Welcome back to my latest obsession, the revival of this 1972 Honda CT-70 minibike. I’m all about this semi restoration project because I bombed around fire roads and trails in the Pacific Northwest on one of these little bikes as a youngster and even with a throttle that occasionally liked to stick, I loved the little beast. It was a fantastic introduction to not only motorcycle control (which I put to fantastic use just a few years later on serious dirt bikes) but it also let me hone in my skills working a manual transmission, which the Honda 50cc “monkey bike” that I first learned to ride did not offer. A Trail 70 like this one is the reason why I really like driving manual transmission equipped vehicles…happiness was powering through the gears with the little knobbly tire on the back leaving a tell-tale stripe of churned-up gravel road behind me. I’m not sure I’d own one now…I’m sure it’d still be fun, just as sure that I’d look like a circus bear in the middle of a performance to anybody unlucky enough to see me riding one. But that’s their problem, not mine.
In this episode, Mustie1 tackles a main problem: fuel. Without the fire juice, the engine isn’t going to do much of anything. The carburetor, the fuel tank, the hoses that are usually hardened up and prone to leaking at a moment’s notice if they aren’t cared for…all of that needs attention on this minibike after it’s two decade nap. Hit play below and check out the progress!
