Archive for December, 2011

Indicator Stalks, Seat, Tank, Rear Light, Rear Mudguard and Grab-rail

Friday, December 30th, 2011

So, first a bit of ‘cheating’. Bought another tank and seat on eBay. I haven’t given up on the original bits but saw them listed on eBay and they were cheap and in better shape than what I had so….

On my CM125C the rear light, mudguard etc. seems all wrong based on pictures on the internet and the workshop manual. There is no grab rail and wiring for indicators has been ‘adjusted’ to fit a different rear light assembly. I’ve taken a conscious decision on this that I want to make it look how I want it to look rather than maybe how it was originally. So I want a chrome grab-rail with chrome indicator stalks, chrome mudguard and rear light assembly. Since the grab-rail was completely missing from my bike, I made a small investment on eBay and got a rather tatty example. Gave it a good clean and straightened it (it was a little bent). It will need re-chroming but that can come later. Got the rear indicator stalks from eBay as well. Again cleaned up ok but will require re-chroming at some stage. Cleaned the indicators and replaced the original steel lens screws with stainless steel ones. The original ones were very rusty and quite difficult to remove. Stainless seemed a good plan and bits were ordered from Westfield Fasteners. Very prompt service from them.

eBay Sourced Grab-rail

Ordered a new chrome mudguard. This was not as I expected. It is clearly a poor quality Chinese copy – lesson learned as they say. Thought about sending it back but decided to keep it as a prototype for my newly created rear light assembly. Once I have worked out what I want it to look like I think I will enlist the services of a company to make nice top quality mudguards for me and get them chromed.

Couldn’t source the rear light assembly I am looking for and Honda don’t seem to make it anymore so sourced a unit on eBay that I can modify to my requirements. It will take a bit of fettling but I think it will work. 

I had a first try at putting all the bits together and discovered why the bike had no grab-rail. One of the rear shock-absorber mounting studs had been sheered off and was a good 15mm shorter than the other side. Previous owners obviously decided to dispense with the grab-rail so the nut would fit. Going to be a bit of a challenge to fix so will park that for the moment. I left out a few washers on the shock mounts and reassembled everything at the back. Lovely new stainless bolts to hold the grab-rail and mudguard on (sourced from good old Westfields). I removed all the bodged wiring from the back and reworked it all a bit so the indicators could all be connected correctly. Connected a car battery temporarily and the indicators all work (I need these little things to keep me motivated).

Cleaned the new eBay seat and it came up a treat. At least its not ripped. Replacement fuel tank has been hand painted by someone at some stage and not very well but at least its rust free. My petrol cap is rubbish – will need a new one of those before I am finished. I’ve thrown the fuel pipe away. Decided it had seen better days and was due for renewal. Can’t decide whether to be extravagant and go for a coloured fuel pipe or stick with good old fashioned plain braided pipe as originally supplied.

Pictures below are all a bit temporary but does give a flavour of where I am at. Note, addition of one new wing mirror – genuine Honda bought new on eBay. Dials have been cleaned and polished and gold paint removed. The bodged starter button has been removed and a replacement right hand grip obtained on eBay and fitted. Indicator stalks have been cleaned and polished and the stainless screws added to hold the indicator lenses. 

 Front view with new headlight assembly

Below shows rear mudguard fitted with grab-rail and new seat.

Rear view with grab-rail, new seat, indicators and new mudguard

I’ve now removed the air-box, battery holder and tappet cover for cleaning. In case you were wondering, its freezing in my garage at this time of year so I take bits off and clean them on the dining room table – much warmer. 

Carburettor Clean

Friday, December 30th, 2011

In the last post I said I had removed the carburettor for cleaning.

Not the best of pictures but I think you get the idea. The Carburettor is a bit dirty. Also from this picture you can see the seat is in bad shape and tank is quite rusty. I will deal with those shortly.

Carburettor prior to cleaning

I removed the airbox, and all the pipes (fuel tank was already drained of petrol). Soaked the nuts in WD40 and then removed the carb. The clip which holds the airbox pipe was completely rusted solid and needed removing with a hacksaw. Guess I will need a new one of those. I stripped it completely and cleaned. There was 30 years of encrusted dirt to remove and it took a while but eventually I got somewhere. The jets and stuff all appeared to be in good shape once cleaned. I reassembled and popped it back on the bike. This is how it looks now. As you can see the choke cable arm is still quite rusty and the screw which holds the choke cable clamp is completely rounded and can only be undone with pliers, but I will save these bits for another day.

Cleaned Carburettor 1 

Cleaned Carburettor 2

Next step is indicators stalks, rear light, rear mudguard, seat, tank and grab rail.

First tentative steps

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

As you can the see, the headlight is in very poor shape. Purchased a new one from Wemoto. Its not a genuine Honda unit but it fits, looks good and solves the initial problem of no light. Ahead of fitting the headlight I took the additional steps of giving the surrounding area a good clean and polish. Discovered the horn is competed rusted solid and will need replacing. The Honda emblem badge under the headlight has had two holes drilled in it for some reason which doesn’t look nice. Quite a bit of rust on the inside of the headlight brackets. Plan to just clean those as best I can for now. Using good old fashioned Autosol Metal Polish for cleaning and Mer Ultimate Car Polish to add some protection to the cleaned bits. Small point about fitting the new headlight. Gently bend the headlight brackets to fit with the new light assembly. Don’t pull it all together by just tightening up the indicator stalks. The headlight is only plastic and won’t take much strain before it will crack.

 This should be a headlight!

Further items which will require attention. Engine Start button is broken and the wiring for this has been bodged (See additional button on left of handle bar in picture below). Wing mirrors missing, Front Brake lever broken. Clutch lever very sloppy and loose. Dials have been sprayed gold as has the ignition key lock and cover.

 dscn0056.JPG

Have now taken the carburettor off for cleaning as the next step.