Giving the 79 a new lease on life

First part of the tear down. Really want to save the paint. The stickers, eh no crying over reproductions. What is my best option to clean this thing up to make a solid 5 footer ct70. Not looking to sell it at Barrett-Jackson, but easy on the eyes from 5 feet away? Also the stock trail wings are shot, what is a decent tire with some meat for pavement/gravel? Thank you for any input in advance!

I would give it a good detailed bath, then go over it with Mguires polish/cleaner. Blast/repaint the wheels. The Bridgestone trailwings are still made. I do see alot of rusty scratches and nics, but cant tell if the bike is just dirty.

What CJ said...that's the place to begin. If you're happy with the frameset tins, that part of the project is done. Tires, seals and brake shoes don't improve with age, they just deteriorate and become dangerous. Blasting and repainting the wheels & hubs while everything is apart makes a lot of sense. And, this model has painted brake plates so those can be refinished at the same time...easily. The lower fork legs are also painted silver on the `79, easily refinished. The earlier models had polished brake plates and brushed-polished lower fork legs, much more labor-intensive to restore (although that can be done with this model, if desired). Check the fork action and the condition of the fork boots. Taking the fork legs apart is easy and it necessary to replace the oil seals...which don't owe you anything after 41 years. From there, it's easy to clean out the fork internals (also a great time to refinish the lowers; then install the new seals, refill the fork legs with clean 15W fork oil and you've rebuilt the front end. If the fork boots (gators) are crunchy, replace them. The TL bracket, exhaust guards and brake pedal were all painted low-gloss black which makes them very easy to refinish, for next to no money at all.

All of the above can be done in a couple of afternoons using less than $30 worth of rattlecan paint. The difference, visually, will be like night & day. The front end will need about $60 in parts & oil. New brake shoes, dust seals, wheel bearings should cost another $60, depending which ones you choose.

Of all the models, as long as the HL ears are intact, the `79 is the most DIY-friendly (and budget friendly) in terms of refinishing. There is nothing special about the original single-stage yellow enamel and yellow tends to hide small surface imperfections. If you do ultimately decide that you'd be happier with fresh paint, 3 rattlecans of single-stage enamel should be plenty to do the frameset & fenders, if you want to keep the budget to the minimum. Just FYI, at the extreme high end...epoxy primer, 2-stage (basecoat/clearcoat) urethane paint would require somewhere around $250-300 worth of paint materials.

I'm going to clean up the frame and polish. Maybe see about single stage enamel like that was mentioned by racers. Definitely rebuild the forks. Once again, appreciate everyone's input. I'm also going to have the wheels blasted and paint them black. Any one have any input on getting the last tire off? Front came off easy. The rear one all the hardware was rusty and the inside has a build up of gunk in it. The bead seems to be glued on.

I also meant racerx but my phone put racers instead*

I’ve done many. That tire is junk. So get a box cutter with a sharpe blade. Cut off as much of the tire as you can. The bead has wires in it that need to be cut with a grinder. Angle your grinder slightly so you don’t grind the rim. just enough to cut The wires. You may not have to cut through all of them to get it off. You wanna be doing this outside, it can be smelly. Believe me it’s the easiest least amount of work method. Learned that from MiniBikeMike. Good luck.

2 different "easy way" threads.

https://lilhonda.com/index.php?threads/braking-down-ct70-tires-the-easy-way.14505/

Cutting the sidewalls free of the beads is quick, with an abrasive whel...but it's a messy process and nearly impossible to avoid nicking the rim. Break out the propane torch, heat the outside of the bead seat until wisps of smoke start to appear. Work your way around the rim. 2/3-3/4 of the way around is sufficient to loosen the bond. A few minutes, a few pennies worth of propane and a little bit of prying will do the job...no mess, no surgical scars, and no warpage (as will happen if a vise were used).

Wheel color is largely a matter of personal taste. On these little bikes, wheels have a huge visual impact. Monochrome black will dramatically change the overall look of the bike. I'd suggest searching the web for photos...if you haven't already. There are reasons why Honda used the dull "cloud silver" and then went to white, in the 90s (red/white is their corporate color scheme)...light colors provide contrast and hide surface imperfections. Either way, I recommend using a basecoat/clearcoat automotive wheel paint, for chemical resistance.

As for the frameset tins, you can take your choice of airdry enamels. What was used 41 years ago isn't that different from garden-variety Rustoleum available today. That yellow is about as forgiving as it gets...very DIY-friendly. Apply multiple coats until there's enough material thickness to allow color sanding. Then give it time to fully harden; that can be anywhere from a couple of weeks up to a few months, depending upon where the bike lives. Enamel is relatively soft & flexible as airdry paints go. However, in time, the polymers fully cross-link, it stops shrinking and loses that gummy quality that makes colorsanding & polishing damned near impossible. Fully cured & hardened it can be colorsanded & hand-polished easily and to near-perfection...by hand. It's a way to get a show-quality finish for next to nothing, save a couple of hours worth of elbow grease and a bit of patience.

Once again, appreciate everyone's help and input. Borrowing a propane torch tomorrow to get the old tires off. Also ordered a new fork seal kit. Cracked open the forks and got that 41 year old oil smell. Really just trying to totally redo this bike and make it my own. Really appreciate having this for questions and such. My question this time is, what is that bearing called? It's obviously worn out since metal ball bearings came falling out. Looking to find the name of that part.

Forgot to add the picture

That's your ball bearing race. Since the bearings are not captive, it is normal for them to tumble out if not slathered in bearing grease.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1979/ct70-a-trail-70/steering-stem-horn

Those are the steering head bearings. They're just loose, bicycle-type. You can order 42 #6 ball bearings, dratv & NEVC sell them. Or, you can replace the entire bearing assemblies with an All Balls tapered bearing kit...those are more user friendly, won't escape at the first chance.

racerx said:

Those are the steering head bearings. They're just loose, bicycle-type. You can order 42 #6 ball bearings, dratv & NEVC sell them. Or, you can replace the entire bearing assemblies with an All Balls tapered bearing kit...those are more user friendly, won't escape at the first chance.

Click to expand...

On the issue of the tapered bearing replacement is that a must do mod and does it improve the front end/steering dramatically?

RMHRC said:

On the issue of the tapered bearing replacement is that a must do mod and does it improve the front end/steering dramatically?

Click to expand...

I run them on all of my own bikes. Does it improve steering?...I doubt it. As long as the bearings are in good condition & correctly adjusted, there's shouldn't be any difference in steering feel. That said, tapered roller bearings are more durable and a helluva lot easier to work with, no loose bearings to chase across the shop and into previously unknown recesses.

Ok once again have a question. What is the black piece with the 3 philips heads holding it in place? Does that usually need replacing?

Its part of the early attempts at emission control. I wouldnt sweat it.

I think you could clean those parts. You could also just remove them completely and never miss them. No need to replace tho.
I think the idea is to capture the oil vapor from the crankcase vent and store it in that little bottle. Then open the drain occasionally to empty it. It's stock equipment on your show bike...but otherwise it's mostly unnecessary crap.

Going to take a chance with what you said Kirrbby and leave them out. Will definitely throw them in the parts tote for a rainy day. I have about everything in pieces and bagged up, going to get it all sandblasted and start from scratch. Does anyone have any input on how to get the fork tree? I think that's what it's called? Its the one in the second picture right above the fork boots.

Check #9 here...
https://lilhonda.com/index.php?threads/ol-dirty-bastard.22940/