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/126509
IClockwise from top left) Suspension is progressive. but won't bottom out on big jumps. The impeUer pump and hoses are vulnerable to rock damage. Radiators and air scoops keep things cool while adding to spaceship imege. Simple Pro-Link de.lgn need no struts. vdoprd the habit of riding with one finger on the clutch. Honda's dogleg lever is curved wrong for easy one finger operation since the lever hits the other fingers before disengaging. Much adjustment and clamp moving was done to make the bike rideable. With the Elainore kept in the power range, the bike is a bam burner. Three shifts were common for even a short straight and even 250cc bikes were occasionally OIl t· powered through rough sections. The bike wheelies too easily coming out of turns. and the wide radiator wings make it difficult to slide forward onto the tank. Fortunatdy, the short gas tank kept the rider's weight on the front wheel adequatdy for most situations, and the well planned radiator positioning has positive aspects. Yamaha mounts their radiator on the front forks which adds weight to steering inertia and in· creases the number of hose connections as the water circulates down through the frame. Suzuki and Kawasaki mount their cooling core near the en· gine but in line with mud and rocks thrown from the front wheel. Honda chose to use two smaU radio ators and mount them on the frame in front of the tank. The aincoqp wings that direct the cooling breezes add to the bike's bizarre look but work well enough to require several minutes warm·up time. The engineers in Japan who so cleverly positioned the radiator, somehow mounted the impeller pump for circulating the coolant off the left side of the engine in a very vulnerable location while also leaving the hoses unguarded and exposed to footpegs and rock damage. Gear box ratios have been changed from last year's CR to hdp match the engine power but overall gearing is too high for tight tracks. Shifting from second to third gear was sometimes troublesome as the power must be rolled off or the clutch used to change gears. A nice touch is the folding tip on the shiftleve.r. Bridgestone's latest tires grace the rims and provide ample traction on most surfaces and very fine braking traction. Honda's design for the rear brake lever is at first difficult to use, but the front brake is strong and con· trolled. Outbraking the competition was added to the rider's list of ways to pass as soon as the testers fdt confident with the CR's progressive front binder. Keihin's latest fuel! air mixer looks suspiciously similar to the Mikuni car· buretors found on other Japanese moto· cross machines. Original or not, the design worked well and jetting was crisp throughout horsepower range. Honda recommends 92 or above octane gasoline which sometimes is hard to find. At one test session we noted a subtle pinging at high rpm and switched gas brands to cure the problem. Honda's latest offering for the moto· cross wars is certainly on par with the competition on the track and light years ahead on the drawing board. The CR125R will win its share of races in '81, but if Honda will stay with the project to correct .and fine tune the small problems throughout the race season, then incorporate their finding into next year's machine, the future will be obvious. 1982 will be a very good yearfor Honda. • Specifications Overall length ..•........................•........... , ..... 83.9 in. Overell width , , , , ..•.. 33.9 in. Overell height •......................... , , , ....•.. 47.4 in. Wheel beee , 68.& in. 5eet height 37.4 in. Foot peg height..•.......... , .. , ....•... , , ..•.............. 16.7 in. Ground cIe8nInca.. '. ....•.................................. 13.8 in. Dry weight 2OO.7Ibs. Weight distribution FIR lOry) •..•.................... M.llbJ106.8Ib. Type of frame , Semi double credle Front_pension. travel , Telescopic fork, 11.6 in. Reer suspension. travel. ........................•.• Pro-Link. 11.6 in. Front tire 3.00-21 4PR Bridgestone M21 Reer tire 4.00-18 4PR Bridgestone M22 Front brake, sweep _ .. , .. , , ....•. Drum brake. 17.1 sq. in. Reer brake. sweep aree ' Drum brake. 1&.8 sq. in. Fuel capacity , .............•............. 1.7 U.S. gel. Caster angle ..•........ , . , , .... , llO"3O' Degr_ from Horizontal Treillength , , ........•............ , 4.8 in. Type of engine Water cooled two-s1roke Cylinder arrangement Single lInclined 1& degr_ from vertical) Bore end stroke , , , . , &6.6 x 6O.7mm Displacement ....................•... : 122cc Compression retio , 8.2:1 Carburetor, venturi dis Piston valve type 34mm Air filtr8tion , , . , .. , , .. , Oiled polyurethane foam Engine dry weight lw/carb.l , .........•................ 40.4 lb. Type of clutch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Manuellwet, multi-plata) Trensmission , S-speed, constant mesh Primery reduction ratio ........•.... , 3.313:1 Gear retio I. ,., , .. , . , , .. 2.417:1 Geer Retio II.. , .. , , ,: , , .•.. 2.000:1 Ge.r Retio III , , , ,.,., 1.611:1 Geer retio IV ,., , , , , .. 1.360:1 Geer retio V , , 1.136:1 Geer retio Vi , 1.000:1 Type of ignition Capacitor discharge ignition Spark plug .••......... INGK) B9EV,IChampion) N-69G.IND) W27ESG 7