panels with arrow-shaped battery cover adjacent to them look nice and make the side profile look decent.

The rest of the side profile of the Yamaha YTX 125 looks frills-free, which is felt more due to the absence of proper rear side body panels. The engine and other cycle parts around it as well as the long exhaust pipe is finished in black, but the spoke wheels rob off some modernity. The bike gets dual shock absorbers and tandem footrests on either sides.

At the rear, the Yamaha YTX 125 looks minimalist with a rounded tail lamp at the back and a large functional tubular flat rear carrier above it, just behind the seat. The instrument console of the Yamaha YTX 125 too looks as basic as the rest of the motorcycle, with just the basics like a speedometer, fuel indicator, and odometer among the chief dials on offer. The switchgear is basic with the addition of a pass flasher and electric starter placed rightly.

Sitting over a very robust diamond frame under its minimalist skin, the Yamaha YTX feels strongly built despite its bare basic appeal, with the motorcycle getting hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and a basic tubular swingarm with dual coil springs on either sides of the motorcycle. The suspension feels strong enough to absorb all kinds of heavy-duty load carrying conditions with absolute ease. For braking purposes, a setup of drum brakes at both the ends is there on the Yamaha YTX 125.

At the heart of the Yamaha YTX 125 is a four-stroke, single-cylinder, air-cooled, carbureted 125cc engine, which again is shared with the Yamaha Saluto available overseas. The engine is coupled to a 4-speed manual gearbox and churns out a maximum power output of 8.2 PS and a maximum torque output of 10.2 Nm.

For a stripped-down bare-bones commuter motorcycle with absolutely no modern features onboard, the Yamaha YTX 125 expectedly gets no noteworthy safety features.

With its light-weighted character coupled with strong warhorse in the form of a potent 125cc engine as well as robust chassis and suspension setup, the Yamaha YTX 125 feels decently made for the purpose for which it has been engineered. It surely lacks the modernity one expects from a motorcycle of this generation, however, the mechanical prowess of it surely serves as the upside balance to it.