Posts
5399
Joined
1/10/2011
Location
Hollow Barrels, CA, USA
Fantasy
Edited Date/Time
10/14/2022 9:14am
I just picked one up and this is my first "vintage?" rebuild. If you have restored/rebuilt one I would appreciate any feedback as to tips/tricks/resources and also the best sources to buy all the parts. Or, let me know if you have any parts for sale? I want the bike to look clean/new when I'm done, but I'm not planning on a full restoration for now. I'll be riding it when it's done.
Right off the bat I don't believe there are custom hubs available for these old bikes correct? Just powder coat or anodize the stock hubs? I'm already torn between gold or black rims...even though they aren't native to the bike i will probably be going with one or the other.
I pretty much need everything, so let me know where you guys get your stuff. I'm in Southern California.
Right off the bat I don't believe there are custom hubs available for these old bikes correct? Just powder coat or anodize the stock hubs? I'm already torn between gold or black rims...even though they aren't native to the bike i will probably be going with one or the other.
I pretty much need everything, so let me know where you guys get your stuff. I'm in Southern California.
Greg
I have rebuilt 3 such bikes from scratch. One was my '89 VRP full aluminium custom bike. You can check my builds in my Flickr-Albums here
Nino's '89 VRP: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottospeed/albums/72157657243148579
Nino's '89 Racebike: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottospeed/albums/72157668784699162
Nino's '89 Practice Bike: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottospeed/albums/72157682317899484
Also parts that from the outside seem ok won't be ! Usually seals got hard over time and don't do their job anymore. Swingarm bearings , leverages, steerer, wheels, also inside the engine...everything needs to be replaced with new bearings & seals! During the 1st ride even my seemingly perfect chainrollers would disintegrate...the rubber was so hard they simply fell into pieces...all ruber is hard and dry and won't work anymore!
Important also that you take off the waterhoses to check the state of the cases underneath! The stock cases were Magnesium and corroded badly. My bike looked great as well but taking off the hoses revealed severely corroded cases...
On vintage bikes don't go with black rims! Black is all the hype NOW but wasn't back in the day. If you want some coloured rims go with gold but stay clear of black. That's my opinion. Vintage bikes need to be vintage still and black just doesn't go with a vintage bike. If you do a rebuild do it right!
Ufo has all plastics.Good quality. New plastics get your bike that new look.
Footpegs: the stock footpegs are just too thin.There you definitely want to upgrade to something with a larger platform. I found YZ/YZF footpegs fit great with only minimal modifications. I had to file just like 0,5mm on mine to allow them to fold up more.Otherwise they fit great and offer a much, much better platform!
The engine needs some extra care. 30 years of use show wear. Especially the ATAC exhaust system needs to be taken care of as those parts developed some play and the simple & basic exhaust system really needs to be free of any possible freeplay to offer decent performance. Most probably you'll need to take the governor apart and replace that bearing in it. There is a lot of play in the governor alone, then there is the levers&joints that connect the governor with the actual valve...the valve itself sometimes also is worn or it's bore in the cylinder. If you have slop/freeplay in the system it will never run as it should! I have done a whole thread on the rebuild of the HPP & ATAC exhaust system on Thumpertalk where i show how it's done:
https://thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/1207620-honda-125-hpp-setup-tips-t…
I have very good results using a bigger 38mm PJ carburetor and VForce reedblock. It adds a healthy dose of power mid-top. For slightly more low-end i made these spacers for the ATAC chamber:
BEST upgrade to the engine is a italian MESSICO exhaust. DON'T, i can only repeat: DON'T put a Pro Circuit exhaust as it's definitely one of the weakest. I can only laugh when i put my PC on (yes - me too i bought one thinking they must be the best). But both, the PC and the stock exhaust feel like having a rag in the airbox. The PC makes some more revs up top when compared to the stocker but it offers NO torque at all. They are so weak it's hard to believe. True story. The Messico is on a whole other level. No comparison! Bottom to top...that's the single best upgrade on the little CR !!
In the end such a bike is still offering great performance and is a lot of fun. Mine are rocketships and definiotely faster than a stock 2019 YZ 125 !
Here's a video of a couple weeks ago riding my '89 Mugen equipped "practice" bike during a vintage-day in Italy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XwdhrLwhiE
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I paid way too much for it site unseen, but I'm okay with it because I've been looking for one for a long time and I finally got my hands on one.
I did so myself and after just 3 laps i took it off thinking i must have had a engine failure. It was that bad, really! Ever since it is hanging in the corner alongside some other exhausts i tried...worst investment! The Messico is leaps better everywhere. No contest,really. As mentioned the PC makes some more revs than the stocker but it is so weak it is really ridiculous. The Messico feels like riding a bigbore compared to the PC
You will have to get in touch with Messico direct. They're a small italian company selling direct.
https://www.messicoracing.it/
You might try e-mailing Manola which takes care of international sales. Let her know Nino from Switzerland sent you:
manolapuletti@gmail.com
while you are at it...get the silencer as well!
My 89 CR125 (I've a rolling chassis that I set up for XR engines, all those decades ago) does not have that 'bulge' at the axle lug. It has straight down, non bulge, one piece legs.
I've checked a whole bunch of 89 125 pictures, and I don't see the same sort of LH lower leg. I thought perhaps it might have XR legs, but checking them, they have a much shorter overhang from the axle.
Some XR650L forks have a bit of a 'bulge' (and, the long lower leg overhang) , but it's nowhere near as thick as I see in your picture.
I guess it might be that the US market may have had a different fork - after all, you blokes got the great conventional 46's on the 89 KX's, where the rest of us got the dreadful USDs with loose as a goose bushings
Just curious.
Does the top caps have adjuster?
https://pulpmx.com/2017/06/12/project-89-the-red-rocket/
I'm digging a deeper whole than I thought I would (as expected with any project like this).
Bike is parked now, gathering dust. Might sell it, I don't know what to do with it. LOL.
It's barely been ridden but here's a video we did with that bike and my 88 YZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajTASffB-mc&t=149s
Pit Row
Anyone use the following powder coats for '88-'89?
RLA 3001
RLA 3002
"Bengal Red" from Tiger Drylac?
If you're going to powder coat your frame and want to match UFO plastics, I would suggest using RAL 3020. This is the color swatch on the left next to the fender. This frame was done with bengal red, which is not the ideal color to match the plastics:
unfortunately i just sold the last spacer I had left about 3 weeks ago. I don’t have the data as a file though. I had 10 pcs. made but they are all gone now. It’s the shape of the aluminium gasket though. So if you have such a gasket just make it 10mm thick ….voilà!
But you'll get more ponies by opting for a italian Messico exhaust in 1st place - definitely the best improvement achievable on those engines BY FAR !
good luck!
I'll tap on some shoulders for a .dxl file so you can use that water jet and blow Marshall's Punisher logo out of the water haha... He may disagree on which one is cooler, but our two opinions over rules his
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