Project XL125

[JamesRJ]

I found this bike minus the engine 28 years ago dumped in a park, took it home and got hold of a CG125 motor, which fitted perfectly and used it at my grandparents farm as a field bike for years.

Fast forward about 25 years later where it was living in a shed with a collapsed roof, I dragged it out, put some oil down the plug hole turned it over a few times, stuck some fuel in and it stated second kick

Well after that I had to get it home and show it some love

This is what it looked like

This is not going to be a full restoration project, its going to be a budget rebuild / respray just for fun and so my children can enjoy and learn to ride just as I did.

Start to strip down

Stripping the frame back to bare metal

One of the engine mounts had snapped off at some point so going to need to make a replacement and weld it on.

These pictures were from 2014, I stripped it all down and got sidetracked by a number of other projects, until recently when I have found some enthusiasm to get going again.

 

[MowyTone]

Good start would be interested to see how it progresses

 

[JamesRJ]

Some primer filler I had left over from the last project ( mg midget ) remember this is a budget build

Slightly cloudy picture as the garage was full of paint fumes !

A few days later

Black paint was obtained from work as it was well past it use by date, zero £ outlay so far

The chrome was mostly non existent on the wheels so etch primer and paint it black

Rattle can of etch primer £10 spent

Tyres were a birthday present from my dad, had to buy an inner tube but made the rim tape from a old mountain bike inner tube cut down to size and bonded together with some rubber solution ( sorry didn't take a picture of that )

]

Inner tube was £8 so up to £18 total spend so far

Time to do something with the engine

The right hand side casing had a hold which had been welded up years ago but always wept oil, fortunately I have a spare.

While swapping side casing one screw sheared, not a huge issue as this is the spare engine but the casing has corroded on to the remaining stud so no choice but to drill it out.

Replacement side casing fitted and started to clean the engine

Had some high temp engine paint left over from another job ( replacing the water pump on my ducati 749 but only enough for the barrel

Couple of parts I sprayed today

 

[JamesRJ]

That about where I am up to now

I've just ordered a front inner tube ( £8 ) so can get the front tyre mounted ( hopefully at the weekend )
Ordered some high temp engine paint £10 but had a £5 voucher ( thanks ebay ) so can finish the engine off and start to reassemble.

I've got a gilera seat in great condition that hopefully I can use as the old seat is toast.

Total spend £31

Parts I need :
New brake, clutch and throttle cables.
Maybe some new levers
Paint for the front and rear mudguard plus tank ( im thinking red maybe )

 

[misterjingo]

I look forward to seeing how you get on with this - making fantastic progress atm!

 

[Dogbreath]

If the Gilera seat doesn't fit I have a brand new (old stock) Suzuki ZR50 seat you can use, though probably won't look quite right:

 

[.one.]

I owned 3 cgs back in the day pushrod engine awesome motor.

We stripped one down in friends living room one evening to replace a kick start return spring if I remember correctly needed to split the motor was a marathon

Dogbreath my younger brother had an x-1 it was stolen outside mums front door ******* scum.

 

[JamesRJ]

Quick update

Started to clean up the pile of rusty nuts and bolts with an acid dip

Next comes the zinc plating

Not bad considering just how crusty they were

Finished painting the engine and got it loosely bolted in to the frame

 

[MowyTone]

Nice! It's never occurred to me to do any galvanizing

 

[russell664]

That is mega crazy shine!

 

[JamesRJ]

Not updated this for a while so here goes :

Shed load more acid dipping then plating

Cleaned up the forks, etch primer, paint then lacquered

#

Made a start on the tank, lots and lots of dents

It was also completely missing the mount at the rear, I made a replacement out of an old door skin and welded it on. The rest of the tank was in fairly rust free

Rear brake and pegs installed

Front and rear wheels installed, it can stand up by itself now

Time to do something with the exhaust as you can see the one that came off it was well crusty

The two not quite so crusty but still fairly bad silencers are from an E Type Jag which I acquired from my uncle. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the exhaust construction but its fair to say it took a long time angle grinding, welding, more grinding, cutting, more welding ect ect

This is how it came out....

Not too bad if I do say so myself...Just need to get some VHT black and get it painted

 

[JamesRJ]

Should add that the rear shock ( just one fitted ) is just there to support the rear, I will actually be blowing the budget and getting some new ones ! ( well chinese reps off ebay for a not too bad £47 )

New break and clutch levers ordered £18.99
I've had the clutch and brake cables soaking in paraffin for the last few weeks and they have freed off nicely so will reuse them for now.
Up to £50 invested now.

Rear shocks needed £47
New grips £10ish
Paint for tank and mudguards £20 still thinking red
The gilera seat is not looking promising so some thinking needed as xl125 seats seem to a as rare as hens teeth and the ones that do come up on ebay are stupid money

 

[MowyTone]

Nice. I love that the exhaust is from an E type

 

[Bat]

Great work. Brilliant to see a machine like that being saved. I'm jealous of your kids!!

 

[JamesRJ]

New levers arrived today

 

[JamesRJ]

Exhaust painted

 

[MowyTone]

Great job. Looking at the first pic to this you can see the work put into it

 

[Stovepipes]

Amazing job and to think I can barely tackle minor chain adjustment. I seriously need to book myself in for a motorcycle maintenance course lol.

 

[JamesRJ]

Cheers for the nice comments chaps !

Attempting to plastic weld today, did consider purchasing a proper plastic stapling kit but at £80 I changed my mind. Staple gun + soldering gun will have to do :

 

[Dogbreath]

Have you got a gas soldering iron with a hot air blower tip? I found that the most useful tool when I plastic welded the airbox on the Fireblade, got a pretty neat finish without any further trimming.