It’s the deal you dream of—or is it? When someone offers you a free bike, with very few exceptions, your answer is gonna be “what time can I pick it up?” That’s what the YouTuber behind the 5150mxVW channel thought when someone offered him an old two-stroke Honda CR125. Is it the worse for wear? Of course, but that’ll make restoring it all the more fun.

Prior to Mr. 5150 getting his hands on it, the CR125 in question sat for years, alone, unloved, with no airbox, and collecting acorns somewhere in Florida. Does it need a whole lot of TLC? Absolutely. Did it need several minutes of power washing at a local car wash in the bed of his pickup truck to get years of accumulated grime off? That’s just to be expected. 

Once he got it cleaned up, 5150 took it back to his shop so he and his adorable kid could get to work on the thing. That’s right, this is a father/son project, and that’s going to make it even more fun to watch over the coming videos. Getting kids interested in taking things apart, analyzing problems, and fixing those problems with their hands can only be a great learning experience for everyone involved. Isn’t that at least part of why we love motorcycling in the first place? 

Honda discontinued the CR125 in 2007, but until the last few years of its life, it was a popular, lightweight dirt machine. Mr. 5150, as you may have guessed from his YouTube channel name, is a VW enthusiast, but he’s also an experienced motocross bike restorer. He’s already got a growing list of parts he knows he needs, with plans to source from eBay and wherever he can. 

They’re hoping to spend under $1500 to get this bike up and running again. Will they do it? If you get a free bike, that automatically means you have more money to spend on parts, right? I think that’s how that math works out. That is, if you don’t spend it all on the endless cans of penetrant you need to get everything unseized. 

Have you ever restored a bike someone gave you for free? Got any good stories about it? We’d love to hear them. 

Source: YouTube

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