Thrifty and mad as
Test by Dennis Penzo. Pics by Chris Pickett
IT DEFIES categorisation but from the point of view that you may not see yourself as being a scooter type of person, the Madass 125 offers something entirely different while offering a more traditional motorcycle riding stance.
One of its other claims to traditional motorcycles is that it does have a four speed gearbox with clutch and gear lever, unlike the auto transmissions that you’ll find on most scooters.
The four-speed ’box copes quite well with inner and outer suburban traffic speeds. We actually even managed to touch 90kmh, with more throttle left to go, but we didn’t want to push it too hard out of respect for the brand new bike. We imagine that once the new engine has loosened up a bit it won’t have any trouble reaching 100kmh.
The 125cc four-stroke air-cooled motor does its job quite well around town and we even tackled a few decent hills in our neighbourhood and still managed to get good speeds. With an engine power output of 6.0kW@ 8400rpm it’s not exactly a raging demon, but then that’s not what it’s meant to be.
Its actual displacement is 119.7cc with a bore and stroke of 52.4 x 55.5mm. It only weighs in at 100kg (dry) and has a 5.1 litre fuel tank, so there’s not a lot of weight for the motor to be dragging around. And it’s an absolute fuel miser so you’ll get plenty of running around town for very little cost.
It might appear to be a very minimalist, but eye-catching, design but it has LED tail light, digital instrumentation, 16inch alloy wheels, disc brakes front and back, adjustable suspension, stainless steel exhaust and even a trip meter
Nice big grippy footpegs for the rider make it a stable and comfortable ride and the disc brakes front and back are more than up to the task for this kind of bike.
The wheels are larger than a lot of scooter wheels which is rather comforting on what passes for roads in NSW. They give the bike a nice stable feel on the road. The Madass has an electric start as well as a kick start for back-up.
All bikes should have a kick start, but I’m just giving my age away again.
If you’re travelling around at night there’s no need to be worried because the headlight offers a veritable blaze of light – and that’s just low beam! The seat is quite comfortable and is 835mm high and it does allow room for your pillion. Overall it’s 1840mm long and 760mm wide with a total height of 1035mm, so it’s a fairly compact bike.
The Sachs Madass also comes as a 50cc model but that would probably be something more for exclusive inner city use. The Madass 125 is great for inner city commuting but has that extra bit of power to allow for slightly longer outer suburban jaunts with a better speed range.
Retailing at $2990 this is really good value for such a stylish little machine and it comes with 12months parts and labour warranty.
You can get it in a variety of colours including black, white, yellow and silver. Test bike supplied by Racecourse Motors, 16 Alison Road, Randwick, NSW (02) 9314 7700.
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