28th September 2008

I have fitted new tyres to my HN125-8. After quite a scary moment in the wet a couple of weeks ago and a lot of thought I decided that my health is worth the cost.

I done a bit of searching on the internet and found lots of variation of tyre in the sizes fitted. One site had a free-phone number. I phoned the number and they put me through to my local depot, which was 'National Tyres' in Lincoln. I explained that I had found much variation on the size of tyre and needed some help in deciding which were most suitable. They said to bring my bike along so that they could check over the details with me. This I did.

The tyres are 'Radial' and 'Tubeless' which makes them special. There are 'cross ply tubed-type'  tyres available, which are much cheaper. Alas, these are incompatible with the rim, so special tyres it is. Again there is a choice on quality, brand and price. I have bought the cheapest available. 'Metzeler' branded, they are a subsidiary of the 'Pirelli' brand . Very good tyres I'm told, we will have to wait and see when it rains. The wait probably wont be too long.

On the front is a ME22 3.25 x 18
On the rear is a ME77 Perfect 110/90 x 16

Fitted price was £109 inc VAT.






 

24th October 2008

The news is good the new tyres are definitely worth the money. Over the past 2 weeks I have had 4 mornings where the road has been wet. There appears to be no noticeable difference to the grip level in the wet compared to the dry. I have yet to try in a heavy downpour, but this is likely, sooner rather than later. Also the 'rear wheel steering effect' which I have read about and experienced seems to have disappeared. Overall the ride seems (personal opinion) to be 'softer', possibly caused by the softer rubber.

 

 

 
16 February 2009

I have had the need to go deep into the wiring of my Huoniao & I found that one of the wiring diagrams in my CG125 Haynes manual very similar. Now they aren't identical but very close & good to use as a reference point. Here is a link to download >> CLICK <<

 

 

If you've got any questions, just fill in the 'contact us ' page & I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.
 

 

 
13th June 2009

I've had a small oil leak for some time. It is intermittent, and tends only to occur when there are sustained high revs. This picture shows where the oil passes on the outside casing. Strangely, the oil sump is on the other side. I have mopped up the oil on several occasions but this time I have made sure I am able to check to find the leak.

After 20 – 25 miles there is enough oil outside to trace it back. It looks like it is coming out from the starter motor. On removing this I find a 'O' ring seal. Inspection of the seal shows that it is twisted making the lower part slightly thinner than the rest. Off to my local car accessory shop to get a replacement. The box where the new seal came from says it is a 'R19' size, whatever that means, and is slightly smaller than the original, but fatter. I popped it on and reinserted the starter motor. All seems good. No leaks so far 5 days on. I have been out on a 20 mile high speed run too.

Saturday 11th July, The leak persists, but far less now. I've made modification to the crank case breather system partly forced by the change of air filter. Without the air filter box there is nowhere to fit this breather pipe to .

What I've used is some hot water pipe for a caravan with a 'Y' connector in it. The lower part of the 'Y' has a piece of sponge stuffed in it to resist oil flow while allowing a small amount to pass. I also used a 'restrictor' in the upper pipe (near to the air filter) as the original air box has half of the hole blocked off. The plastic number plate nut I used for this is now removed for free breathing.

See that only half the hole is exposed in the air filter box.

The air box cut away, showing the metal gauze where the breather pipes attach.

And this previous week I have been lucky enough to have the flasher relay stop working. At first it flickered when the bulb was on. A quick flick on the switch cured this, but it became more frequent until it finally stopped. I managed to get a new one next day from 'LLEXETER' £25 odd, delivered . That's quite expensive for a little relay. I bet I could have got an old beetle one or something like for half that price if I'd looked around .

As you can see they are quite different. I swapped over the rubber mount to make it face the right way & it works a treat .

The Clutch.....

Now, I believe that the semi synthetic oil makes the clutch slip when it is cold, so I changed it. I ordered the EBC clutch & stronger springs from ebay. They turned up promptly. I disassembled the engine case after draining the oil. I needed to remove the clutch cable,  the rev counter cable and the kick start leaver to gain access. Inside can be found the oil filter. This is a centrifugal affair and has no element.

The oil filter needs to be removed to gain access to the clutch. The clutch housing does not pass the oil filter and can't be changed without the oil filter removed. Inside the oil filter is a nut which is in a kind of tube. It is difficult to see and reach but it is a special nut which requires a special socket. My Haines manual says it is possible to manufacture this, but I had little success. I also got one of these from ebay for about £10 (worth the wait !)

It's quite straight forward to change, but you'll need to stop the engine from turning to undo the nuts. Again my Haines manual suggests using the rear brake while in gear and again I found this unsuccessful. I wedged a large screwdriver in the gears, this did eventually break so I used a bigger screwdriver. I cleaned the oil filter while I had it out, finding brake cleaner quite suitable. I took out the plates and inserted the new ones, there are 5, and popped it all back together and all seems fine. I also took the opportunity to replace the air filter. I got a nice, angled, blue foam filter from XIAN RACING.   It's a little big , but I went a little tighter with the jubilee clip a it fitted a treat.