1974 CL125S

surffly said:

But above all just get it to a point that you can ride it safely and legally every day.
resist the "cafe" urge as low bars suck on these bikes, and scramblers are just freaking cool the way they are.

That red is a one year only

I got mine with 1100 miles, about 3500 now. I love mine.
I had a CB100 with clubmans and it was a torture rack

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when i was searching for this bike i seen yours & "lil frank" & maybe one other by googleing, liked it enough to buy it.. Im pretty happy with it so far, How does your do on the expressway? will it do 55 without redlining?

The last 2 bikes i owned was a Yamaha Road Star warrior 1700cc & a Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R ... Sooooo.. I was afraid to get such a small bike.. so far its great for around town.

Those tires sound original, I know my rear is a "safety rear"
I went with the M62 tires too, they are cheap, last for ever and kinda have a neat look. I install tires this size at home and statically balance them

Trials tires may work, but most are none DOT, but i think that the Vee rubber tires are. There really is a lack of tires for the these bikes. Duro and IRC make some.

As for the speed, these bikes are kinda toys. For a while my CL was my only running bike, it got me around and will run all day at 60(indicated) with out much fuss, but at the end of the day I weight more then the bike. I almost never take mine in a highway. Around hear the speed limit is 55 but that means 80.

Racks are around, best bet is to fine someone building a custom bike and his donor came with a rack....thats what I did....its the best thing I ever did to the bike.

That leak is the cam cover....not really that good....
Gasket kits are every where and cheap.

When looking at the manual the CB100/125 is the one to have. The CB125/160/175 is a Twin and share almost zero parts

Glad to hear that you are looking to enjoy the bike stock.
Like I said go over the bike with the manual and get it going 100%
Last I checked you can still get the air filter, these little bikes fall in and out of tune easily and like a nice clean OEM filter, they hate pods, but most bikes do.

That fender looks really close to mine, it kinda is what it is.

Mine is also leaking at the points area, behind the advancer. There is an oil seal for the cam that presses into the advancer/points housing. Replace that oil seal. You can get that from the Honda dealer. It's not the cover gasket. There shouldn't be any oil in the points housing.

Weldin810 said:

where do you get your tires? local or online? do you get the wheels balanced for these small bikes? is it easy enough to swap tires by yourself?

Ill get some of those Gazelles if i can swap myself & dont need to worry about balancing.

I worked at a motorcycle shop 10yrs ago but i had a tire machine to work with & if i did a tire this small i dont remember. for the price if im able to swap tires easy enough i'd buy street & off road & swap when needed. If possible/easy?

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I find the cheapest on line and buy there. You can get them on yourself with a set of spoons and a rim savers.

surffly said:

Racks are around, best bet is to fine someone building a custom bike and his donor came with a rack....thats what I did....its the best thing I ever did to the bike.

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How is that rack working out for you? Carry a lot of beer on it?

Use it all the time.
Its great for taking packages to the post office, or getting take out, and beer

Im looking for a cool old case of beer to put on it in place of the bungee net

For tires, I like the IRC NR53. At $25 each, it's a good deal. They run out a lot at Motorcycle Superstore. I bought a set of spares for the future. And yes, easy to spoon on.

tire blow out on street & new tires

I recieved my new tires after waiting 2.5 weeks - I ordered the Vee Rubber VRM-022 , state they are 80% street tires/20% off road.. after looking at them in person they are knobbier than i expected.. Hope they handle ok on the road...

in an added note, while waiting on my tires (1.5 weeks longer then originally stated) , i put about 175 miles on my original ones, everytime i was on the road i was worried i would have a blow out.. I DID, i was going about 40mph & my rear tube "deflated" rapidly .. I kept the bike up & got it off the road. The rear of the bike was fish taling all over & the soles of my shoes heated up quicky as they skidded along the street trying to steady the bike. Thinking i should of kept my feet up & used the back break could of proved useful but with the bike feeling like it was going out from under me my first reflex was to get my feet to the ground & use the front brake..

Would using the rear brake have kept the tire straighter or would it have made the bike fish-tale more? I don't want the opportunity to find out again, but whats recommended when you have a tire blow on a motorcycle (besides getting a new pair of underwear)...?

there are loads of side covers on ebay. just got a pair from overseas- 20$+shipping – plastic is cheaper and harder than the original but they still look great and fits perfectly. I got the red/burgundy color (which I will paint black – they didnt have my color) but it should match your bike almost perfectly.

Great looking bike - love the small scramblers!

Thanks, I get lots of complements on it while I'm out. The census is that I shouldn't be using this classic as a daily commuter but at 75-85mpg I'll drive it every day the weather allows ;D

Ride it !!!!!

Those naysayers need to visit a museum, me? I'm going for a ride....

only reason not to ride it is what kind of commute you have.
If its a 25 mile run down a 4 lane 55mph limited highway then no...

right, I don't, or haven't taken it on the highway yet. I drive it 50 max but normally 40-45mph. It takes longer to get to work or elsewhere because i stay off the highway but i'll leave earlier to ride it.

It would be nice to hold onto it and keep it as is but unfortunately i don't have the money to hang em on my walls.

surffly said:

Look for a front fender for that bike
It acts as a brace for those tinny flimsy forks, really is important

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Do you know if that only applies to the really small bikes, or is it OK to ride without a front fender on, say, a CB350?

Weldin810 said:

right, I don't, or haven't taken it on the highway yet. I drive it 50 max but normally 40-45mph. It takes longer to get to work or elsewhere because i stay off the highway but i'll leave earlier to ride it.

It would be nice to hold onto it and keep it as is but unfortunately i don't have the money to hang em on my walls.

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How fast a speed do you think it could sustain on the Interstate if you decided to try?

My CL125 will indicate just under 65mph, flat out

Running no fender and no brace is amateur hour
The 350 has slightly larger forks and a lot more weight....

74 CL125 speed limit

iContango said:

How fast a speed do you think it could sustain on the Interstate if you decided to try?

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I had the throttle fully open at 55-58 and backed off, i let off when i felt it was open completely, im sure if i kept on it i could of done lil over 60 but it'd be pushing it to hard, i am running knobby tires & weigh 195lb.

it does 45-50 comfortable, any more i feel is pushing it to hard.
It looks good with the knobbys on it (80-20 street/off rd), but i think i'll like the ride better with some gazelles. (any other street tires available?)

Gazelles are the way to go

If not there is hearue or some thing....cant spell for crap. They are austrian I think