I bought a Barnfind 1969 Honda Mini Trail | Will it run?

My dad's first motorcycle was a Honda Mini Trail from over 50 years ago. This is the story of how I got my hands on an original 1969 Honda Z50, much like what he grew up riding. Can we get it to run? Enjoy!
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[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

I'm your dad's age and this was the first bike I ever rode. My two uncle's got it for use around the farm and for my education. My uncles had served in the second world war. Both one in the Pacific and one in Europe. God bless both of them. They set me on my way to my love of bikes.

[@scottw550]

Those Honda Mini Trail are indestructible.

[@robbell8507]

I remember coming home with good grades and my dad took me down to the Honda dealership on 5th Street in Owensboro Kentucky in about 1969 or 70 and bought me a red Honda Mini Trail 50. It was $300 and I remember like it was yesterday. I can't remember though if it was red and white or red and silver. I think it was red and white but it looked just about like this one. Great memories

[@chrismoody1342]

I’m the same age as your father. I can’t tell you the countless hours of fun I had riding this little bike. It wasn’t mine but I’d swap bikes with a friend. My favorite activity was riding a wheelie up the entire hillside. Those bikes weren’t that great off-road nor were they fast or anything else, they were just 100% fun. Oh by the way all Hondas start on the first or second kick.

[@nycrandy]

I had so much fun with my Mini Trail in 1969 . It started 30 years of dirt bike riding. Thanks for the video what took me back the most was the sound of that 50cc engine. I saved my paper route money and mowing lawns for over a year.

[@daveco1270]

Dad riding in the rain with a pair of needle nose pliers on the throttle cable. Pretty funny. These old Honda's want to run, even if they've been sitting for a while. If it's only running a choke it probably just needs a good carb clean and it'll back to 100 percent.

[@bartmotorcycle]

Yeah we did a carb rebuild and new spark plug along with a few other minor things and it's running like a dream

[@jarhead6153]

Bart…you need to make a vid on the Honda CT-200/ CT-90/ CT-110 which now has been transformed to the Honda Trail 125. Fits right into “retro” motorcycle that’s actually now made again, which is what we all yearn for…

[@PineyRider]

Well if that wasn't a "feel good" video, I don't know!! I was envious of my neighbor across the street that had one of those. We only had a Briggs and Stratton 2½hp minibike. My first street bike was a 1975 Honda CB550 Four Super Sport. And now I own a 2022 Royal Enfield INT650 and it's almost exactly the same blue my Honda was. Fun video. Love your toy collection. Greetings from Manchester, NJ

[@sparky6086]

I had a blue 1969 Z50, when I was a kid. Good times!

[@menom7]

LOL> Watching your Dad RIDE THIS THING in the RAIN,was just TOTAL AWESOMENESS!!! GOOD FOR HIM!!!

[@oceanturtles5779]

They never die , toughest little bike ever made .

[@pinaricyt]

Man, I wish I could triple like this video! Your dad is just great, and to see his face light up at the sight of the little Honda is priceless. Nice job, sir! The Mini Trail is also one of my most exciting childhood memories. I would love to get my hands on one. Keep up the great work!

[@mariastenljung9159]

Your dad is young again, and very happy

[@mr.carguy654]

What a great old bike! Just proves you don't need 500+ cc to have fun, anything with an engine and two wheels is instantly fun. I have two 50cc "bikes" a 1976 Simson S50B and a Jawa Babetta 207 and they're both sooo much fun! That's gonna be great for your kids to start learning on!

[@twanhams2635]

I have a 80cc "sport" bike and a little crossbike (a Tomos) and they're super fun, especially since you can ride them in Holland without a motorcycle license

[@retro_grade]

My very first bike I ever rode was a 1971 K2. My grandfather bought it for my uncle used years ago, and I crashed it off a 4 ft ledge after accidentally upshifting into 2nd gear. The throttle mechanisms are notorious for sticking and that bike has been crashed into so many fences and vehicles through the years. Its in similar condition but exactly as I remember it. I still have the bike at 35 years old, with a photo of my grandfather and I working on it together when I was 12 or so. Its probably the only bike I'd never sell, under any circumstances. I got a chuckle out of the BAT ad - think I recognize the first one on that list!

[@raymondj8768]

great bikes i learned to ride on one mine was blue . pop is having a blast !

[@PaulPitrone]

I wasn't fortunate enough to have had one of these as a youth, but I have one today!!!!

[@geraldwren9645]

I had this same z50 mine was a 71 ,, bet I had it till I was married in 84 , I miss that bike , seeing u having your dad involved in the mini restoration / back to life , I could see myself riding as your dad did . Thanks for the video , Take care of the Mini 😊

[@analogemma]

This was very cool to watch, made me smile

[@Last_one_before_I_go]

Ah, the bike I couldn't afford when I was 12, I finally got decades later. I restored mine about 5 years ago. You didn't say how much you paid, but I'll be free with my story: I bought my 69' AK1 maybe 15 years ago, and at that time paid $1500. It was complete and not dented. Yes, I paid too much, but where are you going to find another that's a great restoration candidate? Even at that time I knew it'd be tough to find OEM parts - some really did need to get swapped out. OEM tank, headlight bucket, muffler and chainguard were either unobtanium new, or a kings ransom used. I lucked out and didn't need to go there. I had to put it away for 5 years after I got it, but that's a different story. I did a 100% ground up restoration. I pulled every part and made it as usable as possible. I wire brushed every single grade 8 nut, bolt and washer. Where I could swap OEM (bad) for OEM (new) I did. I maybe put $3000 into it, so a total of $4500 was spent on the project. It's perfect. Instant conversation starter. I could probably sell it and break even or better, but I'm not interested at this point. Congrats on your find. I know it'll be tough to spare the money, but find/gather the missing parts NOW and put away until you can deal with rebuild and original paint costs. These are getting real rare, no joke. Good luck.

[@bartgoins1782]

It's great that you bought that for you and your dad. That is called, "Making memories."

[@alexanderconti521]

Love the commentary from your daughter. Awesome video.

[@jarhead6153]

Awesome….you made your Father’s Day.

[@FlyingHighVeteran]

Got allot of memories and miles on the Honda 50 Mini Trail when I was a kid--sure was some good times.

[@BilgemasterBill]

That's gratifying to watch! A little Honda Trail was actually the very first "motorcycle" I ever rode, back in the late '60s in Downtown Boston--a charming place to grow up. A buddy had got his hands on one somehow. Yeah..."somehow". It...um...disappeared very soon after--probably to pay off some of his Dad's bar tab. After that it was just a long succession of barely-running Briggs&Stratton or Tecumsah engine minibikes with nickels typically hammered into their worn out centrifugal clutches to make them direct-drive and perhaps only "notional" brakes. They were just crude lumps in comparison to that slick Honda. Still, they were ALL surefire fun when you're like 10 though. It seems you were lucky finding that semi-decent one, which seems to look and run well enough to proudly qualify as a "light fixer-upper". I see "Royal Enfield Bullet" is on that motorcycle desiderata list of yours. That's what I mostly chuff around on nowadays: an '05 Bullet 500 in that green "Military" trim. I just adore that über-elemental old thumper, being already sort of wise to its generally finicky "Britbike" ways, though it was made in India, having already owned a couple of Norton twins and a BSA Victor 441 single. If you do get a Bullet and don't mind the odd tinkering and fettling, I highly recommend one of the pre-2006 original preunit "Iron Barrel" designs. I'd be the first to admit they ain't for everyone, but I'm pretty confident YOU'D have the mechanical chops to happily nurse one along. Unlike later models, the preunit "Iron Bellies" are true engineering fossils, basically unchanged since 1954, or even the late '30s, when the Bullet model first appeared, in many respects.

[@blazesboylan7947]

Knew it was you from your prose style, mention of the Bullet confirmed it. Got my red Z50 for Christmas in 1969 when I was twelve and probably clocked more mileage on asphalt than dirt. Tried to turn it into a chopper then gave up, patched it back together (mostly) and traded it in for an SL100, which I also rode mostly on the street.

[@BilgemasterBill]

@@blazesboylan7947 OH! How goes it there esteemed Joyce fan? If I'd known you'd be around I'd have onomatopoeiaized the sound of that Trail's first startup à la 'Finnegan's Wake' and the birth of the world. You here to sell this poor lad on one of those newfangled twins? I'd say he's probably easy pickings for such evangelizing what with his elderly Triumph and Honda already being of that parallel ilk. Funny about that yearning for choppers back in the bygone. It must have had something to do with that whole '60s Zeitgeist and its desire for "transcendence" that persisted well on into the '70s in less fashionable spots, like wherever you might find the likes of me. We used to saw off bicycle forks and then hammer them onto the existing ones to get that stretchy look--wouldn't even weld or otherwise secure them in any way, just keep wheelying until they broke and set our chins into the pavement. Classy, right?

[@disarterr]

"My arms are hurting" :D Anyways, you revived it! Good job! Hopefully your children will ride it soon too!

[@geeksgamesandgears2369]

Silver tags are early production 69 bikes and they don’t have the vin on the federal safety cert and the tag is held on with adhesive without rivets. So that is correct and should be original. I have a pretty roached silver tag frame I’m hoping to save, it’s cracked and been poorly rewelded in the past but hopefully it can be revived.

[@cramersclassics]

I have a "black" tag Z50 that is dated 9/69. No title. Is it a 1969 or 1970? Thanks! Kirby

[@geeksgamesandgears2369]

@@cramersclassics it’s hard to say. Both 69 and 70 models are considered k1’s and the vin data covers the model ranges but doesn’t break it down by year. That production date may be late enough for an early production 70 or it could still be a 69. 69-70 Black tag bikes should be virtually identical to each other. I was able to find mine was a silvertag even though the tag is missing by the lack of rivet holes in the neck and the vin falling below the known silvertag range. Sorry if this isn’t much help.

[@grene1955]

Awesome video, and great to see your Dad grinning like a little kid!

[@GriotDNB]

Lol, literally just an hour ago fitted my tear tire. Had its original tyres still on it, and 43 years later all was easy to disassemble en reassemble. Love the little buggers.

[@kriscotner7105]

Great video! I had a '76 Z50 in yellow when I was a kid so now I've got a '22 Monkey(in yellow!)

[@GriotDNB]

The 125? How's that working for ya? Kinda tempted to pick one up, trying to get as much generations of monkeys for my collection. Is it a comfortable ride ar 65 mph?

[@GriotDNB]

Love it in yellow btw 💛

[@shashankshekhar6801]

😍love you, for a marvelous small Honda rejuvenation and restoration of nostalgic memories of my childhood and youth. I have a deimler Stryer Puch 65 cc old bike of my young age. I would love to restore it. I loved the reaction and joy of your Papa on that cute Honda. Love you again from India ❤️👍

[@retro_grade]

While the other seat could have been recovered, the one you found was a nice match to the patina of the bike!

[@habitmoto]

Great job bring it back to life. Love keeping them original! 👏

[@carlhebert4951]

Can't wait for you to land that CB 125 that's on your list. 😁😁 Great video. Small bore = fun !!

[@rfiskillingussoftly6568]

It sounded exactly awesome!! I had to start mine on the kickstand" cause I was 3 yrs old... I rode the sh#t out of it for six or seven years" Balm!

[@zachc2991]

I have this exact same bike. I am also from Iowa. Love it!

[@gelfyd1]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!!

[@JetSkiBuyFixPlaySellChannel]

I picked up a few of these recently as little more than frames. They made almost 300,000 of the hardtails before 1972.

[@jumpfortyfour9965]

one happy dad and lad

[@petergillespie6395]

Looks like dad may be claiming it as his own😊

[@TheHoodGuru]

Dude we have one in our old garage. Family home still has one but its under lock and we dont know where the key is. But ours was blue. Me and my older brothers rode it and it was super fun. I still want to break it out of the garage cabinet one day. Our old garage has cabinets as it was a custom built garage way back then. But this video brings back memories in sound, visuals etc. I remember ever detail of that bike and I was young and didnt really know about motors and carburetors and stuff. I remember the 3 gears tho.

[@bandit7519]

This is my first bike too but in the 90s I had a Honda and then when my older brothers told me they could make it go faster and I let them tear apart engine and we couldn’t t get it back together I was like 6 they was 12 and 13 and yes when my dad got home from work that day he was pissed my grandfather put it back together but never got it to run right again so I got a newer one that year for my bday and my older brothers had a paper route and they had to save their money to help get me a new bike someday I’ll till you guys about the day my older brother taught me how to ride my little Honda 50 I ended up in er with forehead split up but boy I have loved riding since that day

[@LilGrizzynick]

My arms are hurting 😂

[@rockyesterline7942]

In 1982 I bought a 1969 Honda mini-trail 50 pull the motor out bought a 1971 ct90 Trail Honda put that 90 motor and wiring in the Mini Trail and had 2 have a special rear sprocket made so I could put the 90 chain on there so it will do about 55 right now in high range and it does have lights so it's street legal but I never registered it for the street!! and just now 2023 March 4th just ordered a new carburetor and battery for it because it's been sitting for decade after decade and going to put new tires and tubes on it! But normally ride and race my 92 CR500 Honda and just bought a brand new Honda 2022 CRF450R and I already put $4,000 worth of mods on it also that bike I would have never believed is just about as fast as my Honda 92 CR500 500 is all tricked out and is the fastest dirtbike I ever rode in my life had it bored ported polished FMF pipe milled head new rims tires o-ring chain all new plastic throttle grips rims carburetor work this bike is clean LOL

[@nikiandre6998]

This is legendary bike cause few generations of motorcyclists started their way from this tiny little beast

[@thenexthobby]

Dad: In like 10 mins he's got it started, running, tuned, ridden.

[@bartmotorcycle]

LMAO

[@richarddixson7186]

My first bike . I was 5 now I'm 55

[@henryhartley9993]

Nice one, typical Honda, you know it's gonna run....

[@rockyesterline7942]

Yeah, the minute you went back home to think it over. It could have been gone in 3 minutes after you left. I have a 1969 Honda Mini Z50. But I put a ninety motor in it

[@irvb9881]

Love it when the cinematographer complains about their arms hurting 😂

[@m.b8257]

That’s a beauty!

[@nathanlovern5283]

Hope you checked the oil before starting it up

[@davebarrowcliffe1289]

32 psi on those knobbly tyres?! Are you sure???!!! Great little bike you've got there. What's the inside of the tank like?

[@austinl.2703]

Did you change the oil ? What oil did you put in it ?

[@Handsomefrench]

I have one..used everyday in my company

[@by_1771]

Can you do a Video of the Full Historie of MZ

[@irvingalvarez2243]

any plans to restoring it to 90-95% original condition yet? I'm looking for a similar project and I suppose being that old and rare must add up to be pricey real quick, so I'm looking for a newer model (70-80)

[@bartmotorcycle]

So I'm basically just getting original used parts when I can to match the look, for example the footpegs aren't correct so I'm looking at a few used sets. I have an original headlight but I'm pretty sure it's a later year, the red is just a bit lighter. I'm not planning on making it street legal and I like this look so I'll mostly keep it like this

[@bartmotorcycle]

And yeah it's expensive. What year are you going to get?

[@irvingalvarez2243]

@@bartmotorcycle I don't have a preferred year and I do like the older esthetics but a newer with suspension would also be nice; my intention is to buy a working minibike or 3 wheel ATV on the cheap and spend mostly time in updating or restoring depending on the parts availability and condition; how much did you pay for yours?

[@almac3909]

I have the cb125 in my garage waiting for you.

[@donnieboesch3502]

That little thing is cool. Is it 2 or 4 stroke?

[@themulesheriff3009]

Four stroke

[@davisdeen-ty4so]

Those Little Hondas Are OVER INGAINEERED ,, they run FOREVER

[@samboggs3499]

My first bike was a 1970 Honda Trail 70...

[@dandersonjr]

Typical Dad move. Wears a helmet on the 50 and then just turns his hat backwards on the bigger bike. Classic.

[@theoneandonlynono3527]

Things cool. I have a mint 69 all original

[@hagework117]

Why did I think that Bart was in Hawaii?

[@jala6707]

A great video. At 6:05 min: perhaps not a good idea to start and run a motorbike in an enclosed garage... :-)

[@linusmadrone]

Grampa speed shifter

[@TanyutHuidrom]

Hey FLuuMP!

[@richarddixson7186]

Correction I was 9

[@mrsmith4662]

A classic daft one.

[@mayaarini-wz7hk]

seandainya saat ini ayahku masih hidup, aku akan memberikan hadiah honda cb 100 tahun 1979 warna merah untuknya agar dia selalu merasa bahagia

[@FSEVENMAN]

Dude you have a good list but how is the CT70 not on that? 😮

[@torino428cj]

My 1st ride except my bicycle !! My dad paid 299.00 , choose a blue one. Now im 62 in 17 days , greeat memories.