conundrum
/ku nun drum/
• noun (pl. conundrums) 1 a confusing and difficult problem or question. 2 a riddle.

To me the Vino 125 is exactly that… a confusing problem… a riddle. You see it is a bike that I should dislike intensely… and did initially… but now I don’t. Why? Well… see way back in April when we tested the Vino 50 I liked the styling but it was let down by decidedly glacial acceleration. So I was actually looking forward to the 125cc version, if it made reasonable power it would be nigh on the ultimate mix of retro styling, convenience, performance and value.

But, and that is a big “BUT” the 125 shares it’s smaller cousin’s constipated caterpillar like pace. To put into perspective just how slow this bike is we had the Daelim Cordi 50cc at the same time… the Daelim shared virtually the same acceleration and top speed (around 70kph or 44mph) as the 125cc Vino. This is just plain bad. This lack of performance started to drive me insane… not just your regular padded cell and straight jacket insane…this was full on “stand in your local church’s bell tower, naked other than gold paint and an AK47” insane. Then I started to relax… I started to treat the bike, as it needs to be treated, as urban transport. When I got my head around the fact that just because it is a 125 it doesn’t need to be fast I began to enjoy the bike much more. For use around town the performance is just fine, the engine is tractable and will still stand you in good stead pulling away from traffic lights, and will hold adequate speed up most hills. The suspension although slightly on the hard side is responsive and will gladly accept a bit of a “thrash”. The Disc and Drum brake combination was solid and had no issue with hard braking and stop start traffic.

The Vino 125 is a bike that has clearly been designed as an alternative to a more expensive Italian machine. The retro styling along with great paint, bigger body and quality componentry combines to give a “grown up” scooter. This is a machine that would not look out of place outside the local café with the Vespa’s or being ridden to the office. This is a bike that an adult could ride without feeling that people are looking at a pauper… and laughing. The performance could have been improved but if your riding doesn’t include any freeways then it is perfectly adequate… and, to be fair… damn good fun. The handling belies the styling and if you just relax and live with the lack of power you can throw it around like a much smaller machine… then it’s party time.

Yamaha’s Vino 125 is fairly well set up with regard to day to day usability, the under-seat compartment will take a large full face helmet (just) and the upside down helmet placement means you can easily throw your gloves into the helmet, close the seat and walk away. One small complaint with the storage was the helmet hooks under the seat, there are two of them but they are so far forward that I couldn’t get my helmet loop to hook onto them… this is an easily fixed problem… it would appear no one has ever tried to hang a helmet on them. Also there is no front glove box but this is pretty normal for retro styled machines. The seat is large and comfortable and I expect any sized rider would find it more than acceptable. The centre stand is easy to use and there is a side stand provided. The dashboard is easy to read, the one comment I would make is that the fuel gauge mounted low down on the left hand side of the steering column is a bit of a pain and I would like to see it up on the bars somewhere. While we are talking fuel… the tank is tiny… even with the better than average economy I seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time at “service” stations.

The headlights are less than inspiring with low beam being only just adequate… a bit dim and not ideally positioned. High beam is essentially a waste of time unless you are hunting for possums in the uppermost branches of roadside trees.

Overall the Vino 125 is a stylish, big bodied scooter designed to be a viable option for grown ups. If you are looking for an economical 125cc machine and your travel consists of urban, city based riding then the Vino is a real option. It is easy to move around and a lot of funs, especially on twisty roads and through traffic even if you take into account the horrendous lack of power. If Yamaha released this machine with 11 or 12hp it would be an absolute gem. Even as it is the Vino converted me… when I first stepped on board I hated how slow it was… then it grew on me just riding it back to Yamaha through peak hour traffic put a massive grin on my face. The fact that when it was parked outside my favourite caffeine dealer it got a lot of admiring glances may have helped just a bit too.

Price	NZ $3,999, US $2649,  Aus $3,999
0-50km/h	8.2 Seconds
0-100km/h	---
50-80km/h	Forever
Lap Time	---
Fuel Economy	2.9L/100kms - 81MPG
Speedo Accuracy	50kph displayed = 48kph actual
Pros:	Looks good, quality materials, affordable urban transport
Cons:	Slow, Slow... Poor headlights, Slow
Handling
Performance
Fuel Consumption
Value for money
Ease of use
Styling
Build quality
Overall Score	74%

Comments (9)

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written by ME , April 28, 2011

As a Vino 125 owner for 4 years and 17K miles, I can assure you that the Vino can easily top 55mph on an average day. I ride my scooter up until it starts to snow and break it out when the temps get above 40 at night....... When I got my vino yamaha stated that the scooter needed to be broken in before you attempt WOT runs and from my personal experince I did not attain top speed until the bike got around 1500 miles on it.... Please go back and update your rewiew accordingly as it is totally inaccurate in the top speed dept.

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written by Cathy , March 01, 2010

I like my vino 125 but it has very little storage and I can find no accessories other than a windshield. Any ideas for storage, and cup holder? I'd love to have a locking box, but the darn gas tank access is in the way. Any help?

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written by Jbaby39 , March 18, 2009

BEHOLD! Another big man/owner of a Vino 125. I was once the owner of a Honda Ruckus, that's right. Not one of my best choices. Two simple reasons. No storage, NO POWER! Anything 50cc is not ment for a big guy's behind.Don't get me wrong, for a scoot, the Ruckus did haul me around with no problems. Just hills, ANY, hill. And traffic. I still get night sweats.Then I sold my bug eyed darlin, and got a used 07 Vino. She had close to 5,000 miles on her. But, the moment I rode him/her ( Haven't picked a name yet ) around the parking lot. I gave the kenny rogers look alike his 1,100. And, hit the city streets. The biggest shock I got was when I looked down and saw that I was doing 60, I laughed the rest of the way home! So, whoever said that the Vino is slow. Should spend sometime riding a city bus, and then get on one and, see how slow she/he is!

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written by Sara , January 16, 2009

I've gotten my Vino 125 up to about 95 kph (60 mph) so far. Is your low top speed related to the extended break-in period?

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written by matt , October 06, 2008

i have the vino 50 and it goes 40mph, so i seriously doubt the 125 is limited to 44mph. the 50 also has a glovebox on the left side. acceleration from 0-20 is good, from 20-35 takes an eternity.

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written by papafern the scooter pimp , September 30, 2008

i forgot to add that i put 9700 miles on it in 7 months.

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written by papafern the scooter pimp , September 30, 2008

thanks for defending the vino jerome. im the one that rode the vino from nyc to chatanooga. i dont know what was wrong with the vino u tested but mine has a top speed of 60 and cruising at 50-55 with no problems. i rode it thru the skyway, blue ridge parkway, went to the top of mount mitchell, cherokee nation and then the dragons tail. yes its a city bike, not for interstates, but its great on twisty backroads. uphills with my 320 pound but on it are bad but thats not what it was designed to do. if u want a retro looking bike that wont break your wallet and is reliable, the vino is the way to go

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written by vincel , September 23, 2008

Haha, yeah you may be right, although I havn't had any complaints from Yamaha yet. I must say I was expecting more... I will have a chat to the team at Yamaha but the guys at the shop didn't sound too surprised by the result... There aren't a lot of the 125's around down here though so that could be lack of experience on their behalf.

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written by Jerome , September 18, 2008

Something is terribly wrong with the model Vino 125 you reeceived. I have personally ridden with at least a dozen Vino 125 riders at speeds over 50 mph (Gps)
for 50 - 100 mile rides. A scooter friend I know weighs 350+ lb and has ridden his Vino 125 from NYC to Chattanooga, Tn (800 miles), and many shorter trips this year, His riding buddy rides a Vespa PX 150, and he is able to keep-up EXCEPT on hills.

I suspect you will soon find out how many Vino 125 riders are out there reading your site! :-)

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