CB125 help please

[ChrisD]

Hi there,

Has anyone found an alternative tank to fit a 1982 CB125TD model? Maybe from an alternate CB model, motocross etc?

The originals don't seem to be available from what I can see, well unless you want one for one of the 70's CB125T's...... I'm sure someone has a lockup full of the later model spares. I just wish they'd open it up and sell some of them

So getting back to my question; my bike has a bastardised tank - looks like an original CB125T? Superdream series tank which has had its filler cut off and replaced by a screw on neck and cap, the bottom is plated in a couple of areas and with the filler/epoxy sealing holes in the underside I think it'll hold fuel for long enough to get it through the MOT but not much longer. I can see me coming back to it one cold morning or evening and finding it sat in a puddle of fuel!

I have a vision of me stripping the paint and filler off the outside and then the tank falls apart, it's that bad.

There's a couple of tanks on Ebay at the moment but the sellers, for some reason, don't seem to want to answer questions about the items. I'm not about to spend good money on a tank if I can only get one photo of the outside and have no idea what the inside or underside looks like.

Cheers,

Chris

[Teflon-Mike]

They will be gash, almost garanteed.
You buy a tank, you strip it, electrolyse it, then do a full POR15 treat on it properly, then fill, prime & paint, to get a decent tank.
Or you pays your money & takes your chances.

As for alternative tanks... yeah.... almost anything can be made to 'fit', as long as its a saddle tank to go over a 2" top tube. Just needs bracketing to fit the super-dream front cups and rear bolt.

But chances are none of them will blend to the super-dream side-panels......

AND buying 2nd hand - you're looking at same problem of unknown inside.

NOT surprising no-one will take photo's of the inside, its impossible to see / tell what they are like inside... how many folk do you think have an endoscope?

You're expectation is just too high / unrealistic. You want a low-cost, bolt on, least effort 'fix', without compromise, & it's just not that simple.

I've had eight 125 S-D's in the last two and a half years, so far the tank 'yield is one thats been 'good' no work; two that have needed full recon with POR15 and filler, two more that will probably need same, two that are beyond hope, and one I'm not too sure about yet. So rough reckoner, about
- 1 in 10 chance of buying a 'good' needs no work tank
- 50/50 a tank will be restorable with POR15 filler & paint, or junk.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[ChrisD]

Thanks for your advice Mike,

I've read a lot of what you've written about these little bikes and I'm glad that you did as it has given me an insight into what to expect. At the moment all I want to do is get the bike road & MOT worthy, the restoration will come next year.

Yes, I am trying to avoid the whole electrolysis, POR15 and then prep and paint rigmarole but if I can't then I'm prepared to do it. Living in an apartment means that I have to bring bits indoors to work on them and as I don't have any garage or shed space outside to do the electrolysis I'd have to find another way to do that.

Maybe I should try to find a bodyshop prepared to do the plating and welding after I strip the exterior? I think that may be a no-go as the tank has been badly sealed in the past and the sealant may prevent welding successfully or be too much of a fire risk?

Has anyone any suggestions on where or who to go to for tank welding in the Havant/Portsmouth area?

Customising an existing tank and its mounts is beyond me, so if a bolt-on alternative (maybe another CB model of the same vintage?) was suitable and available I'd go looking for one of those.

All I asked the Ebay sellers for was more information e.g extra photo's or comments on the condition. The two adverts read rather like "CB125 tank good condition" and then price, not much else to go on. I know how much Endoscopes cost as we have one at work, mucho moolah! Typically the closest tank to me that I was going to phone up about tomorrow and possibly see in the flesh has sold today after a month or more being on sale!

[lozza59]

just give up now on looking for a decent tank! i will get a picture tomorrow of the tanks i have bought and slung behind the shed in dissapointment..........

one im not using has NO dings or dents but was sat for ten years empty and is corroded all over but still NOT leaking with no previous repairs, if your brave and you want it i can post some pictures, it just wasn't ummmm... good enough for my bikes

in short i have 6 tanks and a number 7 gets here for inspection friday im sure its fooked too.....
out of the 6 only 3 hold fuel and only 1 is spotless inside.

believe me not too long ago i searched all of ebay and even found one with no 'cb' in the title which made it very hard to find as its listed as 'tdc tank' i only found it by searching through just about every 125 tank

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-125-TDC-1988-TANK-BLACK-EB5738-/261068680979?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3cc8e7ef13


comes with free cap!!! wow
i certainly wouldn't pay that much! maybe a fiver..

good luck in your search

[Teflon-Mike]

[ChrisD]

Update:

Thanks to the advice from Mike and Lozza, I've decided to bite the bullet and do a full restore, bar the external paint job. I'll leave that tatty (but weather and fuel sound) like the rest of the bike until I get round to a proper restore next year.

Problem number 1 is that the tank has been partially sealed in the past, solution: https://www.tankcareproducts.co.uk. The original sealant was put into a dirty tank which may have been wet with water or fuel as the lining is rust coloured and has flakes of rust in it!

I phoned the number and spoke to Ian Potter who helped me confirm which lining I had (he's pretty certain it was Petseal) and which lining remover it was that I needed. Ordered last Thursday, arrived the next day and straight into the tank it went (DO NOT sniff this stuff you will loose your sense of smell for a while as it has the old active ingredient in Nitromoors that has recently been removed due to safety concerns). Sloshing it around to coat the interior (which you don't need to do aparently) there was a buildup of gas which whistled out of the lid vent hole This stuff is expensive (£20.45 inc p&p for 250ml) but worth it as it seems to work brilliantly. If all else fails Ian does offer a tank refurb service, some basic prices are on the website.

Checked the tank yesterday (after 2 days with the solution inside the tank) and sure enough it appears the lining is all flaky and loose so in went a box of 200 Spax screws that I had left over from a bathroom project and then shaken (not stirred) for a while. That loosened a load more of the lining so on to the next step: leave the filler cap off for 2 days to dry the interior of the tank and next weekend on with the POR15 treatment (if I can find the time to get the tank electrolysed in the evenings this week).

I've found a potential solution to the rock hard carb rubbers: soak them in a solution of 1 part Wintergreen (Methyl Salicylate) and 2 parts Xylene(Dimethylbenzene) (I bought these online from Mistral Chemicals) and after a few hours (time depends on the thickness and hardness of the rubber) it both softens and swells the rubber. The swelling goes away after a while as the solvent (Xylene) evaporates out of the rubber but the smell lasts for a lot longer. I've treated both carb rubbers and have now been able to superglue the cracks and screwdriver holes in the rubber, also treated the air box rubbers which were similarly hardened. I'll let you know if the effect is temporary or long term over the next couple of weeks.

To make sure the superglue in the carb rubbers does stand up to heat I'm going to wrap them with self amalgamating tape once they're in place and before the clamps go on. Hopefully that should keep them airtight even if the superglue gives up the ghost due to the engine heat. As it is supposed to amalgamate at room temperature it should do so quite nicelely at engine temperature and then self vulcanise to stiffen it up a bit

Lozza69,

How did tank number 7 work out?