Project $1.25: A Honda CR.

[Gravy]

Have you ever asked yourself, "What was I thinking?!"



Well here's another project bike build:

1999 Honda CR125r

A Dirty, Broken, One wheeled pile: With potential!
...My wife laughed at me a little when I brought this home.

I've always been curious about small bore stuff and the idea of wringing out a smaller motor sounds really fun (not to mention they sound awesome at full tilt!)

I picked this one up a bit more like a unicycle than a motorcycle:





The story is: this kid was rebuilding it, but ran out of money halfway through,
so it does have a bunch of nice and new parts:
Including a brand new bottom end (crank and bearings) and a new ring on the Wiseco piston done by Cycle House.
(No hours on the motor). And a brand new stator.
After the carb filled up, it started second kick and ran great through the RPM's and idled perfect. Bonus!
But I couldn't ride it. And that makes made me a little nervous.
and the rear end (and lots of the rest of the bike) is a basket case...



The linkage and swing arm bearings were rusted into mud. I soaked them in rust dissolve just to see what I had to work with.


Every single bearing is garbage so I ordered an All Balls swingarm bearing kit and linkage bearing kit.


The frame was polished so I figured while I waited for parts I'd give polishing the swing-arm a go.
so I first sanded it with 320 grit, followed by 1000 wet sand, and a lot of this

(Mostly by my neighbor who's into polishing things on hot rods).

and this:


Turns into
This:





As you can tell the P.O. had the chain guide block on backwards so it was ruined; I got a new one off eBay.

 

[Tonkaman]

Polishing is WAY too much work for me! I've been there and understand how much time just went into that swing arm.

Doesn't all the obvious neglect on the outside of the bike make you curious how the inside actually looks?

 

[anderson750]

I want to go a restore on a 1987 CR125 since that was the bike I raced at Loretta's that same year. Let me know if you ever run across one.

 

[Rot Box]

Nice! I love that generation CR. 125's are a hoot.


If you stumble across a KX or Husky 250 smoker in similar condition... send it my way! haha

 

[Gravy]

Polishing is WAY too much work for me! I've been there and understand how much time just went into that swing arm.

Doesn't all the obvious neglect on the outside of the bike make you curious how the inside actually looks?

Yeah, polishing rough aluminum is a pain. It was kinda nice when I got to the methodical part with the buffer, but not so nice I'd do it very often...

I'm not the least bit worried about the inside. The motor and carb was spotless on the outside and you can see the brand gaskets poking out between the case halves and other ancillaries. The air filter was brand new and freshly oiled. And from what he told me, the invoice for the motor was more than I paid for the bike

(also: this evidence of motor work...)

Nice! I love that generation CR. 125's are a hoot.


If you stumble across a KX or Husky 250 smoker in similar condition... send it my way! haha

Thanks,
Ronnie Mac eat your heart out lol.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for a beater 2 smoker for ya.

I want to go a restore on a 1987 CR125 since that was the bike I raced at Loretta's that same year. Let me know if you ever run across one.

You're pretty cool: Loretta Lynn's is no joke!

 

[Gravy]

Next.
I de-stickered the bike: cleaned and polished up all the plastic and de-greased the chain and sprockets: which actually looks like pretty new Primary Drive brand stuff.


The bike had a broken rear brake caliper bracket, broken in half, he said he was riding and hit the rear brake and it came apart... sure.

eBay. With a new caliper.



The good stuff:

New stator came installed.

Case saver.

Some Honda HP engine coolant and HP transmission oil (the "fancy red stuff").

A brand new Maxxis Desert IT rear mounted (like still has the nubbies on the center lugs), BUT the valve stem was ripped off when the kid tried to mount it himself.
So a new tube and tightened a few spokes and I'm in business.

Wheel bearings looked good. Bonus!




FMF Fatty pipe and Turbine Core II silencer with a new bag of packing.

New Protaper pillowtop grips.

More bad:
gummed up throttle tube: I cleaned that out with some contact cleaner and lubed the throttle cable.


Ruined rear mudflap: installed a new one.




Slightly bent bars





NEW PARTS YAY!






Broken front brake lever: got some new "unbreakable" ones

 

[ID Bronco]

Tell me about these "unbreakable" levers please. I have a son that would consider that a challenge. It would be nice to have better ones.

 

[Gravy]

They're just folding levers, so they don't bend as easy.
In conjuction with running Teflon tape under the lever mounts on the bar (and not running the mounts very tight). That way the levers can rotate on the bars and levers fold so hopefully you can avoid breakage.

 

[sixstringsteve]

sweet build. Subscribed.

 

[Gravy]

Linkage with the bearings pressed out.
Also a few tablespoons of vinegar in hot water cleans the corrosion off Aluminum REALLY WELL with steel wool.


An air over hydro press makes this really fun and fast. Also heating the aluminum races with a propane torch and good waterproof grease helps ensure proper alignment.

Pressing in the swing-arm bearings


Pressing in the new Linkage pull rod bearings.
This cleaned up really nice.

 

[Gravy]

Done.



And I rode it yesterday. Yes it was silly fun. Yes you have to wring it out to have it pull high gears on steeper climbs, but it's so light it's rad.

And I borrowed a GoPro, but the mount was too low, so the video is pretty useless.

But I thought I broke the clutch cable at the top of the trail. So had to ride down with no clutch. There is no chance this would have worked with a 4 stroke. It was getting dark so I rode down the same rocky trail as I went up... It actually wasn't bad.

I pulled the stator cover and this is what happened. The clutch lifter. (The thing the clutch cable is attached too) popped out (to the left of the frame).




The is supposed to be held in by a little retainer bracket. So I fabbed one up.







I think it turned out pretty good.


So here is the list of new:
Grips (Protaper pillowtops)
Air Filter
Bars (Tusk high CR bend)
Clutch and front brake levers (folding type)
Rear tire (Maxxis Desert IT)
Rear tube (STI Extreme duty)
Mudflap (Cycra)
Swing arm bearings, seals, etc.. (All Balls)
Linkage bearings, seals, etc.. (All Balls)
Chain a sprockets (nearly new) (Primary Drive)
Stator
Crank and crank bearings
Piston ring (Wiseco)
Coolant (HP Honda)
Transmission oil (HP Honda)
Chain guide block (OEM)
Rear brake caliper bracket (OEM)
Polished swing-arm

I still need new pipe springs and I may pop out that dent in the pipe or I may not.

Also I'm thinking I may refit a 2016 front fender and number plate. The 1999 stuff looks retro to me

 

[glockman]

Looks good Stratton. You are getting pretty good at cleaning up other people's neglect.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[jeeper]

Fun bike. My wife had a Yz125 for a while that I rode in moab once. Tons of fun.

How'd those levers turn out? I've been eyeballing them on the Ebay.. They are too cheap not to give them a shot, IMO. Hoping for a good review..

 

[Gravy]

The levers are good. I had to "massage" them to get them to fit right. Including drilling out the clutch lever pivot hole to fit the perch bolt size and cutting back the shouldered edge to fit the perch. (The brake lever was fine). I don't mind the square profile, vs. the stock rounded profile, but it's personal prefence.

Also the clutch lever is shorter, but the stock cr clutch lever is veeeeery long so it stiffened the pull but lessened the travel. It's still super light (because it's a 125).

 

[Gravy]

I've enjoyed riding this bike quite a bit. It's so light and so flickable. And because it has much less power than my 300 that it has allowed me to develop some better cornering skills by being more forgiving when you carry more speed through corners also with forcing you to carry more momentum because the lack of torque.

One thing that I don't particularly love is the stock front fender; I think it looks dated.


(2016 CRF fender top)
(1999 CR bottom)



So here are my options:

2016 CRF450R front and number plate.


Or 2005 CRF450R and number plate.


Thoughts?

I think I'm going to run the 2005. It's not so big as the 1999, but not as angular as the 2016.

I think it looks awesome.

 

[Pile of parts]

2005...and why has the jeep become a shelf?

 

[Rot Box]

I like the 05 look as well

 

[Tonkaman]

I'd go '16 but I'm a snob

 

[Gravy]

2005...and why has the jeep become a shelf?

Thanks, and the Jeep is a shelf because... I have time for Jeeps or bikes. Right now it's bikes. I'll be back to Jeeps later.

I like the 05 look as well

:thumbs:

I'd go '16 but I'm a snob

:tara:

I've got other plans for the '16 stuff.... You'll see.


I mounted the '05 stuff.

 

[Gravy]

For sale now. It's been a fun one. I think I want a (faster) sled next. I've only ever had a cruddy 80's 490.