Honda-SOHC

I finally completed the TL125S today .

The bike when it came to me had 'a minor electrical problem' but like all field bikes it was virtually worn out, no wiring loom, most electrical parts missing, siezed engine, frame brackets cut off and rusty.

It has taken just on a year to restore and thanks go to Bryan for the restoration and all his patient help with the wiring, Ash for the parts he obtained from Yahoo in Japan, Piki for the fantastic decals and Rozabikes Tim for sending the photos of the missing brackets, eBay leads on parts and encouragement when I really wanted to throw the towel in!

Now this is the interesting part, as it isn't my bike and I've restored it for an old mate I had to keep a careful note on the spend, £5735 and he already had the bike (well, some of it!). The cost is so expensive because thats how much services such as painting, powder coat, chrome etc cost now. I have spent 497 hours on it and this includes going to the painter, chromer etc. My time is free but how can any bike (or car) restoration company make any money!

so now onto the next project, a NC30, I'm not sure if I should start a thread on here as there are FOUR cams involved

I am currently racking my brain with the 'unique' TL125s wiring.
There were no handlebar switches with the bike and the loom was unknown, it certainly isn't a TL for sure.
I have got quite far with the rewire but I now have two problems I cannot solve.
First one is the handlebar switches. TL parts are unobtainable so I have used a XL125 for the L/H side and a CL125 for the R/H side. Both switches mimic the originals but that's it. The issue is really with the R/H replacement switch which is basically an ON/Off lighting switch only (main/dip/indicator & horn is in the L/H switch. The R/H switch has four wires coming from it, yellow/white, blue/white (these appear to be connected with a moveable contact inside the switch. These also appear to contact in the OFF position. The other two colours are brown/white & Black. These are also linked with a moveable contact and operate in the ON position.
The problem is the Honda TL wiring diagram shows the correct TL R/H switch has 8 cables coming from it even though it serves the same function as the CL replacement switch I have fitted. The real problem I have is the Yellow/white and Yellow cables from the flywheel alternator are shown to feed into the TL R/H switch as two of the eight cables. The CL switch only has the Yellow/white cable so I therefore don't know how to wire the remaining Yellow cable from the alternator into the CK switch! Does anyone have any ideas of how I can wire the 'spare' yellow cable because it's obviously needed to supply power to the lights somehow?
The second issue concerns the Silicone diode rectifier. The TL wiring diagram shows it to be wired into the battery after the main fuse (but other diagrams show it to be wired in parallel with the battery so that's confusing as well!) on one leg (the positive side of the diode) with the negative leg going again to the R/H handlebar switch (and the CL switch doesn't have this cable either! Looking at the wiring diagram the yellow cable from the alternator appears to connect with the diode cable when the headlight is switched on.
Electrics really aren't my forte, any ideas welcome!

Evening All.
The TL is the bike that continues to frustrate with a list of endless missing parts just when I think I'm getting there.
Today I went to begin the task of what wiring is actually there (very little) and what I have now resigned myself to having to make (a lot).
I have laid what is left of the unknown loom over the bike to at least give me a starting point.
One of the first items missing is of course the two headlight mounting bolts located inside the plastic headlight shell. These have a flying earth lead attached to them. They are not hexagonal nuts but are square to fit inside the shell and lock into position as the headlight mounting nut is done up.
The nut is 8mm thread and I'm pretty sure it is a generic nut shared with the CB fours (and others) such as the 400/4.
The part number in the TL125S book is 61303-074-000.
Does anyone have one please, two would be great but I won't be greedy!
Cash waiting as they say in all the best ads🙂.
Dave

Just thought I'd post this here in case anyone is on the lookout for parts.
J H Pugh in Ledbury are having an auction of the late Paul Barker collection. There are six pages of lots with a huge stock of Japanese bike parts with a lot being 400/4. Problem is it looks like you may have to bid for quite a big lot of parts to get the bit you actually need!
Looking at what is for sale and the state of it I guess he was a breaker at some point?
Here's the link to the site:
Dispersal Sale of the Late Paul Harker Collection to include Tractors, Trailers, Farm Machinery, Workshop Tools and Building Materials. Motorcycles, Spares and Projects. - 357 Lots
Ring 1 – 10am – motorcycles, motorcycle spares and projects.
Wed 27th Aug 2025 from 10am

I'm about to strip the paint off the TL125s tank ready for a respray. The tank has been repainted before, badly with very thick paint. The existing pattern is incorrect as well, the orange should extend down to the nose of the seat, it doesn't.
My question is does anyone know of the correct paint codes that should be used on the tank and side panels?
The main tank colour is silver (as are the side panels) with an orange(ish) panel that sweeps down to the nose of the seat. Separating the two colours is a black pinstripe (it's currently in gloss black but should it be matt black? If anyone knows of the Honda paint codes I'd appreciate some guidance. Being of 1976 vintage I wonder if Honda actually had paint codes then, they didn't for the Parakeet yellow used on the 1976 400/4 I restored last year!
Diego (Piki or Reddice on here (site sponsor)) has made up the new decals.

I am looking for a chrome speedo case for the TL125S I am currently restoring if anyone has one they would like to sell?

Peter Horton has skillfully restored the speedo and it know works as it should instead of the needle going round and round the face!

Unfortunately Peter is unable to restore the outer bezel and case that have been badly mangled in a fall. The nasty dent in the case is in exactly the place you really don’t want it, in the area where there is a plate inside to locate the idiot lights making it impossible to get to in order to knock the dent out.
If anyone has a case and bezel lying around (or even a complete speedo ) you may wish to sell please let me know, you’ll make a TL very happy

Christmas treats

Another project arrived in the man cave yesterday.

An old mate from work got in touch to ask if I could re-commission his Honda TL125S. He was given the bike by a mate of his a few years ago as a partially restored bike. Apparently it has a 150cc kit fitted. The photo of the bike makes it look pretty good but it is a bit rough around the edges.
The fuel tank is thick with rust internally, I will try some DEOX-C but I’m not very hopeful in this instance and I might have to resort to the loose nut method of shaking it prior to the DEOX treatment. Externally the tank is scabby in places and the decals are lifting. The frame paint isn’t great either; I think it has been hand painted as some point.

The rear chain cover (cast alloy) has a very nasty crack that will require welding. The internal web is also missing making me think it has suffered a final drive chain break at some point.

The rear tail light is also aftermarket, not sure what it is from, it looks ok but I think the genuine Honda item would look better.

The rear indicators and brackets are also missing, the front indicators are pointed and not the usual flat Stanley type so I will need to find a pair of these.
The worst part is the wiring loom, it is disconnected and very brittle with the usual bodgery showing so I’ll see if I can find one in better condition as they appear to be unobtainable new or pattern.

There are plenty of small minor things also missing; the spring for the l/h footrest is missing as is the rear brake switch spring. There is also cracking to the sidewalls of both tires and there was less than ½ litre of engine oil when I drained it. The seat cover has a rip on the edge of the seat pan and the seat mounting bracket fixing bolt has snapped off meaning the seat cover will need removing to fit a new bolt from inside. There are plenty of rounded nuts and bolts whilst the engine is held together using hex head socket bolts.

Good points, the wheels look original as are the handlebars and it has a genuine Honda exhaust although it does have a huge, thick alloy exhaust flange and I’m not sure if this was an aftermarket item.

The upshot is the owner has asked me to fully restore the bike so the strip down has commenced.  More to follow as the restoration progresses.

If anyone has any advice on these bikes (was a 150cc conversion a period thing?) or spare parts please let me know.