CB125s front wheel replacement

Hi all, brand new to the forum. And to motorcycles in general.

In short, I busted a spoke and it damaged the rim enough that I might need to buy a new wheel. I've been reading a lot about people replacing the standard front disc hub with a drum brake and I'm wondering what is the advantage to that? I thought drum brakes were not as good?

Also, as far as wheels with discs go, I'm not having much luck finding a good used cb125s front wheel. Are there any compatible ones from other models I could swap in? I heard CB100 and 175 might be compatible, but those all have drum brakes from what I can tell.

Thanks for humoring this newbie!

chopwoodcarrywater said:

I've been reading a lot about people replacing the standard front disc hub with a drum brake and I'm wondering what is the advantage to that? I thought drum brakes were not as good?

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Some people just prefer the clean vintage look of the drum brake for a cafe project. Drum brakes are also really easy maintain and rebuild. You are right in saying drums are not as good as disc brake systems. They have less stopping power, less "feel", and fade quickly due to poor heat dissipation. But, on a 40 year old 125cc bike, a working drum will provide plenty of stopping power.

I think the cb125 had a mechanically operated disc brake instead of a hydraulically operated system... which are a pain... another reason people ditch em for drums.

Most people do swap drums for the looks, along with the decreased performance.....


BUT the mechanical disk on the CB125 might as well be from a bicycle. It is junk.
Stock drum from the early bikes actually will stop the bike better!

If going for a brake swap you need to think about forks too.

I would look for a complete front end from a CB350 and swap that on.
You will get a larger drum then the stock 125 as well as better forks.
Bonus is you probably can find the whole set up cheap because the performance guys swap 35mm forks in for their 350s

I think I have a complete front fork and wheel/drum setup with all the cables from a cb360....33mm forks and larger drum....I'll check this evening if you're interested in it.