Honda CB125 TDC........?

[Nemo]

Just wanting to know anyone's experiences, problems, views and opinions on this, as I'm thinking of getting one.

Here 'tis https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260736967845&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[kingsknight]

my first question would be why would the engine need a rebuild after just 7512 miles
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TS50 (sold) NS125F (sold) NSR125R-K (write off after 2 crashes) CG125 (nicked) XR125L-3 (Sold )-: ) DR125SM '11 (sold yay) XL125V '12 (In love with this bike) XT600E '04 (fun on the dirt)

[Nemo]

Because it's stood since the late 80's
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[Frost]

Had one as a first bike. The exhausts and shock tend to get destroyed by the British roads so take a look at them. The engine top end does NOT like to be short on oil. Kickstart can show you a piston from one that looks more like a polo.
Handling is... interesting, well on mine it was anyway.
Overall their decent bikes, better than a CG of that period i think, certainly got more power to them. I found the gearing a little short so i tried it with a smaller rear sprocket. 4th gear became what 5th once was, which was great for riding on A road, but it killed the fun in town a bit so i put it back.

[Teflon-Mike]

[Nemo]

Cheers Teflon, think I'm going to check it out saturday, was talking to him this morning.
I'll take a bloody good look round, cause I want to see if I can get it to look and feel like a cafe racer, but that's a different post in this section.
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[Pete.]

To be honest it does look very tidy, and not a the usual hack-job you see called a 'restoration'.

Saying tht, the usual warning signs are all there. Short ownership - engine work - selling is a pretty strong pointer to a problem-child bike and not made better by the engine's notoriety fo eating the top-end.

If you are thinking of bidding on it, I would ask the guy a question about exactly how much of the engine was changed when it was 'rebuilt'. To some people this can just mean stripping the covers off, cleaning and re-painting but you better be sure because the cylinder heads are hard to find.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[N cee thirty]

swear i've seen that on ebay before..
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Teflon-Mike]

[warped one]

Had one as my 2nd bike, it was handed to me on 40,000mile and been needing a rebore since 28,000 when my dad acquired it and just rammed new pistons in it.

It ran to 68,000 before I gave up with it, but it was still going strong and taking a hammering everyday, from cold.

Personally I don't really think you can get a more reliable bike. They are more bulletproof than a CG.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

[P.addy]

[N cee thirty]

[Nemo]

It's only in chatham, but I'm getting mixed impressions, some say it's extremely reliable and can cope with a lot, but some make it sound like they're more hassle than it's worth.
Ah well, only one way to find out I suppose.....
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[Pete.]

My brother had two - both chewed the head up.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Nemo]

Is it just a case of it needs looking after, which I will any way, clean every weekend, new oil every month probably, so on and so forth
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[Pete.]

Why don't you ask him for details of the engine rebuild. If he mentions head, cams, rockers etc you know the bike has oiling issues. If he's vague about what's been done there's another cause for concern. If he says it was stripped and rebuilt just to clean it out - well, I have heard that often over the years but it's always been a lie. No-one strips an engine down and spends £100 on a gasket set to put it back together for no reason.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Nemo]

There wasn't anything wrong with it, just a restoration as it had been sitting for so long, couple of gaskets perished over the years, so he did it just to clean it up.
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[Pete.]

Gaskets perished - yea right! How did he know without taking it apart in the first place?

Smells like cow poo to me. It's your money though you might get lucky.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Nemo]

Part of me thinks he's being genuine, and just did it because it has been stood around for 20 odd years with no use, and so he just cleaned it up to get it to a decent state.
But now the other part of me says that maybe it did have problems, but they're now sorted, or maybe it's on it's way out again which is why he wants to sell, but then again he's still using it.
Genuine, or foundation to mask the bruise, christ knows, but I'll have to arrange for a viewing I think.
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[N cee thirty]

hmm its a nice bike,bu you can't trust anyone at all these days

might aswell walk away and wait for another to come up
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Nemo]

Yeeeah but I don't see that many around, and I really like them lol.

Gonna see if I can go view tonight, ask ##Paddy## nicely to give me a lift
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[P.addy]

[greetingsfrom...]

[Teflon-Mike]

Reliability is many things, but basically means not leaving you in the shit.
All bikes need maintenence... even CG's.
Low maintenence demands doesn't = reliability, it simply means it needs less attension to keep it from leaving you in the lurch.
Then there is the design ruggedness. More rugged or robust the design, easier it should be to fix things if they do go wrong.
CG125 is a fairly 'rugged' low maintenence machine. That provides a certain amount of inherent reliability, but if its neglected or abused it can still go wrong, and ultimately all bikes wear out.
The two-stroke commuters like the RSX100 or H100, are as low maintenence as a CG and possibly a tad more rugged. They don't demand much maintenence, then being a two-stroke, there's less in them to go wrong, and if it does, should be easier to get at and fix.
Stepping up to the sports bikes, the old RD125LC was actually not that sophisticated. Its motor was derived of an air-cooled comuter lump, water cooling adding a little more complexity to the design, but not detracting to much from its ruggedness. Rear suspension was a simple cantilever mono-shock, and in some ways simpler than a twin-shock having just one spring/damper unit.
But, with increased performance from the two-stroke motor, maintenence requirements increase and life decreases... you dont get out-f'nowt.

CB125's twin pot four-stroke engine is a lot more sophisticated than the CG's push-rod, or the RD-LC's water-cooled two-stroke. It has higher maintenence demands than either CG or RD-LC,.

It needs the cam-chain and valve clerances regularly checked and adjusted, the oil changed often, and the oil strainier removed and cleaned regularly. and chassis wise, neglect that rear suspension linkage at your peril. It needs greasing regularly.

Looked after 'properly' a CB125, should be as or more 'reliable' than most other 125's. Ie no reason one should leave you in the shit, provided its been looked after.

THIS is where we get to the paradox's and contradictions..... MOST 125's dont get well looked after!

CG's, becouse they are pretty simple and inherently robust can more easily tolerate not being looked after... still go pop in the end, but they'll take a lot before they do.

RD's and the ilk, will take a fair bit of abuse, and are often surprising in how much shear brutality and torture they can sustain, but they will go pop after too much. And nature of the bike, they tend to attract owners that will torture and abuse them.

CB125, probably the least 'robust' design bar a few exotics. Sorely abused they will clog thier oil strainer, starve the oil-pump, wear thier bores, burn oil, then eat their cam-journals, and IF they do, sophistication of the engine means its a pretty falorn hope to try and fix one. CAN be done, but you need to start with a new cam-shaft, and having teh cylinder head machined to take insert cam bearings.....actually quite a good salvage that's actually more rugged than original, but its expensive. Add to that the cost of a rebore and new pistons, plus a cam-chain, and you are looking at a fair few hundred quid before looking at that pressed up crank-shaft.

HOWEVER, while consequences of failure are pretty dire, changes of getting there, and the number of miles you can do before you get there can be pretty good.

Neglect to adjust the carb on an RD, and let it run weak, it WILL nip up, score its barel and possibly melt its piston. Bit of a bugger, not too hard or too expensive to fix, but not a two miniut bodge job.

CB125 with out of balence carbs, will run, roughly, for a long while without doing itself major harm, and running rough, giving you the clues it needs attension.

Generally bought by more 'sensible' owners, they tend not to be so sorely abused, and rarely tortured by DIY attempts at tuning... so they can provide many miles of reletively 'reliable' service.

Its all reletive and dependent....

RD Owners that thrashed thier bikes everywhere, forgot to put oil in the 2T tank, took the exhaust gaskets out thinking that was the 'washer' you had to remove to 'de-restrict' it (honestly, I KNOW people that actually SHOWED me RD or DT Exhaust gaskets and claimed it the 'restrictor'!), on a bike two or three years old, would claim thier bike was 'reliable' despite their abuses and 'never let them down' 'apart from that one time'.... which was when they siezed it and were catching the bus for a month whilst the top end was rebuilt.

CB125 Owner, that being that bit ore sensible, and often had Dad, who more often chose the bike in the first-place, looking over thier shoulder, changed the oil, did some servicing, usually got through thier entire two years of L-Platership, with no major mechanical failure......

CB125 Ownwer that bought a 'bargain' Super-Dream', with snokey exhaust, often spent more time in the shed trying to fathom out how to sort it out than they did riding, mainly becouse the bike they bought had been sorely neglected, and was beyond remidy by service... to them bike was horendousely unreliable, compared to a sports 125 2T.

Key to CB125 reliability is whether its 'good' to begin with, and keeping it good after that, and recognising that its NOT a low maintenence commuter like the CG125 or RSX100, and consequences of abuse and neglect, unlike an RD or TZR are pretty terminal engine failure, not a simple rebobre and piston replacement.

Respect THAT, pick one thats not been so sorely abused that the bores are on their way out, and the cam-journals ovalated, and keep it in fettle after...... no reason why the thing SHOULDN'T keep going for many trouble free miles, and prove as 'reliable' or more so than anthing else out there.....

That one.... gaskets, and engine rebuild becouse it was 'old'?!?!?

Pinch of salt job, and I suspect that its no more than a rocker cover seal, and primary drive case gasket......

If he took it 'all apart' he'd have had the cam-chain out the bottom end apart, and it would take more than a few gaskets to put it back together.

BUT, oil leaks from the rocker cover are GOOD!...... the rocker cover is a bit of a bitch to get off with the engine in the frame.... and easy to get it mis-seated putting it back on........ so what does an oil leak from the rocker cover tell you? SOME-ONE has taken the rocker cover off.... which suggests they have at LEAST had some notion there's something in there that needs attension, like the tappets..... may not have been the most dextrouse mechanic, BUT had the right idea at least, and some hint its been serviced.

Likewise primary drive casing, THATS where the oil strainer lives.......

Chances are blokes bigging up an engine service; rockers, cam-chain, removal of carbs to adjust cam-chain, hence balenced, primary drive to clean oil-strainer, and oil change...... as a 'rebuild'...

But hey, take the seasoning, and if the bikes otherwise sound, could prove an OK one.

Listen for tappety noises from the top, cam-chain rattle from the back. Look for exhaust leaks, particularly at the head flanges. Look for white smoke from the exhaust. Get it started from cold if you can, let it warm up, then make sure it revs out, and if you can, take it round the blcok and get it under load, over 40-50mph and see if it will actually 'pull', as well as rev. These things will hapily rev off the scale sat on thier stand, but if worn can struggle to do it under load.

And yes, they are a loverly little bike when in good fettle, but for reliable enjoyable riding, service, maintain, dont bugger about with them, they dont respond well to muckings.

As for your low bar idea.... standard bars are quite narrow and very low to behin with, they have that high head-stock under the tank, benefit of ace-bars wont be so great, as they'll still be quite high up, and likely to prive uncomfortable and cramp equipment.

Riding position is actually quite a useful one, its a sporty stretch, rather than a crouch, quite comfy and gives good visability, and easy to tuck over from.... but gibe that some hought IF you get teh thing.

Best'o'luck!
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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?'

[P.addy]

Just to chuck it in the mix, ive found a few other bikes for Nemo, such as an 05 YBR125 with 17k.
Needs some gaffa on the clock housing and some indicators.
At 650/700 id consider that a steal....considering other bikes on there.

BCF's opinion... for a 32 mile round trip, would you recommend the CB125TDC stated or a YBR125?
My honest opinion...given the fact its not got the head munching problem and its running 12v and used CDI rather than points, the YBR is my option, but im sure Nemo is set on the CB

Just want a reliable hassle free ride for him, so he can join me on journeys