Honda Mini Trail bikes are coming out of the woodwork, which is good news for those of us who either owned one or want to own one. This beautiful survivor 1972 Honda CT70 K1 Mini Trail, or Trail 70, can be found listed here on eBay in East Syracuse, New York. There is an unmet opening bid price listed of $2,499 and no reserve after that.
Websites dedicated to vintage and classic vehicles fulfill several purposes. Sometimes they give people a central location to find that old vehicle that they’ve been looking for and they also give folks from all backgrounds and experience levels a forum to discuss old cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, trailers, or whatever. And, for those of us with less experience to learn from those who have decades of experience.
I learn something every single day on this website from those folks who have more experience than I do. I have also purchased maybe too many vehicles from the various articles listed here showing cars and motorcycles for sale. But, my main love of this site and others like it are for the memories. I’m not ashamed to say that I basically live in the past and sites like Barn Finds give those of us a great place to hang out and relive our youth, or the youth that we wish we would have had.
All that being said, and not one word about this beautiful Honda CT70! This looks like a great example and you can see that it has a mere 1,149 miles on it. I have more miles on my Motocompo which is crazy. This example appears to have been kept on a velvet pillow its whole life. There were two colors available in 1972, Candy Ruby Red and this cool Candy Yellow Special. This is the color that I would want.
The engine cases show a bit of wear but it makes it look like something that you wouldn’t be afraid to ride rather than to keep it in your living room. It’s Honda’s 72 CC overhead-cam single-cylinder and the seller says that there are no leaks and no smoke, the 3-speed auto-clutch transmission works great, there’s a new battery, and everything works other than the horn. What are sites like Barn Finds all about for you? Buying, learning, or for the memories?
Scotty, what many of us learn from BF is the vast knowledge available to all of us from all the readers sharing their knowledge with the rest of us..
These were a whole lotta cool as a kid and a bunch of folks bought them as camp bikes. I’m surprised Honda hasn’t gone repro with these too considering they’ve redone their Monkey bike and their CT70/90 Trail Bike too!
When unusual stuff is to be shown, we can rest assured Scotty is behind them. We’ve said just about all there is to say about these, this is a great find. You know, since I got rid of that pita DRZ, perhaps a new strategy. Since riding on the road to GET to the the trails is a pain, maybe put something like this on a trailer, and go way back, offload, THEN go for a ride. Priced right, simply can’t go wrong here, for whatever you want to do with it. Again, these motorcycle makers today, like car makers, have to have these mechanical wonders that most assuredly will go haywire, when all we really need, is simple stuff like this.
A neighbor boy, living on the property next to ours, rode one of these when I was little. We (meaning him, my little brother, and I) would take turns riding that mini all over his dad’s cow pastures. When it’s engine got too hot it would stop running. We would wait for it to cool down, restart, and off we’d go again. We would also rev up the engine, pop the auto-clutch, and pull some really wicked wheelies with it. Some fun times.
Oh…is that why it would quit, Kim? When my best friend and I were little he had one. I went with his family on camping trips. He would ride all over the place then when it was my turn it would quit. He’s still my best friend. Fun memories.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up in the seventies had “things” to do that didn’t consist of an electronic tablet or pad. Plus, innovations in mini cycles, bicycles, skateboards and so forth were just really getting started, a lot of that was still happening in the garage. Great time to be a kid. I remember these CT 70’s but in southern California where I grew up motocross and desert riding was the happening thing.
I remember a kid in my class, Honda nut of all seven years of age, bragging about his CT 70. One day we all went and watched him putt putt around some trails…decked out in full on Marty Smith gear. Jersey, the leathers, motocross boots and gloves,,, thinking back he was trying awful hard to be like his much older brother who raced a then fairly new Honda Elisinore CR250, a silver one than rang out deafing noise with an expansion chamber.
We thought it was kinda boring, those trail bikes, unlike his brothers bike or the then super sharp XR 75 motocrosser. Like the one Jeff Ward and many others made famous at that time. I had and was just learning to ride a beat up Yamaha mini enduro but drooled over those XR 75’s. Ha, I smoked a kid on one of those in my first motorized drag race with my mini enduro. All this CT70 does for me is bring back memories, many of them, from a better time. Thanks! Much needed.
I take mine out every spring, no battery charge, no new plug. Fresh gas, 1st kick it almost always starts. I am 62, and wouldn’t take $7,500 for it. Best and I believe only mini bike that’s street legal’
A thumbs up to all comments above ! This series of Honda is a true Icon ! My best friends dad bought one that needed TLC in the late 80’s just to scoot around at Watkins Glen during vintage races. We had our fun with it, it still runs and looks great today. Had no idea how coveted these would become !
When I was a young teenager we had Suzuki RM motocross bikes and would ride throughout the woods. There was a kid that had a Honda trail 70 that could not keep up (for obvious reasons). He was the “putz” of the group. I would ride his Honda “scooter” and I thought it was garbage with the little fat tires, no suspension, and handlebars that would bend over if the screw knob worked loose. The truth is it’s a collectable just because it’s a Honda. Back in the day it wasn’t so cool.
My best friend had either the sapphire blue or emerald green one, first motorbike I rode.
What’s up with the ebay listing on this one? This link shows it as ‘sold’ for $2750 but the seller relisted it for $2999.
Be careful buying these. The eye-popping prices are justified only if they’ve had recent work. You can expect an early Trail 70 to need every rubber part (intake, throttle cable boot, battery strap+cover, fuel lines), wires, a battery, carb kit, speedo/throttle/brake cables…. You’ll be into it for many hundreds in parts unless you want to use repro chinese junk. They’re easily worth the mid $2k range…. if that work is already done.