This 1975 Honda CB125S is like new for a very good reason, it has just 143.5 miles on it and has been stored for most of its life. The seller has it listed here on eBay in East Alton, Illinois, the current bid price is $2,550, and there is no reserve. There is less than a day left to get your bids in on this little time capsule.
The seller says that this Honda has been in storage in a Honda dealer’s back room for over forty years but they also say that they have owned it for almost a decade so something is a little off. It’s only 45 years old. Still, that’s incredible, it looks like brand new or like it’s been nut-and-bolt restored to original spec condition – other than showing a bit of surface rust here and there.
My dad had one of these when he was trying to find a nice, small motorcycle that he could ride to work and still take out on trails to trout lakes and streams on the weekends. A fond and funny memory is one time as he was riding it to work and was stopped at a stop light, the guy next to him in a pickup leaned out the window and said, “Ya got a big enough bike there, lard a**…” Ha. I guess it probably wasn’t funny at the time and my dad was anything but overweight, but at 6′-2″ tall, it must have looked a bit strange.
The Honda CB125 sold in the US from 1973 to 1985 and the S model was available until the end of the run for the US market. For a single-cylinder bike, they were nice and were styled somewhat similarily to Honda’s big CB750 of the time.
The engine is Honda’s 122cc single with 17 horsepower. The seller says that this one runs, rides, has a new battery, and everything works as it should. Have any of you owned a Honda CB125?
First motorcycle was a 1975 Honda cbr600
No such thing. During the ’70s they made a CB550 and a CB750; nothing in between. There was no CB “R” then, either.
Good spot, I must have typo’d it or autocompleted on me.
Nice bike however more like 12 to 14 horsepower.There
was a 125 twin that did make 17, the cb125t. Back in the day I found a race bike frame at the dump of all places. It was for some tiddler sized class so I bought it home. It was when 50cc races were popular.It was complete except for the tank and engine .I bought one of these honda 125 singles and swapped the engine, tank and plates . The engine bolts lined right up.I had a ton of fun in the hills around Berkeley till I moved and sold it to a neighbor. It was awesome with a full fairing,etc. One bike I really wish Ineve sold.
pzak, I saw a horsepower range from 12 to 17 horsepower depending on the website, that’s quite a spread.
I have a CB500T from 1974 and there must be a dozen websites with a dozen different specs for it.
All I know is that it’s fast enough for me.
Keep the bikes coming Scotty….
I believe the Chinese are making copies of most of those small Honda twins and singles, under the Lifan name, to this day!
I had one; wee bit older than that – drum brakes on mine – as I remember, the ones badged “125S” were actuually designated as “125J”. Mine was BSG 330 L; 1973?
Did most of my learning – a bit naughtily – on a CD175.
Nice find, Scotty. Wouldn’t it be cool as a bike crazy to be the finder of something like this? Kinda like the hardcore bike guy working for FedEx delivering stuff in the outer regions of Colorado who discovered a Crocker in an old broken down shed..
That wouldn’t have been a Betty Crocker?
Not what I would expect anyone to be using to cook with in a rural shed in Colorado…😜
I would ride in to the local hard core biker bar…a lot of guys cut their teeth on something like this and it’d get a lot of attention.
I found one a year ago with 600 miles, it has a little over 1000 now.
My wife bought a 2009 Kawasaki Eliminator 175, new in 2010. Today, it sits in our garage in new condition with 230 miles on the clock. in 20 years, I’ll have a rare classic too, eh?
First bike was a CB175. Gawd was that slow but in college the girls didn’t seem to care how fast we went. Neither did I!!
Here’s the story on all these “putt-putt” bikes, people wanted a motorcycle, but had limited funds and experience, so they buy a small bike like this, only to find out, it’s not what they wanted and can’t resell it, so out to the shed it goes. Simply bulletproof, but not much of a bike, really. Fun to see them like this again, but honestly, if you’re going to get a bike,,,get a real bike. Now, if this was a CL,( dirt bike version) I could see having one, but I just got done with a bike that was too small for the road, and that’s almost foolhardy today.
I think the CL was the scrambler version (street/dirt) and the dirt version was designated SL. My first bike was a CL175.
The CL had both pipes on one side, mounted higher, and a little different paint scheme. The Scrambler had a high-mounted front fender, a belly pan and different paint scheme as well.
The dirt bike version(s) were designated’SL’. They were hopelessly slow with something closer to Shetland Ponies than horsepower, and handled terribly as soon as any velocity was gained. But, they looked like real dirt bikes, were inexpensive, and would survive staggering amounts of abuse.
I had an SL100. My neighbor, Lucky, ( head of the Iron Skulls ) borrowed it when he could not start his Harley, to lead the toy parade in 2001.
Ugly looking brute with a heart of gold hidden underneath!
Nice bike. I think the new owner will be pretty happy with it.
matt
The third picture down seems to show considerable rusting around the turn signal mounts, the LH shock mount and under the seat.
If this was actually stored in a dealer’s shop for 40 years and has that sort of rust, the humidity must have been pretty bad OR it sat near where batteries were being charged. Battery acid fumes are invisible, but can cause a lot of trouble with metal objects if the area isn’t vented really well.
That speedo cable comes off so easily. 143 miles, would be a lot cleaner than this. That front brake been used a couple times too. It doesn’t have a lot of miles, but someone used this for a while.
Looks to me that it was stored in an unheated building, with at least some concrete, either floor or block walls. And the outdoor climate got pretty cold in the winters.
Telltale signs are specks of rust on polished chrome, as in the backs of the turn signals, etc. Those form when condensation shows up during temperature/humidity changes. It won’t come off with a polishing, only re-chroming will cure it.
This bike apparently sold at $3900, a pretty strong number, IMO. If the high bidder was expecting a “new” condition machine, he will be disappointed when it is delivered.
Had a 1974 CB200 twin many years ago. Fun little bike and you could do some mild off roading with it. Topped out at 74 mph, would cruise all day at 60-65.
SOLD for $3,900.
Solid and dependable. Can’t say much more. Definitely won’t light your fire !
Had a couple of these, fun little bikes. I built one as a cafe racer with clip ons and rearsets and it was the epitome of the saying “it’s more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slow!” They definitely aren’t the most desirable bikes, but they have their fans. I’d rather have another one of these to play with than some overpriced Trail 70.
All motorcycles are fun especially for youngsters. My first at 11 years old was a CL77 1965 Honda Scrambler. Big heavy bike for a young kid but when I got it free from my uncle, well awesome. Woods, quarry, railroad tracks, the street. But before dirt bikes street bikes were converted for off road duty. I used mine to learn flatracking and loved it.
The Bike shown CB125, all CB’s are great performers. With the price of motorcycles in general climbing in price, the blue one shown has more than inside storage rash.
The seller got more than I would of givin and the buyer hopefully gets what they are looking for. Maybe a minor restoration then into corral of CB’s.
The thing with restoration is, in general, and assuming your working with a complete example…it costs just as much to restore a cheap machine as one that is more desirable.
The old joke has always been:
How do you make a collector vehicle worth $10K?
Invest $20K in it.
Regarding this auction, there appears to have been at least two bidders to whom money was not much of an object.
Sitting in my shed is my first bike 1975 Suzuki TC125.
Better dig it out and have some fun with it, jewild. None of us are getting younger!