Fozzie

Air filter oil or grease its called... Its not actually engine oil or anything like that! A dry filter isnt as good. A wet well oiled filter helps the foam act more like a membrane. Strong enough to hold onto dirt, weak enough to allow air flowing in to pass through. Does this help?

From memory it has a metal gauze on top of a foam filter... Would I wash it? Nope though you can if you want, i'd buy the one from DNA. The DNA performance filter doesnt require mods to the carbs and I noticed a lovely increase in acceleration and improved smoothness on mine. Though mine was a 2003 with: A devil exhaust, iridium plugs, DNA air filter and uprated jets, bigger front sprocket and tada. I had a 90mph 125 capable of holding 70mph at 9000rpm as opposed to 11,000 rpm.

Ouch! I had an operation 2 weeks ago now to fix a problem in my sinus's and for good measure they broke my nose and chopped a chunk off the tip where they went in due to previous damage. Its got dissolvable stitches still in it but they arent coming out, they are meant to weaken and fall out and so far nothing! And it bloody hurts feeling like its ballooned on my face due to swelling and will take 6 weeks to even start to go back to a normal state. f**k it...

Removing the air box as I recall did not involve removing the fuel line (ive had 2 of these) Take the tank off, it makes things so much easier! Just unhinge it and prop it up, then get to work. Does it have a fuel tap? If so, switch it to OFF and run the bike dry, then remove the tank fully and have a play. I could do it in under 30 minutes I think. A Haynes manual will be a great help to you

Me and Mike left 10pm on Saturday as we didnt want to get caught in the rain today! So we flew down the M1 and got back in a couple swift hours! We got off the motorway at junc 15 and had a bit of fun going down the A5. Met a Suzuki GSR who tailed me for a good few miles, was good to have someone else ride almost in convoy with me for a bit Otherwise, a cracking weekend! Looking forward to the next one

Most likely just vibration between pad and piston... Copper grease the back of the pad and the problem should be solved

God this rally is going to get nasty No spirits Only beer and cider!

Sounds like its rusting or seizing up inside... Rain can do this and has done it to me in the past. Simply use a LOT of WD40 and leave to settle in, then come back the next morning and see what its like

You probably have 2000 miles left in them, just the advisory kicks in when you are a mm away from the legal point and I dont think CBR125s came with that much tread as standard so I wouldnt worry.

If you ride a 600 that fast plenty more time as they are meant for tearing around and designed as such You won't be able to ride a 600 in the same style as the 125, as in fast as they are different machines all together. And I hope you arent planning to tear around on the bigger bike! As my 2008 CBR600RR would eat through tires in 6000 miles. Any less than that you either rode in a straight line or like an idiot. What are you getting as a first big bike anyway? I went from the CBR600 to the Kawasaki ER6F as it has so much fun factor and insurance isnt murder.

Wiggle the handlebars and push the key in to take the steering lock off Just have a play round with it, try different positions etc and if that doesnt work I dont know... It happened to Spafe recently and we sorted it fairly quick!

I know the pegs dont hit the floor on side stand, its a metaphor for how easy it was to get them down The tires on those bikes are crap, I strongly suggest some good bridgestones. They have more curve to them so the bike leans and feels like a more normal machine!

Looks squared off, you've been going in a straight line at full throttle for too long! My YZF-R125 tire looked like that after a 2500 mile stint on the LETJOG mostly done on flat roads. The one Jin had, had absolutely no tire left either side, and lasted 7000 miles. It was thoroughly worn all over when we got rid of it and very illegal though it passed its mot 3 months before. So you've probably gone hard on it on the straights for too long and worn it down that strip in the middle. They wear down quick but they are god awful tires, they grip fine but they wear like thay are wheel spinning on sand paper constantly. I didnt know you could corner especially fast on these!? The pegs hit the floor when its on its bloody side stand let alone a good corner

All she needs now to be spot on is clean balanced carbs, a healthy valve clearance and some fresh iridium plugs (Greatly help carbed bikes especially with cold starts) Its almost there for being a showroom condition bike!

On modern bikes there are have two unscrewable covers. One revealing the nut to turn the engine and one to make sure its lined up at the right point. The haynes should show how. Tappets are easier to live with tbh. Just screw the adjusters up and off you go. Modern bikes now have you take out the shims and have you check with a micrometer that they are the right thickness. If they are worn and this wear matches the extra clearance on the valve you replace the shim no problem. If not you use the feeler gauges to work out the clearance and then buy an extra sized shim to boot. At a bikes first valve clearance (usually 13,000 - 18,000 miles) there should be nothing in it. Its only when you get 50k miles plus I've ever seen a valve clearance be out.

An inspiration frankly I hope your story will serve to help others endeavour to finish a project! Congrats on the finished project. What will you do with it now?

How much did it drink? Water can't be compressed so you could have done damage as the engine is used to compressing air and petrol vapor together. Water can be kicked out as a by-product but too much and you have an issue. Keep an eye on it, run it through 2 or 3 takes worth of good fuel, then see where you are at.

Was going to watch megawatt do it at the rally then if it looks easy enough attempt it myself... deffo going to do the carb balancing, that looks pi*s easy just need to get a gauge. Firstly for brake pads I suggest HH rated ones over GG. HH are better gripping. Carb sync, have you got vacuum gauges? Its easy enough. And valve clearances, I read Jin's haynes manual and it says if they are out you have an issue with the shims, which is hard to show at the rally unless he's actually doing it on your bike!

I will pay attention on how to take apart suspension components... I want to see how its properly done as opposed to my methods, which are self taught.

Weather report changed, looking good again

Bad rain on both Friday and Saturday and I can't justify doing the 300 mile round trip on a brand new bike when I have a holiday the immediate week after so take this as a warning I might not be able to come. Last rain storm I rode through on the motorway I tank slappered as I changed lane (not sure why, perhaps diesel) so I dont fancy risking it if its going to be REALLY bad. If it breaks up and is just light i'll be along though.

Me and my dad made one once. 13mm tubular steel welded onto a steel plate, cut it at an angle so that it sat on the metal plate and held the bike at the right angle. You need a hole drilled for it to pivot and attach to the bike and it needs a small hole a little further down for a spring to go. I think there are DIY sites on the internet showing how it can be done

I use STP rather than redX. The local Honda mechanics say its better. Not to put Colin down I was of the same persuasion until I got a good talking to over it

I have the Haynes manual for the Honda CG (dont ask why) I will read out the only section I have found relevant to the stand... 1. The centre stand shares a common pivot pin with the rear brake pedal, the right hand end of the pin being fitted with a split pin. A strong return spring, attached to a small lug on the right hand side of the stand, retracts and holds the stand in position when not in use. Does that help in anyway at all? It most likely doesnt but hey... If haynes cant get it right god help us all!

Just be thankful you have a sports-ish 125... Your situation could be far worse, I saw a chain hanging loose on a Suzuki cruiser style 125 last night. He was trying to rag it and got taken by a van... A VAN!!! The CBR125 I had use of did about 6000 miles before the chain got replaced as the previous owner hadnt looked after it properly. From the sounds of things you've just over tightened it or lubed it with WD40, which eats the seals