1996 Honda CR125R Project Bike Riding Impression

  • last year
Can a neglected 125cc two-stroke that’s more than a quarter-century old be fixed up and brought back to life? We test this 1996 Honda CR125R to find out.

Read the full article here: https://www.dirtrider.com/story/tests/1996-honda-cr125r-project-bike-riding-impression/

Video by: Mason Owens

Read more from Dirt Rider: https://www.dirtrider.com/
Transcript
00:00 (silence)
00:02 - What's up everyone?
00:06 Andrew Lawler with Dirt Rider here,
00:08 and we have a 1996 Honda CR125
00:11 that Jay Clark brought out for us to test.
00:13 He knows a lot more about it than I do,
00:15 so I'm gonna hand the mic over to him
00:16 and let him take it away.
00:17 - Okay, so this bike, we did a ton of stuff.
00:20 So this is from my buddy Chris Puffer,
00:22 and Sano Metal Finishing is his company
00:24 in Marietta, California.
00:25 And we've done a lot of project bikes together
00:27 over the last few years.
00:28 And he does an awesome job.
00:30 He's one of the few guys I trust to do
00:33 kind of the caliber work that I would like to see us do.
00:35 And so, and his company is called Sano Metal Finishing
00:38 'cause they do vapor honing, sandblasting, cerakoting.
00:42 And as you can see on this bike,
00:43 they cerakoted the cases,
00:44 little bits on the engine, the power valve cover,
00:47 the triple clamps, the rear brakes, the calipers.
00:50 They cerakoted tons of pieces on this thing,
00:53 and it just looks amazing.
00:55 And for this bike, the bike was, of course,
00:57 just a pile of parts when he bought it from his neighbor.
01:00 And so it needed a ton of work.
01:02 The suspension, luckily, wasn't all ruined
01:04 as far as nicks and gouges.
01:05 So Racetech was able to go through the suspension for us.
01:08 That's key.
01:09 The frame didn't have any serious problems, issues.
01:11 So Sandigo Powder Coating did the frame, got the black.
01:15 And then Clark makes an actual stock-sized tank.
01:17 We got the black tank on there.
01:18 And you can see that gives it a really cool look
01:20 with this UFO 1996 nuclear red plastic.
01:24 So still the same look and feel from 1996 on this thing.
01:28 But with the black tank,
01:29 the stock tanks were white back then,
01:31 and they dirtied up pretty quick and easy
01:33 and didn't look good.
01:35 So with this UFO plastic,
01:36 and then Decal Works did a good job
01:38 of trying to get closer to match this nuclear red,
01:40 which is difficult, very difficult.
01:41 No one can seem to match this color perfectly,
01:43 but they did a really good job.
01:44 For these wheels, we mounted them up
01:45 with some Dunlop tires.
01:46 We had an AT81 up front,
01:48 and then we have an MX33, the 100, 118,
01:51 kind of the smaller size back there
01:53 for this smaller bike.
01:55 And this bike,
01:56 kind of the goal was to build it as a,
01:58 not a full motocross bike,
01:59 but something that,
02:00 and it was gonna be for his wife,
02:02 so wanted it something
02:03 that could be a little bit friendly off-road.
02:04 Got some UFO hand shields up here,
02:07 got a skid plate on it and the 18-inch rear wheel,
02:08 so it's got a little bit of a GP works feel,
02:11 desert riding out there,
02:13 and you got a little more protection, of course.
02:15 And then we went ahead
02:16 and got brand new chain and sprockets from Super Sprox,
02:18 and running the stock gearing from back then.
02:22 Tom Morgan went through the entire engine
02:24 as far as the top end,
02:26 ported the cylinder, did the head,
02:27 and it still can run pump gas,
02:28 went through the carburetor, set that up.
02:30 And then we had the Hot Rods bottom end kit
02:32 with the Vertex piston.
02:33 So, really cool setup there.
02:36 His air boot, he was able to vapor hone that,
02:39 and see how that thing looks like new.
02:40 He's able to refurbish that,
02:42 and it looks really nice.
02:43 IMS foot pegs,
02:44 brand new Galfer brakes and lines all throughout.
02:47 And that's a huge deal, oversized front.
02:50 We have spec bolts in the engine,
02:52 and you can see those look really nice,
02:53 especially with the Cerakoted pieces.
02:56 So we got the spec bolt pieces there
02:57 to really give that good look,
03:00 and it's nice to have brand new hardware on this bike.
03:02 So everything just looks like a million bucks.
03:04 We've got our Uni air filter,
03:05 and then worst connection, of course,
03:07 got the stand, and then all the perch and the levers,
03:10 all of our billet pieces,
03:11 and a few bling pieces are really nice.
03:14 And then we got the skid plate,
03:15 and the rear chain blocks are made by,
03:17 Sano had those made from a buddy of his
03:20 in the same center where his shop is.
03:22 And so he's gonna maybe sell those.
03:24 If anybody inquires with Sano,
03:26 he can help hook them up with a skid plate,
03:27 and those rear chain blocks,
03:28 which aren't available from Honda anymore.
03:31 On the ODI bars,
03:32 we got ODI bars that are seven eights bars on there,
03:35 and Moto seat did our seat cover,
03:38 and we got our Hinson clutch pieces in there.
03:42 Of course, we changed all the bearings out,
03:44 and cables with all balls pieces and pivot works pieces.
03:48 And on the throttle tube,
03:50 we went with the Motion Pro throttle tube,
03:52 because his stock throttle tube was too thrash
03:55 to be able to use again.
03:57 And so we got the Motion Pro throttle tube on there
03:58 with ODI grips.
03:59 These are glue on grips,
04:00 because currently ODI doesn't have one
04:02 that works in this throttle tube,
04:04 but they will soon.
04:05 So, and that could be out as well as now.
04:08 So, we got our Klotz R50 in here,
04:10 and then I can't think of what else we forgot,
04:13 but I'm sure we did,
04:14 but it's an amazing bike.
04:15 And I'm looking forward to seeing
04:16 what you think of this thing,
04:17 getting on something a little smaller size
04:19 than what you're used to riding
04:20 with all these 450 and 250 shootouts lately.
04:23 So it's gonna be nice to ride something
04:24 that I think is gonna be pretty fun.
04:26 - Absolutely, looking forward to it.
04:28 And definitely something different,
04:29 a little bit of an older bike than we're used to testing,
04:32 but I think that will just make it
04:33 that much more unique and fun to ride.
04:35 So, we're gonna hit the track in the trails here
04:38 at Cahuilla Creek,
04:39 and see how the bike performs,
04:40 and get back to you later.
04:42 (upbeat music)
04:46 (bike engine revving)
04:49 (upbeat music)
04:51 (bike engine revving)
04:55 (upbeat music)
04:57 (bike engine revving)
05:00 (upbeat music)
05:08 (bike engine revving)
05:28 (upbeat music)
05:31 (bike engine revving)
05:51 (upbeat music)
05:54 - All right, so we just got done with our ride
06:12 on this 1996 Honda CR125.
06:15 And I would like to preface this with saying
06:18 that we just finished up our 2022 250 four stroke
06:21 motocross shootout here at Dirt Riders.
06:23 So, I'm definitely used to bikes with a little more power,
06:25 but with that being said,
06:27 this bike was still definitely impressive.
06:29 I really enjoyed riding on the trails.
06:32 I was impressed with how long first gear pulled
06:34 on some of the, not super technical,
06:36 but definitely tighter sections.
06:39 So I was pleased with that.
06:40 And once we got on the moto track,
06:42 it took me a little bit of time to get confident on it,
06:45 just with how the suspension was reacting.
06:47 It felt a little firm in the initial part of the stroke
06:50 for me, but once I started charging a little harder,
06:53 I gained confidence in the bike as a whole on the moto track
06:56 for some of the tighter corners,
06:58 I was actually downshifting to first
06:59 when I would come in, pop the clutch
07:01 and try to blow it up for photo or video.
07:03 So that was definitely something I had to get used to,
07:06 but once I figured it out, we're all good.
07:08 As far as the chassis,
07:09 the bike was pretty easy to put where I wanted it.
07:11 A lot of that has to do with the fact that it is a 125,
07:14 it's lightweight, there's less rotating mass,
07:17 with the engine.
07:18 So overall handling was kind of what you'd expect
07:22 from a 125, just overall very intuitive and fun to ride.
07:26 Something else I'd like to mention,
07:28 I really have to give props to Chris Puffer
07:30 at Sano Metal Finishing.
07:31 He let us ride this bike.
07:33 It's not just a bike that's gonna sit in his garage.
07:35 He's willing to let people ride it
07:37 and get some coverage on it.
07:38 And I'm sure he'll be riding it too.
07:40 Some guys who build a bike this nice,
07:42 understandably might not wanna ride it
07:43 because it looks so great.
07:45 They don't wanna get it too muddy, too dirty.
07:47 It is a dirt bike after all.
07:48 With the Cerakote side cases, the graphics, the plastics,
07:52 the whole bike just looks awesome.
07:53 So again, thank you to him for letting us ride
07:56 this unique machine here.
07:58 Thank you all for tuning in.
07:59 We appreciate it.
08:00 If you're watching on YouTube,
08:01 be sure to like, comment and subscribe.
08:03 And if you haven't done so already,
08:05 be sure to check out DirtRider.com
08:06 for more articles like this.
08:08 And we'll see you next time.
08:09 (silence)
08:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]