Basketcase to Bucket Racer

Original donor bike

We had heaps of stuff to choose from at this point. I had purchased a CB125N as pictured in very rough condition. The forks were worn beyond the chrome, the front cable actuated disc brake had water in it for some time and was completely corroded. I had also purchased a CG125 which ended up having a badly bent frame ( it used to turn left well but wouldn't go right!) The CG had seized forks as well. Lets face it I was not getting anywhere as far as making my own championship winning machine. At this stage I still didn't have a suitable engine as it is dificult to stretch a CB125 motor out to 150cc.

I was able to use the front hub from the CB but not the rim or spokes as they were shot. I had purchased a Jianshe motorcrosser disc and caliper with the disc fitting on the Honda hub without modification (5 stud).

Disc off Jianshe suprisingly it fit!

This was promising as I was relying on using chinese parts for the unavailable Japanese stuff. Money was tight and some, I must stress, SOME of the Chinese stuff is of comparable quality. So I had the makings of a more powerful brake setup than standard.

Dad had a crocked RD250LC out the back but the forks were okay. The chrome was good in the areas that mattered. They were a bit too long for the steering head angle but they could be modified. I had read in an old Bucket Racing Association news letter that they were the thing to use. I managed to get a set of yokes from an old XL125 that we had laying around, I think Uncle Matt gave it to us. The XL yokes have a 20mm offset which gives what has been shown to be the better trail angle. I believe CR125's have the same set up but with an alloy bottom yoke.

RD250 forks and XL125 yokes

The frame and front end were looking promising at this stage but I was not too enamoured with the swinging arm off the CB125. I decided to use the one off the CG125 simply for the fact I had to do less grinding to it but that was the least of my problems as it turned out to be out of alignment.

With no time to loose I visited my uncle who kindly lent me his bead blasting gear for a day and cleaned up uhe frame and the swinging arm. I primed it all so that it would withstand any further decay and left it for another day. There was the engine to find, sort out and strip (an adventure in itself) and all the other considerations auch as wheels, ignition, paint, bracing, fabrication.

Swingarm cleaned of brackets

 Not long after all the effort began, once again Uncle Matt suggested that I might use an old XL185 motor that he had lying around. This was the easy option as it will be more simple to short stroke the XL185 than to stretch the CB125 motor. My uncle had an Alladin's cave of honda stuff during this time which proved to be handy, especially as he is such a generous man.



The next bit of good luck that awaited me, and especially Dad was that the Jianshe importer in Newcastle was closing down and he was flogging all his stock at cheap prices. I fought the natural suspicion of these Chinese Honda clones and got a few engines in frames. The dimensional similarities between these products made 30 -40 years apart is amazing, and the prices were rediculous. A Jianshe motor in a frame with no wheels, just yokes and swing arm were $350 each. You can't do a top and bottom rebuild on a honda for that, but there are some traps for begginers.



Frame and swingarm mockup

Donor engine, good thing it was a gift.