CG125 Project

[EnergyInducti...]

Okay, So I'm starting up my CG project as a first Modification/Restoration.
I Acquired a 1986 Honda CG125 BR/E that was mostly stripped when I recieved it, And deciding on the fact that CG's are reliable to say the least, And their spares supply is plentiful, It would make a cheap restoration in comparison to an old Triumph or Norton, Or even the mix of both.
After practically stripping it to the ground, I have asessed that the bike requires:
A new set of clutch plates and springs
A new piston kit (Current one suffers scoring)
New bearings all round would help a great deal
ALL EXPOSED NUTS BOLTS AND SCREWS!!! Several snapped or rounded, But most just rusted beyond usability
New brake shoes
New spokes for the rim
New seat cover
after that, She should be as good as new run for another 15 years =P

I'm planning to make a few modifications such as:
Clubman Drop-bars
7" headlamp
Either a small screen, Or a half cafe fairing
Upgraded bulbs all around (I dont like carrots you see =P)

And I'll probably leave it at that =P
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Riding: Yamaha RXS100
Aiming for : RD350 + Test
Dream bike: Suzi RG500 Gamma

[Alexio]

Sounds fantastic. Be sure to take plenty of pictures! If I had the time I would definitely be attempting a similar thing with several old CG's sold for spare / repair.
____________________
will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[pepperami]

good to see another CG being given a new lease of life

i have a CG in the pipeline, and have been toying with the idea of putting on a 150 barrel, piston, head, and upgrading the carb???

but i need to finish my XS400 project first..... it just need s few finishing touches..... i hope!!

plenty of pictures please
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Robby]

Restoration? What you're describing there is a service, with a couple of pointless mods.

A few observations:
Definately do new bearings all round, the whole lot will cost less than ?50 and make a noticeable difference.

If the piston is knackered the barrel may need a rebore.

Strip the cylinder head and clean up then grind in the valves. Fit new valve stem seals (included in the full gasket set you're going to buy.

To really class it as a restoration you'll be wanting to take it down to every component part, take them back to bare metal (unless the paint is very good) and redo from scratch. A freshly painted frame and swingarm looks lovely, the problem is the rust you find after stripping the paint.

If you do go down the restoration route, it's expensive, time consuming, and oh so addictive. Good choice of bike to start on.

[dextersaurus]

I did the same with my first CG, but in opposite

Heres a pic i had with some cool bars on it

https://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt325/duncdmc/DSC00038.jpg?t=1265157995

Good luck with it though, post up some pics

Dunc

[Robby]

A few more thoughts that have come to me, based on years of bitter experience and stupid questions on this forum.

CG125 tuning. It comes up all the time on here, and we all say it's pointless. The CG125 owners disagree. If you do some (ultimately pointless) head work while you have it stripped, you have a chance to be billy big bits when people ask for advice on the subject for years to come. Much like I've been the voice of hate for NC24s on this forum since 2003.

Drop handlebars. They may look cool (in your imagination) but they'll probably make it feel worse to ride. I fitted a set of flat bars to my first CB250RS when I was 17, to look cool. It didn't look cool, and made the excellent riding position awful. Lots of weight on my wrists, bent forwards, too much weight over the front end. Oddly enough, CB250RS handlebars are fairly popular in the aftermarket catalogues for fitting to lots of bikes, because they give a really comfortable sit-up-and-beg riding position. I had a set on my old Cagiva River 500 after a crash, they were good.

The big round headlamp is a good choice. I would recommend getting a used one from a Japanese bike on ebay, rather than buying a generic cheap one from mandp or similar. Generally higher quality, and sometimes the generic lights use a really odd size bulb.

Small screens make a difference, not a massive one but you won't be doing a massive speed. I would avoid a handlebar mounted half fairing, they add weight on the steering and catch the wind. If you do for a frame mounted fairing you'd have to mount the headlight into it. I dislike this because the big advantage of fork mounted lights is that when you're pottering along on a dark, wet, narrow lane with a narrow beam pattern, the beam swings round when you turn the forks, not when the rest of the bike catches up.

Upgraded bulbs all round. Depends what you mean here. If you have a healthy battery and an 8" headlight then a 40W bulb will do what you need it to. Anything higher and you're likely to be taxing the alternator. If you fit higher wattage tail, brake and indicator lights you'll be stealing more charge off the headlight. Classic example you're probably aware of is slowing right down on the brakes into a corner on the aformentioned dark wet night, possibly whilst indicating. Headlight goes very dim.


For the service parts:
Nuts and bolts. Lots of people sell stainless nuts and bolts on ebay, with big shops selling everything. I recommend ordering a few big mixed packets in the sort of sizes you need. It's far cheaper to buy in bulk, and in 12 years when you desperately need that M7 x 30mm bolt at 1am on a monday or you'll get fired, it'll be in your bucket of assorted nuts and bolts. It also won't be rusty, being stainless.

Seat cover. Motorcycle mechanics have a guide on fitting one in this months issue, so head down to your local newsagents now. I fitted one years ago, and it's not that easy to do well. They printed my letter too, so worship my balls.

Spokes. Getting hold of them using google is difficult, but a few companies in the adverts section of the aformentioned magazine sell them. Prices seem to be around ?16 for 20, plus postage. You may need to buy nipples as well, but probably not. I assume you're just replacing a few broken or very rusty ones, not doing the whole rim. The following things are very important when replacing them:
1. Go over all of the existing spokes with a spoke spanner first, to make sure there aren't any loose ones. Spokes can work loose.
2. Replace them ONE AT A TIME. It's only when you have a wheel and hub devoid of spokes that you realise how difficult it is to lace up a wheel.
3. Make sure the spoke you have use to replace the old one is the same size and orientation of the previous one.

If you do decide to totally rebuild the wheels yourself, take an awful lot of photos from all angles first, google endlessly to get guides to lace up a wheel and read them, and do a really good clean up and polish or paint job on the rims and hub when you have apart.


This probably all sounds extreme. I thought that, when I first took the CB250RS apart and made a big pile of parts of my garage floor on the idea of giving it a clean up and making it roadworthy. It's now getting the following done:
1. Frame and swingarm paint stripped, de-rusted in electrolysis bath, welded, repainted in gloss.
2. Engine top end stripped, piston rings, cylinder head rebuild inc hand grinding mating surface of head and cam cover flat. Strip and repaint all engine parts in gloss black. Reassemble with new gaskets and seals.
3. Bodywork inc tank rattle can respray. Tank back to bare metal, bodyparts back to bare plastic (will give you RSI whether you sand by hand or with an electric sander). Fill, filler prime, prime, colour, decals, lacquer. The biggest part of the job, probably taking twice as long as eveything else put together.
4. Wiring loom strip, clean, test, repair, test again, retape, and test again. I'm not looking forward to this, 30 years of temp repairs to fix.
5. Replace broken or obviously non-standard parts. For me this means a new headlight, taillight, indicators, footpeg hangers, centre stand and other bits. Gets expensive, particularly when bits are rare and on ebay.
6. Wheels and brakes. Strip paint, remove rust and alloy corrosion, repaint where necessary in gloss black, fit new tyres (myself). Rebuild brake caliper, fit new pads, investigate skimming disc. New shoes.
7. Front fork strip, strip paint, clean, measure springs, reassemble with new seals and dust covers. This was the quickest job.


As you can see, it's easy to make this into quite a job. I've sunk in about 150 hours so far, I'm around or maybe past half way. I'm not counting the cost, that comes in the project thread.

[dextersaurus]

I agree with what robby says, the CG is made to be a simple cheap bike the way it is, no point in modding it at all.

Why was that post rated abusive? that should be revoked IMO.

Dunc

[27cows]

[Ben35]

Have changed mine to a 15/34 sprocket combo (1988 BR-E engine) and it does have trouble pulling it (original was a 14/41). This was the most extreme sprocket combo you could get from Buster's

But it has a lovely relaxed rpm when cruising @50mph (approx 5,500).

Down hills that baby really flies ...

Might try the slightly colder plug (9)

Ben

BTW does anyone else have a grabby/snatchy clutch when the oil is hot?

[Redoko]

[mattsprattuk]

[27cows]

[rdboy88]

hi too all
got myself a cg restoration going at the moment to
the one thing i am after is the warning decals like the ones on the tank tyre pressure etc.
anyone know where i can source themn from
cheers

[dextersaurus]

https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj195/rover25x/ROVER%2025X/ThreadRessurection.jpg

Can't get them, unless you talk to honda....

Why would you want one anyway?