This Yamaha RZ125 that came to my hand when I was looking for a bike to make a ‘single-seater’ caferacer as my first bike has to have option for a pillion rider. I was looking for a Yamaha RX-S115 and I found this Yamaha RZ125 on an online buy-sell portal.
The seller came to meet me after I phoned him and saw the bike in poor condition. After some bargain, I got the bike at desired price. I did a quick sketch and it took almost one and half year to give the bike a shape. In between, I did some experiments with the bike and the engine got broken for 3 times. First two times, the things were simple; broken pilot bearing and jammed transmission.
After repairing the second time, I had to sell the bike to pay my tuition fee for my photography education but I became able to buy it back after four months as the person I sold didn’t want to keep it for it’s never ending thirst for fuel. My third experiment was devastating. I replaced the rear stock 52T sprocket with 38T one which gave me good top speed but with less acceleration. I don’t know what is the top speed of this bike at stock condition but I hit up to 152kmph with the sprocket tweak and that time, the engine got broken inside; I found that the half of the cylinder was crushed and some inner compartment of the main engine block as well. I had to left the bike aside for nearly one year as I didn’t have money to repair the engine block and no one wanted to do it in the same time.
I was suggested to buy a Yamaha RX-S115 engine for the bike but I was on my decision to repair the engine somehow. In this time period, I worked on the frame and the body of the bike. Most of the plastic parts were removed. All the unnecessary things were cut from the frame. In between, my mechanic and I decided to do our last try to repair the engine. This time, we bored the cylinder to fit a 135cc piston instead of stock 125cc one. All the bearings are replaced; they were found in ‘Dholaikhal’ area, the biggest market for second-hand, stolen parts in Bangladesh. Someone gave me the pod filter for a set of blinkers from me for his bike. The carburetor as rejetted. Now, the bike can revv more than 13000rpm and hit 100kmph in 5-6 seconds. I didn’t dare to push the engine’s limit so I installed the stock set of sprockets. The oil chamber was removed for a clean look. A chamber for oil was made inside the huge fuel tank. So, I don’t need to do math for the ration of oil-fuel mixture any more.
A speedo always ignites the rider to speed up so I decided to install a revv counter instead of speedo. The handle bars are collected from Dholaikhal market, of course second hand ones. I have collected an expansion chamber of Honda MBX125 but later I decided to keep the stock one as it has good look and it sounds like a ‘angry bee’. A big headlight is fitted to give the bike the look of ‘Cylcopes’. I couldn’t afford making a good and comfortable seat for the bike when the progress was going on and a temporary seat was made from my black curtain and it became permanent now.
Whenever I look at this bike, I get to know I could do better but it is just not possible to do everything properly as imagined…and for that reason like to say like Amy Bloom…”You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And, you are beautiful”.