Varadero 125 would be a good idea . They are still current I think but have been around for a good while. Maybe 8 to 10 years? Def 5.
How about a Yamaha XT125. Lovely basic air cooled engine also used in the road 125’s. Superceded by the WRF 125 but plenty of XT’s in the shops. Great min trail bike.

Isn’t it interesting how our views differ. Someone reckons small bikes are no good for that distance commute yet I fell the opposite etc.
Just goes to show that you will never get a definitive answer here!
What ever, Think about speed. At motorway speeds you will be working a 125 hard so maybe something bigger unless you are very restrained. Alternatively on country roads you may only average 30 mph where a 125 for pottering along will be nicer.

I was recently looking to buy a bike (MLC rather than necessity) but was looking at the old XL125 250/500s. I reckon a 250 would give a good mix of mpg to mph to cheap road tax etc. In the end i bought a CB600 hornet for £1850 as the XLs I looked at had sadly fallen in to the classic tax bracket.
10 miles on a 250 would be a piece of piddles.
An xt/xl/dt would suit your height better than a CG125 and would soak up the dreadful road surfaces. I find my Hornets budget suspension a bit crashy on Calderdales crap road surfaces.
You should get about 80mpg from a 250 commuter enduro
Or stick with the CG125 if its about saving money you cant beat the little CGs. Remember wear a full face helmet and no one knows its you 😉

http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic-bikes-2/XL250R.jpg

Tidy

http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/yamaha/2010-yamaha-xt250-ar62873.html

There is a grey import XT223 available as well, never ridden one but Im sure someone on here has.

GS500: used to have one, nice handling bike, but wheezy and rusted very quickly

I’m thinking a new 125 (for reliability reasons) is probably going to be the best option, but I need to look into what’s out there. Does/has anyone made a faired 125 that might be a bit nicer to ride? I think a scooter might be a good option but I’d need to try one on the kind of roads I’ll be riding

For the journeys’ you are looking at I’d agree with you. Take a look at these:

http://www.pulsemoto.co.uk/

Others will disagree with me and tell you that the Chinese/Indian scooters are all crap, but we bought my lad one last year and tbh as long as it is PDI’d properly (find a local dealer) they are good enough. Especially for the money, in fact the 125cc’s are cheaper than the 50cc we bought him.

If you’ve the money for the Burgman sized scooters, then obviously spend more, but if you’ve not…

Just make sure you service/look after it – nothing kills a bike (and this applies to all makes) more than it been badly looked after.

Bought for £900 quid with 30k on clock, 3 years later it has 50k on clock, used to commute on. Couldnt tell you what mpg is (what are these strange miles and gallons you speak of?) but it costs about £18 to fill up these days and that’ll do around 165 miles, although it does have a smaller front sprocket on which doesnt help fuel consumption I wouldnt think.

Stoner, I bet if you got a Transalp you would hardly ever use the scooter again!!! 8)

Its not as shiny now!!

Reclaim the roads. 😈

scooter por kala y simon, en Flickr

There is a grey import XT223 available as well, never ridden one but Im sure someone on here has

They’re definitely a ‘small’ bike. Good off road and for pottering about at up to 50mph but little better than a 125 on A roads and lost under anyone 6ft+.

I think the OP is getting too hung up on the smugness inducement of 70mpg or more. A good new or recent 125 will cost £2500 or thereabouts and will depreciate significantly as the miles clock up. Spend £1200 wisely on a bigger bike and in a year or two’s time you’ll still have a £1200 bike. That’s got to be worth more than a few extra mpg. New bike sales are well down at the moment so good secondhand stock will hold it’s value well. That the mainstream motorbike magazines are regularly singing the praises of bikes from the last 10-15 years only reinforces my above opinion.

Problem for the op is that it seems only really with modern bikes that fuel consumption has become important. He could get a new G650GS beemer which is essentially the same as my bike but with engine management and fuel injection, it’ll do 65-70 mpg apparently and the new Honda NCX700 or whatever its called which is slightly better. Unless he wants to spend £6000 he isnt going to get one. Based on my figures above my bike does about 55-60 mpg which aint bad but not at scooter level.

I do that distance on a regular basis on my FZ6, a bit of extra power over a 125 is nice for overtaking on country roads. That said, it’s not the ideal commuting machine – that’d probably be a 400cc scooter.

TBH, though, if you’re not getting rid of the second car I’d just use that on bad weather days, and a (push)bike for the rest.

I’m not planning on buying anything new, I should have said ‘newer 125’ not new. I’m rocking a cg125 brj, so kick start and drum brakes.

I will look Ito the various suggestions made but I think a more modern (but not new) 125 scooter or motorbike is on the cards

Thanks
Matt

Scooters over rough roads will be horrible due to their small wheels.

I don’t particularly like the look of them but as an aside you can get big-wheeled Italian scooters now.