Custom Honda CGL125 - The story behind the bike

In April this year, I was supposed to be moving back to the UK. I’ve been living and working out in Bahrain, a tiny island just off the coast of Saudi Arabia for the past 13 years, running a digital marketing agency. I grew up there and moved back to the UK for college, uni and work. After that, I met my wife and we moved back out to Bahrain to set up a digital marketing agency. We ran that for 10 years before we both completely burnt out. I hadn’t identified how much ‘enough’ was, so the default was always more. 16 hours a day, 7 days a week at a frantic pace eventually gets you. So we brought the agency to a close and I started consulting. I did that for a couple of years before I realised I wanted to do something completely different. I knew I wanted to create something tangible, something I could be proud of.

 

So, in January, I flew back to England to find a K100 and start the process of renovating it with Matt, a buddy of mine who also used to live in Bahrain. The plan was to come back for a month to test the waters before moving back with my wife in April. Matt and I bought a 1984 K100RS from a Facebook marketplace ad. It was a frame, the engine, 2 wheels, 5 plastic boxes and 1 ammunition box full of random parts. We worked on the bike everyday and on the day before I flew back to Bahrain we got it started. It started first go and we had flames firing out of the exhaust manifold. I was hooked. 

 

I flew back mid February, just before Covid really hit. There were a few medical staff in the airport but nothing else was different. A couple of weeks later and the world went into lock down so we decided to wait it out in Bahrain. With no end date in sight though, I knew I needed to stay busy or I’d go mad! 

 

I got online and found a Honda CGL125 for the equivalent of €300. It was barely hanging on. The downpipe was rusted through, nothing on the instrument panel worked, the fairing was held on with twisted wires, the air filter was totally missing and third gear made a clunking/grinding noise. I’d basically committed the number one custom bike sin, I’d bought a cheap bike and it showed.  

 

I started the project out in my garage - it was covered but not fully enclosed. In March/April that was fine but by May the Middle Eastern summer had well and truly hit with full force. This July was the hottest on record and most days were hitting over 42°C (108°F) in the shade. Luckily I finished most of the dirty jobs by mid July and I was able to move the bike into my dining room and into the A/C. I guess that gives the term ‘home built’ new meaning!

It took me just over 4 months to complete a full renovation and rebuild. I probably took one or two days off but because we were all set to leave, I was able to dedicate myself pretty much 100% to the project. I started on March 23rd and finished on August 8th, just two days before the packers arrived to crate up our furniture and the bike. So now I’m back in the UK and back to working on the K while I wait for the Honda to arrive some time in November. 

 

I’m documenting the process of each of the builds and publishing everything on @barnfieldcustoms on Instagram.