A few weekends ago my Grandson drove me in my ute (he has his 'L's and needed the practice) to the town of Scone in the Hunter valley to buy a 2007 Honda CBR125r that he had found on bumtree. It has been through two learners and has been dropped on both sides, but it started on the button and reved up sweetly (I do like efi) and everthing worked. We loaded up and home to put on the table. First job was to change the black stuff that resembled oil in the sump, clean the mesh filter and fill with some fresh 10w/30 oil (don't want to slow it down with thick oil). Re-oiled the foam air cleaner, re-set the valve clearances, flushed the radiator and filled with fresh coolant, fitted a new spark plug and put a cup of metho in the tank. The steering head bearings were 'nochy' so these were replaced with tapered rollers and while the forks were out changed the oil. Added a 10mm spacer on top of the springs as they seemed a bit soft. Drained and re-filled the brakes with fresh fluid too. To straighten the headlight/fairing mount I sat the bike on a stand and packed with bits of plywood until level. Then twisted and bent the mounting frame until it was level too. The riders seat had a small split and found a second hand seat for half the price of a new cover, so a good clean some leather dressing and it looks like new. Both footpegs have been bent so ordered some new ones and after fitting them it will be ready for rego when grandson gets his licence. Plan is he will ride it until the Tenere is on the road, then hand it on to the next one getting a licence, after which I might get to ride it.
I bought my 125 new in 2007 and have put over 34,000 kms on it. Twenty three thousand of that is with a 166cc big bore kit. After 50 years of riding and too many bikes(according to my wife) it is my favorite bike.
How did it run with the big bore kit in it? I found my wife's 125 kept jumping out of 6th gear at high revs when I rode it. never happened to her, so maybe the problem was between the handlebars and the seat? My wife weighs half of what I weigh, so @Murdo I'd be keen to see if the grandson experiences any 6th gear issues as he's about my weight and 2 foot taller.
@Frankster maybe the high revs was the clue. I don't think my wife knows what revs are. In her S2000 (car for the few that might not know), I don't think she has ever felt the cams swap over to the more aggressive profile (happens at about 6k RPM).
My friend put a 2011 CBR150 motor and ecu that he purchased through Tyga in his and we were pretty much equal. We did a couple of 1000+km camping trips together before he traded his in on a R3. I even managed to pass him going up one hill along Lake Superior between Wawa and Sault Ste Marie Ontario. The transmission is prone to jumping out of gear under load but if you keep a little toe pressure on the shifter until the clutch is released and your on the throttle it should stay engaged. It becomes second nature after awhile. There is usually no problem when upshifting without the clutch.
Have a new plate and insurance now so this afternoon I took the little beastie for an 80Km run on some quiet back roads. No gear troubles up and down through the gears. I put some injector cleaner into the tank before leaving and it started to run cleaner after about 25Km. They are no powerhouse (specs say 13hp) but it would maintain 100Km/h@8,000rpm on the flat with me and tankbag full of tools. It would not be a very good long distance tourer, but the Grandson only has 12Km to get to work so I think it will do him until his Tenere is ready.
Have put over 300Km on this little bike now and today I thought I better put some petrol in it as it has a gauge that was showing only 1/4 full. Took only 7.2Lt (it has 9.5Lt tank) which works out at about 2.4Lt/100Km (over 110mpg for old folks). Thirsty little bugga.
@Murdo good to see you are out and about again. We have some difficulty racking up 300km at present. Within a radius of 15km, there is only so much riding that you can do.
After nearly 8,000 fun Km the little CBR has gone to live in Kootingal with a father and son both on their 'L's. Goodbye fun little bike.
I'm going to refer to this as the KTM shift, until someone comes up with a better term. It's how my buddy told me he rides his Duke 390, so I treated it the same. Start off normal in 1st gear, preload the shifter, wait for the rev limiter to work its magic. rinse/repeat steps 2/3. That shift style got a lot more exciting after I got in the habit, then switched to the tiger 1050, but not nearly as exciting as it would have been had I ended the trip on the Tuono (instead of starting the trip on it, and killing the front tire) Also I think the upgrade clutch springs are a requirement for the cbr125 if you plan on flogging it like it deserves.