The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

[Ant]

Its a nice little bike that!
When i had the clr 125 i did some similar things. like removing the pillion foot rests, knocked the restrictor washer out of the downpipe and rejetted the carb so it put out a bit more power, fitted some flatter bars to it and replaced the awful tyres on it with some contis.
I was going to replace the indicators because the honda ones cost a fortune and broke if you looked at them funny, but never got round to it
Theres something to be said for a little commuter style bike

[pre65]

There's something to be said for a little commuter style bike

I have fond memories of an old DT175 I rebuilt from a box of bits 30 years ago, but I'd not want to swap it for the BMW.

[Dave the bass]

Its a nice little bike that!

Theres something to be said for a little commuter style bike

Agreed, they're great for erm....commuting on!

The dealer I bought my Chinese 'Lexmoto ' branded 125cc tiddler sells the AJS range too. IMO AJS Paint and finish is better than most of the cheaper 125cc fare but they're a bit more pricey to start with, still cheaper than a Honda CB125F ....which is also built in China.

I've only owned my 125 for 7 months but clocked up 5500 miles on it so far and it's been very good IME. It's getting solid use through the winter so I've kept on top of the maintenance which is basic and easy to do like you'd hope it would on a designed-for-purpose commuter bike.

Only thing I'm finding with this bike is you HAVE to plan ahead and get the parts in way before you need them. With a Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha I was lucky in that we had a dealer in town I could pick up bits from as needed but now I have to keep must-have parts on the shelf (brake pads, cables, filters) otherwise you could be out if luck if someone like CMPO are out of stock.

Other than that, I'm well impressed with it. £1699 brand new on the road, cheap insurance, tax, 120+ mpg, 1L fully synthetic oil change every 2000 miles (my easy to remember service interval), the 'warranty ' was pants and only valid for a maximum of 8000 miles a year, l'll be doing about 11,000 a year normally.

Hope you enjoy as much as I do mine Mike.

DIET. The original chain was very fast wearing. I replaced it at ~2500 miles with a HD O ring type and increased the gearbox sprocket by 1 tooth so I get 50mph cruising at 7100 rpm ish. Slightly less frantic! The old Indian built CBF125 was both slightly better on fuel consumption and cruise speed average, my one tooth increase hasn't made any noticable improvement fuel wise, it just sounds happier.

[steve s]

I get 50mph cruising at 7100 rpm ish. Slightly less frantic! The old Indian built CBF125 was both slightly better on fuel consumption and cruise speed average, my one tooth increase hasn't made any noticable improvement fuel wise, it just sounds happier.

7100 rpm still sound pretty frantic dave, but I'd guess most of your riding is at lower speed limits, and in town, a light bike that is ideal snaking through traffic.. I love light..
My ktm does not like low speeds and is a pain below 40 unless I ride in in the 1st 3 gears only.. but on the open road.. well I can do 60
because that's the limit.

[Ant]

I had the same with the sprint st, it could be an arse at low speed in town, 1st and second seemed abit too tall, a tiny bit of throttle and it was off like a stabbed rat. You ended up lurching between traffic lights. Being ham fisted was right out. 3rd was ok to bimble around but it was abit snatchy but get above 40 ish and it was silky.
That triple was such a nice motor other than its low speed gittishness.
And it wasnt light

[Dave the bass]

7100 rpm still sound pretty frantic dave, but I'd guess most of your riding is at lower speed limits, and in town, a light bike that is ideal snaking through traffic.. I love light..

Yup, its relative (innit!) as its a 125cc single and tiny in power output so it revs quite high to achieve that power, it red-lines at 10,000RPM! Thats about 65mph ish flat out, quite normal in the world of petite motorcycles After spending the last couple of years only riding 350 and 500 cc single cylinder Bullets it does take a bit of readjusting again.

You guess correctly, there's only one approx 3 mile bit of the commute that is on a 3 lane 'A' road where the limit is 70 mph, as soon as you hit Bexley Borough its 50 mph, then down to 30 mph up to Aldgate East then its '20 is plenty' all the way into Central London.

And you know what? Its the fastest thing on the road at getting through that 'terrain', a work chum has an RE Interceptor 650 and he can't keep up. Its gorgeous but doesn't have any advantage in the 50/30/20 zones as its a smidge wider, a lot heavier and a lot less maneuverable (SP?) than the little 125. He has to go further than me down into Kent so for him its the right choice, I wouldn't want to do his journey on my bike.

I agree with you, I love light too, right tool for the right job (innit).

[Mike H]

Thanks for your enthusiasm chasps.

The smaller bikes are attractive – then you go onto bigger stuff later on, and the possible problems and expenses get bigger too. And the weight.

I haven't forgotten a memorable trip I did to south Wales and back on my Honda CD175, in 1978. The bike had a few foibles, like, handling was rubbish, especially at slow speed, but it did it. No M25 back then, so up very early (on the morning after passing my bike test, the rest of the family being already ensconced in Maenclochog on holiday, I held back 'cause my test was booked middle of 1st week), so's I could do the dreaded North Circular Road before the rush hour started proper. Then out onto the M40, my first time ever driving on a motorway. Then A40 to Haverfordwest, including a wong turning at Raglan ending up nearly in Newport by mistake. Took forever!



The plot thickens – there is a safety recall, I only know about it from the FB group – was announced week #51 of 2020, still waiting for my notification letter, if it ever comes. All Cadwell / Tempest made between Nov 2016 & Nov 2018, "rear brake master cylinder defective". This may explain a saga I was reading about on the jampot (AJS) forum. The guy had 2 if not 3 rear/linked brake failures. I might just buy a new M/C anyway, they're not expensive, and put it on. I might just delink it as well while I'm about it, makes all the hydraulics very much simpler and easier to maintain. When I checked, AJS had 114 M/C's in stock, must be gearing up for the recalls!

Laters ...

[Baggy Trousers]

Since it’s been fairly quiet around here recently and as a rather feeble antidote to all the misery being heaped upon us, I thought I might offer a little inconsequential whimsy.

Getting on for a year ago (although thanks to the removal of the usual milestones measuring the passage of our progress through life, it now seems before the last ice age), I sought advice in the purchase of a replacement helmet. DTB went to some trouble to demonstrate the virtues of the Givi crash hat and Mike H suggested the Nolan. In the end, the decision was made for me by the very obliging Will at Helmet City who had the Nolan N100-5 already fitted with Pinlock on sale at about half price. Since it was exactly the same as other examples of this model on sale at full price, I enquired why the cost had been so dramatically reduced. “It’s last year’s graphics, Sir”. After much deliberation, I concluded that bolstering my dwindling street cred with the latest example of cool was not worth £160. With some of the money thus saved, I rewarded myself with a plate of Bridport’s finest. Yum yum.

I like the helmet very much but there are two others in my riding group sporting hats by the same maker, so we are known as the Nolan Sisters. I wish I’d bought the Givi.

On a different matter; sadly, whilst I had no difficulty when on the move, I thought it would be sensible to offer the machine to a new home before I dropped something. The Norton represented the ultimate of the type of bike and style of riding which I have enjoyed for more than 60 years - one which almost exclusively has been confined to performance singles. After years of exciting and embarrassingly noisy companionship, the 30M had become a bit too heavy for me to push around, particularly with 5 gallons on board. I’m pleased that the Manx is now with someone who intends to enter it in vintage races, so it will be exercised in a fitting manner. I shall miss the thrill of again imagining I’m Bob McIntyre as I thunder past The Bungalow, flat on the tank up to Brandywell or past Kate’s Cottage on the way down to the Creg-ny-Baar - a phantasy I’ve treasured since, as a schoolboy, reading of Artie Bell’s exploits in 1948. Absolute magic. Of course, future racing presupposes that at some point Boris will allow us back into the exercise yard - I’m banged up in cell block H due to this wretched virus, but looking forward to joining the mass breakout when the weather improves. I hope I have not lost too many riding skills; I’m of an age which finds these things hard to recover. However, obtaining a replacement machine better suited to the demands of an old fart obstinately refusing to grow up, had not been easy. But as I have previously mentioned, I was fortunate in acquiring one of the last Honda XBR500s manufactured and the penultimate one imported to the UK. Now that I'm confident it won't explode above 6k rpm, I'm lovin' it.

Was it Greg who recommended the Bridgestones? I bought a pair of BT46s and these have noticeably improved the already-good handling of the XBR but there have been insufficient riding opportunities (and too many bloody potholes) to fully test them.

My perseverance with the Honda has been well rewarded, for it is proving a worthy successor to the Norton and I have come to respect and enjoy the bike very much indeed. I’m only 5’8” so I particularly like its small size, low weight and narrowness, nimble handling and with enough performance to get me into trouble - it’s only three horsepower less than the Manx. The bike responds to sympathetic handling, I’ve not yet had a tank-slapper and the valve gear does not discharge oil all over my trousers as did its predecessor. What’s not to like? But I do miss the torque from the 100mm stroke and the raw masculinity of my old friend.

Baltazar (the Nimbus) you have met before and he has been joined by a ’96 SS Ducati which I bought because it was cheap, only 13k kms and looks good. However, it’s only a 400 and very much a sheep in wolves' clothing, so I’m not likely to keep it for very long.

Here's to a decent summer and plenty of riding. Was that a squadron of avian pigs I just saw flying past the window? Oh well, never mind . . . . . .

[Greg]

I think it was Dave the Bass who recommended the Bridgestone’s; certainly not me.

As you suffer your ‘H’ Block confinement, I trust you have not been reduced to smearing your walls with excrement!

Good you are enjoying your new bike.

[pre65]

This talk of motorcycles has got me wanting to get the BMW back on the road.

One thing that needs addressing is the seemingly slow turning when starting up. It just sounds like the battery is expiring.

Possible causes could be a bad wiring connector, a bad earth or a dirty solenoid. I think I will remove the starter motor (to get to the solenoid) and strip it down as a precaution. I will need a new battery now as the old one (fairly new actually) has not been charged regularly since the bike was last used, must be 18 months now.

It's good to have the enthusiasm to actually do something.

[steve s]

Good for you phil, I've just got my laverda road ready after being parked up for 10 years carbs rebuilt and brakes overhauled, and a few other new parts
A couple of weeks ago a made a start on the dbd34, I've started at the front and working backwards.. I'm still at the front, and will be for another week or so, the engine is good, just a clean up and electronic ignition to fit,
Was in the shed till 7.00 again tonight..

[Mike H]

Interesring all. @ Baggy, wicked.

Phil, yes possibly. My R80 got like this once. A case of will it go or do I have to bump it before the electrons disappear entirely? On the 'way home' (I was in Anglesey at this juncture, and bump starting it down a slope out of the camp site) I called into Motobins in Surfleet and installed a new battery on their forecourt. Didn't speed up the starter motor especially but it would start, so fair enuff.

Slight updates. I've bought all the bits to rebuild the Cadwell brakes, just waiting for the weather to stop pratting about. Not a lot of room to swing a proverbial in the shed, can do some things, but crouching in a dark corner replacing the rear master cylinder doesn't appeal. Need more room and light. Nugget of info off the AJS facecloth page, some guy obviously soem kind of mechanic or runs a workshop, says he's done lots of rear brake overhauls and M/C replacements not only on AJS but also Herald, they use the same M/C, he says the brake fluid put in at the factory is not very good, has a high water content (he says) and can damage the seals (there are stories of brake failure). He says put proper DOT4 in it, everything's peachy. Obviously I'll be doing that too.

Bantam has got a new mainstand, original is quite poor, the feet were worn away, quite typically happens over the years, but had bits of thick rod welded in, in lieu off, which is fair enough and a common fix, but it looks like paint over rust (and a LOT of rust, judging by the lumps and hollows), also it's twisted slightly meaning the right foot is further forward than the left by at least a quarter of an inch, so the bike leant over to the right slightly. No now it don't! The new stand is a good bit wider so I had to shim the frame either side of it with washers (M12 aka 13mm clear, standing in for half inch ones); it's very nice tho, newly made by Draganfly in Bungay Suffolk. Which reminds me I'm still waiting for a new stainless fork slider from them.

[steve s]

Had a productive couple of days in the shed, I've stripped and polished the new to me, dunstall brake, most of it was originally painted but I decided to polish the lot, I'm quite pleased with how it looks, I've mounted the clocks, I love the way they look.

Tonight I've had the blowlamp on the main stand, straightening it out as the bike stood at a jaunty angle on it. I'd thought it was due to the undersized mounting bolts, but it turns out it was quite bent.
I've straightened up the front forks, they have had new stanchons, and ive clamped them up tight and filled with oil... easy to forget.

I've got most of the parts refurbished now, although the oil tank and toolbox need painting, and I'll paint the petrol tank last, but there still seems an awful lot still to do !

I've got an electronic ignition kit to fit once I've finished with the engine...

I'm not sure what to do with that, theres no oil leaks, and it's only done a 1,000 miles since it had a top end rebuild, rebore and new piston, although that was 24 years ago.

I've been looking at a few restored engines, the crank cases all polished and perfect, where as mine is full of rough casting mark's, I'm torn between the natural look or alot of work, or leaving it some where between.

20210225_135957_copy_600x647.jpg (245.44 KiB) Viewed 4199 times

20210225_140022_copy_600x711.jpg (243.5 KiB) Viewed 4199 times

[Neal]

Looking good Steve! Like all of these things mission creep is a bu**er! Once you make one part look great it highlights all the other small parts that don’t look great and......you end up stripping the whole lot down and doing a full nut n bolt rebuild It’ll never end and you’ll spend more time working on it than using it

[Nick]

the crank cases all polished and perfect, where as mine is full of rough casting mark's

Yep, like Neal says. These things were made and sold to be ridden by hairy arse bikers, not given a poodle cut and put on show. Why not get it ready for the spring, have some fun, then if you feel like it, spend the winter doing a full jobbie.