Right, I /NEED/ a new barrel and piston, as in I can't get to college without my bike. A new barrel and piston from Yamaha (sit down for this big fucking surprise) is gonna cost well over £300, obviously I can't afford this. 

There are other, aftermarket barrels available on eBay, generally range from £38 to £50. What do you think of them? Obviously they're shitty Chinese rubbish, but how bad do you think they really are? Keep in mind that without the bike I'm basically stranded on top of a tiny village in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere in north Wales. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cylinder-Barrel-Piston-Kit-For-YAMAHA-YBR125-YBR-125-Cylindre-/321946041092?hash=item4af57abb04:g:Yq4AAOxyItRTdLcY

EDIT:

Would it actually be better to buy a second hand barrel from a wrecked bike or something and get a new piston and ring kit from a decent aftermarket manufacturer? It actually works out at a similar price.

No brainer for me, the Chinese stuff is often very unreliable quality wise, second hand oe will always be better. These engines will do 50000 miles if maintained so a good clean replacement barrel from a breakers will be fine.

11 minutes ago, Cynic said:

No brainer for me, the Chinese stuff is often very unreliable quality wise, second hand oe will always be better. These engines will do 50000 miles if maintained so a good clean replacement barrel from a breakers will be fine.

Thanks, I know this isn't ideal but we've all been in this situation before 

I've used chinese stuff beforebut I always check and measure it.

 

Got a barrel and piston once and had to to do some careful machining for it to work.