FS: Honda SL125

Well, it's finished and I've had fun riding it, and it's onto the next
project bike. And the XT600 I'm collecting this weekend.

This is, as those who've seen it will testify, a *cracking* early 1970s
(1974) dirt bike. It's something of a rarity, and it's in fantastic
nick.

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.1.jpg

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.2.jpg

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.3.jpg

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.4.jpg

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.5.jpg

http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/Ebay/SL125.6.jpg

Yes, it's been resprayed, in US-spec Honda XL250 colours. It's a quality
paint job, and I left it as is, because I like the colour.

It's got brand new OE forks, seat (you would not believe how hard that
was to find), filler cap, indicators and other odds & sods. The wheels
have been rebuilt by Hagon with new spokes and rims (that was over
£300). It's got brand new tyres, tubes, rim tapes, battery, brakes.

18k miles only. It runs beautifully, and ticks over like a watch. Top
whack about 60 at the redline: cruising speed 50 on the flat: 100mpg.

T&T until late July/August.

Useful spares: a pair of tatty but serviceable wheels and more dirt-y
tyres, cables, gaskets, odds and sods, the usual. Original owner's
handbook, plus two period magazines with roadtests inside.

It starts on Ebay on Thursday evening at £799 and no reserve. I think
it's a grand's worth. It's £875 to anyone who yells loudly here. It's a
massively better bet than a new cheapo Chinese 125, and it *will not*
depreciate.

I also have a complete spare engine which I've renovated with new
points, piston, rings, camchain and tensioner and a spare silencer
(rocking horse shit). Negotiable separately.

SW London area.

 

You barsteward, 7 bikes is too much for any man. Gnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

It is *very* clean.

 

*twitch*

*looks at sig*

Unfortunately, it's too good for a SOB.

--
TD
1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red)
2001 ZX-9R (red and black)
1999 M5 (neither black nor red)
Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer

 

Christ, it looks awful in that colour scheme.

Clean, I'll grant you, but that paint is just _wrong_.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Verrry nice. If it was a TL, I'd be biting your hand off (subject to
the back of the sofa yielding sufficient coinage).

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Horses for courses. I actually like it, and as the auction description
says, it's a deeper darker yellow than it appears. The pic showing the
front wheel gives a better impression.

If someone wanted to repaint it in original silver, it wouldn't be a
hard or expensive job (mind you, there are a lot of painted parts on
an SL). So someone wanting to do a concours restoration would give
this one a long, hard look as (a) all the original stuff is on it and
(b) a lot of the expensive or hard-to-source bits have been replaced.

 

That's just too nice to let the kids on it .... which is what we want a
125 for ...

 

it's not often I'm in the position to agree with you on matters of
taste, but in this case, yes, that paint scheme is just plain gash.

 

I'm not really a fan of yellow-painted vehicles, but that's not too bad.
Looks like a pleasant-enough wee bike, though.

 

Up close the colour is fine. Bright yes but ok.

 

I always thought it was just cosmetic differences between the two.
Same engine, same frame, same wheels, same brakes... in fact, IIRC,
the only real differences were the narrow tank and single seat, plus
the lights (when they were fitted) were minimal in the extreme.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I think the geometry was different on the TL, which would mean a
slightly different frame. Engine, yes, exactly the same as fitted to
legions of Honda SOHC 125cc models. There are also key differences in
the brakes between the SL125 and the old CB125S I had a couple of
years ago: different shoes. The SL125 forks are different to the ones
fitted to the later XL125 (which had leading axle forks), although
they're interchangeable. The SL125 clocks mounting bracket is
different to that found on the CB125S, although the clocks themselves
are identical. The clutch lever assembly is different, too. So's the
right-hand switchgear: the SL125 got a kill switch, whereas the CB125
didn't.

In short, there are a lot of detail differences: many more than I
thought, when I first bought the SL. Typical Honda, of course.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about the shocks and the exhaust. Guards and panels
- well, they are cosmetic changes, as Ace says. I didn't know the
engine cases were different on the TL, though. The TL was a pukka
competition bike, really, wasn't it? The SL was *much* more of a dirt
bike than the wet XL which followed it, but I suppose Honda (rightly)
reckoned that most people wanting 125 dirt bikes would want something
more road oriented.

 

My first 'proper' bike (as opposed to the C70 stepthrough that I
inherited from my 3 older brothers - the one where if you switched the
lights on the engine died..) was an XL125 with a mighty 12bhp. Didn't
stop me riding London <--> Leicester on it at regular intervals..

Phil.

 

Pretty much. It was a trials bike, whereas the SL/XL were trail bikes.
It's been a looonnnnng time (as in 30ish years) since I rode a TL & SL
back-to-back[1], but I remember the TL being happier at the slow,
technical stuff.

[1] We used to do family holidays in mid-Wales when I was between about
8 - 13 years old - me & my brother on our TLs, dad on his trials
Comet/XL/DT or whatever he had at the time. We stayed with Dick Sutton
(ISDE rider) & his one-legged wife Jean, who did things with her SL
that most two-legged people would struggle with. I think she's dead
now, & Dick re-married, to the woman who used to run the Italian bike
shop in Long Marston (the Buckinghamshire one). Can't remember her name
(Maureen?), but she knows everything there is to know about Morinis.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250