Honda CB125T2 Restoration

[UK Pete]

Well done tim keep up the good work
Pete

[Yoshi823]

I've now ordered a load of parts as I had some money to buy them while I could. As I have said on another thread/post I was surprised by just how many parts I could still buy from Fowlers of Bristol...& cheaper than Dave Silvers as well. But a number of th larger items like the exhausts I have sourced from M&Ps at only

[Yoshi823]

Well it's been all very well ordering up the parts from suppliers, but delivery isn't always guaranteed. The parts from DS & Fowlers have all arrived, but the 125 exhausts are probably being made at this very moment somewhere in Xgijig in deepest China. I also ordered a complete gasket set, which may or may not include a crankcase half gasket, so, seeing that one of these was available from DS, I ordered & received one from them.

But the wait to bolt simple items like the alternator housing back into place was/has been aggravating, so I decided to make my own ones. By using a simple piece of cardboard of a similar thickness I cut out the shape, & it fits perfectly. I smoothed on some Blue Hylomar onto both gasket faces & the excess was easy to wipe off on the outside. I was even able to do this simple operation so's to make a totally unavailable gasket for the front caliper, which has now given me the required clearance so that new pads arn't binding, which is what was occurring without a gasket in place.

The other pieces that wern't available seperately were the little 'w' shaped clips that hold the needle into place in the carb slide...so I made some out of some stubby beer bottle tops carefully cut to shape, which are held in place by the return springs...& they work a treat.

There are some parts that I have had to buy, that I would gladly have made myself if I could have done, but Honda have made them so much cheaper that it would have cost me more to buy the material, then spend the time etc etc. But items like a front sprocket from M&P is only

[K2-K6]

I'll go with the the cardboard gasket and Hylomar, usually made them as temporary fit over the years when stuck without a gasket (normally fixing something that somebody brought round with a problem at short notice) but never had one fail. And there's usually a good supply in the kitchen, Cornflakes boxes being my "gasket" material of choice being nicely rolled / compressed to a similar thickness to spec!

Could make one of those cereal ads for it ;- Biker goes to supermarket, selects crunchy nut cornflakes, empties box, pays at checkout then makes a gasket. Ha.

Sounds like your'e getting all the bits you need to complete it though. It's strange getting out on something smaller that you rode in the past as they now seem much slower / smaller than memory suggests.

[Yoshi823]

I had no choice except to make my own, especially for the front brake caliper halves. I also made one for the alternator & clutch cover sides, as the gasket set that I ordered from M&P had the order cancelled by them...so I thought 's0d'em...i'll make my own. But I ordered up the oil seals from DS as most of them are still readily available. Here's what I used for the gaskets...




The exhausts have arrived & I found the time to fit them to the bike just before I went away for a while...no, not for a stretch inside.



But I have looked high & low for the silencer brackets to fit them to the frame, so, now that I have a MiG welder...cheers Jim...I should be able to knock something up out of some material that I have knocking around...& when it's warmer outside.

[UK Pete]

Hi tim i have also used the cornflake box gasket trick in the past and it has worked a treat, i have just assembled my F2 engine with the gasket set from d silvers , and the gaskets were quite flimsy , lucky enough i had the original honda head gasket which i bought from you last year
Pete

[florence]

I often make gaskets.  It is possible to buy gasket paper which is made for the job and comes in a variety of thicknesses.  I made all the gaskets for my cb350 apart from the cylinder head and, so far, no leaks.  Be extra careful to make sure it is exactly the same as the original; you would not want inadvertently to block any oil-ways.

[K2-K6]

I remember now that we used to have gasket paper on rolls in the stores when I worked for the Gov of Her Maj, also as first year apprentice we made a small punch and die set with six different sized punches and this I still use for cutting stud holes in gaskets when I make them.

Don't know where you can buy gasket sheet now though.

[Longjohn]

Try this:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=gasket+paper&_sacat=See-All-Categories

[andreap]

Hi, I'm Andrea an I'm writing from Italy. I've a cb125t1 re painted in three coulors.

I would paint my cb125t in red, as that one in the last page. Please , can you tell me the paint code?

This is it:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/80/cb125t0022400.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/511/cb125t0012400.jpg/



I must paint it because it's without documents and I must restore it in original condition to try a reimmatriculation....

[Bryanj]

Honda never used standard paint codes so you will have to use a reputable paint supplier and get him/her to match some you already have

[Yoshi823]

Well...for a while the bike sat in one corner of the shed while I worked on other projects. But more recently the bike looked like this






And after 20 years of having taken on this restoration the engine finally runs...albeit with the need of a bit of fine tuning of the carbs required. I have also made a start to paint the final top coat of the bodywork...if only the weather stopped being so damp...



So...I is happy 

[Yoshi823]

Sorry about the pics missing but photobucket have said i've used all of my bandwidth & want me to upgrade.

I'll get it sorted soon...

[Yoshi823]

But when I had the engine running for the first time ever in my hands, it smoked quite a bit. So, out with the engine as the cylinder head can't be removed with the small space above the cam cover



...and off with the cylinder head & barrel



...to show badly scored piston skirts & bores



So, having priced up oversize pistons/rings/circlips/rebore, it came to more than the kit from ebay which included a new barrel. But i'm having one or two issues with the kit, which need to be resolved before I can finish rebuilding the engine





Such diddy little pistons 



...especially when compared to a piston ring from a Yamaha R1



So. Handbook & gasket kit ready for the next stage

[florence]

They were such great little bikes these.  I had one before I passed my test and it would rev to 11000 - crazy little engine.  The only thing I didn't like was the cable front disk brake.  I have a scar on my leg as a result, if they don't stop, trying to go through a hedge is not an option! 

Apart from that it was incredible fun to ride.