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This was a bike that I bought from a man in north Phoenix sometime in 2005 I believe. At that time, I needed another project bike like hole in my wallet! I heard about the bike from Jerry Morrison; a friend who had looked at the bike for himself, but felt that it was a little more then what he wanted to get into at the time. Jerry told me that the bike was all there and that the seller wanted $200 dollars for it. I figured that I’d go check it out to see if had any good parts that I could use; well, it turned out that bike was pretty much complete and had fairly low hours on it compared to most of the ’80 CR125R’s I had seen. I couldn’t pass it up for $200 bucks, so, I sold myself on it by saying that I would restore it for my younger brother (Jon Michael Hawes) “sometime down the road.”
The bike was roller, so it was easy to let it sit around for almost 2 years before I started doing something with it (at the time…I wasn’t making much progress on any of my other 25 projects either). So basically, the bike was just another rolling carcass that need fewer parts and less work then most of the ’80 CR125R’s I had found. On the 4th of July of ’06, I set a dead-line (for myself) to finish the bike for Jon’s next birthday (6-26-07) and deliver it to him on the 4th of July weekend that followed.
I started working on the bike about the last weekend of April; the only things that I had ready to go were some extra powder coated hubs/backing plates and my small stock of NOS Honda parts. In the time period from the end of April to the 4th of July, I restored the bike from a low hour parts bike to the condition pictured.
Some of the details:
WHEELS
Powder coated hubs and backing plates, with new bearings/seals installed. Replated or replaced all drum cams, nuts, bolts, axles and washers. Anodized brake arms.
Restored and gold anodized Sun rims. Restored stainless steel spokes with new nipples.
New Pirelli M18 tires, rim bands, tubes and restored OEM rim locks. New brake shoes front and rear. Installed a NOS Honda sprocket at the rear.
SUSPENSION
New Works Performance shocks with aluminum bodies and dual rate springs. Restored and powder coated ’80 CR125R stock swingarm with new bearings, bushings and collars.
Restored ’80 CR125R front forks (caps, sliders and tubes)
FRAME/ELECTRONICS
Sandblasted and fabricated reinforcement supports for rear frame sections and engine cradle; moved the chain tensioner mount down 3/4 inch, then powder coated the frame my favorite color. Restored the original coil, CDI and stator units; installed with NOS hardware.
ENGINE/EXHAUST
Restored and built by yours truly. Powder coated left & right cases, clutch cover and ignition cover. All bearings and seals replaced with new parts. Crank rebuilt by Crank Works of Tempe, Az. with a new rod kit. New bore at 56mm with NOS ‘79 CR125R piston, ring and pin. Original stock pipe and silencer that were powder coated. New 34mm Mikuni for carburetion.
PLASTICS/COSMETICS
Rear fender and side panels from VMX Racing. Tank, front number plate and front fender were restored. Installed a new MXM cover on the original seat; powder coated the original seat brackets. Restored the original air-box and lid; air filter is NOS.
MISC.
All NOS Honda cables were used; the throttle assembly was up-graded to an ‘81/’82 style with a powder coated housing and a NOS throttle tube. Factory 909 bars with Sunline levers/perches and Scott grips finish up the project. Used NOS ’81 Honda rollers to keep the new Regina RX chain moving along.
Special Thanks to:
Risa Hawes
Jerry Morrison
Fast Track
Sun-Western Coating
Cranks Works of Tempe, AZ
Anodizing of Mesa, AZ
VMX Racing
AMS Racing
Pro-Strip
Bike Restored by:
Robert D. Hawes Jr.
Gilbert, Arizona U.S.A.
Built For:
Jon Michael Hawes
El Paso, Texas U.S.A.
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