I’ve been continuing to work on the CL. I disassembled and soaked the carb in Chem-Dip, and I’m in the process of upgrading the electrics to 12V and installing all LED lights, so that I can have reasonably safe light output on the stator’s meager output of about 45-50 watts.

But… the big hurtle was the gas tank. Decent Honda CL125S tanks are virtually unobtainable, and mine was beyond saving. No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep the banged-up filler lip from leaking. CB125 tanks are fairly easy to find, and new, re-pop CG125 tanks are all over Ebay, but neither would work on my bike without significant fabrication. The tank was shorter and the seat longer on the CL, so the the rear attachment point for the tank is further forward on the CL than on the other Honda 125s. (And from what I’ve learned, the CG125 has the front mounting doughnuts in a different location than the OHC bikes.)

Thanks to Chinese Ebay vendors wanting to sell their wares as “universal” tanks, most of the auction descriptions for new tanks include (slightly vague and sketchy) dimensions. I discovered that Honda’s CD50/70 (and its many Chinese JH70 clones) had a unique, 8-liter tank that would probably work.

Two weeks ago, confident this was at least the most workable option, I gambled and ordered a tank from China for $125, including shipping. It arrived yesterday.

It fits amazingly well. The front mounting cups are slightly smaller, so I’ll need to make up new rubber doughnuts, but the mounting studs are located in the correct location. The tank fits the rear mount perfectly and needs no tweaking, but the seat will need to be moved back an inch or two, so there is some very straightforward fabrication needed there, but for the most part, we’re golden.

The next step is to make a small, simple bracket to mount the regulator/rectifier brick to the lower triple clamp, behind and below the headlight shell. Other than that, it’s all minor little annoyances, but the bike should be in running shape. Then we’ll see if cleaning the carb and replacing the tank have eliminated my intermittent stalling/no-start issue.  

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