'01 Honda CG125 cafe racer

twade76

New Member
Hello,

Bought this thing a couple of months back:



It was pretty much done when I bought it, but I've got a few plans for it. I've just ordered some clip on bars so I can lower the front end a bit and have fitted a shorter chopper pot style exhaust. Going for a colour change as well, probably metallic green.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Lowering the front end makes a big difference, and i'd recommend changing the fork oil while you are at it. Also getting some rear shocks that actually damp! Then you'll be able to make the most of those tyres! Also make sure you use an exhaust that has plenty of back pressure,..... if a cg is loud it means it is producing noise instead of power ;)
 
Cheers,

Just had the forks serviced and they picked up that the stanchions are pitted so I'm thinking of replacing them in the new year.

May change back to the original exhaust, it sounds pretty cool but does feel like it's lost a bit of oomph (not that she had much to start with...)
 
Right then, it's been a while but I've finally gotten around to doing a bit more work on the bike.

Had a few issues with the indicators, ignition and carbs that seem to be fixed so it's back to working on how the bike looks and feels.

I fitted some clip on bars and I've lowered the front end by an inch or so. She's looking a bit better now, with a straighter and flatter bone line (I've been reading up on the excellent bike exif website: http://www.bikeexif.com/build-cafe-racer ).

After the issues I had with the carb, I decided to splash out on a K&N filter which is working like a dream.

Also just ordered a new seat: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Cafe-Racer-FLAT-Seat-SCRFUNI-2-ABS-plastic-/141432326725 I decided to go for a flat seat rather than a hump, mainly because I like the look of them but I've also decided to remove the battery so don't need the space the hump gives me.

Finally, I've decided on going for metallic dark green for the tank, it's been stripped down so I'm just waiting for a bit of spare time one weekend to give it a coat of paint.

Hopefully I'll get some time over the next few weeks to put it all together and then I'll get a couple of pics up on-line.
 
Had a bit of time this weekend so finished stripping down the tank and got it sprayed up:



I've also cut down the seat I bought and put them onto the bike to get an idea of how it'll look:



Just need to work out the best way to secure everything and keep the wiring hidden and protected!
 
Those few changes that you made really spruced her up, looking good! What are your plans for the cockpit?
 
Cheers :)

I've bought some alu plate and that I'm planning on making a mount for the ignition. indicator and neutral lights. I've been trying to find a low-profile speedo to try and keep swoop clean but I'm having difficulty. might just have to drop it as low as I can behind the head light and work the ignition etc. around it.
 
I'm helping a mate build a CG 125 cafe at the moment, so always keen to see what others are doing. You definitely made an improvement dropping the forks through the clamps...we did the same, and also fitted some slightly longer rear shocks to get the back higher than the front, for a racier look. We are also making a high level exhaust, and rearsets. You may find your feet are too far forward with the clip-ons. We dumped that cross member footrest arrangement, along with the main stand, but you also then lose the prop stand too....so today, we made a new prop stand mount to fit to the right side of the frame, as mounted on the left, it would foul the chain run.
Nothing is simple, but I guess if it was, everyone would be doing it !
 
Don't take this personally, but I liked the old look better.

I do like the COLOR, though.
 
No problem grandpaul, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! The colour is British Racing Green.

I'd be interested to see your footrest arrangement Titan, I don't have access to any substantial machining or welding gear though so I might have to stick with what's there. It would be good to see the high level exhaust as well, I really like them on bigger bikes but I haven't seen one on a 125 yet.
 
We are a very long way from done on the build, but I shall post you some pics when it's worthy. Very few of the Honda 125's feature rearsets, but we figured that a cafe bike with clip-on bars should have them.....the problem is, where do you mount them? Anyways...I think we figured it out ok, so we shall continue adding and removing brackets and lugs until we are ready for powder coat on the frame.....shouldn't be too long now. Current task is to mount the front end of the cafe seat where it meets the tank....
 
Having the same issues with the seat/tank mount myself.

The new tank is about 40mm longer than the old one so the mounting point on the frame doesn't line up.

The seat finishes right on the edge of the tank, but I don't really want to fix the two together as the mount for the tank has the rubber gromit to allow a bit of movement and the seat needs to be securely fixed.
 
On my 500, I made a simple "tab" which is held by the tank mount, and created a "catcher" which I bolted to the seat base. The seat is bolted to the frame at the rear end only.
 

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Nice.

Hadn't thought of that to be honest, I was trying to work out how to span some kind of bracket between the two frame tubes. That looks nice and straight-forward, I'll have a look at that this weekend!
 
So, after a good idea from Titan performance about the seat fixing, the stage 2 of the bike is finished:





I was hoping to get a first proper ride in tomorrow, but the weather looks too awful for taking my shiny new bike out so it'll have to stay under cover for a bit longer.

I'm not massively happy with the seat, the side view is good but I think that it's a bit too wide at the front which messes up the lines a bit.

My plan for the next stage, after I've gotten rid of the horrible L plates, is to mount the reg plate on the side and put together a slimmer seat unit and a better light and indicator cluster. Also some new shocks and maybe new forks (if the budget allows!)
 
I installed a pr. of CMX250C Honda Rebel(33mm)250 front forks w/ triples on my USA spec. 81' CB125S,they're longer than my oem CB125S 27mm forks so I had to slide them up above the top triple a bit & now I have the choice to run 7/8" bars or clip-on's.The Rebel 250 has higher stock handlebar risers and it has an excellent hydraulic twin pot front disc brake.Do you have an EU model that is similar to the Honda 250 Rebel ?
 
My mate has bought new forks for his CG project....to be honest they are so cheap, you couldn't refurb the tatty old ones for the same price.

You are right about the seat/tank. It is essential to have them meeting as tidy as possible, as well as forming a smooth line horizontally also. I always shape the front edge of the seat to match the tank. You can get away with the seat being narrower than the tank, but not so much the other way.
 

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Yep, I tried to take the easy route with the seat and ordered on on-line. It'd be fine on a bigger bike, but the CG is just too thin to make it work. I'll be dismantling this seat unit and re-using the padding and covering with an old skateboard deck cut to get the right size.

I've been considering putting some USD's onto the bike, but I need to do a lot more research into how I'll manage it before I take the plunge. We get the Honda rebel over here as well, the forks do look a bit beefier that the ones on the cg, so might go for them if the usd's don't work out.
 
twade76 said:
Yep, I tried to take the easy route with the seat and ordered on on-line. It'd be fine on a bigger bike, but the CG is just too thin to make it work. I'll be dismantling this seat unit and re-using the padding and covering with an old skateboard deck cut to get the right size.

I've been considering putting some USD's onto the bike, but I need to do a lot more research into how I'll manage it before I take the plunge. We get the Honda rebel over here as well, the forks do look a bit beefier that the ones on the cg, so might go for them if the usd's don't work out.

twade,The steering stem and bearings are the same that's why it appealed to me to begin with.
The other thing I did was modify the lower triple tree by cutting/trimming back the bottom headlight mount that the Rebel used and drilling/tapping 2) 6mm bolts on either side of the lower triple that are now my new fork/steering stops.
I have a headlight & case for a vintage CB250/350K(you could also use any other headlight because there's plenty of space between the Rebel 250 triples)that I mounted to the forks using easily available headlight fork mounts and I'm running the Rebel 250 speedo.
Does your CG125 have overhead cam or a pushrod valve system ?
 
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