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How do CG125 and CBF125s compare for engine vibes?

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BusterGonads
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Joined: 18 May 2018
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PostPosted: 19:59 - 24 May 2018    Post subject: How do CG125 and CBF125s compare for engine vibes? Reply with quote

I bought a 11500 mile CG125 a few weeks ago and it vibes a bit at mid range, but it is a long time since I rode a cg (circa 1990) and I just took the vibes as part of the CG's personality. A couple of days ago, my eldest son asked me to come with him to see a CBF125 and check it out for him and if we liked it, to drive it home for him because he isn't doing his CBT until the weekend.

So.... I checked out the bike which looks like new and has 9000 on teh clock, he bought it, and I drove it down the A69 at about 65mph from Brampton to Haltwhistle and it was a revelation. It just hummed along with hardly a vibe at all. It was like driving a brand new sewing machine. In comparison, my CG is a bit of a tractor. Maybe teh CBF125 is a touch faster, but I could be imagining that because I may be confused by the effortless non-vibey way it goes along. Is the CG more vibey than the cbf, or is mine a bit of a knacker?

I have checked the engine mountings I can get at and there is only one more (the bottom rear one) that I can't get at with the tools I have on hand here. In the past I had a CB250RS that vibed like a monster and when I tightened all the mountings, it calmed down a lot.

Any advice would be much appreciated and I'll be asking about a flat -spot my engine has when I wack open the throttle at about 45mph, but unless someone comes up here and solves that one, I'll post that in a new thread.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 20:37 - 24 May 2018    Post subject: Re: How do CG125 and CBF125s compare for engine vibes? Reply with quote

tony1951 wrote:
Is the CG more vibey than the cbf

I'd be astonished if it weren't. The CBF is a relatively modern engine with a balancer shaft, the CG was roughly hewn from a lump of iron, long about nineteen dickety-six. My Chinesium CG copy-engine was always buzzy from new.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike
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M.C
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PostPosted: 20:43 - 24 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

My XR (CG engine) used to make my wrists sore the vibrations were so bad. The CBF has a modern fuel-injected engine so is better in terms of outright speed (plus the half-fairing) and fuel economy as well. Watch out for rust though Smile
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kgm
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Joined: 04 Jun 2015
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PostPosted: 21:33 - 24 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

CG is a vibey bugger. The CBF has a much more modern and much smoother feel. Its nicer to ride. I prefer my cg though it's more entertaining. I'm quicker than that than my mate is on his CBF but that's probably down to my willingness to thrash it, my greater experience and the fact I'm not over 6 foot like he is.
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BusterGonads
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Joined: 18 May 2018
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PostPosted: 21:50 - 24 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah - right. Thanks for the advice. I didn't know the CBF125 had a balance shaft. It is a nice ride, even though as a chap who started riding bikes in 1969, I don't like all the plastic bits on the modern Honda. Having said that, it was a sweet little ride. I'm looking at it now outside my window because the lad (38) doesn't do his CBT until the weekend and cant ride it yet. If he changed his mind and didn't want it, I'd have it off him like a shot. Smile

EDIT:

Does the CBF125 have a balance shaft? I know the CB125F does, but I've been searching the Internet about the CBF125 and balance shaft or shafts and I can find no reference to it.
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G
The Voice of Reason



Joined: 02 Feb 2002
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PostPosted: 10:42 - 28 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

The CG was always designed as a bike intended for third world use and the like I believe - so as simple as possible, expecting little maintenance.

There has often been a CB model on sale in western markets that was more sophisticated.
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moonzoomer
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PostPosted: 23:57 - 28 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

The CBF have had major engine failures due to cracks in the primary gear, first sign of noise ( sounds like big end knock) pull the bike over and stop the engine, I saw 3 of these failures last year alone which are not cheap to fix. The CG is the better bike imo as far as durability is concerned.
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BusterGonads
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PostPosted: 09:12 - 31 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the replies.

I've read about the clutch basket failures. There are some videos on Youtube about it showing the cracked gear ring around the outside. I think the part itself (the basket) is about £180 let alone paying someone to put it in. Then there is the special tool you need to get into the oil filter and the possible damage to the crankshaft gear done by the broken ring on the basket, wacking into it about twenty or thirty times a second.

I wondered about how those failures happen. Maybe it is caused by newbie riders dropping the bike into gear without using the clutch. Surely it must be caused by some kind of trauma rather than ordinary usage?

I'm liking the CG more as I think about this - vibey it may be, but reliable certainly.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 09:57 - 31 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

tony1951 wrote:
Surely it must be caused by some kind of trauma rather than ordinary usage?

I wouldn't bet on it. It's more modern, but the CBF was made in India for the Indian market. The quality control was all over the place - we've seen some that rusted out in months, or even in the showroom. Plus there was that fuel pump kangaroo hopping issue that Honda tried to blame on dealers not flushing out the tanks before first use.

tony1951 wrote:
I'm liking the CG more as I think about this - vibey it may be, but reliable certainly.

I saw a 20 year old CG at the weekend that looked near mint. I doubt whether many CBFs will still be on the road at 20 years old, let alone still looking fresh.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike
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moonzoomer
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PostPosted: 10:33 - 31 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

The CBFs I have worked on over the last 3-4 years have been of various build qualities, all very poor. The primary gear /clutch basket problems all happened on low mileage well serviced machines each with 5-7 K on the clocks, they all belonged to a local rider training school so no doubt did suffer a bit of abuse at the learners hands but not enough to warrant such a major fault to keep repeating itself, I would honesty rate some cheaper Chinese machines as better than the CBF which was way overpriced given its poor build quality and constant faults. Buy a CG and treat it to regular oil changes with quality oil and they will go on for a lot longer than a CBF ever will, granted they do vibrate a bit (often down to loose engine mounting bolts) but that is character not a fault.
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kgm
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PostPosted: 13:29 - 31 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rogerborg wrote:

I saw a 20 year old CG at the weekend that looked near mint. I doubt whether many CBFs will still be on the road at 20 years old, let alone still looking fresh.


I fully expect mine to outlive me if I don't blow it up. Ive tried; nothing can kill it.
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BusterGonads
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PostPosted: 18:27 - 31 May 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the info gents.

I just managed to sort out one of my old CG's little niggles this afternoon.

It was bogging down if I opened the throttle at about 45 on a decent hill. It would seem to die, but pick up if I closed the throttle a bit. I suspected the accelerator pump and had a peep under the bottom cover and cleaned out the bottom non-return valve, but it was perfect anyway. Scratching head for a day or two and sleeping on it. No answers came except the idea of cleaning out the whole carb and checking all o rings were there and such.

Completely unrelated, I thought one of the tappets was a bit noisy so I whipped the generator cover off and the rocker cover (stone cold engine) and found the inlet was at 5 thou instead of 3 and the exhaust was at about 2 thou instead of 3. I measured the wrong setting on the inlet and found 5 thou would go in easily - it could have been on the way to 6 thou. The exhaust I didn't measure the wrong setting, but the correct gauge took some persuading to go in, so it was well tight.

Cut a long story short, I put the settings right - re-checked them after tightening the nuts (which the last guy clearly didn't do) and the bogging down has gone completely. Nothing wrong with the carb then...

Hopefully, given the virtual indestructability of the engine, it won't have suffered much in the seven hundred miles I've ridden it since May 3rd when I picked it up.


PS - I know the clearance is given as 0.08mm but that's the same as 3 thou...
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