'72 SL125 bobber thing

ncp91cb350

New Member
Just cross posting from CC. Thought someone over here might like it.
At the end of October my old lady's step dad bequeathed this horribly shitty 72 Honda single. He bought it brand new and rode it around for a few years, sold it off to his neighbor for about 4 years, then bought it back and never rode it again. I was down in his shed helping him get his tractor out as he's been diagnosed with lung cancer and can't get down there that well anymore and saw it. I marinated on it a while and eventually asked him about. He said he'd never do anything with it, and if i wanted it to just take it. And here is how I got it....

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It may be a shit a bucket but....

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And the most recent pic. Half way through the hardtail.

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Well it was in an open shed since 1985 and the cap was off the gas tank for atleast 10. So it was basically sitting in a ditch haha.

I picked up the frame from the builders last night and mocked some things up. Her she was at about noon today.

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Didn't want to squat my 6 foot ass over to work on this thing for the next few months so I made a work table for it.

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Found out I have an issue. The frame rail is directly in front of the brake pedal pivot. I'm hoping I can grind down the pivot point and make it fit in between there. If I can't I'll grab something of off another bike and set it on the frame rail.

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And a few pics of the parts I've made so far from scrap stuff around the garage.
Tail light/ license plate bracket:

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Straight pipe that I need to make a baffle for.

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And a single gauge mount bracket.

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Well I'm off to try and fix the brake pivot issue and clean that motor some more.

Not to much to report, but I fixed my brake pedal issue. Just welded the stock pivot to the bottom tube section. now I need to fix something to the frame to used the return spring and extend the rod so it will reach.

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Changed out to some z-bars and mocked up my electrical boxes and rolled her outside to she how shes gonna look.

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Got the harness done over the weekend. Need a new capacitor and a tail light bulb. Other then that everything functions great. XL250 tank was to big. Found a XL125 tank for the same price and looking at the frame schematic for the XL125 it looks the exact same as my frame. So onto the pics...




New wheels and rubber...




New carb, pvc intake and the battery box thing. Need to get some longer seat springs. My ass is about an inch off the tire sitting still.



Nice skinny stance



And finally from beginning to now, not quite finished but all the aesthetics are there...

 
And that brings us to about a month ago. I kinda abandoned this project for a good while because working 55 hrs and class 40 hrs a week leaves little time for projects. But recently finding myself unemployed, I decided I'd have plenty of time to get this thing going again. So last Saturday I pulled it out of the back of the garage and started hacking and welding shit. Found the forks were leaking pretty bad and the oil seal around the gear shift is also leaking. Got rid of the old electric boxes for a more simple look, a bracket off the frame for the ignition and headlight switch, repurposed the stock battery tray, extended the brake rod, remounted the brake stay bracket and made a return spring. Changed the rear frame from the stock axle adjusters to a spring chain tensioner and just a hole in the frame to keep the axle in place. Decided I might need a rear fender, so I trimmed down the stock one to work on the new frame.

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So now my to do list is:
Re-do wiring harness
Get a new tail-light
Rear fender struts
Get a battery strap and tank rubbers
Get new forks (these are pitted pretty bad so they'll keep ripping seals)
Fix oil leak
New front brake cable
Check timing and valve clearance
Reinforce the lower tray (that spring tensioner is strong)
Clean the tank, petcock, and carb.
Ride the shit out of it.

So I redid the whole harness today, I could still shorten the rectifier and generator plug harnesses, but overall I'm happy with it. Here it is with the red tank on.

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So I cut about 15 inches out of the exhaust and added washers for a little back pressure. Quieted it down a little bit and doesn't bog when changing into 5th.
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Also bent up a crude fender strut hoop/ plate mount thing. Found out a few days ago that if a vehicle is over 35 y/o you can display a tag of the year of manufacture in NC, so this is the plate I will run.
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Didn't like the tag mount so I slapped together a sissy bar/ tag mount thing. It isn't pretty, but it works, and doubles as a backrest.
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Got the cliche Model A tail light, cause I like em and they're already 6v so no need to change bulbs and shit. Also got a little tool bag to keep parts and a few things in cause I know I'm gonna be out somewhere and somethings gonna break.

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Decided I still didn't like the tag mount, so I went with my first idea and made an axle mount. Then I decided the sissy bar looked to lame just open, so I cut up some holey metal thing I found in the shop. Also got this super cool Electro helmet off ebay for $30. Damn near perfect paint and the liner is amazing for a 31 year old helmet. Probably gonna use the metallic silver and deep burgundy with flake for the paint job on the tins. Everything is gong super slow at this point because no income=no new parts. Everything I'm making is from scrap shit around the shop.

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Nothing really new with this. As of right now it's completely disassembled, and I'm debating what I want to do with the frame. It needs a few things fixed on it that I have neither the capable welder or the skill to do. Ideas are either get a professional to fix the frame or try to find a stock frame and swap everything over and have someone extend the swingarm to match the stretch that the hardtail has.
 
This is still one of my favourite generic Honda 125 builds. Why are you losing the hard tail?
The tank is SL 125 by the way, I have the same one on my trials outfit.
 
I am with Erskine on this. This is totally different than what everyone else is building right now (and amazing for that.) Isn't there someone nearby that can help you with the next round of frame mods? I would hate to see you give up on such a rad little bike.
 
Well I think it's pretty cool & of course everyone has their style ;) Me, I'd love drag bars on this (maybe it's a control thing, just never been a fan of the Z bars ::) ) +1 on a DTT member giving you a hand with the welding ;D
 
I keep on coming back to look at this hard tail.
Can you tell more about it ... I.e. Stretch/axle height?
 
Ok, so for anyone who still cares or ever cared about this bike I still have it and I haven't given up on it. After my last post I switched to 3rd shift and started working 6 days a week, so not to much spare time to tinker with the bike. Plus I started working on the 86 Jeep Comanche I've had sitting in the backyard. And I also picked up a 78 Toyota Corona station wagon as a project car. I have a tendency to get distracted before I finish things. ;D Hopefully I can get working on this thing soon.

Erskine not loosing the hardtail it was just a thought. Stretch is 4" and the base of the frame is about 7" lower than it was from the factory.
 
I, for one like the way this is going.........sure others will agree.

Hope to see more progress, and in the future the finished product.

Although, projects like these are never "finished"

Hang in there bro.......
 
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