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.

Forming a Team (Fiat Yamaha Style)



My Bike (notice the similarity to the sketch on the whiteboard)



The scene was being set for a major effort and Dad was also interested in starting up. It was very clear from the outset that we had very different ideas on what a Bucket Racer should look like and how it should be constructed. Dad had started compiling his own list of parts to satisfy his idea of the ultimate small capacity racer which had and still is the subject of many spirited conversations over cups of tea. Anyway if we all thought the same way life would be pretty dull. As I wanted retro 60's style and Dad wanted modern style the shutters went up. Dad has always looked forward in regards to technology and styling and I have always looked back at his era for cues. All this aside if you want a competitive bike no matter what it looks like the engine and geometry must be good or else you just have a nice looking bike! Which of these two bikes is faster?



Dads Bike (Aggressive looking!)



The story behind each machine is a tale of perseverance, cunning, innovation, triumph, joy and tears. We helped each other and we were helped by our own Jeremy Burgess (my Uncle Matt) who has forgotten more about any form of engineering than I will ever know. Some of the stuff we had to farm out as I feel it is wise not to skimp on some aspects when it comes to performance and reliability. Our bikes were made at two different locations as is the case with fathers and sons we would drink tea, argue and go off on tangents that would hamper our productivity so it was necessary to put up the FIAT Yamaha barrier or else risk a Biaggi style slap from the old man like the one Marco Milandri suffered.

Honda CB125 the Bucket Racers Friend

Honda CB125N

Racing bikes is now all I think about. I mean of course there is family and friends, work and all that other stuff. But really all that is just filler inbetween races. The usual things that stop us doing what we want got in the way until my finances got better and a change of job gave me far more time than I ever had to tinker in the workshop. It was not until 2007 when I went to the North West 200 in Northern Ireland and realised that I could no longer sit on my hands that I decided that it was time to act. I mean those guys are crazy but I reckon I could do that! Once I had made the decision to start racing I then had to settle on a class of bike, capacity and era, either Modern or Historic. This was an easy decision for me to make as I found that anything made in the early to mid nineties did not really interest me and the latest bikes although asthetically pleasing were out of my reach as far as finances go. I had been following the Bucket racing scene for ten years as a spectator, going to the historic meetings where they run and this class of racing had left the greatest impression on me as far as value for money, availability and acheivabilty were concerned. I immediately purchased a donor machine, as pictured, in Wagga Wagga, NSW and got to work. My vision was to bring retro back to Buckets and still be competative, I have always had a facination with the Hailwood/Redman era with the RC Hondas fighting it out at the TT, Ireland and the Continental circus. www.ozbucketracing.com

After my purchase I assessed what was viable and what was junk. In the end all I retained from the original donor bike was the frame, swinging arm, front and rear hubs and the crankshaft! The crankcase and top end were not suitable and are kept for the next project. My dad absconded with what I consider to be an ugly petrol tank, but that is another story. Not much bang for your buck you say? This is true but it was too late to stop now, I needed more parts and had compiled a wish list of old Honda single parts. I  discovered previous generations of Bucket Racers had scavenged most of these parts over the years and I was greeted by more than one motorcycle wrecker with the words, "no we sold all our stock of those to some Bucket Racers ten years ago". Also the Bucket Racing Association has a strict list of homologated parts and rules governing the Bucket Racing class I wanted to enter in (Superlites) and I had to construct my racer to these rules. www.ozbucketracing.com/rules.html

As luck would have it an uncle of mine said I could have an old XL185 motor he had languishing in his workshop. What a spot of good luck, as my research in the form of pestering the President of the Bucket Racing Association (BRA) 'King Kenny' for information had suggested, the XL185 or XR200 were good motors to start with. Of course you are not restricted to the Honda single as there are a few Honda CB125T twins and Suzuki GS125's running around.



Original concept!

 Okay, now I had an engine and what could be loosly described as a chassis. I also had a vision (drawn on the whiteboard in the workshop before the project started). I wanted to mimic as close as I could the look and functionality of a mid 60's Honda racebike and use the collective wisdom of previous Bucket Racing competitors to ensure the bike had the required amount of power and handling to be a winner. I looked through old BRA newsletters from the analogue era and asked copious questions and raided the notes my Dad had made over the years while he wandered through the pits looking for ideas. We did not want to break new ground on this one we just wanted to start racing as soon as possible, but that would not be as soon as we thought.

I will try to remember details of this build but I didn't really write much down as we were developing as we went. Members of the BRA were very helpful and forthcoming with technical information. I didn't feel at any time that people were trying to hide any secrets from me as the name of the game is close racing. This is a blueprint of what I did which I consider to be the 'Standard Bucket Formula' but is in no way the best or only way to go.

Honda CB125 Bucket Racers



Three bucket racers enjoying a great dice.

Bucket racing in Australia is a cheap and competitive form of motorcycle racing that had its origins in the late 80's. 'Bucket' refering to buckets of shit! due to the basic levels of engineering on the early efforts. Bucket Racing exist in Australia and New Zealand with local variations to the rules. The basic rules can be found on the Bucket Racing Association (BRA) website which is based in Australia in Sydney, NSW. http://www.ozbucketracing.com/

There are three classes that exist to cater for the purist, the technically capable and the technically challenged or budget racer. The classes are Superlite, Motolite and Commuterlite respectively. This concept is not just restricted to Australia and New Zealand and similar entry level racing has evolved around the world such as the American CB160 racing and small Four stroke racing in England.

In NSW the BRA is attached to the Post Classic Racing Association and Bucket Racers usually cross enter and race both Buckets and Post Classic machinery.

In this Blog which is my first attempt at anything remotely IT related I hope to share my and other peoples efforts in racing, constructing and modifying these cool and fun racers.


Video of Superlite dice from Wakefield Park Round1 Race 3.