The owner showed us the Honda CB 650 that he exhibited at the bike shed show last year. Not only will that bike appear at this year’s show again, but Jack’s are also been working on a new build, a CG one to five that is going to talk us through today. This is a Honda CG 125 from 1995, so also it looks. A bit old. Looks a bit older than it does from when it’s coming at the factory, but I’ll just run through the bike from front to back.
I think and tell you exactly: what’s been going on so we’ll start with the tires. These are just continental tkc, 80s bit tricky to get the right size and this especially with the rear, to do the swingarm clearance, but did a trial and error get the right size, but nothing too chunky, but enough to make it give it that scrambler start. So I was going for these alamin, your mud guards. They came from a guy who just rolled them for me and then I just finished them off with a brushed affect and then just cutting it in into the forks.
And then, if we gauge, the headlight is just a very simple one from where I got it from now, but very simple, with LED indicators, rental, handlebars, slight rise and just get a bit higher stance for the Scrambler effect. And then we’ve got just some brown gum handle grips with some old-school. Looking switch gears off a Honda CG, but I’m not too sure which year, but there are good eBay, find and then a simple speedo with just a light.
Nothing else really and then all your information you just get from the switch gears the tank was sprayed by paint monkey. You can check them out on Instagram did a really nice job and this colours actually off a Ford, and we just put a little black black detail in. So that’s can’t really. Nice highlight just lines up with a seat flows down, and then this seat just covered in leather, but that detail sort of lines up with the with the frame there powder coated frame.
It’S got a slightly sort of metallic look to it and the engines done the same as well with that’s pretty standard. Apart from the ram air filter and tweaking of the carb so that it can fuel the extra air going in the exhaust, it’s just a universal fit, it sounds quite throaty, just a little single thumper and what else we got again. We’Ve just got another little aluminum tail, which incorporates of rear light and indicators.
Again, there’s LED flashes, rechromed, wheels, standard suspension and just yeah good polish as well. What made you choose to do the one two? Five, because you did a 650 first, so it’s like a smaller capacity bike yeah. What was the reason you chose the CG, the CG is just a sort of mainly because it appeals to a wider market. A lot more people have, you know licences. They can just jump on a one to five from a from a from a standard driving license, and especially in sort of places in London or other cities.
It’S just a just a nice little quick get around and yeah after working on the CV. 650. I just fancy take a bit simpler, but in actual fact the same that work goes into. This is the other custom. It’S just a smaller engine. That’S the only fit real thing, and I you can pick it up - put your hands instead of using cranes, as you saying, there’s a few things that are a bit like the carbs, the big thing that was easier, yeah yeah the carburetors easier just to shoot up, Because it’s just a couple of screws, I didn’t reject it, there’s only one of them, so you don’t have to sync them all or so you’ve got four carbs.
Then you’ve got to sink them all and generally it’s just easier just and it’s kickstart as well. Not electric so you’re not worrying too much about where the faults are it’s just turning it over very simply and yeah. It’S just something I could just in it accessible bike really. You said it was a bit simpler than doing that bike. A lot of work still, but anything particularly difficult or unexpected, that came up on it or a good question, not really not really.
No because because there is a photo on Instagram of like what this looked like beforehand, and it had this sort of just a horrible 90s sort of plastic wobbly sort of design at the time - and I suppose getting the fuel tank fitting right. Because the underneath it’s essentially the same, buy because it was made in the 70s, but the way the the fuel tanks mounted is difference. I had to like cut away the old mountain drill, a hole through the frame and input a new mounting and just making sure it’s all lined up correctly, so that the lines are flowing because it’s quite easy to spot.
When someone just puts plunks a tank on the bike and expect it to look like yeah a cool bike, it takes available time to get those all those lines flown. Yes, their flight cxas have that kind of slightly upward tilt and a lot of people yeah. That really changes their like the start. Yeah yeah, I mean a lot of people they’ll, then try and compensate it. Other areas like pushing that their Forks through through the triple tree here to lower the front, but it kind of messes up handling the bike.
So it’s nice to keep it simple and at as possible yeah without sort of fiddling around too much. If you’re not going to go around the realms of you know putting you know, forks or foot upside down forks on it, whatever you want to do so, it’s still pretty much dock apart from tank and all see the accessories that go on it. Like the suspensions. The same swing, arms, the same also the tires and change the handling, but you know sort of look.
I was going for really yeah was that, did you say the tank was from the original or is it a different year? It’S I don’t know what yeah I got it secondhand, so it’s been impossible to say what year it came from, but it’s the same tank as they put on swears of the early early 80s, even the late 70s ones. Yeah was there any other bitsy sports. I think you said the switchgear were off yeah, so the family.
I found these on eBay, but I’m not too sure what bike that she came off of. It was obviously an older one, but yeah I could do some research actually firing. These actually looked pretty good. In it, there’s no wing mirrors on it so option extra, look over the shoulder and the little speedo is this from a company in Germany super simple: that’s what kinda wanted to go for, because you could have like the lights there and you know you’re turning left.
Turning right full beams on, but you can see all that just by looking at your controls, really yeah and then yeah it’s tricky because a lot of time in the speed, okay boat cables there so ridging the way that a turn off they don’t if they don’t Have enough curve on them, then they don’t spin properly to from from the world, to give you an accurate reading, so routing that so it’s not interfering with too much I mean here is slightly rubbing on the headlight, so I might have to just put a little Cushion on that to stop it from wearing for the paint, but there’s not much movement in that when the bikes turning so that’s a bit tricky.
Obviously wiring is difficult left one of the hardest bits actually because you got all this gunk and crap from before, where they’ve had lights and stuff around here and you’ve got to somehow tide of that all away. And you know you want to keep all this clean and nice that doesn’t interrupt the negative space because that’s as well as what I call as the positive space of the tank and a seat and the bars and the wheels and stuff.
But with the bike. There’S always that negative space as well so what’s left here and here yeah I mean, with these bikes, obviously being a small engine. They are. They do look a bit weedy down here when you start filling up stuff. That’S why I’ve kind of tried to keep it as stock as possible par from the handlebars and stuff, because if you start like, I know, I’m not a fan of putting like clip-ons, I’m probably going to disgruntled people here, but with putting clip ones and stuff.
It’S trying to be saying: it’s not right, say something: it’s not a powerful bike, so you know why am I going to make it look like a 650 or of you know, 800 cc motor bike cuz, you said actually the guy you bought it off used it For tearing around the field to nut yeah, it was a right state. When I bought it, it was just covered in mud and bits falling off of it. So yeah he’s check out the before shot on the Instagram.
You’Ve probably quite surprised what it what it looked like, but that’s part of it. It’S part of the fun sort of restoring something that was completely dilapidated and ready for the scrap heap really and then bringing it back to life and and giving it a new new lease of life as it were so plans for it are. It will be at the bike shed show you in a couple of weeks. Yep then, after that, after that it’s going to go to the male mile, o malley mile, I’m going to pass it and yeah just going to tear around it really.
The only knowing thing is that, with the new emissions in London, it’s a bit tricky even at such a small bite. You can’t you drive into London anymore, but yeah just have some fun on it. I think sweet yeah, anything else, uh that I think so now. It’S about it - and this is my workshop thanks again to Jack, for taking the time to make these articles with me. You can see more images of his builds and articles of the bike starting up over on his instagram, which i’ve linked to in the description below.
Let me know what you think of the bikes down in the comments. Personally, I think this CG one to five is really tastefully done and I think it’d make a great little urban run around and, of course, if you new here and you want see more articles like this click subscribe and I’ll catch, you next time,
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