Honda CT125, with a manual clutch!

[@jameshuffman804]

That’s awesome I have a 2024 CT 125 and I’d love having a manual clutch like that Best CT 125 upgrade Ive ever seen

[@TeamDNFracing]

This one upgrade makes all the difference in the world on how well the little CT performs. No more stalling out going up hill, no more wishing you had more revs when a flick of the clutch lever and you've got it. Leaving for Lampang, Thailand in three days for the Thai Enduro there. It won't be an easy ride, but I believe with this bike set up the way it is, I'll do okay with it.....

[@ccooper8785]

This is brilliant and Honda should get their finger out and offer it. The Hunter uses the same engine as the Grom so there is absolutely no excuse for them not doing so. I have never understood Honda when it comes to the centrifugal clutch on the Cub and Hunter; a lot of riders would prefer a conventional clutch.

[@TeamDNFracing]

Yep, they all should have a clutch, but not everyone can ride a bike with a clutch, so there should be two models. One with and one without the manual clutch. Bad news, this past Sunday was the Lampang Enduro and I burnt the clutch out of my CT. It's now with my mechanic getting a new clutch with stiffer springs installed. I was stuck on a muddy rocky hill when it went, I was pretty hard on it so I've got nobody to blame but myself. Got a ride to help some flood victims this Sunday, I'll be riding my Yamaha WR155R.

[@MadsWorld34]

OMG i haven't seen any of your videos lately so i cam looking for you and found out i am still subscribed but the notification was turned off.

[@TeamDNFracing]

Thanks for turning it back on... More content coming soon.... Just got off a wild ride yesterday. No footage taken, but I'm really sore today so it must have been a tough one...

[@MadsWorld34]

@@TeamDNFracing now i have to play catch up. i thought you was just taking a break from here like so many others has.

[@Madmamba458]

I am traveling there too see the enduro race . My plans are too stay there for 3weeks and do some scooter tracking throw the lands .. hope too see u ..

[@TeamDNFracing]

Give me some dates when you will be here and make sure to contact me and "YES" we will go for a ride....

[@nigelbodieNB]

Eddie that is amazing. How did you find out about the availability of a manual clutch and where did you find that mechanic and source the parts. That is outstanding value for all that work and the man is gifted.

[@TeamDNFracing]

I've known about putting a manual clutch on the CT for several years, just didn't really know if I wanted to go that route. However, when I decided to ride it in a Thai enduro, I knew to be able to do some of the hills and rock sections, I needed a clutch to get the RPM's up so the torque could get me through them. Actually, I could have used it a lot during my fun trail rides in the Northern Thai mountain trails, just wasn't sure I wanted it until now. As for the mechanic, Robert was eating lunch at the corner restaurant near my house one day and he was on his wife's Honda Cub and was asking the ladies who worked there if they knew of any place close by to get a part for his wife's Cub. They pointed this guy out and that is how he found this mechanic. Once he told me about it, I went to see him and we set up the manual clutch job then. He actually got hold of a Honda parts store at that time to give me an estimate on the cost. The rest is history, now I have what I should have had done several years ago and if I had of known about this guy, I would have never let the other guy work on my CT....

[@thebikegeekandmore2448]

Eddie, your bike looks really slick now.

[@TeamDNFracing]

It's in race trim right now, going to install a new rear tire before heading South to Lampang. I've worn off about a 1/4 inch off the rear tire since putting it on. To much pavement riding. Thanks for the compliment and once I'm through with this enduro, the bike is going back to road worthy looks. I've got a box full of things I took off that needs to go back on it...

[@thebikegeekandmore2448]

@@TeamDNFracing What? No Eddie, now that you have a optimal you want to reverse it? I would only put other tires on it. Are you unhappy with it’s current state?

[@TeamDNFracing]

@@thebikegeekandmore2448 No, no, no. I'm really happy with it the way it is, but, here in Thailand you really do need the turn signals, the tail light & license plate and most importantly, the mirrors. I will install them back on and the set of Vee-Rubber tires I have mounted on a set of rims with a 42T rear sprocket. If I ever decide to ride it in another Thai Enduro, it's a simple job to swap all of that stuff back. It was just a learning curve to figure out what all had to be done to set it up the best for the Enduro. The manual clutch and the headlight are on there for good, no need to change those back out but I really need the other items back on if I'm going to be riding on the streets. We are working right now on a planned three day two night ride on the famous Mae Yong Song route that everyone seems to do with much larger bikes. Our plan is to do it on the Honda CT's. I like the bike the way it is now and the way it performs, but for safety sake, I do need the items put back on the bike....

[@1990-t1j]

What a brilliant mod. I wish they did this as standard. Which tunnel bag do you have on it, Eddie, please? I am in Chiang Rai. I have subscribed. Nick

[@TeamDNFracing]

First off, I want to thank you for subscribing to my channel. Greatly appreciated. The bag is actually for a Super Cub, but fits nicely on the CT. There is also another bag I believe made in Thailand that is for the CT. Both of them can be found on: Shopee.co.th and all you need to type in the search bar is CT125 and you should get somewhere around 17 pages. The bag is really nice to carry water, some tools and my camera equipment in. There is plenty of room in there for most anything you want to carry on a "DAY" ride, not really enough space for much more than that. Hope this helps you out.....

[@1990-t1j]

@@TeamDNFracing Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I wish I could buy a converted CT.

[@TeamDNFracing]

@@1990-t1j You can do all of what I've done to mine by just getting a good mechanic and start buying what it takes to convert it.... I just might go ahead and put a video out of all the things I've done to the bike that I still have on it. There are a lot of items that we've tried and then decided they just don't work the way we want them to. The first pipe I bought was a good example.

[@Fastdan14]

Nice work. Did the handlebar brace not work with the barkbusters?

[@TeamDNFracing]

Very good observation, you're the only person so far that caught that. The fake Acerbis handguards did not fit very good with the crossbar on there, but no problem. The cheap fake Acerbis hand guards are now off the bike and the crossbar is back on. That is the way it will stay.... Thanks for the comment....

[@OddCop_]

Hello! I'd like to put a manual clutch on my CT125 as well. Could you point me to the kit you use or all the parts needed, please? I lived in Chiang Mai BTW. Thanks!

[@TeamDNFracing]

I can do better than that, I can give you the phone number of the mechanic that did it for me.... 063-8928797. He charged me a little over 6,000 Baht and he got all the parts to do the job for me. His shop is very close to where I live. Problem is right now, he is getting peoples bikes running that were in the flood. He comes and picks the bike up, gets them going and then returns them... He has my bike at his shop right now... Give him a call and tell him I sent you....

[@Vintage_Garage]

Very interesting video. I think a number of guys here will want more details about how they can duplicate your setup. I am assuming the clutch is cable operated and not hydraulic. Does the setup still maintain the CT125 autoclutch for standing starts and you use the new setup just for shifting between gears, or does it work exactly like a MSX/Grom where you ust the new clutch for standing starts as well as gear changing? I think the Monkey also has a manual clutch, but that must not be as easy as using the MSX? Is the shift pattern on El Diablo the same as it was before the clutch installation? As you know, the CT125 shift pattern in the USA is reversed from that in Thailand. Is that also true for the MSX? On a side note, what is the shift pattern on a Thai Monkey 125? The USA pattern on the 5 Speed Monkey is one down and 4 up, with neutral between 1 and 2, and on the 4 speed Monkey I think it is four up with neutral down, just like the USA C125.

[@TeamDNFracing]

The clutch is a cable operated system, just like what the US Grom has. The stock CT auto clutch system has to come out and a manual set up installed. So now it works just like any other clutch system on other bikes. You will be activating all the clutch movements with your left hand... There has not been anything done to El' Diablos gears, so I still have the original shift pattern for SE Asia and the four speed tranny. I see no reason to go to a five speed tranny as what is offered has a lower 1st, 2nd & 3rd with 4th a little higher than the stock 3rd gear and the 5th gear the same as the stock 4th gear. I'm not sure what the new Monkey gearing is, but I'm pretty sure the 4 speed would stay the same as all SE Asian countries shift pattern for small 4 speed engines. Now, it the SE Asian monkey bike is going to a 5 speed, I'd think they would put the same shift pattern as the rest of the world uses which would be 1 down and 4 up with neutral between 1st and 2nd.... So Vaughn, you still got all of those bikes of yours or have you managed to sell some of them off? Haven't heard from you for a while... You take care and keep commenting on my videos, I like it when you do.....

[@Vintage_Garage]

​@@TeamDNFracing All that is interesting.. I did see the video from Vetch about installing the Takegawa hydraulic clutch kit and ordered one just to see what it was. I don't think I have enough energy left to install it though. With it, you still use the stock autoclutch to get moving, and then use the clutch lever to shift gears. My local Honda dealer gets in a couple of Groms each year, and while I look at them, I never bought one. I will go in this week and study them some more. I sold six 50cc motorcycles/scooters to them a month ago. The 1982 MB5, the 1990 NS50F, the red 1986 Gyro (Road Fox), the red 1984 Gyro and the two red 1987 Sprees. I still have five CT125s, two Monkey 125s, one Navi 110, and a few Honda 50cc scooters, and the two electric Honda "Dax e:"s. It is getting harder for me to dismount from the Monkeys with top cases on the rear of them, and while the CTs seem heavier, the step-through design makes them easier for me to ride. The best chance of a drop is when moving them out of the shop to get ready for a ride. Once riding, I am still fine on all of them. I am editing a video today to show how to install the 2025 Honda OEM USB-C charger for the 2025 Monkey on a pre-2025 Monkey. It will take me a day or two to finish the editing. The video is all in the can.. just need to finish the edit.

[@TeamDNFracing]

@@Vintage_Garage For me Vaughn, the editing is grueling. I go back and forth on the footage, cut a little, add some words, take off some sound, add some volume, put some music in. Yea, it's turning into a full two days to edit a video with footage from two GoPro's.....

[@Vintage_Garage]

@@TeamDNFracing I hear you.. this one is using two GoPro's as well.. My biggest problem is getting the audio volume correct on every clip or music track. Since I am practically deaf now, I have to watch the "audio volume" bar in the editor to judge volume levels... really tough to get them right. It took two half-days to film the install and test ride, and more than that to edit the video.. LOL

[@Edward-Norton]

I came across the Yamaha PG-1. Looks like a Honda CT125 competitor. Have you seen them running around in Thailand?

[@TeamDNFracing]

Yes I have. They are a 115cc engine bike. However, there are already BBK's for these bikes and they are 150cc BBK's. The same people who sold us ours and did the tuning on them are installing them on the PG-1 Yamaha. They also get pretty good numbers out of them and make them quite a desirable machine. I'd like to get hold of one and do the BBK on it and run it against my CT head to head. I already have three bikes now, not sure the little lady of the house would let me have a forth..... We will do a comparison even if we have to rent one for the day to do it....

[@djbrettell]

Did you change the steering head bearings at all? My front end is clunking over bumps. I tightened the steering up a little, but it didn't help much. I read that the original bearings, using ball bearings, aren't very good and can be replaced with roller bearings. I wasn't really able to source any in Thailand, is this something you have done? If you got them changed and have any info on parts or a video about it, I'd appreciate your reply, thank you.. I'm riding my CT125 visiting and camping at every National Park in Thailand, only 6 visited so far, but it's a start 🙂

[@TeamDNFracing]

Funny you should mention this as we have experienced the clunking noise on most of our CT's in the group. Not only that, but Roberts bike started to have stiffness in his ability to turn the bike to the left after some time. He took the bike to the Honda dealership near his house and had them replace his steering stem bearings with a set of stock Honda bearings. The tightness in the steering to the left went away. On his bike, he very seldom has experienced the clunking noise, but Daniel and myself have had it quite often. Once I installed the YSS front fork kit, the clunking noise didn't happen near as often. I decided to see what adding a little bit more fork oil would do and the noise frequency dropped even more, so the noise is a problem with the forks, not the steering stem bearings, I think. After having the Ohlins front fork suspension installed, I have not had the clunk at all. Robert then got my YSS kit installed on his bike and as far as I know, he hasn't had that noise either. What you said about going going to roller bearings just might work. Could be that the junky front forks are not damping the terrain enough and causing the bearings to clunk inside the steering head. I doubt that is what is happening, but can't rule it out. I do however believe that the crappy front forks Honda put on the bikes is the problem and the internals aren't strong enough to keep the forks from bottoming out and that is where the clunk is coming from. With the much better Ohlins springs and the ability to stiffen or soften up the travel with the proper amount of fluid in the forks is why I no longer have the clunk in my bike. Also, some bikes are worse than others. If more people would go to their Honda dealers and complain about it, just maybe Honda would do a study on it and a recall to have the problem fixed. I've known about it for over four years and still nothing from Honda about i....

[@Kathikas1]

I have no experience or knowledge of rimlocks but I am a little surprised that dropping pressures even way way down would allow the limited CT125 torque (even with a BBK and manual clutch) to move the tyre relative to it’s tube. And if pressures are indeed dropped that far are you not in danger of pinch and snakebite flats? Perhaps you can expand on the thinking here, thanks Eddie

[@TeamDNFracing]

No problem, all it really takes is for the tire to grab hold on the trail and have enough speed to the rim to actually start to slip. Of course with a lot of air pressure, that will keep your tire more secure to the rim. The problem comes in when you let that pressure down below 10 PSI. With the pressure down to 10 or below there just isn't enough pressure being applied to the inside of the tire to force it against the rims surrogated notches on the inside of the rims edge. That small surface is what keeps the tire from slipping on the rim and if that slips, it will take the tube with it and that will rip the valve stem off the tube. Doesn't have to have high torque to do this, high speed can also do it. As for my CT, it has just a tad under 12 Nm. of torque, doesn't sound like much but is plenty to twist the tire just like a dragster does when leaving the line at a drag race. A lot of torque is easier to twist the tire, but with low enough tire pressure, that number falls quickly. I will have my portable air compressor with me and I'll start with 10 PSI of air in my tires. If conditions dictate I need more traction, I'll put that down to 8 PSI. Then if conditions allow, I'll go back up to 10 PSI with my little compressor. The compressor fits in my little back that is in front of my seat... Hope this explains why the little engine can still rip a valve stem off even though it doesn't have the kind of torque the big bikes have....

[@Kathikas1]

@@TeamDNFracing Most interesting Eddie, thanks. I can appreciate the dragster’s issue of acceleration causing slippage but I guess you are thinking deceleration being the bogey man that causes your low pressure tubes to be rotated by the tyre? You might recall that I did the split tube tubeless conversion a couple of years ago and it has worked out really well. I have now upped the game and use double sided tape to semi permanently adhere the split tube or liner to the rims. The intent was to allow tyre changes at will without having to renew the liner but it also removes a tube from the pinch or snakebite flat scenario!. A further benefit is that even if the tyre does slip relative to it’s wheel it is most unlikely to be able to drag the liner with it and rip the valve Actually that last bit is theoretical at the moment as I am still looking for some offroader to test it out for me! Any way, here is my write up/postulation in more detail with pics hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/further-evolution-of-the-tubeless-split-tube-conversion-for-the-ct125o.2953/

[@Edward-Norton]

You guys are lucky living in Thailand having access to all the cool shit. I would still like to know more about the JA65 BBk with the fueler, cam and what fuel injector size the kid was running. Does the fueler come pre programmed? Just went to the Honda dealer today. They had 1 2024 yellow CT125 on the floor for $4600 usd out the door. You would still have to pay sales tax and registration on it. They had 0 Monkeys. The sales guy said Honda is in the middle of switch between years of the Monkey bike.

[@TeamDNFracing]

Ok, Corey is the one with the Gen 2 CT and his Kitacho BBK. I'm not sure what all they did to it but the kit was not cheap. It came direct from Japan and his cost was around 16,000 Thai Baht, which is about $600.00 US just for the kit, does not include pipe and labor. I do know that iTim garage installed it for him here in Chiang Mai and they did a piggy back ECU (Electronic Control Unit) and that way it still uses the stock unit with the piggyback one. I'm also pretty sure they upgraded the fuel injector to a Honda ADV150 which is what we had done to our Gen 1 bikes. As for the throttle body and anything to do with the air intake system, I don't know if they did anything to that part. My throttle body has been ported with a larger flutter valve installed and my air intake system has been modified to allow as much air in as the engine asks for. That stuff is easy to do and I do believe Beezdeals can get that for you in the US.... Hope this helps, I'll get Corey to give me the exact mods done next time I see him, which isn't very often.... Might be a while before I can get that information....

[@Edward-Norton]

@@TeamDNFracing Thanks for that. With this information I can do more research on this. Hopefully as time goes on there will be less expensive options for the JA65. I can find kits from Katako including a cam for under $300 usd before shipping. I still have to figure out fuel and air. I would love to do an exhaust like Corey has. Looks stock with a little more sound.

[@racerboyeddie]

id love to do this, can you do us a parts list please?

[@TeamDNFracing]

I was thinking the same thing. I'll try to do one....

[@nigelbodieNB]

hi Eddie hope you are ok did you suffer from the flooding

[@craigmitchell848]

Do you think a ct125 would be better than a Honda wave attached to a sa ling/ side car ? I’m thinking the engine will be better with the extra weight it has to carry

[@TeamDNFracing]

Having owned a Honda Wave 125i when I bought the CT125, the Wave was and is a much more stable platform of a bike and the mapping on the 125i engine is more powerful than that of the CT125. My CT has had extensive mods done to get the performance I have with the engine and suspension. If I were to want to attach a side car to either bike, I'd choose the Wave 125i first. You will not be disappointed if you do. You will not have to modify the engine on the Wave 125i for it to perform with the side car, maybe not so with the CT125 and the Wave 125i is way less expensive than the CT125... Buy the Wave 125i.....

[@craigmitchell848]

@@TeamDNFracing thank you for your help but in time I put the message out I’ve been out and ordered a ct125

[@TeamDNFracing]

@@craigmitchell848 You'll enjoy the bike, let me know how the side hack works out on it....

[@howbow911]

Did you change out the dual headlight setup? Clutch is going to make a world of difference in sh*tty situations, lol.

[@TeamDNFracing]

I originally took off the stock headlight for the Baja dual lights for weight savings. I liked the Baja setup, but with the enduro headlight with a number plate above the light, it gives me something I need for the enduro and that is a place to put my race number with check point markers on it. Big plus, it is way lighter than the Baja or the stock headlight. The enduro headlight is going to stay on it, just like the high lift front fender will. When I decided to mod the CT for this enduro, I purchased a new stock inner and outer rear fenders for my bike. Bobbing the tail off the rear fender will eliminate a chunk of plastic flopping around the rear tire if "and I say if" I flip the bike over backwards on one of the steep hills they have in Lampang and not being able to cut it away from the bike. I did flip my WR over backwards on the first hillclimb at Chiang Rai. The Yamaha WR has a frame rail that goes back to the end of the rear fender so it would be especially tough to end up with plastic flopping around back there. I cut off the CT's rear fender where the frame rail comes back to the rear fender, hence there is strong metal keeping the rest of the fender intact. Also, originally I was planning on putting on a set of China junk fake acerbis hand guards but the aluminum they use is very brittle and if the bike tips over, it will break the hand guard on that side. It happened twice to me on my WR. So I took them off the CT. The little CT is now in race form and I will be doing another video on it before I leave for the enduro in two weeks.....