So, I seem to have a c70 in my driveway.

Somehow, I'm not too sure exactly, this C70 ended up in my driveway last night. It might have been my fault. I might have gone and looked at it....... Thought it would be a good idea..........and loaded it into my truck and brought it home. It might have happened that way. I'm not too sure, cause it sure looks rough today!

I'm missing many of the parts out of the down draft carb (its a 1971), the kick starter, the gearshift lever, the throttle, the points cover, drive chain, and nearly every fastener out of the engine cases! I'm also missing the headlight.

But, the seat is shiny, and the speedo sure looks nice.

I've wanted/needed a small bike for running errands, and to ride to the girlfriends and not freak out about my truck sitting outside full of tools, or my" big" bike leaking oil all over the place. I've been watching locally here, and it seems that anything that runs, is worth about $1000. I did see one CT90 for $850, but that's still more than my budget (which is as little as possible).

After looking at what I've got in the daylight, I'm thinking I might be ahead of the game, to just buy a 70cc Lifan engine for the beast and be done with it. I could pull the switcheroo to 12v then too, as I have no battery, and no light bulbs right now anyway.

I'm not sure if the regular headlight sold for the passports fits on the c70, I guess I'll have to send an email over to dratv.

Should I consider shoving a bigger engine in the bike, instead of another 70cc? Is it worth it to jump up to the 110cc? I suppose that would let me move up a tooth or more on the front sprocket and let me go faster, which is always a plus! I am such a cheapskate though...


Anyway, without further ado, here is the sweet monster:



Look at how nice that seat is.





The mill:



And of course, no c70 or the like comes with out this, the obligatory milk crate holding various parts.

Nice. A "real" one and not the "Passport" model. Looks like there are parts from several different bikes there. Do you have the plastics?

If you do an engine swap I don't see any reason to go with a 70cc when a larger one is nearly the same price. Consider going to a 125cc.

The way folks drive around here, you need all the power you can get to dodge them. Get the bigger engines, heck they go up to 140 cc for very little extra. That engine looks like it had been very wet, probably can not be saved.

Rod

I think it's all the same bike. This is a '71, which makes it a C70M I guess, it should be all gold, but has been painted blue.
I think these came without the sweet plastic leg guards/body work.

I was looking in the engine last night, and it's in shockingly great shape. But, with all the junk I'm missing, it's only another $100 or so to switch to a new 110 motor.

I see the yellow where the gas tank goes now. The C70 came with a large plastic leg shield. The CT70 was the trail model, and did not have the leg shield, but it did have a plastic cover over the main frame tube.

I second the motion about going big. eBay offers a Lifan 125cc semi-auto motor w/o carb or electrics for $258 and complete for $299 DELIVERED. I have one in both my fiddy and my C70 Passport and they run great at a low price. Highly recommended.

120cc Lifan that made it to Daytona and hung at JD's Scrub.
http://www.dualsportridersoflouisia...rt-to-Adventure-Or-the-slow-way-to-Daytona-FL

I have an 82 that I use daily. I sure would like one of the downdraft carbs, I hear they haul ass. Looks like a nice project. I am thinking of selling my last 81, as I don't want to deal with points, but the ones with points seem to be peppy.

I have a C70 too. Complete and running (supposedly ) when it was put away a decade ago. It was a great Vt Barn find and only cost me $50 and a case of beer. Its an older 6V model. I was just starting to make a plan to restore it and possibly do a 12 Volt conversion on it. In doing my research I stumbled across the Lifan Engines (125cc) and quickly realized I could slap one of those into the scoot for about $250. It would sure make the 12 volt conversion seemless and the restoration fairly cheap seeing how an engine rebuild would be taken completely out of the equation. My only reservations (so far) would be if the brakes and frame/wheels would be too feeble to make the higher powered engine vehicle safe to ride.
Mine!

I have a few ct90’s so I’m familiar with that engine and the whole original vs. Lifan dilemma. I still prefer the Honda’s over the Llifans but sometimes it is hard to justify the cost of going original. One thing to consider about going with a Lifan is that it is not a straight bolt in and go. You will need to adapt the wiring and if your bike was 6v you will need to convert to 12v. On the ct’s the foot pegs are different along with the engine mounts, but I think with yours the engine mounts might be the same as the Llifan. And then there is the exhaust to work out.
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The original carbs are not that hard to find on ebay or you can slap on one or the inexpensive replacements sold by the good dr. I’m not as familiar with the C models but I thought the carbs were a forward facing side draft not a down draft?
There are a ton of cool high performance parts for the 70s that will take them up to over 100cc and they are pretty cheap compared to high performance parts for a bigger bike. Of course there are also some pretty cool high performance parts for the Lifans too.

I should add that when I started looking for parts for the C70 I was surprised at how readily available they were. Most come from the far east but the sellers were real easy to communicate and deal with (via Ebay). They also were very amenable to offering me deals on shipping when I bought multiple items. I was able to find all the rusted (and missing) chrome/lights and etc items right off the bat. The quality of the (aftermarket) parts were excellent. I was hoping to find some beefier spokes to replace the rusted ones on the scoot but unless I want to order custom (through Buchanan) I'm stuck with the skinny ones. I wasn't sure about the added power and speed of a 125 on a wheel with bicycle dia. spokes.

The C70 frame and wheels are plenty strong, just look at what they haul on them in third world countries. The brakes are adequate as long as cables and cams are lubed and shoes are in good shape. Also, having a bigger engine doesn't mean you have to ride at 60 mph but it's nice to be able to accelerate fast enough avoid being run over.

I'm still waiting on my paperwork, gotta have that in my hands before I start working seriously on the bike. I have inspected the engine I've got, and although crusty, it seems to be in pretty good shape. It's spotless inside, and has compression, so I'll probably just repair what I've got for the time being. It'll be cheaper anyway, and I am a cheapskate!