Honda CB125S, 1973, all original and fabulous

This is my absolutely gorgeous classic Honda CB125S.   It’s the best original (ie: unrestored) one that I have ever seen. and it is has to be one of the very best in the country.

It’s a 1973 model. in the rare and best two-tone red/white colour combination.   They only made the models with the colour-matched frames (red. blue or yellow) for a year. and then switched to black frames. presumably because they were cheaper to paint.  This one is now tax exempt (but road tax was only ?14 anyway).  The existing tax and MoT are valid until May (but of course. you don't get the tax because of the new system. but then it's tax exempt anyway so it still costs nothing. God. my brain hurts. Why the hell did they introduce this stupid new system?)  It was first registered on 16 November 1973. anyway.

The candy red paint is still deep and lustrous.   This is unusual. because it usually fades in sunlight. but this bike has mostly been stored out of direct sunlight.  There's a couple of square inches of slightly faded paint by the filler cap.  The picture show it un-polished. just as I pulled it out from the garage after a lay-up of three months.

It has done some 9. 00 miles and is totally original.   It has never been restored.   It is in fabulous condition. with excellent paint and equally good chrome.   The silencer is the genuine impossible-to-find ‘trumpet’ type. bought last year when the original system finally split after forty years.   It was NOS and had been sitting in an attic. and the chrome had suffered a bit.   I had it professionally rechromed.   You can still see a little bit of pickling under the new chrome. but hell. it’s the real thing.

Sure. there’s the odd small chip in the paint. but that’s the lovely thing about it.  It has patina.

The engine just runs like a watch.   No rattles. no rumbles. and a sweet even tickover.   It’s lovely.   Top speed is about 60. maybe 65 with a following wind. and it cruises at 50.   It does about 90mpg.  I've used it for commuting to the City and back from SW London in the summer.  No way will I ride it in wet weather. let alone winter - it'll wreck the cosmetics and besides. I have other bikes.

The seat is original and perfect. even down to the chrome strips.   It even has the original owner’s handbook. in super condition. and the original toolkit is in its place behind the side panel. All the cables are the original grey ones - I had to replace the front brake light switch cable with a modern one when the switch broke. though.  I replaced the contact breaker (points) maybe 500 miles ago. and the battery and air filter element are new. too.

Everything works exactly as it should. and it’s a lovely little thing to ride.   These little CB125Ss are becoming very collectable. and rightly so.   I think you could hunt for a long. long time and not find one as good as this.  If anyone wants to view it. it'll have to be on 22 or 23 January because on the 24th I'm off skiing for a week.  It's in Sutton. SW London. SM1 postcode.  But trust me. it really is a beauty.

The starting price is ?99 and there is a reserve.  No. I’m not saying what it is.   No. I won’t take it off eBay. or do any form of private deal.   This auction runs to the end.  Quite frankly. I'm not bothered if it doesn't sell because I like the bike a lot - I'm only selling it to make space because I have 11 bikes and need somewhere to put the new Kawasaki H2 I have on order!  And if I don't sell this. I'll sell something else. like my Yamaha 600 Diversion or my 800-miles-from-new 1980 Honda CG125.

Sorry. no PayPal.  Cash on collection.

On 21-Jan-15 at 19:21:57 GMT. seller added the following information:

Don't some eBayers take the p*ss?  Up there. it says: "No. I won’t take it off eBay. or do any form of private deal. " And along comes redhousepainter0195 who asks me if I'll sell it to him for ?1200. taking care not to make this an enquiry about an item so I can't put the question and answer on the auction page.  And the answer was "Don't be silly".   I know what this is worth. and the fact that it's gone from ?99 to ?700 in a few hours. with more than nine days to go. tells me others do as well.  So there's the first one who's come crawling out from under a rock to try and bypass eBay's rules and stiff genuine bidders.  Outed.  

Also published at eBay.com