If I told you that I test rode a new adventure bike at the ABR Festival, I bet the first image in your mind would be one of a huge litre+ machine, with a seat high enough to warrant a stepladder, more power than an average family car, and a price tag with five digits on it. And nine times out of ten you would be absolutely bang on. But not in this instance. You see, the bike I rode was pretty much the antithesis of big adventure bikes. It was the Sinnis Terrain 125, a sub-£4k learner-legal adventurer that’s not just low in price but in weight, height and power too.

To be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect from the bike. Would this be an adventure with a small a, or a design stroke of genius that’s democratising motorcycle adventuring for everyone? Luckily the nice folk at Sinnis let me have the bike for a couple of hours to find out exactly what it has to offer.

First impressions

At first glance, the Terrain looks about as intimidating as a baby duckling. The silhouette has adventure written all over it, but the diminutive size makes the bike almost look like a scaled down replica of the real thing. This is a bike you could jump on quite happily straight after collecting your CBT certificate, and start your adventures.

On the bike, you instantly appreciate the low seat and the compact size of the machine. With a seat height of 780mm (and less after the suspension gives a sigh as I heave my 90kg on it), getting your feet flat on the ground is not the slightest concern.

The bars are not as wide as you often get on adventure bikes, but they are nice and high, helping to make the riding position very comfortable whether you are sitting on the seat or standing on the pegs.

As electronics on the bike are very limited (and what would you really need on a 125?), the switchgear is simple too, with no extra buttons to press. The dash is a fairly simple setup too, with an analogue tacho and an LCD screen for the rest of the information, including an easy to spot gear indicator to let you know where you are with the six-speed box.

Riding the Sinnis Terrain 125

On road, the Terrain seemed pretty much exactly like what you would expect from a 125cc bike. You have to be rather heavy handed with the throttle to get it up to speed, but with the low power also comes a very pleasant smoothness in the power delivery, so you certainly don’t have to worry about being razor sharp with the controls. The seat is nicely padded, so longer stints in the saddle should be fine too. Suspension and brakes are both basic, but do the job for such a small and light bike. The adventure styling, and slightly larger size compared to some 125s didn’t seem to make the bike any less of a doddle to ride.

But I always expected the bike to handle itself on the roads. For me, the big question was what it would be like if I took it to some green lanes.

Before we get to the trail ride side of things, I should point out that I am fully aware you can have an adventure without any offroading, and that most adventure bikes of all capacities never leave paved roads. But Sinnis markets the bike as offroad-capable, so I wanted to see if it really was.

The trail section of the ride started with a gentle bimble over grassy fields, and the first impressions were positive. You feel immediately comfortable standing on the pegs with the high bars helping you stay quite relaxed, without having to double over the front wheel.

This being a 125, there isn’t much power to play with, but the 12.7bhp from the single-cylinder four-stroke engine keeps you going merrily along. There’s not a lot of torque either, 10.5Nm is all you get, and that shows when you want a bit more grunt to get a move on, but you have to remember that you are dealing with a 125 here.

As the trails got a bit bumpier and more technical, it was not the amount of power that was the first limitation, but the suspension. It’s fine when you are riding more sedately on gravel roads or fairly easy forest tracks, but with a bit more speed and bigger bumps, you soon bottom out the suspension.

Another consideration is the 17” front and rear wheels. While they make road riding easy, when you leave the Tarmac, you feel the front getting a little nervous. It’s ok to ride, but it doesn’t have the same stability and confidence-inspiring feel as a larger wheel would give. The tyres play a big part in this too, so for anything muddier you would need knobblier options.

The brakes are combined, which is a fine system for roads, but limits your offroad riding slightly. Although, to be fair, the sort of gentle trail riding that you might do with this bike is unlikely to be too badly affected by the system.

As is the case with most 125 bikes, any experienced offroad rider will be able to take the Terrain to its limit fairly quickly, but that’s not the market that the bike is aimed at, and if you are a new rider, or simply want an easy, manageable and affordable way to explore adventure riding, it will absolutely do the job.

Conclusion

I returned from my ride with a big smile on my face. The Terrain may not have the offroad sophistication of a more focussed machine, such as the Fantic XE 125, but again, that’s not what the Terrain tries to do. For somebody who rides mainly in the city, but likes the idea of taking the occasional detour via easy green lanes, this bike does both.

In this world of big adventure bikes, it’s refreshing to see the smaller alternatives, such as the Terrain, and for new riders it offers a slightly more adventurous alternative to much of the competition. The terrain brings to the table pretty much the same proposition as the larger adventure bikes: an opportunity to explore beyond the well-trodden path, without going too extreme – it just does it in a fun-sized package.

Sinnis Terrain 125 specification

Engine:                             124.2cc single cylinder, 4-stroke

Power:                              9.5Kw / 12.7bhp @ 9500rpm

Torque:                            10.5Nm @ 7500rpm

Weight:                            162kg wet

Seat Height:                    780mm

Ground Clearance:       158mm

Fuel Tank Capacity:      14 litres

Transmission:                 6-speed, chain final drive

Brakes:                             Combined brakes

Wheels:                           Cast aluminum 10-spoke wheel

Tyres:                                Tubeless, 17” (100/80-17, 120/80-17)

Front Suspension:        Telescopic forks

Rear Suspension:          Mono shock absorber with pre-load adjustment

Contact:                           www.sinnismotorcycles.com