HONDA SS125
The big day is getting ever closer as the final jobs are undertaken.
She’s pretty much done!
The little Honda is at that perplexing stage in a restoration where most of the good stuff, new stuff, restored stuff et al has been painstakingly fitted and no matter what you do next there’s little visible progress. Welcome to the pedantic world of fault finding and problem chasing where, on occasion, you’re almost disappearing through an ever more dizzying vortex of confusion. Many a resto never runs simply because the final stages are too much for would-be fettlers. A lack of sparks on one pot, a carburettor that won’t fuel correctly, poltergeist electrics and a score of other problems can poleaxe the best finished bike out there. And the reason is as simple as it is annoying. Most of us can bolt a tank in place, fit brake plates to hubs and swingarms or forks; these are the elementary competences acquired by the Meccano and Lego generations. Yet when it comes to sorting out running issues a significant number of would-be restorers either cannot do what’s needed or, heaven help us, do their very best to bodge around the problem. Understanding that no one has all the answers, knows all the wrinkles or has all-encompassing ultimate knowledge is the key to getting around most of a restored motorcycle’s latent issues. Getting in expert help is never a bad idea. Even getting a competent mate to cast a second pair of fresh eyes over an apparently insolvable problem often works. We’re at the stage where the little Honda SS125 is so temptingly almost there it’s frustrating beyond belief. With just a few problems to sort, one man band Andy Jones has called in a few favours as he attempts the final furlong. We’ve electrical issues to suss out, an oil leak, an exhaust system head scratcher and countless little tweaks and adjustments to make. If you’ve never restored a bike, be under no illusions; the ones that work faultlessly first time are the rarities. If it was simple the world and his wife would be on the spanners and as my dear old dad never tired of telling me: “the easy jobs were all done years ago boy!”
As is generally the case, the Honda SS125 has taken longer than expected to get it ready for the MOT. Finding parts has been a challenge and fitting them, on occasion, has been even more difficult; the air filter and its holder being a perfect example. To all intents and purposes the bike represents the end of the line for the earlier designs of Honda. Post SS125 tubular chassis are used, production techniques simplified/cheapened and better use made of generic parts. By default earlier Japanese classics are not always the simplest of bikes to work on. If the frame had been rotted through, the exhaust missing or the motor badly damaged it would have taken a lot longer while a second, donor, machine was sourced. Sometimes picking a rarer bike is a wise move as fewer people are doing them so you may just get lucky. With the world and his wife restoring LC Yamahas everyone is chasing down that last clock surround, OEM wiring loom or seat base. Most of what was needed for our little twin was out there but not always constantly listed on ebay or cheap. On occasion a lot of digging and questioning was needed to find vital parts but hey – we got there. How anyone makes serious money at restorations is beyond me unless they charge a king’s ransom; perhaps they do? Two days were lost sorting out the vagaries of the random indicator flashing and who in their right mind would have expected apparently correct and obviously functioning bulbs to be the source of the problem? Would a customer remote from the work and oblivious to all the strife even understand or grasp just how exasperating such a task might be and accept the associated cost? Such are the joys of motorcycle restoration.