The new 125M keeps to the conventional styling cues of the Discover family – good quality switchgear, shapely familiar body panels, an LED tail lamp and a headlamp unit that houses the analogue speedometer, trip, fuel gauge and some indicating lights.

The same carburetted 124.6cc DTS-i engine which does duty in the Discover 125ST, lies at the heart of the Discover125M and in true tradition, is detuned to produce just 11.3bhp (to the ST's 12.8bhp), which is still better than most bikes in the segment. Torque figure remains the same as the ST at 10.8Nm. This means that although the 125M might not stay ahead of the 125ST off the line, it will stay ahead in the long run with a mileage figure that is better by 10-15% which should equate to around 65kpl in the real world.

The frugal engine is mated to a four-speed gearbox box with really short ratios which allow you to pull away from as low as 25kph in top gear. Riding in a very upright posture felt comfortable while cruising around town with the engine in its comfort zone at around 55kph. The engine is quite noisy and you can feel the vibrations increase through the soft palm grips as you climb up the rev band. The Bajaj’s engine might lack refinement compared to some other competition from the Honda stable, but it feels a more livelier of the lot to ride around.

The Discover 125M was concocted with the intention of being slightly more frugal and manoeuvrable than the 100M, and that’s pretty much what it is. With its wheelbase now shorter by 50mm over the older 125ST, the new Discover 125M feels nimble through slow-speed traffic. The suspension is soft and adaptive to most road undulations. This coupled with the now more flat, well cushioned seat made for a very pleasant ride. The 17-inch Eurogrip tyres provide enough grip at cruising speeds too while the brakes worked with a progressive bite

Thumb the starter and the bike quickly settles into the familiar coarse idling speed. The clutch is sharp enough for a quick start but engine torque kicks in a bit lazily. Gearshifts are smooth and they follow the classic commuter all-up format. Mind you, the Discover 100M gets a four-speed gearbox, compared to the five-speeder on the 100T version.

Competitively priced at Rs 50,499 (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the disc brake version, the 125M slots in between the 100M and the 125ST in terms of pricing and frugality, and comes across as a good value for money motorcycle overall. The only shortcomings of the Discover 125M are its noisy engine and the gearbox which could make do with an extra cog.

The Numbers:
124.6cc, 11.3bhp, 12.8Nm, 65kpl (estimated), 4M, 17-inch alloy wheels, Rs 50,499 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The Verdict:
Another well-priced offering from Bajaj that brings a different blend of performance and economy to the commuter-motorcycle table..

The following review has been sourced from TopGear - April 2014.