Archive for the ‘1975 Honda CR125 Finished’ Category

After riding the 1975 CR125 a few times to test it seemed all ok and ready to try on the race track.

On race day it fired up and crackled nicely and we took it to the start line, ready to go and then silence…. the engine cut out. Bugger, push it back to the van and start poking through the electrics to no avail so back home to the workshop to go through it in detail. Luckily I have the 74 CR125 so I can swap electical parts and isolate the problem to the CDI unit which had failed. Lack of use over the past 34 years has to have some impact.

It was suggested the a modern PVL ingnition system is the way to go so I ordered one from the US specifically for this model. When it arrived it looked a little complicated so I took the bike to a local motorcycle electrical shop who are famlar with these ignitions system to get it fitted but very quickly they discovered the rotor in the PVL kit had the wrong taper and would not fit, bugger, that was a waste of money. They then pointed out that the original ignition systems on these vintage bikes were very good and they produced a strong spark from minimal effort whereas the modern systems needed a very good kick to generate a strong spark. They suggested I just replace the CDI unit with a used one as there are many available since Honda used the same unit across a number of models/years.

PVL ignition Kit

I easily found a CDI unit on eBay for a few dollars and it bolted straight on and the bike started first kick!

LESSON# KISS principle applies, ie “Keep It Simple Stupid”

PS: anyone want to buy an unused PVL ignition for a 74/75 Honda CR125 that may or may not fit?

1975 Honda CR125

I just love these little high revving go fast machines and came across a 1975 Honda CR125 for sale, it was much closer to home than the 74 CR125 I had just bought 2,000 miles away as it was only a little more than 1,000 miles away. I was sill learning my lessons on that bike.

It was described as a first class show bike and it looked great, the close up pics showed a fantastic restoration and the price was more than fair – I bought it, had to.

This beauty got delivered and it was good to look at.

I gave it a check, put fuel in and it fired 1st kick, u ripper, the sound was a great two stroke crackle, the engine was perfect.

Only issue quickly realised was the rear shocks were completely dead, they look beautiful but did not work and the fuel petcock leaked badly.

Well it was a show bike not a racer so not surprised about these in hindsight. Luckily I found on eBay a set of reconditioned shocks for this model and a new NOS petcock. As soon as I got them delivered this bike was 100% complete, it can show and race.

Its so good I am reluctant to race it too hard as I don’t want to scratch it.

LESSON# : there is a difference between a show bike and a race bike, make sure you ask if it can hit the track or not!