1994 Honda CR125R restoration Garage 11

This 1994 CR125R came into Garage 11 with the brief that we needed to restore it to as close as possible to OEM as possible.

This is always a challenge, as finding a lot of these parts for bikes that is 27 years old is a big ask, so we set out to find as much as we could that we knew was missing or had been replaced with aftermarket stuff that didn’t fit the OEM aesthetic.  Restoring bikes with the notion of using nothing but OEM parts is romantic and a wonderful concept but for 95% of restoration projects it isn’t practical and can take years to achieve as well as a huge financial commitment.

So, with all this in mind we set about stripping the bike right down to the frame, as we go through this process it is not just a matter of blindly pulling everything apart and boxing it up, it’s a perfect opportunity to assess parts and components as we go. This helps us triage what needs to be either replace or repaired.

After this process we take both the frame and subframe as well as the engine and swing arm and send it to our frame guy who puts it all in the jig and checks that it is as straight as it needs to be. From there it heads of to be striped and re coated.

While all this is happening, we then start going through the sub-assemblies and restoring each piece as best we can, this is things like Triple clamps, brake calipers and master cylinders, handlebars, and suspension components. The restoration of these parts involves us Hydro blasting what needs to be a natural aluminium finish, zinc plating what needs to be re zinced or Cerakoting the correct colour. All these aspects are done in house by us, this enables us to control the overall quality and finish of the components.

Its at this stage we start looking at the motor, we systematically split the engine all the way down to the cases to inspect, measure and replace what was needed. All in all, the engine and gear box on this bike was in really good shape. So, we Cerakoted the main cases and hydro blasted the top end components before reassembling everything. We where able to chase up some new old stock clutch and ignition covers for it which was nice.

From there we restored the swing arm, this process can be a lot of fun or take a huge amount of time and energy. Either way the results always speak for themselves and a component as prominent as a swing arm must look as good as it can. 

By this stage the frame is back and ready to start assembly, we will fit the engine in place and then the swing arm. As we go with this process, we are always looking at each bolt and asking what colour it is meant to be and can we either re zinc it or buy new. We don’t always get this right, but we do everything we can to get as close as we can.

At this stage we will restore the suspension components in house, re finishing everything we can to the best of our knowledge and ability. The forks on this bike where in really good shape for there age, so we elected not to refinish the upper tubes as we can keep the factory knurling. Its decisions like these that we make with everything, as not all original finishes can be re-done, in fact very few of them can be. We always look to see if warning logos and stickers can be bought or reproduced as these are the smaller things that really make a restoration stand out form a quick clean up.

Once the suspension is fitted into the bike it then starts to get exciting, as it’s a good key milestone, its an affirmation of all the hard work that has gone into it thus far. We then start looking at getting all the wiring in place, we will order as many oem style clips and cable retainers as we can to keep in with that oem look and feel.

The radiators where in really good shape, which is a bonus, anyone who has restored bikes knows how beat up they can get and how hard they are to replace, a lot of the aftermarket radiators serve a good purpose but don’t fit nearly as well as the oem ones. Mind you its all a matter of what’s available.

It was at this stage we managed to find a low hour oem exhaust system that was straight and needed little work to get it back up to standard. Once we got that all cleaned up and fitted off it was then up to the stage of getting some body work onto it.

For this we use mainly aftermarket suppliers, as finding surviving plastics is one of those things that is a nice luxury and cool to have when you can find them but not always available, front number plates for the 94s are hard one to get for example. One thing that is cool about the mid-90s CR movement is the amount of people who are putting huge amounts of financial and time resources into reproducing, accurate replica parts for these bikes. We wouldn’t have been able to pull this off if it wasn’t for them. We did however come across new old stock radiator shrouds which was a massive bonus, as getting those old 90s Flo colours printed today is always a struggle and they are what makes these bikes generation defining in our opinion.

Once you start to see these colours get fitted to the bike it really starts to get exciting, you can really start to see it take shape. We got a new seat foam from the US for this one and fitted a Throttle Jockey cover to it, these guys make some cool oem replica stuff that is true to the original, and they have been around for ever in the industry.

At this stage the bike was pretty much sitting complete, all be it for some smaller bits and pieces and tidying up a few loose ends. This is a cool stage to stop and take stock of where we had come with the bike and what we had been able to achieve. Bringing them back is such a cool and rewarding process, its always good to stop and take it all in. these bikes are memories or moments for us and anyone who remembers them, sitting on them as a kid or seeing them in dealerships.

Garage 11 is a small shop based here in Victoria, specializing in restoring motocross bikes. We are two guys, Marshall Smith, and Kane Sedonja. For us motocross is our lives and our passion, every day, nonstop. That’s why we started this business restoring bikes like these, it’s a huge passion for us, every step is a process we put a lot of effort into. We take a huge amount of pride in what we do and what we can achieve, its not all perfect but every time we work harder to perfection.

When we finally finished this bike and got it into the studio it was a special moment. There is one thing seeing them in the workshop but when you get them into a proper space it’s just breath taking.

Being able to see that nuclear red stand out and the shape and form of the bikes of this era were unique. The 90s was a defining time for motocross and will forever be that. Love it or hate it, that’s what it was. These bikes represented a creative freedom amongst manufacturers that is somewhat lost today. These bikes visually hit hard and will forever be striking. It’s a special and almost spiritual process bringing them back.

We would really like to thank Chris, the owner of this bike and the one who commissioned us to get it back to its original form. Chris is an avid bike collector and has started down the path of getting the 94 CR set together, so I can imagine that we will be seeing a few more of these amazing bikes coming together for his collection really soon