1975 Honda CR 125 Elsinore, rare, partially restored, classic, vintage, original

 1975 Honda Elsinore CR 125 in exceptional condition

Here is your chance to purchase what I consider one of my favorite MX motorcycles in “partially restored” condition and has almost all or its original parts. This 39 year old bike one owner bike has been kept in the garage all its life. but was not ridden for over 37 years. They had the bike since new and they put it in their garage and let it sit after 1977. I think that this bike still has its original rubber hand grips. so right there tell you this bike was not ridden a lot. You may have had one of these bikes in your younger years or just always wanted to ride and/or race a vintage bike. My EBay profile picture is me racing this same year and model bike in the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix (LEGP) a few years back. which. these bikes are named after. That bike has since been completely restored and now lives inside my house.

As previously stated. this bike has mostly all of the original parts – the front forks and rear 360 Showa shocks are original and are in excellent condition.  It has the original DID rims in great condition and it has the original exhaust with just a couple small dents at the end of the exhaust and one at the front. The bike had an exhaust pipe protector attached to it so the down swept pipe did not incur significant damage. There is a picture of the back side of the exhaust so you can see that there are no dents on the back side and also in the picture is the pipe protector. which. will be included in the sale. The exhaust and engine have been painted with extreme temperature high gloss black paint. The original seat is in great condition – just try to find an original 39 year old seat cover that is this condition.   The seat cover just has a small half inch tear in the left front section that is hardly visible. The bike still has all of its Honda 8 hardware. It has the original gear shift lever. rear brake pedal. foot pegs. kick starter lever and kickstand.   It has the original front fender with the very hard to find CR front rubber mud flap. The upper rear fender is not original due to an overzealous wheelie and has been replaced with a Preston Petty rear fender. The bottom part of the rear fender is original - see picture of the bottom of the rear fender. The front plate and side panels for the bike are original to the bike and have not been painted and have a couple imperfections. but again for being 39 years old. they are in very good condition.  

Please see a couple short videos of bike being started and running last week:

http://youtu. be/0vov1BYnzcw

http://youtu. be/9oPS5Lg1WZE

The gas tank is original and has been professionally painted with new decals.  The gas tank was also completely cleaned and there is no rust – see picture on inside tank and the polished original gas cap. It has the original petcock. but I am not sure if the inline gas filter is original. The handlebar should be black and not chrome. but it is the same dimension as a black handlebar and kill button appears to be original. I will also include the original black "button snap” foam handlebar protector. In the mid seventies – they went to “Velcro” handlebar protectors – so the button type protectors are very collectible. It does have one defective button though. The bike is missing the original black rubber clutch and front brake covers. I have put a replacement rubber cover on the front brake lever. The original owner also changed the cylinder head to two plug ports so that he could install a decompression release. The release is still in the cylinder head. but does not function because there is no cable or lever. I have replaced the front tire with a 21 inch Dunlop Sports D756F and an 18 inch Dunlop Geomax MX 57 on the rear because the original tires were dry rotted and cracked. They both have new tubes and they have maybe three hours on them.  It has a new air filter foam element - see picture. It appears to have the original chain and sprockets. but I cannot be positively sure.

The only negative thing about this Elsinore (besides the rear fender and cylinder head) is that the sprocket cover is broken due to what I have been told was from a chain that came off while riding.

These “true” Elsinore bikes hardly ever come up for sale and there was one that sold for $1800 on Ebay two months ago with the same broken sprocket cover. but that bike was in much worse condition. did not run and was not restored. Check item number 201181545847 in completed listings. That has been the only 1975 Honda CR 125 that has sold on Ebay in the last 90 days. There was one on Ebay last week that did not sell and it had a “buy it now” price of $8500. yes $8500 – see item number 141494535413.

In my opinion and watching bike sales for many years. any other 1975 Honda Elsinore CR 125. in this condition. will go for well over $2500. This year is the most difficult to find for an Elsinore because 1975 was the only year they did red with the aluminum sides. These early grey red and green striped Honda Elsinore’s (1973-1975) are highly collectible and are easily fetching well over $5000. fully restored. on Ebay. The first year of the Elsinore’s was 1973 with the 250cc and the 125cc “true” Elsinore bikes were only made for two years – 1974 and 1975. As stated. the last year is more collectible because they were the Honda Red versus the green striped 1974’s. The Elsinore motocross bikes were noted as the number one MX motorcycle of bikes that changed Motocross. You can check them out at the following website: http://www. pulpmx. com/stories/bikes-changed-motocross

The Elsinore’s are also one of only a few MX bikes that got 9 out of ten stars in the vintage dirt bike guide. You can check that out at the following website: http://www. off-road. com/dirtbike/the-ultimate-vintage-dirt-bike-guide-22707. html

This would be a great winter restoration project. I have restored several Elsinore’s (including MT’s) and they are probably one of the easiest motorcycles to restore – I just don’t have the time or money to “fully” restore this one – so here’s your opportunity. As you can tell from the pictures. this is a great bike to race. ride or restore.   It runs (through all six gears) and rides fantastic. If you are buying this bike to restore - I strongly recommend that you race this bike a few times in vintage races. or better yet the LEGP. before you restore it. There is nothing better that racing a "true" Elsinore in the LEGP. I have done several times back when they had the race start. go through and end in downtown Lake Elsinore which they unfortunately stopped in 2006. then when they had it a couple years at the Lake Elsinore MX track and more recently when they start and end at the ballpark.

This motorcycle comes with a valid California title that has not been signed or dated. Some sellers say they have a title. but it is already dated. which. in California they will charge you significant late charges for not putting it in your name within 30 days of transfer. It has the original California “pink slip” from the 1976. They call it a pink slip because it’s obviously pink and is just a small slip of paper less than 4” by 4” and did not say “title” but “ownership certificate”. I also have the original 1976. “registration” which they called a “validated identification card”. See attached picture of title and registration with name omitted. Bike will be sold as-is. with no warranties implied.   Please contact me with any questions.  

Please do not ask me what the reserve price because I will not tell you and it is not fair to other potential buyers. But I will tell you that for being a one owner bike for 40 years. having almost all original parts and partially restored – the reserve price is definitely below what it’s worth. In fact. the reserve price is much less than what a comparative 1975 Elsinore CR 125 would go for on Ebay.

Please check my Ebay history – it is at 100% satisfaction for a reason and ninety five percent of my Ebay sales are related to motorcycles. motorcycle parts or mini bikes. I have been riding. racing. restoring and collecting motorcycles for over 45 years.

I also have several transport contacts and can get this Elsinore transported almost anywhere in the United States for much less than most motorcycle transporters and USHIP. I also have transported motorcycles to Australia and Europe and I have no issues selling to anyone out of the country. I know of several international transporters and will charge $150 to get the bike to the transporter/logistics and fifty cents a mile both ways – you pay the transporter to get it over the ocean. but I will assist with the logistics and finding a shipper. I will also deliver this bike for fifty cents a mile. both ways. anywhere in Southern California.

Please check out my other Ebay motorcycle listings – a restored 1980 Kawasaki KE 175 and a restored 1968 JC Penney PInto mini bike with a 1968 Briggs and Stratton engine. nbsp; as well as a variety of motorcycle and mini bike parts.

If you are new to eBay. then you may not be aware that your bid means you are buying what you are bidding on.    If you have zero feedback you must contact me to let me know that you are serious about completing the sale or I will cancel your bid.    Please bid only if you really want the item.  

You are welcome and encouraged to see and ride this bike in person before the listing ends - just contact me.

On Dec-19-14 at 06:55:10 PST. seller added the following information:

As some of you may have noticed. there was a bidder that hit my reserve price and they were new to EBay and only had two feedback's and one of those two feedback's was that they had not paid for the item that they bid and won. I Emailed that bidder twice to insure they were serious and got no response. so I canceled their bid. EBay is not a game and you should only bid if you are going to purchase the item. I spent a lot of time restoring this bike. describing it accurately. taking pictures etc. and someone just bids up to my reserve price for all to see and then does not respond. Unfortunately. EBay does not deduct buyers rating percentages if they have negative feedback - only sellers ratings. so it will appear that the buyers has a 100% rating unless the seller investigates accordingly. For those that saw my reserve price - you know now that this rare Elsinore is worth all the effort I put into it. I just hope that another EBayer does not consider bidding on this bike just for the "fun of it" because again - this is not a game.

Also published at eBay.com