Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Are the OEM shocks on a 75 cr125m1 reguildable? Mine have to rebound dampening. If they are rebuildable does anyone know of a good place to get that done?
Thanks
Mark

Those shocks are rebuildable. No rebound dampening sounds like the shock fluid
has leaked out. You will need to replace the seals. There are a few threads here
discussing shock seals and rebuilds. I recommend you use the search function and
see what turns up.

As for your question about the engine paint, it is Hi-temp satin black. I like and can
recommend either PJ1 or VHT.

Good luck with the shocks.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R

Thanks Dogger, can most any motorcycle shop rebuild them for me? I just ordered a clymer manual for the bike hopefully it will have the details in there. Thanks for the reply
Mark

Hi,

If you look on the Honda microfiche, it says they are not rebuildable,(no parts listed), but RE-MX was selling a kit consisting of new cap and seals for the cr shocks with 12.5mm shafts. They listed as fiting the 1975 cr125 or M1, I inquired about the item but they said they were out and most likely would not restock. I believe they sold the cap because most people damaged the oem cap removing it. I worked for Honda during the time the elsinore was introduced (I'm an old guy) and checked with some techs that were around at that time and they told me they never had a tool to remove the tops, because new caps were available. I have built a tool that will remove the tops and will be maketing it in the future, I also have seals and orings for cr125/cr250 73-75 that I have being reproduced available end of the month. I will also be doing rebuilds.
With all that said unless your doing a restoration, I don't believe it is worthwhile to rebuild as there are other shock out in the market place that preform far better.

The "360" shocks on your tiddler are virtually identical to the "357" shocks
that came on the 250s. The shaft size, shock body, spring seat, eyelets,
seals and sleeves are interchangable. The differences between the shocks
were the spring rates and the valve stack. Visually, the only way to
distinguish the two, is the 125 shock had a 360 decal on the inside side
of the finned shock body.

The reason I bring all this up is because 2manyvintagebikes (2+16) is right,
Honda doesn't show any parts breakdown to rebuild the 360 shocks but
knowing what parts are interchangable allows you to rebuild them if you want.

Unless you want to spend the money for aftermarket shocks, I would buy the
new seals from 2+16, Install them, fill the shock body with 125 cc of Showa
shock fluid and reassemble. Total time, 30 minutes a shock. Total cost $8
for the fluid and (I'm guessing $20-25) for the seals. The stock Honda shocks
on your bike are pretty good when set up properly

By the way, Use a clutch center holder to remove the shock body cap. The small
pins fit right in the cap indentions. Tighten the holder securely with a wrench, mount
the shock body in a vise with padded jaws, spray some penetrant around the cap
threads and wack the clutch center holder with a soft mallet. The cap will loosen
and can then be unscrewed by hand. Or you can buy the trick tool from 2+16 if
you prefer, sounds like it might be easier to use.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R

Hi,
Once you start something it just keeps going. Dogger is usually always right but actually the CR125 360 shock is the same as the 381 shock (1975 CR250M1). The 1973/1974 357 shock have a smaller shaft diameter and take a smaller insider diameter seal. The O rings that go on the caps to seal are the same size but the shaft seals are different according to Honda. They take different part numbers for the seals. Dogger is right that the shocks work pretty well when set up properly but since there are really no springs available and the shock construction has very little compression dampning adjustment I still think you would be better off with new shocks, re-mx wanted $80.00 for the seal kits when they had them. I will be substantially lower than this when I get the seals from the vendor.
Thanks again Dogger for the paint match. It really helped.

This is one of those yes and no's.

First a little history. The 1973 and 74 CR250M KO was equipped with the "357"
series Showa shocks and did indeed have 10mm shock shafts. The 1974 CR125M
KO was equipped with the Showa "360" shocks and it also had 10mm shock shafts.
The "360" shock shared the spring joint, spring guide, upper and lower spring seats,
spring adjuster, shock body and cap, and bottoming rubber with the "357"s. The
upper and lower shock spring, upper joint and valve stack were unique to the "360".

In 1975, Honda equipped the CR250M1 with the "381" series Showa shocks. The
differences between these and the "357" shocks were the larger diameter shock shaft,
and one shock spring instead of two. The 1975 CR125M1 was equipped with the same
"360" shocks that the 1974 model had, I know because I took delivery of one from the
first batch my local Honda dealer recieved. Sometime during the production run, Honda
upgraded the rear shocks on this bike because of numerous bent shock shafts being
reported by customers, I also know about this because I was one of them (made for
some bizarre handling). Later deliveries of the 1975 CR125M1 were equipped with new
and improved "360s". The part number went from xxxx-360-000 to xxxx-360-700.
These super "360s" had the larger shock shafts and were more inline with the "381" on
the 250s as you pointed out.

So to make a long story short, the CR125M1 came with two different shocks depending
on when it was produced. The "smoking gun" part on the Honda fiche is the bottoming
rubber. You'll notice two part numbers listed, one for the small shaft and one for the big.

I agree how these discussion get a life of their own, but I think this is useful information
and can help somebody pinpoint what they have. Just use a caliper and measure the
diameter of the shock shaft to determine if you have regular or super. My bust for not
pointing this out on my initial post

Glad the paint color match worked out.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R

Dogger,

Once again some GREAT clarifying info. I tried to get the Showa company to resond with some info. on the differences between these shocks - no luck . All I needed to do was ask you.

I'm glad somebody reads this stuff
Thanks vintagecr.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R