Guys,
I had some spare time at lunch and a little while after work today to get some stuff done. I stripped all the decals off the frame and started blasting a bunch of the small parts that I am gonna get Powder coated black. I also set up a time for Friday to drop off the frame, rims and all of the chrome parts that I am having blasted that will eventually get painted. I have a set of original Honda fenders and a taillight bracket that were in really good shape other then some surface rust on them that will get blasted. I spoke to the guy that does the blasting about blasting the chrome and he said he does a lot of chrome stuff and it takes a certain pressure and a certain media to do it right so it does not hurt the parts. I was happy to hear that he had experience with this this type of work. I also talked to my painter and asked if he had time to fool with another frame and parts and he said get it to me as soon as possible. So it looks like we are of to the races again with another project. I seen a bunch of parts that I think I have to have on BartMoto site. I think one is gonna be a fun build.

Some small parts blasted and headed to powder coater:

Frame and parts ready to get blasted:


Carlo C.

 

Yeah, I didn't buy the "probably going to take a little longer" line for a minute! Full speed ahead!! LOL.

 

davmo,
You know what they say about idle minds? I am just doing the easy stuff right now.


Carlo C.

 

Guys,
I blasted the last of the little parts I have for the bike after work today and boxed them up and gave them to my buddy Shawn at Armadillo powder Coating. He told me sometime next week they will all be done.


I also dropped off my frame and chrome parts to the blaster and he said I might get it all back Monday. That would be great as I can get all of it to my painter Walter to get some shiny black paint applied.


Gonna be a long weekend without anything to work on.


Carlo C.

 

Guys,
I got all the parts back from the blaster today and as usual he did a good job. I honestly did not know what to expect from the chrome parts, but they looked good and my painter Walter said he will prime them with etch primer and they will come out great so I am happy about that. I am still a little aggravated that I was misled about the shape of this frame when I bought it. I guess a couple dents are not the end of the world, but when you expect something to be one way and you get something different it will bother you. I guess I should be happy as the frame has no rust what so ever. Just a couple of dents I was not expecting. Walter my painter just laughed and said dude stop worrying about the dents I can get behind them dial them out and make them perfect they are nothing. 😀



So I dropped off the frame, swing arm and fenders to Walter to get some beatification done. He told me has a Mercedes black picked out that he thinks I am gonna like. I said no problem brother work your magic. I am gonna bring the Rims, Engine Guard, Head light bucket and Tail Light Bracket to powder coater tomorrow. This project still needs so many parts I am probably gonna have to take a little break after this as racing season is coming and the car is almost finished from updates at the chassis shop so it is about time for me to get to work. I will do my best to do a little at a time and keep the updates coming.


New turbos for this season.

 

Guys,
I got some parts in today from MikeyGNYC and started cleaning them up. Blasted the headlight bucket and did the first clean and sand on the brake plate.


So I sent my tail light bracket off to get blasted before thanks to kirrbby I realized it was for a K1 with the big lens. I have one for the 78 but it was bent up and more rusty then I could deal with. So I took a good look at both of them and realized that most of the two brackets are identical with the exception of the taillight mount which I noticed was just tack welded in a few spots. So I got my Dremel out and grinded the little tack weld spots and removed the mounting bracket from each of the brackets. I am gonna tack weld the correct mount to the bracket that I had blasted and I will have a good taillight bracket for a K2-79 which is what this bike is.


I will post some pictures tomorrow after its welded up.

 

Guys,
So I blasted the parts for the taillight bracket and fitted them together today at lunch. My buddy Glenn came by and welded the two parts together. I have now pulled a davmo and turned my K1 taillight bracket into a K2 taillight bracket. I will drop it and a few more parts off tomorrow at Armadillo powder coating for a nice coat of semigloss black.

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Looks totally legit!

 

Guys,
So in my down time waiting for paint and powder coating I started thinking about a engine I have and possibly using it on this build. There was a guy on this site years ago his name was Bruce (chuckklr04) and he would ride his CT70 bike from Louisiana to Daytona for bike week. Well he had some trouble with his last engine and I believe it was breaking the kickstart on it if my memory is correct and he had enough and quit. Well I bought the last engine from him years ago and just stuck it in my attic in my garage. Well recently I started building this Black CT70 and I am seriously considering using this engine. The thing is I don't know much about it and don't want some unreliable engine. I need some reliable opinions on this thing.

Here is what I do know from what I went back and read:
184cc kit
TB Parts V2 head with roller rockers
Pitster spark plug decompressor
YX Transmission
I think it was originally built by Matt at Pitster Pro

Questions I do have:
Is it worth using
Will it be reliable
What Intake and carb does it need
What ignition does it need
Where is the best place for parts for these big engines
What is it worth If I just decide to sell it and buy like a 160 or 190

Thanks
Carlo C.

 

It will be interesting to hear opinions on this. I don't have much experience with those engines.

 

davmo,
Me too. I know it has hardly any run time and a lot of expensive parts on it. I might just wind up selling it and get me a black Lifan 140cc and be done with it.

 

Guys,
I pulled the engine apart tonight and I can tell you I was quite surprised how clean everything was. I decided to pull the clutch cover side off first since the only thing I clearly remember is Bruce talking about kickstart breakage problems. Well I got it all apart and everything looked great. If the kickstart had broken it was repaired before I got the engine.


Well that all looked great so I figured I would check the cam timing next. Well surprise surprise looks like we have found the problem or at least one of them. The chain was broke and I could see the gear on the crank was also broken.


So I decided to pull the head to see if the valves had hit the piston and luckily everything looked really good. I could not believe how good the chamber and top of the piston looked I literally wiped them off with a shop rag and some WD40. I did find that whomever assembled the engine used too big of brass washers on the two inner bolts near the cam sprocket that hold the cylinder to the head. I will fix that when I re-assemble


So I know you guys don't now my background, but I have been drag racing since I was a kid and building small 2-stroke engines for years with a lot of world records in Gas powered RC boating. In all my experience with all types of engines for the life of me I can not understand why anyone would cut the skirts off of of a piston. Nothing good can come from it other then piston rock in the bore and a bad ring seal. I can see if you need clearance for the crank, but this is not even close to being a clearance problem. Here is a picture of the piston at bottom Dead center and it could have an easy 1-1/2" of Piston skirt still. Just makes no sense to me. I sure hope someone offers a better piston for this combo.


I managed to find all the little pieces of the gear so that was good, but I also found that the shift drum was broke and that could have been my doing not sure but I am gonna need a replacement.


So my question to you guys is where do I get all of these parts I need to fix this thing? Timing gear for crank, Shift Drum, hopefully new piston with skirts, rings and gasket set. What do I look up for this engine do any of you know what the bore and stroke is? I would really like to get a new set of cases as someone kind of hacked these up I am assuming getting them to fit in a trail 70.



Thanks for any help in advance.
Carlo C.

 

Wow, looks like a SCUT piston that someone cut even more of the skirt! Never a big fan of these style pistons for the reasons you listed above...seems like a less reliable design.

 

Guys,
I started to get some parts coming in for "2 Black" my Black CT.


I was really impressed with the following parts from Bart Moto Co. Bart Moto Co - Vintage Honda Mini Trail CT70 Parts and Accessories not only is the pricing good, but shipping is fast and the parts are packaged really well. I have been really impressed by this new company.

I looked all over at front forks and decided I wanted the front end on this bike to look as much like factory as I could make it but with a disc brake and Bart Moto had what I was looking for. This front end came with a tapered bearing head set and really nice Chrome bolts on the top plate:


I added some rubber boots and have a nice set of headlight ears on order from Josh Norton:


This is one of the items I was the most impressed with. These rear shocks are so nice in person I could not believe it when I opened the box. They even came with a little spanner wrench to help make adjustment the springs easy. I can not wait to ride this bike with these front forks and rear shocks. Of course they had to be black,


In perfect timing wholesale-cycle has a sale on Black Lifan 125cc engines with 4 speed all up transmissions. It was a no brainer so I ordered one and it should be here tomorrow. It was actually $285 after shipping, but still not bad.


Still waiting on all my parts from powdercoat, But I was told everything should be done on Saturday.
I will post when I pick it all up

Carlo C.

 

Guys,
I was really surprised to have received my Lifan 125cc engine over the weekend. Of course I took it out of the box to check everything and get a couple quick pictures. I also ordered a really nice billet clutch cover plate with the vintage Honda wing on it to dress the engine up a little bit.


While I was piddling and thinking about how the bike is gonna look I had a wild change of direction with the bike, well at least the color anyway. All I am gonna say for now is the bike will not be all black anymore. I want to keep it a surprise, but I think it is really going to be a sharp bike and very clean looking. I am supposed to get all my parts back this week from the powder coater and then I will just be waiting on the frame and parts back from the painter. I am still looking for a foot peg assembly if any of you guys may have or have a lead one.

Carlo C.

 

Guys,
Today was a good day for this project as I not only received a bunch of parts in the mail I got a call that all my parts at the powder coater were ready. It was like Christmas in March for a minibike nut. So I took more pictures then I can post with the 10 picture limit, but I will show you guys all the good stuff.

Hot Rod parts from Bart Moto Co first. With the original theme of the bike being all black this exhaust pipe was a no brainer for me. I can tell you the pictures do not do this thing justice. This is a well made really nice pipe at a pretty good price.


Next was the NIBBY carb from Bart Moto co. and the Honda side cover and intake manifold that I had powder coated black to match the engine. I think the black carb looks great on the engine. I will eventually have to get the red parts on the carb re-anodized black, but the red will have to stay for now.



I put the Headlight, taillight, front and rear wheels together.


Then I used all of the parts I have so far to put the front forks all together. I still need a speedometer and the headlight ears that should be here next week to finish up the front forks.


The cradle and brake pedal came out really good.


I have a lot more parts that were powder coated and they all came out really good. Shawn and crew at Armadillo powder coating did a great job as usual. Might have to call and see how much longer everything is gonna be at the paint shop now.

Carlo C.

 

Guys
I received a few more parts today and I got some of the more tedious work done. I made my third trip to my local hardware for some stainless and polished stainless hardware for the bike. Every nut and bolt on the bike that is capable of being replaced with better quality is getting changed. I got the plate for the clutch side of the engine that I was waiting for and I think it looks great already, but chatted with Luke Hultquist the guy that makes them about doing me a black one and then machining the wing and Honda after to give a really cool look that will match the bike.


I also got my footpeg assembly in with middle stand that I wanted.


I got my spare parts frame out mounted the engine and then spent a couple hours fitting the chain guard to the bike and Late model Honda cover on the engine so I can bring it to my painter on Monday.


I think I have just about all of the parts to put this thing together once the painter is done. Of course there will be something I forgot and will have to wait a week to get whatever it is.

Getting close now just waiting on painter.

Carlo C.

 

Guys,
I received my Headlight ears/tubes from Josh Norton today. I was happy with what I received especially for the price. Once Walter my painter gets a hold of them they will be beautiful. I mounted everything up on my mock up frame and realized that I had to do a little work to make them fit my particular application. The bottom clamp on these disc brake forks have a threaded tab sticking out on each side to hold reflectors and brackets. So to make them fit right I stuck them in my Mill and cut a nice little notch that worked perfect. I am very happy with the way it is all coming out so far.




Carlo C.

 

Carlo, you are killing it, man! You get a lot done quick, and the results are always top notch. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

 

Would love to know how you like the 125 Lifan engine, as I will probably need a new engine as well for my project.

 

Crazy Horse 124,
I have a few of these Lifan 125's and I can only speak from my experience, but I have had nothing but good luck with them. I am a little crazy with the maintenance and do change the oil quite often, but it is a little less then a quart and well worth the insurance of not having any trouble. Unless you are a purist and have to have an original Honda motor I would highly recommend them. You just can't beat the options or performance for the price. Wholesal Cycle had a sale Going on for $199 plus shipping which I think was $82. 125cc LIFAN MANUAL ENGINE .

I changed the flywheel cover and added a billet cover for the clutch side on my latest one.

Carlo C.

 

Carlo: Thank You for your input.

Bruce

 

I have another question. My Z50 has no rear brake pedal, just the break lever on the handlebars. If I change the engine I am thinking of going with the 4speed with hand clutch. Can I fit a later rear brake pedal to my early Z50?

 

Bruce,
What year Z50 do you have? If it is pre 71 without a rear brake pedal you may need to get a semi auto 125 which will make everything a lot easier for you. I think even most or all of them come with a 4 speed also.

Carlo C.

 

Guys,
While I patiently wait my turn at the paint shop I have been trying to finish as much of the little stuff I can without the actual bike. I really liked the Billet side/clutch cover I received from Luke Hultquist and asked about doing a custom one in black. He said no problem and made me a new one in black. He sent me a picture of the finished product before he shipped it out and I think it looks great. I cant wait to put it on the engine and check it out.

First Version


New Black one.


Carlo C.

 

Guys,

New Black one.

The Black one looks awesome. The Honda stands out way more.👍
tmas

 

With the black theme you are going for, the black cover is going to look better. Nice!

 

davmo,
I have made a little change in scheme for the bike since I started, but the black stuff is still a go. I want it to be a surprise. I cant wait to get the frame back.

The Black one looks awesome. The Honda stands out way more.👍
tmas

tmas,
I agree man when I asked Luke if he could do it and he said yes I could not wait to see the finished product. I think it came out great.

Carlo C.

 

Guys,.
I got my new black clutch plate cover from Luke and I really like it. I cant wait to get this bike back from Painter.



Carlo C.