sorting a honda xr125 thats been sat for a year

One of my friends has a xr125 which has been sitting in his garden under a cover for the last year or so. I havnt had a look at it but he needs to get it running in order to get to work having just done his cbt. It used to be his sistors but she never really used it.

Its only got 259 miles on it at the moment and is on an 06 plate so im assuming its either a 2005 or a 2006 bike. Im just wondering what do you think will need to be done inorder to get it running again.

Im thinking drain the fuel and give the carbs a quick spray with carb cleaner, new fuel, change the oil and stick a new battery in it and hopefully it should start.

Is there anything else you think it might need? Can i get away with simply charging the battery rather than having to buy a new one? Also is it going to need new plugs? i wouldnt have thought so. The thing is its in canterburry and i live 100 odd miles away so i dont want to take too much stuff with me on the bike just to sort out this diddy little thing.

cheers guys.

[yorkie_chris]

What I'd do is firstly get it running.

Take the tank off, flush it out, give it some fresh fuel.

Carb off, bowl off, clean it all out.

Drop the oil, put a squirt down the plug hole, fresh oil in and wind it over several times by hand to circulate it.

Check there's nothing nesting in the airbox.


The battery, it depends on whether its knackered or not! Stick it on a charger and see what happens with it.

[yorkie_chris]

Then, before it goes on the road I'd have all the chassis bearings and brakes apart, clean and regrease everything for good measure.

Also when firing it up , give the air filter a spray with some WD40 , this will get drawn in and helps the spark combust something which should help you draw in the new fuel and get it running , I got a Triumph Trident 900 running this way the other week after fresh fuel , that had been standing for 18 months .

[yorkie_chris]

That does depend on the type of filter though, WD40's not really the best for it. Bradex easy-start is far more volatile and better for the job.

Whatever is lying around the shed to get the job done as far as I`m concerned .

[yorkie_chris]

Oh yeah just saying the stuff meant for the job works better. You've probably noticed my general level of bodge-craft

Well you do offer correct advice Chris , but we all know , when In a hurry , we all reach for something just to get the damned thing going again

[yorkie_chris]

Oh yeah if you're going to be doing a lot of these then get a fair sized battery, and some terminals with big croc-clips on to give it a bit of a kick over. Take the original battery out to do this, totally discharged batterys trying to charge quickly can pop and stuff.