Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

We removed the spokes from the front wheel and polished them one by one. We replaced a couple that were missing. Spokes have to be the worst part of this job. It seems like it never ends. We took a good sized dent out of the wheel and gave it a good polish. The hub was painted flat black then we relaced the wheel.

The front brakes and tire were in good shape so we re-used them.

We painted the kickstand, foot pegs and kickstart lever with flat black. I'm sure the paint wont last long but it looks good right now!

This picture shows a lot of the little things. The clutch and brake levers are aftermarket but seem very close to the originals that had been shortened on the bike. The throttle and brake cables are NOS Honda. The clutch cable had to be aftermarket.

We capped it off with a NOS set of grips that really make it look original.

The shift lever was installed and the wiring was reinstalled also. It's just hanging on there with zip ties now but I have a handfull of the metal, rubber coated bands from an old Honda Sabre to replace them with before the tank goes back on.

The DC plastics kit came with a number plate that is way too big. We removed the standard attachment pieces and drilled a hole in the plate for the throttle cable to make it look more authentic. I'm keeping my eye out for an original plate. What's the best way to recondition one?

We installed the black background and the number 7 that was on the original bike. I still need to get some vintage numbers. These look too modern.

Amazing job! Can't wait to see the finished product! She'll look better than new.

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I drink your milkshake!

Well done. Very nice restoration!!!!!!!!!! Keep the pictures coming.

Looking real good---I am impressed and appreciate all you have done as I have done nearly the exact same process on my 1980 CR80 right down to polishing each spoke....--I guess I am the "other CR80 resto" still need to clean up my cylinder (needs degreased--left it original satin red as it is in 95% good condition) and need to order a "fuel enrichener assembly" (I think its called a choke where I am from) and install carb, order an air filter, reinstall rear chain guide---where did you find a bushing? Are you talking about the white plastic (delron? maybe?) one? I was thinking of cutting one out of an old cutting board I have in my shop---pretty sure it same stuff.

Next time you do a wheel relace do yourself a favor and take a nice hi-res pic of it with digital camera and print it out (do both sides of wheel ) then hang it over your work bench and just match it all up--its the easiest way I have found and takes all the guess work out of it.....

Also let me know how the hi-temp epoxy repair holds up on the exhaust hangers as I have the same issue and was trying to figure out how to repair them---had decided to actually fabricate some that were better design but had not got around to it yet.

Good Work--DOUG

I have the same slightly oversized number plate which I riveted a alum strip to in order to put in origianl fender slot and same hole you did--I used a heated copper pipe to melt/punch the hole--it makes it perfectly round and leaves a neat little ridge when you pull the hot pipe back out the matches the ridge on edge of plate but smaller.

Nice work again! Doug

Doug,

Thanks for the comments. It's been fun watching your progress also. Looking forward to the final product!

The lower chain guide white plastic piece was re-useable. The metal bushing inside that protects the plastic from the bolt was worn out. So bad in fact, the bolt was worn almost through. We replaced the bolt and sifted through the hardware bin at the local hardware store and found a brass bushing that fit. It's one of those items I'll be watching closely when we fire this thing up to see if friction is going to be a problem.

The epoxy on the exhaust mounts are holding so far. If they separate again, I'm going to try drilling through them and putting a couple of buck rivets in place to hold them.

The seat was recovered and stencil painted. Looks like new. The side plates went right on.

I realize the tank should have gone on first but it was out at the body shop and we just felt like putting them on.

The tank was done by a body shop. It had a softball size dent on the right side that had to be pulled out. We realized our limitations and opted to let the professionals do this part. The painter color matched the spray we had been using. I realize this thing is way too shiny but it looks good to us.

We applied the reproduction decal set we got from vintage factory.

There should be a third warning decal but we left it off because we were unable to find one that said "cr80" in the text. They all say 125 and 250. I can always change them later if we find originals.

So here's our mostly finished product. Just a few loose ends to tie up now. Still need to get the air cleaner on there and start the thing. I'm giving the paint another week to cure before we let fuel get near it.

It's really been a fun project. I appreciate you taking the time to keep up with what we've been up to. I've got a piece of my childhood back and my son has a better understanding of how motorcycles work. If we can be of help to anyone else in their restoration, please ask.

Brian & Michael

sorry, your kickstarter must be one spline forward.

very nice bike.

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80 CR250Ra
80 CR250Ra
78 CR250R
80 CR80
82 Bultaco Sherpa 340
78 Bultaco Pursang 250 MK12
76 Bultaco Frontera 370 MK10
76 Bultaco Alpina 250
73 Bultaco Lobito 125 MK6
76 Suzuki RM125A
90 Kawasaki KX250

Looks great. Looks like how I purchased mine from the Honda dealership. I cannot say it was my best bike, my yz80 smoked it. I had a complete DG 1980 cr80. Good job.
Prairieboy

Great work and even better as a father/son project.... so how does it go and does your son smoke you on it?

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MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com