Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126259
£[ro~W~OO ~OO) [f)OO£l{~OOQ Q Q Q PHOTOS BY REX REESE The Red Challenge to the Yellow Peril By Rex Reese Since Honda introduced the CR125 , they seem to have been resting on their laurels, making only a few changes while the oth er factories have passed them by in production develop- 8 ment. W hat worked in 1973 doesn't cut it in 1977 . The latest CR , for what its "improved" sus pens ion is worth , has a h~r~ time competing against th~ sop histicated Yamaha YZ and Suzuk i RM suspension systems. M ost of the co m petitive CRs run ni ng a round have a fortune soc ked into them to im p rove on the handling o f t he stock chassis. Aluminum swingarms, trick shocks , laydown kits , frame mod kits and fork kits a d d up to a lot of bucks. The improv ements , however , are rather dubious w~e? yo u could get a better deal by bu ild ing a wh?le new bike from, the ground up or Just get another bike altogethe r and throw the old scoo t awa y. ' Still, for Honda lovers everywhere , th ~re is a sol ut~on . Speci a lt y. frame builder Ron Fnas of A naheim has crafted what h e m o d estl y calls a " fram e conversion kit ." It is more than just la ying down the shocks and ' stick ing on an a luminum swingarm ; instead it 's a whole new frame and swingarm whi ch will turn any yea r Honda 125 into a Type II Repl ica . T he " kit" is m ore than j ust looks: the frame is constructed of 4 130 ai rcraft chro me m oly steel, and the swingarm of T-6 aluminum . T he fra me sport s massive tube m emb e rs , differe nt ' d imensions and frame geometry which make it as different from the stocke r as night and day. Essentially, you get the closest thing to a "fac tory replica " yet. But, if Honda is goi ng to come out wit h a product ion Type 11 , why b low cas h on a Frias fra me? H on da has made a lot of CR 125s . Wit h the adve nt of the Type 11 , t he old models will be that m uch less com peti tive. Besides, who wants to ride an " old" bike? How much of a re plica the Ho nda product ion Type II will be rem a ins to b e se en ; but, no d oubt , th e resem bla nce will be there a t least for marketing purposes . But looks can be deceiving. The fr ame is the heart of a lm ost any mote -racer: from their styling and other d etails determine the package. The Type II fram e may look like the one on Many's b ike , but may not be iden t ica l. The Type II Re plica will probably weigh just as much as the YZS a nd R Ms, wh ich is about 190 ·200 pounds. Definitely not featherweight . The Frias frame is a n im mediate cure for the non -competitive C R . On firs t inspection, the Frias Honda loo ks like any ot her tricked -out CR with laid down shocks and trick forks . T he m ost no ta bl e featu re on the bike is the massive a luminum swinga rm which loo ks stronger than anything e lse o n the ma r ke t. U pon closer exam ination, the d iffer en ces between this b ike and the st oc ke r are a p parent. T he front downtu be is bigger than . stock. ·Motor mounts a re m ade out of T -6 a lumi n u m , a nd the swinga rm pi vot rubs right next to the engi ne, closer than stoc k, T his is definitely not your average Hond a l Sea t height is slig h tly lower than tha t o n a YZ or R M: about 35 in ch es where it m eets with the ga s tank . U nderneath the seat is I I inches of in credible travel. All of those inches soa k up th e worst bumps - th e worst be ing the raunch y tra ck conditions a Sadd leba ck. U p front , R o n uses Marzocchi magnesium forks fin ed t stock 1976 .Honda triple clamps. For travel is 9 .5 inches th at work as well a th e rear. With the ga s tank and se a removed , the amount of hard worx that Ron has put into th e design an construction of the frame reveals itself. Eve ryt hing is handbuilt , b ut wit qua lity that even outshi nes t he bes production frame. A massive singl tube backbone runs fro m the head to cross m em be r which serves as th upper shock mo unts . Be au t ifull ha nd fo rmed gussets are T IC welded t triangulated fram e tubes wh ich r u everywhere . I t loo ks un breaka b le Even t he ha nd-bui lt a lum in um ai rbo looks like a p roduction piece . The swinga rm p ivots o n needl bearings, and the hollow p ivot bo l h olds th e rear a lu mi n u m mot o mounts. Quality a bou nds throug hout T h is is a p ro fessionally built product and is a testament to the four year that Ron had spent working for C& Fra mes . Maybe the reason thi s fra m is so trick is because building fa cto MX frames was pa rt of Ron's job a C&] . The fram e ac cepts th e stock Hon d running gear with ou t an y majo