This Is Probably The Sportiest 125cc Motorcycle You Can Buy Anywhere In The World Today

With the RC 125 leading the sales chart for the KTM RCs lately, it’s safe to say that Indians are fond of small sporty offerings. There are several international entry-level sportsbikes that we’d love to see in India, like the Yamaha R125 and the Suzuki GSX-R125. Meanwhile, a UK-based offering, the Lexmoto LXR 125 has been giving these top-runners a hard time in the UK market. For 2021, Lexmoto has rolled out some key updates for the LXR including modern features and a more powerful motor.

Design-wise, the LXR 125 has always had a big-bike appeal, and it stays on the same lines for 2021. It has a sporty persona and gets a unique split LED headlamp. Towards the middle, the bike gets broad fairings followed by a radical tail end with integrated grab handles, quite like what we have on the KTM RC range. 

The 10-spoke alloy wheels, well-finished exhaust and split seats further add to its appeal. The 2021 LXR 125 is offered in three new colours: Black/Gold (with Gold alloys), Black/White, and Black/Red, while the LXR 125 SE is wrapped in special Red/Black/White graphics with red pinstripes on the alloys.

On the features front, both variants of the LXR get full LED lighting with LED indicators but while the standard LXR gets a semi-digital instrument cluster, the SE gets a TFT display. To further differentiate them, the SE gets an adjustable USD fork up front and a lighter Aluminium swingarm as compared to the telescopic fork and a standard swingarm in the base-spec LXR. 

Powering both bikes is a Euro-5 compliant 125cc single-cylinder motor churning out 12.6PS and 11Nm (0.4PS and 1.5Nm more than before), which can propel it to a claimed top speed of 110kmph. For reference, the BS6 KTM RC 125 makes 14.5PS and 12Nm. Another change for 2021 is that the motorcycle has switched to a 6-speed gearbox instead of the 5-speed one on the previous model. Stopping power is courtesy a twin-disc setup at the front and a single disc at the rear, which sounds like an overkill for what is, after all, a 125cc machine.

Lexmoto is offering the standard LXR 125 at 2,499 Euros (Rs 2.15 lakh) while the SE is priced at 2,800 Euros (Rs 2.41 lakh), making them pretty pricey for our market even before conversion and taxes. That said, the LXR 125 actually costs half as much as its rivals like the Yamaha R125 and the Suzuki GSX-R125 in the UK, which explains why it is a huge success there.