revtothelimit - motorbike forum

I can't believe I've missed this thread.

Pirahna wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2025 6:24 pm I can't believe I've missed this thread.

There'll be another next week

Pulborough?! You're just down the road from me in Witley.

I've got an '81 CG125. Originally bought from Dixon Racing in Godalming.







pic sharing

Hi Mr badger, yeah they bought the orange AJS from a guy in Pulborough.

You CG looks lovely, people dont realise how fun these old bikes are.
My brother has a Z1000 and Drz 400 and he enjoys riding the CG the most.

We are on the lookout to buy another CG, not to bothered about condition but it needs to be able to be ridden
as we don't have transport to pick it up so would be riding it back to Watford.
If you hear of one for sale do let me know

Winter Tinkering & Spring Updates
I don’t do much with bikes during the winter apart from the odd bit of tinkering here and there. Now that the nice weather is here, the motorbike season is just starting for me, so it’s time for an update.

The Family Fleet
My brother sold his Z1000, which was a difficult decision as it never needed money spent on it and never went wrong. He then bought a Kawasaki Ninja, which he didn’t keep long before selling it on.

Next, he was given a CBR600 that had been standing for several years. Within a couple of weeks, he recommissioned it, got an MOT, razed around on it for a while, and sold that too. He has since bought a Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin. It’s so big I can’t even get on it!

My brother’s girlfriend still owns her Honda CG125 and loves it. I had a BBQ last weekend and she rode it from her place to mine—about a 30-mile trip with a long stretch of A-road. It was hitting an indicated 60 mph.

The Search for More Power
My Suzuki VanVan 125 is still going well and hasn't missed a beat since I got it, but I am looking at changing it. While the engine is "bomb-proof," it is down on power compared to modern units. Because it’s air-cooled, it loses power on longer trips when it gets properly hot—and it does have to pull 27 stone around all the time.

On the flat with no headwind, it will sit at 40 mph and maybe reach 45 mph; however, against a big headwind, it struggles to hit 40 mph. I’ve been looking for a bike with a modern, liquid-cooled engine as close to the legal 15 hp (11 kW) limit as possible.

Testing Scooters
I quite fancy a scooter, so I sat on a Honda Forza 125, but the handlebars touched my belly halfway through the turning arch, so that was no good. I then tried an Aprilia SR GT 125. The handlebars were fine (more like traditional motorbike bars compared to the Forza's "jet ski" style).

During the test ride, the Aprilia reached 55 mph without a struggle and was still pulling; I think it would have hit 60 mph if I hadn't needed to slow down for a turning. The only problem is that I felt a bit cramped. I think this could be fixed by removing the hump on the seat so I can sit further back. I’m currently looking for a cheap local one to buy so that if the modification doesn't work out, I won't lose too much money.

The New Addition: 1984 Honda XL125R
My brother and I scan eBay, Bike Trader, and Facebook Marketplace daily. I came across a 1984 Honda XL125R in really nice, unrestored condition. It was listed as "pickup only," but I sent a message to see if the seller would take the bait:

Me: "Hello, that’s lovely. If I lived closer, I would buy it right now."

Seller: "If you are interested, delivery is possible."

He brought it round last Saturday. It started first kick right out of the van. The cam chain was quite noisy, but the rest of the bike was so nice it didn't concern me at the time.

The following day, during a BBQ with friends and family, we had a look at the XL and adjusted the cam chain. It’s a simple process: undoing a nut to free the tensioner while the engine is running, then tightening it back up. This quietened the chain, but it revealed a noticeable noise from the top end.

It was too loud to ignore, so I checked the valve clearances. It is almost impossible to get feeler gauges in there, so I had to estimate. They should be 0.002" (2 thou) for both inlet and exhaust—roughly half the thickness of a human hair. The inlet was about right, but the exhaust had three times the required gap, so I adjusted it to match.

Unfortunately, that didn't fix the noise. This coming weekend, I’m going to drop the oil and replace it with some high-quality stuff, as I have no idea what’s in there now. If that doesn't help, I’ll have to pull the top end off and investigate further.
(the above text was spell checked and formatted by Gemini which I think is kinda fun)

If anyone has any ideas on the top end noise I would like to hear them

The video below is not my bike, but the engine sounds similar.

Eclipse
Some older hondas ran the cams on the cylinder head without bearings, leading to scoring and failure. Should be easy to see by eye but needs the head removing, unless you can see the end of the cams through the opening for valve adjusting?

Hello Ogri, thanks for the heads up.

After a bit more messing around with the adjuster's locking nut it turned out with the nut lose the knocking noise went away
and after watching several videos on YT most people were pulling the tensioner up with a 3mm screw before locking it with the nut.
I tried this and it theres no bad sounds from the engine infact its surprisingly quiet except the cam chain is rattling so will have to get replaced.

Anyway not my problem now as my bro liked it so much i sold it to him, I owned it for less than a week, luckily I didn't register it in my name
so it was still two owners from new when he got it.

I sold my classic cg to bros gf and now the classic xl to my bro, one day I might get to keep one.

I love the van van because since I bought it about 2 years ago all I have needed to do on it were oil changes and lube the chain, the engine is old tech now which is fine for plodding around town on but struggles with my weight especially on longer journeys and faster roads so I wanted to upgrade to something newer.

Because of the weight I lost I have a massive belly overhang which makes it difficult
to find bikes that are comfortable to ride. For the last few months I have been checking
FB Market place, Bike trader and eBay for possible candidates and found a few.

Yamaha esr 125 too small in general and my right food rested more on the exhaust
than on the foot peg.

Honda Forza 125 steering turned half way before handlebar hit my belly.

Aprilia SR GT 125 steering good but i was cramped on it.

I had an embarrassing test ride of an Aprilia i found locally on FB.
the Owner was a 19 year old chav, you know the kind that has a "breakfast bowl" haircut
and takes this piss out of anyone he gets the chance to, I was gone for about 10 mins
and by the time I got back there were 4 of his mates there and they were all looking
at me and laughing.
Anyway It was a good test ride and surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

I was cramped on it but handlebar turning was great, full lock each way. And it accelerated fast than my Van Van and got to 55 which much trouble, the VV was happy
at 40 and got to 45 on the flat if there was no head wind.

I spent a few weeks looking for nice second hand ones and at one point nearly
ordered a new one but I was not sure how I would get on when on longer rides
So went off the idea of a new one as there was a possibility I might have to
get ride of it so I kept looking for second hand ones and found the one that I bought.

It was advertised by a trader on Biketrader and eBay.

2024 Aprilia SR GT 125
9800 miles
1 owner
3 months warranty
dealer service history
2 keys, owners manual

The dealer I bought it from said they had it for about 6 weeks and the battery went flat
so they put a new one on it, I did share my concerns that the battery shouldn't need
to be replaced after 2 years.

I went out for a ride today with my brother and his GF and on flat road I hit 60
on a couple of occasions which I have not done on a bike in 20-25 years.
I feel safer at 50 and the Aprilia reaches that easy and is comfortable sitting there.

I know a lot of you think scooters are not real motorbikes but they are fun to ride
and with underseat storage usefull to.

I find myself reaching 30mph and 40mph speed limits much quicker because of the CVT
and I now have to slow down going up hills rather than changing down and trying to accelerate as I would on the VV.
Compared to the VV the brakes are amazing.

The mirrors are completely useless, I am trying to find bar ends which you can screw
mirrors in to, the idea being I can use folding enduro style mirrors on the end of the
bars but fold them inwards when needed, If I cant find any bar ends like that I will
probably make some as I think they would be perfect for my needs.

The rear shocks are terrible for my weight so I am going to contact Hagon to see
if they can help.

I am also looking in to getting the seat redone and removing the hump in the middle
so that I can sit further back on it.

I will get a new mot on the Van van next week then put it up for sale.

Heres a few pics, some from the dealer and some from todays ride.

Awesome mate. Hagon will build any shock for any weight, so no worries there. Keep us posted.

Nowt wrong with a scooter, plenty on here have or have had them. Looks like a good'un.

Happy new bike time

Thanks Taipan and Crust.

The Aprilia is not listed on Hagon's website so I phoned them up and they have no data on it at all,
but they are willing to use my bike for R&D.

I take my bike down to them and leave it for 10 days and they do all kinds of measurements and make a
custom pair of shocks for it with springs and dampers for my weight.
This also means they can add the bike to their website and sell shocks online to other people.
I dont pay for any of the R&D and I get the shocks for half price which would be around £135.

I live about 30 miles from Hagon's and will take take them up on the offer,
I just need to sort transport to get home.

That sounds like a good deal. I had a similar thing with an exhaust company once.

That sounds like a result to me

It's been a fair while since I went there but they used to have some of Alf's old drag bikes there.