Finishing the 1974 Honda CT70 Dax "Dino" custom.
She’s a runner! The first few miles have been logged to test the brakes, steering and suspension, and everything feels right. The bike starts easy, idles well, and runs strong. There was a great deal of difficulty getting the engine to start initially, but once figured, it has run like a champ. The bike color looks black in the overcast sky we had for the pictures.
All systems are go…and stop. The front disc brake grabs nicely, and the left hand brake for the rear works well with the pedal. The brake light is hooked to all three actuators. The amber headlight and tail light are turned on with the key switch in the third position, and engine is running. The bike idled patiently while the picture were taken.
The LED tail light was made to echo the rectangular headlight. The green neutral light can be seen glowing on the speedometer.
Even though the exhaust looks similar to the original, the heat shield was arched to make it thinner, and the canister was formed to match. The shield was also turned around and given a hidden hook bracket to secure the rear portion tight to the canister.
With the long swingarm, the lowered shock mounts and shortened front fork tubes were necessary to keep the stance right.
The Dino with the CT117, the inspiration for this build. Built thirteen years apart, the Dino has a lot more hand formed parts.
Just showing some of the similarities in the designing for these bikes. A forward facing scoop on the CT117 was one of the signature features…
…the Dino scoop is also forward facing. In the case of both designs, I can find no other similar examples online. This scoop attaches to the stock air box.
Another unique feature was the rear hinge on the seat, and the gas cap poking through the front.
A similar aluminum sconce fits around the Dino gas cap, and uses the same front thumb screws to secure the seat.
The source of a great deal of grief. When I went to start the engine, it would only run at high RPM, and carburetor adjustments, jet changes, and an entirely new carb had little effect on the running. After several weeks waiting on the carb parts, checking the wiring, coil, and engine valve timing and clearances, searching for intake air leaks, fuel starvation, and a load of other stuff, I finally remembered a similar engine starting problem. It reminded me of a similar problem getting the Cabracer 360 bike started. In that case, an aftermarket ignition set-up was misaligned, and scored the rotor. A quick check under the flywheel showed a score line on the flywheel. In the case of both engines, they would fire intermittently, but could only be kept running at high RPM, and were transformed to normal starting and running with new flywheels. This engine has a 12 Volt conversion with CDI ignition, which uses the magnet position to sense flywheel location., as was the one on the Cabracer 360 engine. My theory is that the score line produces a slight bit of magnetism in the aluminum portions of the flywheel, and confuses the sensing enough it cannot run right.