Preparing my daily ridden 1982 Honda C70 for our biggest adventure yet

[JerryH]

Originally Posted by slowlane

Offcenter I like those little Honda CT90-110's. The amazing reliability of the little Honda's never ceases to amaze me. It is one of the reasons that I am choosing to ride mine cross-country.

Yesterday I painted the bash guard and tonight I installed it and rode around a bit. The new shocks should work out good. They are a little stiff now but with a small load they should be perfect. The shocks are about 3/4" longer than stock so they move the tire away from the fender a bit which should help prevent it from packing with mud so easily. I also gave the Honda a quick wash because it was looking rather shabby.

Very nice setup. I love the bash plate, and would definitely keep it if you are even just going to ride on gravel roads. A small rock can easily punch a hole in the engine case. I might be a little concerned about the front fender, I remember mine being made out of fairly hard plastic. I might go with a more dirt oriented fender. More gas is always a good idea if possible. You already have the start of the best luggage system ever conceived. I have a milk crate on the rack of my XT225, it is full, I have stuff attached all over the outside of it, including saddlebags on the sides, a sleeping bag bungeed on top, and an extension on the back end of the rack where I have a very large T-bag mounted, sitting on the extension, and strapped to the milk crate. Along with my tank panniers and front fender bag, I can easily carry a weeks worth of stuff.


As far as the Symba, I looked it over good, I read a ride report from a couple who rode them across the U.S. then across Africa. I really wanted one, and have not completely ruled it out, But it just looked a lot flimsier than the C70. I read a lot of bad things on the SYM forum, no parts availability, rusting very quickly, rubber rotting very quickly, and very poor quality paint. It just doesn't seem like the old Honda quality is there.

[slowlane]

Thanks JerryH. It will definitely have extra gas as I plan on mounting a 1 gallon tank on either side of the rear end. Yes the milk crate is an amazingly simple and useful stuff carrier. I have hauled many things in it as well as attached many things to it over the years. I have ridden this bike on tons of gravel roads and every "ding" and "clang" of a rock hitting the underside of the bike was always a little disconcerting. This bike is going to be in for a lot more than a simple gravel road in the future so I felt some sort of guard was necessary. As for the front fender, I am going to remove the original and replace it with a cheap repro fender that I have, and I'm not too concerned about that one getting beat up or broken.

[MacNoob]

I didn't see where your spiffy new shocks came from?

[slowlane]

The shocks are from hondatrailbikes.com. They are listed under the Z50 '79-'87 category in the frame section as "Rear Shock Set - AFT - 280mm - All Models". The pair ended up being $140 even with shipping.

[elite1]

So, when does the adventure begin?

[slowlane]

Honestly, I wish it was starting tomorrow. The big adventure should start in late June. I am moving from Texas to New Hampshire to work on a farm and between leaving my current job and going up there I will be taking the C70 on a long trip. At first I didn't really want to say what I have planned, didn't want to spoil the anticipation, but what the heck. The C70 and I are going to make a run at the whole Trans America Trail. I have always loved exploring dirt roads and trails and for years have wanted to take a cross country trip with this bike. Unfortunately, it's just too slow for pretty much any U.S. long distance road so my dream started to fade. Then I found out about the TAT and decided that's my chance. I have to do it. I'll be between jobs so I'll have all the time that I need and I have been saving money quite a while for "something, someday" so finances shouldn't be a problem. In the coming months I plan on taking several smaller trips on the bike on with the setup I am creating in this thread to make sure that its functional. I am well aware that the C70 is not the most logical choice of bike for the trail, but for me, I can't see using any other. After over 25,000 trouble-free miles, and with it still running as strong as ever, I am not concerned with its reliability in the least, which will be comforting on such a journey. I have traveled so many miles with the Honda that I have developed a great understanding of it and riding it is practically second-nature. I placed an order for the TAT maps a couple days ago so they should hopefully be here next week for me to start perusing.

[slowlane]

Nice. Especially nice if it has 30k miles on it! The down-tube bash plate looks great, like stock. - if they made them stock. After riding a 100cc Honda step through SE Asia I can certainly see the use of a bash plate for some types of riding - for instance, it makes sliding over logs pretty easy. Did you make a cut out for the oil drain plug? Did you have to find a center stand elsewhere? Yours is a '82, right? With CDI?

Thanks. I have always maintained it so it has held up well. I did cut out a hole for the oil drain plug. The center stand is an all OEM Honda setup from dratv.com. They carry all sorts of parts for these bikes in the U.S. Yes mine is an '82 12-volt CDI bike.

Go into more detail on what you are planning to do.

Where? Lots of dirt? How long? Far?

Bigger bore and upgraded clutch will make things easier. Just saying.....

Sorry I guess I missed your post. Yes there will be lots of dirt, rocks, and mud. I am going to attempt the full Trans America Trail this summer. I have as much time as it takes. I've considered upgrading to a 88cc piston/cylinder setup but I am tempted to just leave the bike alone even if it means helping it up the steeper sections. I'm not sure how much more power the stock bottom end and transmission can reliably handle.

[TUCKERS]

I had a Brand new Honda 50 Step through in 1967! One of the best bikes I have EVER owned and I've owned PLENTY. So reliable, so easy to ride, such a pleasure. I think It's a great choice for the TAT...why not? Everything you need should fit in or on the milk crate. Nice job on the bash plate. I applaud your efforts

[bayoulubejim]

Originally Posted by slowlane

Thanks. I have always maintained it so it has held up well. I did cut out a hole for the oil drain plug. The center stand is an all OEM Honda setup from dratv.com. They carry all sorts of parts for these bikes in the U.S. Yes mine is an '82 12-volt CDI bike.

Sorry I guess I missed your post. Yes there will be lots of dirt, rocks, and mud. I am going to attempt the full Trans America Trail this summer. I have as much time as it takes. I've considered upgrading to a 88cc piston/cylinder setup but I am tempted to just leave the bike alone even if it means helping it up the steeper sections. I'm not sure how much more power the stock bottom end and transmission can reliably handle.

The bottom end can handle anything you throw at it.

Go 88cc,, cam , 2mm bigger carb, Upgrade or at least refresh the clutch. Leave the gearing alone.

If It was me?

Beef up clutch .Case bore it, go to 125cc,free flowing pipe, cam, and 22mm carb. Xr tank on underbone. Up one on front sprocket.

[chazbird]

What a fun way to ride the TAT and it will be an adventure. It will probably be the ultimate test for a C70 and will equal or better, if that's the correct word, in how Nate the Postman's C110 trans Asia or the Symba underboning RTW rides tested their bikes.

[slowlane]

The TAT maps came today! Also I modified (cut up) a cheap aftermarket leg shield to fit over the bash guard. I just couldn;t bring myself to cut my original shield even though its somewhat beat up. To me a C70 is just not a C70 without that leg shield. This aftermarket shield is of very inferior quality to the original and I probably wouldn't even put it on a rider, but it was perfect to be hacked to fit my bike for the trail.

Lots of cutting to clear the bash guard tubes.


I had to trim off some of the bottom as well. This picture makes it look a lot better than in person. I'd say it fits just okay.

[slowlane]

I had a Brand new Honda 50 Step through in 1967! One of the best bikes I have EVER owned and I've owned PLENTY. So reliable, so easy to ride, such a pleasure. I think It's a great choice for the TAT...why not? Everything you need should fit in or on the milk crate. Nice job on the bash plate. I applaud your efforts

Thanks. I really like the subtle styling differences of those '60's models compared to the early '80's Passports. My friend had a nearly mint '65 C100 that I rode a few times. It was noticeably slower than my C70 though. My C70 is easily the best vehicle that I have ever owned, cars included. With mostly just basic maintenance, it has never let me down.

[vtwin]

I spoke to the president of our club, the CJMC and he told me the CT90/110 are really Passports that a dealer in Boise modified for the farmers in the area as farm bikes. Honda found out the dealer was selling so many of the little bikes that they went there and found out how the dealer was modifying them. They copied the design and out came the CT90.

[elite1]

So I just read up on the TAT and the author of the website suggests at least 400cc's to handle the trail. I applaud your faith in your little c70 to be able to stand up to this. If there is any small displacement bike that can do this, its a Honda Cub. Soichiro would be proud.

[slowlane]

I spoke to the president of our club, the CJMC and he told me the CT90/110 are really Passports that a dealer in Boise modified for the farmers in the area as farm bikes. Honda found out the dealer was selling so many of the little bikes that they went there and found out how the dealer was modifying them. They copied the design and out came the CT90.

I don't doubt that at all given some of the technology, or lack thereof, on the earliest CT's. My favorite is how instead of the dual range transmission of the later bikes, the early ones use a multi-sprocket rear wheel. There was the standard Cub/Passport sprocket and then a huge additional sprocket for hill climbing or hauling. You had to add/remove a section of chain and run on a different sprocket to switch "ranges". I love it!