(Apologies for reviving my old thread. I understand if it gets locked, but I figured I should do SOME kind of update on the running and riding state of the bike.)
Made the realization that it's been ten years to the day from when I first received a box that contained the frame and swingarm of
my CT70. Had to pull it out for a few pictures. Excuse the dust.
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Pic in all her glory. The Rust-Oleum with hardener has held up impeccibly. The blue with that seat and the slightly yellow headlight in is just so cool to me. Don't get to ride it much anymore. But sure enough with years old gas in the tank took me three kicks to get it started. Hadn't run it in a year. The more I look at this bike the more I miss tinkering on it.
Lots of the parts are what I could afford at the time and, while I'm no millionaire, I could afford some nicer parts to go in their place now. Maybe the road ahead has that in store. But regardless, I find myself sitting here waxing poetically about those ten years. So much has changed. So much is the same. This little bike is witness to it all. I have to admit, I always felt I was missing out on something listening to the old heads talk about having one of these in their childhood, or about how they dug their old bike out of the back of the barn where it sat for 40 years and restoring it to showroom. When I first started working on this bike in my teens I figured it was a feeling I would always miss out on, because "those days have long since passed." But as I sat and began to type into the void tonight, I realized that notion too was a foolish one. One last way I've made a fool of myself with this bike, but certainly not an unwelcome one. I think back on this bike and what it represents to me. The hard work. The lessons learned. And of course, the kind words of strangers on the internet. The obligatory forum post with the same problem I had had, posted in 2006, that taught me about running these bikes without batteries, or the difference between the CDI and points wiring harnesses, or a myriad of other topics.
I'm also realizing this reads like a goodbye as I'm typing it. Lol. While it's not, I do want to truly say thank you to the folks on this website. This bike and everything that's come with it are a huge part of the reason I am who I am today. So just, thank you. But yeah. Go finish your project or something.
-John