Pit Bike turned commuter, CT70 content

I found a smoking deal on a CT70 a few months ago.

My next thought was to ride it to work

After that trip it was time to improve it's road prowess. The first step was more power. Enter YX160, that's 160cc of front tire lifting fury. I ran into some dudes with affinity for riding on the back tire so I briefly joined them.

Along with the new engine I added Yoshimura exhaust and additional fuel capacity with the 1 gallon tank on the rear rack.

Now that the power is covered, it was time to address braking and traction. Insert new forks, 12in wheels and some Michelins

Next on the docket is a second CT70 so I can invite friends to ride with me. I sealed the frame with POR15 and then clear coat. It will probably end up looking cooler than my main bike.

That green one looks like a "H".

Yep. It is an H but all I got was the frame. It will have a 4 speed again but a Lifan instead of Honda. I am also going to keep it more traditional with 10in wheels.

One of mine was actually someone's commuter. When I got it, it had Hawaii plates and several year's worth of registration stickers on it and small trailer hitch. I suspect that fuel is pretty expensive over there and it was used to haul groceries.

Very cool!

That looks fun!

So I am curious what the total cost of the smoking deal CT70 Fraken-bike came to? The fork swap and rim change couldn't have been cheap. Not trying to knock it, I freaking love it.

Cast alloy wheels for these are surprisingly cheap, even by Chinese standards.

Ugh, quads on a street.....SMH

The trail looks much better, and I never realized you could update them like that.

That is awesome. Awesome enough that I might need to keep an eye out for one now.

singleslammer wrote: So I am curious what the total cost of the smoking deal CT70 Fraken-bike came to? The fork swap and rim change couldn't have been cheap. Not trying to knock it, I freaking love it.

You are right, it is not exactly a cheap bike anymore. It was a smoking deal because I got a running / driving CT70 and 4 C10 truck hoods for $500. Hoods are for a different project... If we applied values to the hoods then the bike was about $300. Now for the math:

$300 initial investment

• $200 (credit) sold the 70cc lifan engine that was on it

• $475 160cc engine with Yoshi exhaust (used)

• $110 VM26 carb

• $40 Cheap Chinese controls (throttle clutch lever etc)

• $60 rear rack

• $150 fuel tank

• $315 forks with hub and disc brake

• $55 headlight brackets (not worth it, should have made my own)

• $130 for 12in wheels

• $100 Michelin tires

• $16 Honda brake shoes for the rear

• $15 12 volt regulator

• $50 lighting (bulbs wire and such)

Puts me at $1616 with some of the parts removed going into the second bike so I could associate some value to them if we were trying to figure a true expense. It is basically a Grom at half the price and way cooler.

That's a super cool bike.

I love that bike. I too never knew you could find update parts like that.

Improved the view from my desk.

That was already a pretty good view from the looks of it but that certainly doesn't hurt it!

Thanks for the break down.

I had a weekend packed full of minibikes! Saturday I worked on the main bike and started on the side piece.

Sunday I took the CT70 to the mountains.

Had lunch at T.W.O

It was a big hit in the parking lot.

When we were loading the bike in the truck, a guy walks up and asks if I want another little bike. Of course I had to investigate. I ended up saving a Z50 from the horse barn where it had been hidden for years.

jstancel wrote: When we were loading the bike in the truck, a guy walks up and asks if I want another little bike. Of course I had to investigate. I ended up saving a Z50 from the horse barn where it had been hidden for years.

And this is how things multiply! Cool stuff.

Nice score!

Very nice score on the z50! This is one of my favorite threads at the moment, has me shopping for parts for my own 1979 CT70 MiniTrail. New suspension, front disc, probably a newer motor.

Aren't these bikes a riot? You just can't argue with a bike that's so much fun to ride, and yet so easy to modify and work on.

As you saw, I'm working on a similar setup with my CT70 (140CC Supermoto) and those tires you're running look awesome. Where did you source the 12'' wheels, and do they simply bolt to the stock inner hub? Glad to see somebody else is having good results with that front fork / disc brake kit. Have you considered running one of the upgraded swingarms with rear disc conversion?

Bubs wrote: Where did you source the 12'' wheels, and do they simply bolt to the stock inner hub?

They came from hondaminitrail.com part # C243

Yes, they bolt to the stock hubs.

Bubs wrote: Have you considered running one of the upgraded swingarms with rear disc conversion?

Shocks and a new seat are way higher up on the priority list. I put new shoes in the drum brakes and have not had any problems so that makes me even less interested in changing anything.

The second CT70 is coming along. Put in the 125 so it is starting to look like a bike.

Did some work on the Z50. It took about an hour of tinkering to get it running.

Opened up the carb and it looked brand new:

Even the headlight works!

I have been itching to ride but I have not had a chance until last night. I used the CT70 to pick up some take out. Had to zip tie a basket on the front.

That's awesome. My father has one languishing in his garage that suffered a minor crash at the hands of my brother.

I'd love to put it back on the road and restomod it a bit.

Any Walking Dead fans? I took the CT70 for a ride at Terminus.