I’ve managed to get myself an old CG125 and I’d like to find somewhere I can ask for advice on problems but I don’t know which forums are gonna be good (like Singletrack) and which will be full of keyboard warriors (like singletrack?). I’ve got some specific questions to ask about the CG but will probably have some more general motorbike questions too. Anyone frequent a motorbike forum they could suggest for a newbe?

Matt

http://pbmagforum.co.uk

fairly friendly lot, and at least one person runs a cg i think. worth joining just to look at some of the projects

like this one

http://pbmagforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1203&hl= 4tgp supermono&st=0

my brother and i made this and did some racing, won a championship..

Not Visordown, it’s basically a care in the community scheme.

You could do worse than to join SV650.org and just pretend you’re planning to buy an SV in future 😉 Not on there much any more but I reckon it’s the best internet forum I’ve ever been on.

Therevcounter is where all the decent folk from Visordown ended up after Ben sold out (And all our details) to TWO magazine 🙁

Dont do much on Bike forums now……. most of them make this place look like a big love in 😉

Self proclaimed “Riding Gods” (Keyboard warriors) pumped up on Testosterone….. theres no forum big enough to contain all those ego`s at once ;D

Therevcounter is pretty good on the whole

What do you need to know ?

I’ll tell you now anyone who classifies themselves as a ‘proper biker’ will take nothing serious from a CG125 owner, and I mean that with the most respect. You think you see some humdingers on here?? pffft.

My R1 did 295 mph last week willy waving pillocks are aplenty. Be warned.

This lot are a nice bunch: GB Bikers

http://www.therevcounter.com/forum/

Second vote for sv650.org. Also triumphtorque.com Some pretty knowledgable fellows on both those and not too much willy waving …..

weeksy – Member
http://www.therevcounter.com/forum/

ditto, on a par with this place last time I looked. Visordown for zoo type entertainment only these days.

SV forum is good, liked the pbmag forum too. The relaunch of the PB mag was a refreshing update for a bike mag, hopefully STW will be similar.

http://www.400greybike.com/forum/index.php

As with sv650.org – just pretend you want to get a 400 in the future.

Oooh, that could be useful as I`ll have a Suzuki Goose for sale soon 😉

Oh And Weeksy 😉 I thought I recognised the name 8)
Lawman is on here too I think ?

Dom (Ex VD’er too) SM forum mainly or General if I was feeling Brave !!

From my browsing and ownership of different bikes I’d agree about SV PB and 400grey forums being miles better than the dross of useless replies on MCN Visordown and others.

Given its a single I’d add Thumper talk as a possible forum but I’m not sure its still going.

Good forums get you genuine help from people that have done it before. My SV650 wouldn’t select neutral and folks were quick to point to too much oil can cause this – remedied in a few minutes.

Oh and the RGV250 forum is great but they don’t do four strokes

I realise my little bike will not be taken seriously, but I’ve got to start somewhere, both with bike and knowledge. My questions aren’t massively complex, I’ve done quite a bit of work on it so far but want some specifics about what I should be aiming for with carb set up (what is the ideal idle speed?) and I’ve got some electrical gremlins due to someone having a go at the wiring in the past. The manual I’ve downloaded is pretty vague for both of these. My googling has come up with threads ona couple of those forums so I’ll have a look round and see which takes my fancy.

Thanks for the help
matt

I`d suggest getting the Manual, either a “Haynes book of lies” or preferably a proper Honda manual.
They (Honda) are superb and will tell you everything you need to know.
Even the Basic user manual which comes with every honda will tell you about setting idle speed etc 😀

My Honda CRF Manual, gives you eveything including tolerances for full overhaul 😉

18BikesMatt – Member

I realise my little bike will not be taken seriously, but I’ve got to start somewhere,

Lots of people will have knowledge of these- either because they had one to start out, or because now they have a GSZXR1-RR which is too pretty/expensive/powerful/terrifying to ride to work on in the rain, so they bought a second bike. So don’t worry about that.

the manual I’ve got does have lots of good info in it (including tolerances and settings for most stuff) but doesn’t say what you are aiming for with the carb set up. I think setting the idle speed must be a bit smoke and mirrors as the bike doesn’t have a rev counter but I’d like a little guidance

I was thinking of getting a SV650.
Or maybe a goose….
Still miss my CR250R though , sniff.
Personally I think chasing a 16000 rpm powerband like on the supersports 600’s is a bit nuts on the road.
Tweaking carbs can be a dark art: but on the CG at least you have only got the one to bother with.

http://www.bikechatforums.com/index.php

I use this almost everyday. Some of them are complete dicks but their is some good advice.

And quality little bikes CG’s, get your test passed and move onto something you fancy. The CG is loved on that forum, so you won’t get ripped.

easyrider – Member
I was thinking of getting a SV650.
Or maybe a goose….

Easyrider….. You have Mail 😀

I also recommend:

http://www.bikechatforums.com/index.php

Lots of advice for new bikers and advice on simple home mechanic work cheap bikes like yours. However, as with many forums (including this one), a lot of the users seem to spend a lot more time on the forum than actually riding.

To be brutally honest, you’ll get as good, if not better, motorbike chat and advice here on STW. There’s a LOT of bikers in these parts!

🙂

oops

Another Ex Visordown user here, got bored of the crap. I joined TrackDayRiders but then i dont ride the roads much. Not sure they’ll be much help with CG125’s….i dunno maybe they will.

EDIT: KTM forum if you ever get one is a gold mine for info too.

took peoples advice and I’ve registered on bikechatforums, my first post is here with a big list of my electrical problems, if anyone can help, feel free to comment here or there

thanks
Matt

How are you getting on with the bike MAtt, thinking about getting a cheap commuter bike myself

It’s not on the road yet as it was in a bit of a state, too much oil, disintergrated air filter (needed carb cleaning), chain adjusting, new brake cable, new plug, tappets etc etc etc. I’m basically ready for it to go on the road I just need insurance sorting, witht he weather how it’s been I’ve not been in a rush to get it sorted but now it’s a bit more urgent.

I’ll be able to do an update in a few months on how I’m getting on with it but I’m sure you can find some opinions online from people who’ve got experience. If you are close and want to have a go on mine (round a car park or something) to see if you want to take it further I don’t mind because if you drop it I won’t be able to tell which knocks/scrapes you caused (although you won’t drop it if you can ride a mountain bike). There are pictures of it over here so you can see it’s hardly a polished pride and joy.

Matt

Looks like you are moving in the right direction with your fault finding. I presume this is an older CG125 with 6v electrics. If so the indicators where a bit and miss when new and will be worse after the passage of time. It is 15 years since I worked in a Honda dealer but that should make my knowledge bang up to date for your CG.
Check that you are getting a really good earth on each individual indicator and that the main battery earth is touching metal rather than rust. IIRC the CG125 had 6v18w bulbs but they are often replaced with more common 21w versions. That extra 6w per side does make a difference.
I doubt you still have the original flasher relay so check what it is rated for as some after market ones will let you run even lower wattage bulbs. I seem to recall fitting 10w bulbs to the indicators on the smaller bikes with 6v electrics and fitting a suitable flasher relay.
http://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?catref=500306&tier1url=Spares&tier2url=Indicator-Relays&tier3url=Economy
You want to make the lighting load as light as possible so check the wattage of all the other bulbs and go over all the connections and earths. As you have found with the indicator switch gear a bit of cleaning can really improve things as the genuine Honda component quality was the best back in the day. Most parts that you can get now will be pattern and no where near the original quality. David Silver specialises in new old stock Honda parts http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/

It’s a 1989 so is 12v, I’ve made the indicators much better, main earth to frame is now, as you’ve said, actually making contact with bare metal and I’ve checked the rest of the connections in the wiring, indicators still a bit slow to turn on so may try a new relay at some point.

The lights in general are a bit crap, the headlight brightness is totally dependant on the engine speed but I gather this is a ‘feature’ of the CG125 rather than a fault

Thats quite funny. When I got my wee bike I had a look about for local motorbike clubs on t’internet. TERRIFYING.

I’m even older than I thought! The 1989 CG125 was one of the Brazilian manufactured models. The lower wattage bulb trick still works on the 12v models as long as you match the relay to the bulbs. At less than 2000 rpm there is barely enough power to run the lights so any thing you can do to lessen the load helps. A basic multi meter is useful for checking output and continuity. You can pick one up for around a tenner.

I may go down the lower wattage route if I decide to change the relay, for now I just need to get riding it. I’ve got a multimeter, I just can’t seem to put my hands on it at the moment