1978 CT70 Really Nice Shape no res

Adam-NLV

Adam-NLV

Well-Known Member
The Black 78 CT70. Saw this one yesterday, the bid started at 99 cents w/no reserve, It's $1025 now!

Now correct me if I'm wrong but this 78 bike is pretty much the same as the 79 model but with a different paint color. It evens has the weird fork ear horn mount as the 79.

The fenders are also chrome. I guess the 79 is the first year w/o chrome fenders...?
And as CT70s kid pointed out the 78 still has the folding handle bars...oops missed that one too. lol

Anyway, everyone like the Black 78's!
Honda Other | eBay
 
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CT70sKid

CT70sKid

Member
LOVE those black 78s! Legend has it that in 1977 Thomas Wayne took his 8 year old son Bruce to Gotham Honda to purchase a CT70. After Bruce looked around the showroom, he asked the salesman, "Does it come in black?" And that is how we got to have the black 78s!
Seriously though, I think 78 was the last year for the iconic fold down handlebars.
 
Adam-NLV

Adam-NLV

Well-Known Member
CT70sKid said:
The Batmobile of CT70s was also the last year for the chrome engine guard/skid plate.
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That's what I thought and the CT70 ID guide Welcome to CT70 Identification Guide shows the 79 w/no skid plate, then the seller sends me a pic of the 79 I just bought from AZ with a skid plate!??
I can tell you this bike was original and not messed with. So now I'm not so sure. Is it possible Honda added SP's to some 79's?


View attachment 18582
 
CT70sKid

CT70sKid

Member
I googled images of the 79s. The frames still had the bolt holes for the tops of the skid plate, so it wouldn't be a big deal to put one on later. I believe Honda stopped putting the holes in the frames not long after that.
 
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69ST

Well-Known Member
`78 was the last year for the folding bars, engine guard and most of what remained of the chrome. `79 was the last year for that hydraulic fork. `79s still had the holes & slots muffler shield, only it was painted black.

Minor changes are easy enough. I've seen a few `79s with the engine guard. I'd bet that some were dealer-installed. The bike looks kinda naked without one.

Adam-NLV said:
I'm almost 100% certain that it's holes & slits. The China knock offs are all holes. Learned that one the hard way!
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Not quite the complete story. OER guards had big & little holes; PN 18360-098-506 superseded the holes & slots version of the K1-`79. Stocks were depleted circa 2011, leaving K1-`79 restorers one more NLA part to either restore or source as NOS...until repops became available some months later. It's easy enough to distinguish the OER Honda part from any of the Chinese knockoffs. The detailing is far superior, as is the plating...and...the inset area was painted black.
 
Adam-NLV

Adam-NLV

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info racerX. I'll bet the dealership did add the skid/eng plate on my 1979. I know for a fact he added his dealership sticker to the HL Bucket! I checked and the Honda House in Glendale AZ. is long gone.

The other thing about the 78 & 79 is the blinker signal indicator is smaller and attached to the Handle bar Assy, Not the steering nut like earlier models. see pic.
I like learning about different model's details from different year bikes.

View attachment 18585 View attachment 18586
 
Bevelsd

Bevelsd

Active Member
Adam-NLV said:
Thanks for the info racerX. I'll bet the dealership did add the skid/eng plate on my 1979. I know for a fact he added his dealership sticker to the HL Bucket! I checked and the Honda House in Glendale AZ. is long gone.

The other thing about the 78 & 79 is the blinker signal indicator is smaller and attached to the Handle bar Assy, Not the steering nut like earlier models. see pic.
I like learning about different model's details from different year bikes.

View attachment 18585 View attachment 18586
Click to expand...

The 78 still has the turn signal indicator mounted on the center steering nut. The 79 was the first year with the BMX style bars.
 
6

69ST

Well-Known Member
`79 is the one-year-only odd duck and that signal indicator is unique to that model.

Here's a `78:
DSC07258.jpg​
 
Adam-NLV

Adam-NLV

Well-Known Member
Wow, I just assumed they would of used it for 78 too. Seems like 1979 is the year when they were cutting costs and using paint instead of chrome, then why would they design a unique signal indicator and use it for one year only?

Another thing about the 79 is the ignition switch. It has two positions 'On & off". not sure about the 78 tho.
Thanks guys...
 
6

69ST

Well-Known Member
The two-position keyswitch debuted with either the `76 or `77 model. `76s don't come along very often, I've worked on two of them over the last 15 years and the lone specimen in my collection (a diamond-in-the-rough...emphasis on "rough") is in deep storage...meaning I'm not about to go on an archeological dig to check the keyswitch, sorry.

Yeah, the bean counters really went to town during the latter half of the `70s. But all is not as it might appear to be. The `70s, as a decade, mostly sucked...remember double-digit stagflation, Watergate, disco, gas lines and massive unemployment...not exactly conducive to product expansion. Think Honda really cheaped-out?... FoMoCo actually halted product development for nearly 4 years and it really showed in their product lineup of the era. The `79 CT70 was a product of its era, just like the unlamented Mustang II. With the CT, cost cuts began with the `75 model. `79 is just the point where they became so blatant they couldn't be ignored.

It might be more accurate to ponder when the CT70 model "jumped the shark"...K2 when the 4-speed option was dropped? K4/`75 when candy colors disappeared and black paint became "the new chrome"? `79 when the iconic folding bars, engine/plug guard vanished, making the bike all but unrecognizable? `80 when plastic started crawling all over the bike? `91 with white wheel assemblies? The consider that all of these "deficiencies" are only skin deep. Mechanically, the by-then-venerable CT70 was as good as ever...and still receiving small mechanical improvements, right up to the 12v era bikes.
 
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