CL125 Cafe "lil Frank"

ffjmoore

ffjmoore

Coast to Coast
DTT BOTM WINNER
Bought this bike just to put around town. But my cafe build is going slow so i got bored and couldnt leave lil frank looking like a bangladesh bike so its getting the cafe treatment.

Brought it home and cleaned it up a bit.
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Kick start shaft spring was broken. To replace the $3 part requires a full teardown so it got new piston rings camchain bla bla bla.
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Clean motor
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Motor back in. I added a milk Crate on the back to hold groceries or beer or a Chihuahua if i had one. Just a put put bike. Not very cool.
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Get free parts bike.
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Swap rusty pipe for less rusty pipe, Add center stand. Now with low pipe i can fit CB125 side covers.
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Rebuild and swap fork off parts bike
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Pull wires through clubmans, yes clubmans. It is nearly impossible but i did it.
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Put it all together and there you go. It will be like this for a while i think. Future mods.. Drop the front of the tank an inch or two. New seat (cafe or Brat?) possible swap to a 12v system so i can run led blinkers. Any body got the inside scoop on that?
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Cool build! And total score on the free parts bike. :o I kind of liked the high pipe, just something different.
 
@ famousseajay/ I like the high pipes too but they were real rusty at the bend and the CB100 (parts bike) pipe was in pretty good condition. Also switching to the low pipe allows me to use cb125 side covers. I looked high and low and never came up with a right side cover for a CL125. So the low pipe it is.

@ Glenn / Keep me posted on your wiring progress, i would really like to be able to ride this bike in the dark and be able to see where im going.
 
Really sweet build. Classic bike :)
It's got character!
Have you any plans on the suspension?
 
No plans for suspension. The forks that are on it now are fairly stiff. The feel good. The rear shocks could be replaced but the work fine and im not racing the bike so its on the list of future things to do but its pretty far down.
 
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I dropped the front of the tank an inch. Can you tell? I can. now when i do a new seat i can have that nice straight line from the front to back.
 
Yes, I can tell it is subtle but sometimes those changes make a big difference. You can tell especially if you use the horn as a reference point.
 
looks much better i dont think it was that subtle, it went from "brokeback mountain" to a "smooth operator"
 
Very nice! How'd you go about doing that? Did you move the tabs on the tank or the frame? Or was it something else?
 
I welded on new mounts for the rubber bumpers about an inch lower. I was able to leave the original mounts so if somebody ever wants to return it to stock they can. Now I have to figure out the seat. Do I want to do a cafe seat or do the brat style? I'm leaning to brat.
 
Hey what did you do with that scrambler high pipe? I will buy it from you if its reasonable. I have a 125 cafe and would like to put a high pipe on it. Let me know. Nice work on the restoration, and the clubmans. -MBS
 
I still have the pipe hanging in my rafters. Id sell it but shipping is a PIA. Mine is a little rusty at the bend. For some reason the 125s always look like that. What you should do is keep your eye out on ebay for a cl100 pipe. They never look as rusty and should fit right on. Seen them go for $70
 
Well if you change your mind let me know. I am not worried about the rust because I would wrap it anyway. I think the cl100 pipe is a little smaller in diameter. Not 100% sure it would fit the head but I could be wrong.
 
I picked up another 125. This one is rough. I hope to get it inside and see if i can get it to run then i will figure out what i want to do as far a a seat and tank. If i can get it to run im going to convert it over to 12 volt so i can run some small Led lights.
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Nice find, my 125 cafe started out as the same model. I'll be watching this build.
 
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