Yes, if someone wants a real off road motorcycle there are literally dozens and dozens of them out there that would outclass the Trail 125 for 100% off road riding. But a CRF125 isn't street legal and has no built in ability to carry anything. If you want to go dual sport you need to go up to a CRF250L which is more expensive, a lot taller and a lot heavier and still doesn't have any built in cargo capability. Other makers have decent dual sports but most of them are 80% off road with some provisions for street riding. The Yamaha XT250 is like the Honda 250 - taller, heavier and more expensive.
Then you get into the adventure bikes and such with 400cc or even 650cc engines. Great for touring on paved and dirt roads if you want to go long distances and carry a lot of gear. Not so great to carry around unless you put them in the back of a pickup.
The TW200 is an excellent little dual sport with decent to good on road capability. I had one briefly, and it has a very low first gear for hauling - you switch into second at 5 mph or it's screaming at 10. Top speed is about 55 to 60 mph. it might go faster but I wasn't real comfortable on it at that speed. With a cargo rack they're very versatile - you still need to buy an aftermarket cargo rack - but I'd see them as the biggest competitor to the Trail 125 for a country work horse that can legally travel on the street.
The old Trail 90 and 110 had a definite niche utility even though they were easily outclassed by larger street or off road machines if you want to go bombing through the countryside. But sometimes you don't need that, you just want something that will putt putt along, easy to ride and bullet proof if given even a little maintenance. Or not. They were definitely the RV'ers or car camper's friend. The handlebars turned 90 degrees to make them easy to carry in a rack behind a four wheel vehicle and their light weight made them easy to handle, load and unload from a rack, and they really would pull well over their weight class.
The new 125 without the dual range and without folding handlebars loses some of that utility but they're still smaller, dual sport motorcycles - more on road with the ability to go off road - that will be easy to ride and maintain and can carry a load. I'm really looking forward to seeing one in person.
