Another Honda Trail 70 - what killed this one?

I traded a 1998 Honda Z50r for this Candy Gold Honda CT70K0 and some cash. At first glance, it looks rough, but it’s mostly complete and is begging to be brought back to life. Follow along to see it’s main issue and if we have parts to fix it. #HondaCT70 #Trail70 #MiniTrail

[@donsoule6411]

Same color as mine. Had to save up half the money and keep my grades up in school. Thought my parents and I were going to the Honda dealer to buy a Z50. Sales guy showed my father the brochure that had the yellow Z50 side-by-side to a blue CT70. Was the first I even knew Honda was producing those. A Z50 was $269.00… the CT70… $339.00. My father decided the 70 was better choice for a kid my size. Seventy dollars more for a CT70. Had to wait several weeks for it to come in. Long-story-short, it was worth the wait. Still have it!

[@dougdavault4256]

Buddy Mike good video another one brought back from the grave

[@donaldkaderis5524]

Watching you getting it run is always my best videos to watch…..

[@monkeyroo8740]

Great video buddy. Nice to see another one alive again

[@J_Business]

This bike's lived a tough life. It's so nice to see you bring this back from the brink

[@MiniBikeMike]

Yes, it has.

[@andyshondaxlsrestorations4733]

Great video it's so much fun bring back from the dead looking forward to seeing what you going to do with it next

[@franciscoolvera6871]

They always run 👍🏾

[@TMichaelJKnivestmichaeljknives]

Learn a lot from you Mike. I’m waiting on a new wire harness for my 72, and will install it because of your vids. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the next one.

[@davidkobelka7219]

Mike. Love the first inspection video. Hearing it pop pop is awesome. Looking forward to see where you take this build

[@univibe23]

Ahh boy! Brings back a lot of memories. I had one of these in 1970, the same color. I was just a kiddo not old enough for a license but just rode it around the farm and back roads. It never got better than that!!

[@MiniBikeMike]

👍🏻

[@rogerwright7112]

Mike, nice! looking forward to the rest of the series!

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Roger!

[@cainbeeping8480]

Crazy how bad that head was. Congrats on getting it running.

[@MrJoe11young]

This series on this bike is my favorite. I've seen these multiple times. Great work and thank you for sharing Mike. Take care.

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Joe! I’m just wrapping up the house renovation and am excited to get back to bike builds.

[@norcal8718]

Once again awesome video, keep it up bud 👍🏻

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks

[@mikeb6431]

Always enjoy seeing you troubleshoot these bikes. Great job Mike!

[@jeffferguson899]

looking forward to another build

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Jeff!

[@mikerafonemusic6177]

cool i have the same year and color its my 1st 70 thanks for the info

[@donaldcaissie]

Love the videos!

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Donnie!

[@donaldkaderis5524]

Great job Mike

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Don!

[@DavidRoss-xq3oc]

Love the videos Mike. I am now diagnosing the "no spark" on a 71 I recently bought, to hopefully join a future ride. I have learned a lot from watching your videos. Now off to see if i can get the dang thing to spark.

[@MiniBikeMike]

Does the bike have the original 6v, 72cc engine? Or are you chasing spark on an aftermarket 12v engine?

[@heykahle]

Nice video! I've worked on a lot of CT70s since I was a kid and owned 6 of them over the years.If I could make one suggestion? Get yourself some JIS screwdrivers. The Philips Screws are made different in Japan thats why you're stripping screws. Google, Japanese Industrial Standards, for the explanation.I like the screwdrivers made by VESSEL. Currently I own one that is an absolute cherry! I bought it from the original owner that had it stored for 25 years. Original title and keys. Cleaned the carb, changed the cracked fuel lines and it started on the third kick! 2238 original miles.Price? She only wanted $100 but I convinced her it was worth much much more so we settled on $120. Wouldn't take a penny more. Sweet lady, was just happy someone wanted it.

[@gerardkenny8408]

Another great video

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks Gerard!

[@tedvegas5586]

Nice project Mike

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks

[@fabianburns2591]

The cover on that side is called the cam keeper, the long bolt keeps the cam from rocking when it is installed correctly.

[@MiniBikeMike]

Not sure I agree with either of those statements, but to each their own.

[@kirrbby8153]

Amazing! I got a good laugh around 25:50 when you said..."I'm STILL wondering if this thing will run." Shows how tough these engines are...and how well you know them. These engines really, really, WANT to run. It's cool that you show us your first looks at these bikes. It's always a really fun part of buying a new bike...the exploration part. Rock on.

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks kirrbby!

[@LionWithTheLamb]

They're really durable. I know my Honda XR80 as a kid was ran a good ten minutes without any oil because a friend didn't know I left to go get some oil. I had told him that he was allowed to ride it but on this day he didn't know there wasn't oil in it. It never locked up or knocked or anything afterwards.

[@Hodenkat]

Looks like the last owner never replaced ANYTHING. They just ran that thing into the ground. Well, I guess some of these little bikes wound-up in places where there were no "Mike's Garage" around to work on them, so folks just took things into their own hands and patched things up the best they knew how. Looks like it ran with NO OIL for a while! 😞

[@MiniBikeMike]

Yeah, I would guess that most of these little Hondas never even saw an oil change in their short life. I’ve seen a lot of home-brewed patch work. 🤣

[@slideoff1]

I love a good mystery.

[@SpeakerKevin]

My CT70 had a sprocket that looked like that so I replaced it with a new one but within a week it too was shot, not realizing that the stretched chain had caused the problem in the first place.

[@melfrank8379]

Wondered if you ever used a Heli-coil Mike. When I was a kid just learning how to work on bikes I had a Yamaha 80 YG-1. I didn't know better the head was aluminum and I over tightened the spark plug. I took the head to a local Bike shop and they fixed it. When I looked at what they did it was great, my new threads were steel. They used a Heli-coil, a lot cheaper than replacing a head.

[@MiniBikeMike]

Oh yeah, I’ve used a few. My first time was on the aluminum head of my 65 Corvair. I did the opposite…..I didn’t tighten one of the plugs tight enough and the compression finally blew the plug completely out of the head as I was driving down the road. I had to drill it out and install a Heli-coil.

[@SpeakerKevin]

Carb cleaning turned out great. Is there a specific detergent for carburetors?

[@MiniBikeMike]

I don’t remember the brand name. I just went to my local auto parts store and bought a gallon of whatever carb cleaner they had on the shelf.

[@bartgoins1782]

Another great video. I have a quick question for you. When you first checked for spark, before connecting a jumper, the ignition wires were just there. Wouldn't you need to connect ignition wires to simulate the key being in the on position to get any spark? I understand after disconnecting the harness, and attaching your jumper, the ignition switch wires are a non-issue. Hey, I'm still learning here, so I'm trying to make sure I'm understanding everything, and not missing anything. Thanks again.

[@MiniBikeMike]

The key switch has two jobs: 1) ground the coil to kill spark 2) make a connection to allow battery power to flow to lights. Let’s assume the engine has spark. The engine will always have spark, until you turn the key to off and the coil is grounded. If you unplug or cut off the key switch, the engine will continue to have spark, you just removed the method to kill the spark.

[@bartgoins1782]

That makes sense. Thanks for the education.

[@mrfenderguy1]

What solution do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner? Also did you rebuild the carb with new gasket’s, O rings, etc. Looking forward to this series. Thanks

[@MiniBikeMike]

I believe it’s Berryman’s carb cleaning fluid. No, just disassemble the carb, ran it thru the cleaner and reassemble with the same parts.

[@zachsiebers5742]

You got another left table😮

[@MiniBikeMike]

My 79 year old neighbor sold his Goldwing and had this nearly new table for sale. For a couple hundred bucks, I couldn’t pass it up.

[@zachsiebers5742]

@@MiniBikeMike one day I’ll be able to afford a lift table that nice.

[@randyhemker792]

👍👍

[@MiniBikeMike]

Thanks

[@donsoule6411]

The oil screen might be plugged, which would restrict oil flow to the head.

[@MiniBikeMike]

My thoughts exactly. I’m cleaning frame parts now, but when I get to the engine, I’ll pull the screen.

[@rogerwright7112]

Mike, Question? What is the best 17 tooth sprocket for My Ice Bear Champion? Someone recommended JT Sprockets but want to make sure!

[@MiniBikeMike]

I’ve never had a problem with any of the brands. I’ve used JT in the past. Just make sure the sprocket you get is for a 420 chain and has a 17mm hole.

[@rogerwright7112]

Thank you sir! Much appreciated.

[@user-dn5ok5fz1t]

The seats are always just destroyed on those bikes.Everyone I've ever seen like that in life.Unless it had been redone you know

[@HeavysquadRacing]

How did you bypass the harness?

[@MiniBikeMike]

Disconnect the black coil wire from the harness. Unplug the engine from the harness. There is a black wire in the engine plug…..just jump it to the black coil wire.

[@donaldkaderis5524]

Let me know if this one will be for sale always wanted a candy gold ct70

[@MiniBikeMike]

I’ll keep you updated. There will be a couple more videos on this bike.

[@ironhead320]

wish I knew where your getting these

[@MiniBikeMike]

They just show up at my shop. I see stories of guys driving 5 or 6 hours one way to pick up a bike. Of the few hundred horizontal Hondas I’ve owned over the years, only once have a driven more than 20 miles away…..and that one was just in Louisville, about 75 minutes from home. More than 50% of the bikes I buy, they contact me to see if I’m interested and then bring the bike to my location.

[@ironhead320]

@@MiniBikeMike wow I'm looking for one had one when I was a kid road that all over it got stolen and cops never found it.Last.one I seen on ebay in worse shape guy wanted 900.00