[JSchmitz]

I have a 1972 Honda 70 Mini Trail. It was bought originally by my father-in-law. My wife and her siblings wore it out Lol. I need to do a top end rebuild on it at the very least. It has almost no compression. There are a ton of parts out there. I'm looking for some advice on what to buy or avoid. Not overly concerned with originality. Wouldn't mind a few more cubes of course.

[Brian Baker]

There are a ton of parts out there available for these from NOS, to reproduction, and hell...the Chinese even began knocking off copies of these things that were so good that you could pull a part off the Chinese knock-off and mount it on the Honda with no issues.

I can't speak to the quality of those Chinese parts however. My advise would be to join an online club or blog (like this one) that specializes in these older Honda's and learn all you can, and search for parts there. Me? I'd go go the next bore size up from original whether it needs it or not.

[scott70]

Sorry no advice but I had one of those when I was a kid,,,,a blue honda trail 70. Did the same thing,,,drove it so much I wore it out(and previous owner) and it got to a point it wouldn't run and it felt like no compression. Fun little bike.3 speed,,,no clutch.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Ive seen a Honda 50. And have the Little Honda 50 record album...it plays through well with great nostalgia. That counts.

[sdbob]

At 15 going on 16 my parents didnt want me to have my grandfather's 54 Chevy. So got a Honda 50,wheelstanded,ran it to almost death.Rebuilt it once.i was everywhere,we had about 8 of us with bikes. We bushwacked a few people, then ran like he.....

['ol Pinion head]

Bought my Honda 50 K1 in '92, road it for quite a few years at several big swappers. Was often deluged at swappers by folks wanting to buy it, eventually ziptied a NOT 4 Sale sign on it. Amazing, but it would still gather a crowd if I road it to the showers in the eves. Honda 70's being heavier & more cumbersome to load, many of us for years ignored them, passing them up to buy unless they were really cheap. Like many other things of our youth, the Honda 70's have gone way up in interest & value. Thankfully, today, there are a wide array of reproduction parts avail for both along with blogs to answer your questions.

[dataway]

Feel free to contact me. I've built a few of them.

Below are some pics of the last Honda 70 based race bike I built. Won numerous championship with my wife riding. Due to our rule structure I was limited to 75cc max. But we worked with what we had ... bike was based on an SL70 frame, MB5 front forks and disc brake, extended swingarm, weighed about 106 lbs. Topped out around 72 mph with a light rider behind the windscreen.

Mostly modified stock internals, aftermarket Kitaco cylinder head, lightened crank, Kitaco magneto ignition, Keihin 20mm carb, Takagawa camshaft, close ratio 4th gear set, forget who made the exhaust, obviously the wheels were replaced with 17" Excel rims so I could fit some European race rubber.

These days it's much easier ... companies like Kitaco make very high quality big bore kits, carb kits etc. There are also a ton of Chinese companies making stuff for them ... but the two premier names are Kitaco and Takagawa (Japanese) ... Taka stuff is a bit over the top expensive, but F1 quality stuff.

Be aware a good condition SL70, Mini-Trail etc are worth considerably more in stock condition. Usually you can still find the OEM parts.

[b-man]

They’re cool.

My 1970, all original except for the seat.

[dataway]

Sweet.

I used to correspond with a group in Holland that would ride their Honda DAX ( Euro name for the Trail 70) from Amsterdam to Paris every year ... a whole bunch of them ... and they were quite an ill behaved bunch too

[dataway]

Couple of poor videos of the old bike in action.

#917 wife Mary riding, NHIS in New Hampshire.

Some of her victories were embarrassingly wide margins ... I tried to convince the guys that the Honda four strokes were the answer .. but they like to stick with their two strokes. We destroyed them for years and they never came around.

https://youtu.be/Moy7rFxICnU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxprBjCYTtQ

[highway star]

I remember buying a new '72 CT70 for $400.00
in 1972. Wow the prices on ebay. I think its ok if you mod the engine internals but keep the rest oem, ie , no chrome wheels or polished engine covers, I've seen, seems to lower value. I'm scouting for a CT70H model. A bit rare. Ya got pics?

[ANDYA]

When I was 10 years old my grandfather bought me a 78 Honda 50. Had lots of fun on that thing! Eventually it was stolen out of our garage. My grandfather then bought me an 82 XL100 which I still have. It's been in my basement for the last 26 years. One of these days I'll get it out and running again.

[Simple Man]

Wife had a Honda QA50 when we married. Great for cruising the neighborhood. But it also ended up with lo compression, the only way to start it was to put it in gear, and push it. Ended up trading it to her nephew for a pistol.

[cdrookie]

Join the Hondaatc70 facebook page, basically the same motor. On the cheap, 88cc BB cylinder and a 20mm carb/intake, unifilter pod filter, and mod the exhaust. If you want to spend a little money the Piranna 140 would turn it into an animal, or Pitster Pro 140, a Daytona 190 would make it flat out dangerous. The Honda 70 market is HOT right now, your wallet is the only limit.

[Brian Baker]

You're fortunate there is a huge support base for these and as such many many parts available. Me? I picked Indian dirt bikes from the 70's to be into and there isn't anything but NOS stuff available for them, and it's scarce.

[68ragtop]

Had a 69? (hard tail) mini trail 50 when I was a kid. I can still hear the sound of it in my head. Very smooth running engine.
Those things have really shot up in value in the last 10 years. Mine was burgundy & Silver.
Was never a huge fan of the 70's at the time, but they grew on me & I really think they are cool today.

[JSchmitz]

Good info and stories! Here's the bike. I'm thinking don't touch the frame paint but restore the rims etc. I guess I'll just tear it down and figure it out what it needs along the way.

[b-man]

Preserve as much of the originality as you can, most definitely do not repaint the frame as it looks to be in nice shape.

Here’s the companion to my Honda 70, a Quarter Horse mini bike powered by a West Bend 2-stroke from the mid to late ‘60s that’s 100% original. A previous owner stripped off the lights and fenders like any self respecting mini biker would have done back in the day. The seat flips back after pulling a quick pin to expose the gas cap, the bottle shaped frame tubes contain the fuel.

[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by b-man

Preserve as much of the originality as you can, most definitely do not repaint the frame as it looks to be in nice shape.

Here’s the companion to my Honda 70, a Quarter Horse mini bike powered by a West Bend 2-stroke from the mid to late ‘60s that’s 100% original. A previous owner stripped off the lights and fenders like any self respecting mini biker would have done back in the day. The seat flips back after pulling a quick pin to expose the gas cap, the bottle shaped frame tubes contain the fuel.

Two really cool bikes that you have there! Never saw a quarter horse before. I like patina. But the rims are really rusty. I guess I could buy new ones and save the originals.

[b-man]

Nothing wrong with restoring certain pieces like the rims if they really need attention, but it looks like most of that bike will clean up nicely. If the rims are too far gone due to rust then blast and paint, if they can look okay without paint by using some CLR on them that might be worth a shot.