The Braaap Street Superlite 125 is a great little short-trip commuter. It’s light, nimble and efficient on fuel – sipping just 3.2l/100km.
It’ll sit on 60km/h no problem, carve up city congestion and despite its small-dimensions, it’s rather roomy for your average-size adult. Now that the obvious is out of the way, what’s it really capable of?
I took it for a ride to the You Yangs Regional Park, which I thought would be a nice little proving ground for the Street Superlite 125. My ride consisted of 40km of highway, followed by some country roads and then a mix of sealed and dirt roads snaking their way up a mountain.
The single-cylinder has a claimed top speed of 110km/h. So I set up my GPS to see what speed the bike could get to. Obviously the weight of the rider will play a factor. Fully kitted out, I weigh 85kg.
It didn’t take long to shift through the four-speed gearbox as I merged onto the highway at 80km/h. Within another kilometre or so I hit the dollar and eventually got to a top speed of 109.4km/h. Surprisingly there’s not a lot of vibration from the engine when it’s under full load.
Riding into a strong headwind, my speed dropped to around 80-90km/h and it took a little while to get back up to the speed limit, but for short highway commutes I think it does quite well for an air-cooled 125cc bike. Once on the back roads, the key to having fun is keeping the throttle pinned and just going with the flow. Climbing the sealed section of the mountain, pretending I was racing at Pikes Peak, the Street Superlite confidently hugged the side of the mountain with its 12-inch road tyres.
Priced at $2999, I don’t think there’s a much more versatile bike out there in its class. You certainly get a lot of bang for your buck.
At one stage I flicked it too eagerly into a corner and the rear-end got a little vague – which can be attributed to the soft suspension. Back at the base of the mountain there’s a 12km scenic section of twisting, undulating dirt road – which was always going to be an adventure road tyres. But because the bike is so light and there’s not a huge gallop of horsepower, losing traction was never scary. When worse comes to worst, you just put your foot down for extra stability.
The only unsettling part of the ride was the vibration which was brought on when riding over corrugated surfaces – which I suspect was due to the small wheels. If dirt is your thing I’d suggest upgrading to the 14-inch rims and fitting some decent dirt tyres.
ENGINE
Configuration Single cylinder Cylinder head SOHC, two valves Capacity 125cc Bore/stroke 52.4 x 55.5mm Compression ratio 9.2:1 Cooling Air Fueling 22mm Mikuni carburettor Power 6.5kW Torque Not given
TRANSMISSION
Type Four-speed Clutch Wet Final drive Chain CHASSIS
Frame material Reinforced Chromoly Frame layout Partial twin spar Rake Not given Trail Not given
SUSPENSION
Front: Upside down fork, non adjustable, 170mm travel Rear: Monoshock, adjustable preload, 310mm travel
WHEELS/TYRES
Wheels Alloy, wire-spoked Front: 12 x 2.75 Rear: 12 x 3.0 Tyres innova Meteor-F Front: 120/70-12 Rear: 120/70-12
BRAKES
Front:Single 220mm disc, twin-piston caliper Rear:Single 200mm disc, single piston caliper
DIMENSIONS
Weight 94kg (wet, measured) Seat height 780mm Max width 730mm Max height 1280 Wheelbase 1180mm Fuel capacity 7L
PERFORMANCE
Fuel consumption 3.2L/100kms (measured) Top speed 109.4km/h (measured)
Contact and sale info
Testbike Braaap Australia www.braaapmotorcycles.com 1300 272 227
Colour options Pink, blue, yellow, black, white, green, red, orange
Warranty Lifetime warranty (which costs an extra $250) for original owner, unlimited km
Price $2999 (+ORC)
This article appears in AMCN Vol64 No19