I'd like to share an experience that proves it pays to carry a couple of pictures of your CT's everywhere you go! I was making some calls on customers a couple of months ago in south Alabama, and I noticed on one stop that my customer had some beautiful antique automobiles in his shop. I mentioned to him that I really like old classic things, and that one of my favorite hobbies was finding and restoring Honda CT 70's.

I returned a couple of weeks later and sure enough there it was. A 1980 "Tahitian Red" CT-70! In my opinion this is "the" model that saved the rather disappointing CT models of the mid to late 70's. I have a friend in Louisiana that has one like this and it is another real good rider. This one looked a bit rough, but it was complete, and had only about 950 miles on it. I would love to have this bike. But by now the owner, an antique enthusiast, realized what a real treasure he had, and wanted to keep it in the family. After seeing all the work we have done on our bikes, he really wanted to make it like new, and so did I. He gave me the keys and said see what you can do.

  This is a picture of the bike after I got it home.......looks pretty good, but....

if you take a real close look.........this is what you find.............

 

 

 

 a really dirty engine.........the gas tank was full of rust and would have to be treated and coated..........when it was removed, I found another surprise......

  With a little patience and some careful masking, you can easily remove 20 years of wear and tear on the appearance of the engine. There are some excellent spray paints available at local auto parts stores to do the job. You should remove or mask all the side case screws to really make it look good. I polish the tappet covers and fins with air grinder polishing wheels, and then mask them off and spray the cast head

The rims were in real good shape except for a couple of unsitely rust spots........all the bad lock-nuts were replaced, and the signature Honda fastener with the "8" on the cap were polished and re-used.....before.....

 

By now everything has been detailed......including new fuel lines, carb cleaning, new air filter, new headlight and bulbs, gas cap, battery and battery cover, clean and lubricated chain and sprockets, fresh oil change, and new oil dip stick.....even the rubber handle grips are scrubbed clean!  Now its time to put all this back together again......First a couple of my favorite before and afters.............

 

The kick stand had to be completely dis-assembled and re-painted, and all the springs cleaned and polished...........note the new "gold" spring, correct for this model 

 

    The under side of this seat was painted with a fresh coat of high gloss enamel.....note how white the foam rubber appears in the holes....the secret is a very thin 2 inch square piece of flexible styro-foam.........just tuck it in the hole, and it really adds a neat look

 

This is really a cool bike.......Honda beefed up the rear suspension and finally got the seat cover right.......plus, the design of the front fender is really sharp....this is also the first year for the new front forks......they only made this model for 3 years....'80, '81, and '82.........Not sure but I think they tourqed up the tranny a bit on this model.....the shift pattern is up instead of down...........A unique and distinctive feel, unlike the early models.............A really durable performer on the trails!

 

   I have to tell you, I have looked at hundreds of CT's as you well know, but I think this may be just about the nicest '80 model anywhere......but the real test is would it run........hey, this is a Honda! She fired on the first kick....No Kidding!! Unfortunately, it wouldn't idle properly and and would sometimes die when coming to a stop.......it had to be the carb.....so I removed it and thoroughly removed and cleaned all components and blew out all the jets with air......bingo! Fine tuned the air and idle screws and it ran smoothe as silk! Finished? Well, almost..........

 

If you ever come across the sales brochure for this model, you will notice that parts of the rear brake linkage have a "gold" plating to them, just like the kick-stand spring (new) that is in one of the previous pictures........I just happened to think about the Candy Gold touch-up spray paint that I bought from DrATV for my gold KO......the thin consistency of the "candy" paint did the trick......almost looked like gold plating.....

 

But now it was time to get this baby back to its owner........He had placed a lot of trust and faith in me to bring this CT back to life. I hoped he would be pleased with the results..........

.........Thanks for letting me share this with you and all our friends in Trail 70 land...................Jack

 

 

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