A million details. Going down the checklist of each job, working out the electrical, mechanical, and cosmetic details. Most everything is done, aside from starting and tuning the bike.
Painting the 1974 Honda CT70 Dax. Chapter two.
Read somewhere that successful people are not those who never fail, but the ones that keep trying after failure. That being said, I am trying to be successful. Still working on paint. This has been a master class in misery, reapplying paint for a third time, and still not quite sure its done. Thinking the end was near at the first of December, I went to clean out the holes on the body of the CT70 prior to the last coat of clear, and noticed some separation of the clear. Realizing it was also affecting the other body parts, everything was stripped back to primer by hand. The cause of the separation is still not completely clear, but probably has something to do with me using too much reducer, interactions between the House of Kolor and PPG paints, and cool temperatures in the shop.
The 1974 Honda CT70 Dax custom gets painted.
Painting time at the shop! The 1974 CT70 Dax custom bike received a coat of a rich, deep purple House of Kolor “Wild Cherry” over black base. Still stacking on some layers of clear and blocking in between, but the color is starting to get deep. The original plan was to paint the lower part of the bike white, like the CT117, but the color is so sleek, it is giving me second thoughts. There are still graphics to be added: a “Honda” logo will be going on the neck. The guy who owns the bike picked this color to match his early Ford Bronco. Good choice!
New chrome, powder coat, zinc plate and custom parts for the 1974 CT70 Dax Custom.
The saying is: the last 10 percent takes 90 percent of the time to do the job. That is an exaggeration, perhaps, but a lot of little details have to be done, and in custom building, some of that means making parts. A set of fork spring cups for the top of the springs was turned on the lathe to finish the fork assembly. The powder coated parts are back, and look great. Sub-assemblies are going together like the fork components, wheels, muffler, and footpegs.
The 1974 Honda CT70 Dax Custom gets an engine rebuild.
With parts still out for finishes, attention was turned to the engine. The plan was to give it some more power with an 88cc bore kit, and race head and cam. This is a familiar upgrade, and delivers the extra punch needed to move a full-sized adult. Some bling was added as well, with polished engine cases and chromed side covers. The stator was upgraded to a 12Volt system with CDI ignition. A high volume oil pump and heavy duty clutch round out the internal upgrades. Wear items, seals and gaskets were replaced, and all hardware was either new or replated OEM.
Back from the North Texas Norton Owners Land of the Pines Motorcycle Rally
The North Texas Norton Owners Fall rally at the Yellow Rose Canyon Camp in Mt Enterprise, Texas was a great time. With this being the first time for the club at this location, we weren’t sure what to expect, but the YRC turned out to be a very pleasant venue for the event, with plenty of space, a bar and restaurant, cabins, showers, riding trails, and much more. The club held field events on Saturday(more comical than serious,) the bike show, and the awards ceremony (with lots of door prize give aways) to keep things interesting. There was an area of the venue far away from the RV park and cabins, designed for tent camping, for anyone wanting a quieter camp, but most of the night time action was at the cabins or RV’s, and people would migrate from one to another.
Polishing aluminum parts for the 1974 Honda CT70 /Dax custom.
With the tins out for bodywork, the focus has been on getting all the aluminum parts polished out. When it comes to final finishes, there is always a balance that needs to be struck between the powder coat, chrome, paint, and polish. Keeping the chrome and polish on this build down to a few key components, going for tight and classy, and letting the lines of the bike bring some of the bling. In addition to these parts, there are some wheel rims that will be high polished.
Breakdown and Refinement on the 1974 Honda CT70/Dax Custom
With the main parts of the bodykit worked out, now comes some refining of each part. The edges of the fenders, seat pan and front fairing have all had rod welded around the edges. The side plaques on the swingarm were brass brazed in place, and the swingarm was ground down and smoothed out. The frame was stripped and work done on the swingarm pivot, and fork stop, along with some dent repair and bracket removal.