Wildfire
Active member
Equipment
Kubota L5740 HSTC3 and a Kubota ZG222Z, 2013 BX25D,Custom Toyota fork lift.
This is going to be an off topic thread so I hope you folks don't mind. If it's not permitted the boys can delete it. I won't mind.
There's been a little bit of interest in some of my work so I thought I would include you in a little story I told just before Christmas on one of my local bike sites. I got so many calls because of it I could hardly believe it. This is only the second time it's been told so If you don't mind taking a little break from tractoring and you like to read a little I'd like to share with you the reason I restored this 1972 Honda CT70. I call it my When, Where and Why bike
Let me take you all back to 1972 to a place called Labrador City which happens to be in Newfoundland, Canada. Back then Lab. City was a bustling mining town that was relatively new. Everyone had a job and a new home, the town was growing on a daily basis and it seemed everyone was doing very well for themselves.
I was twelve years old at the time. I was the youngest of six children and all my brothers and sisters were grown and gone out on there own so being the only one left I guess it was easier to get Mom and Dad to buy me stuff that the rest never had.
As the summer of "72 started I was riding my 1969 Honda Z50 around all the cool trails and paths that were scattered all over the town. I was growing like a weed and to tell the truth my little 50 cc Honda that I had for the last two years wasn't cutting the mustard for me anymore and I needed a bigger bike. I had to approach my parents and ask them if I could get a bigger one so that's what I did.
I asked Dad and reminded him that I had the Z50 for two years and I needed a bigger one and to my surprise he agreed so I went on the hunt.
I found an almost new 1972 Honda CT70 just a few blocks away. I remember talking to the old guy. He looked at least 30 years old at the time but I can't remember what he wanted for it but man did I ever love the look of that bike. It was a candy gold and looked as if it just came off the show room floor. Off I went to Mom and Dad to hit them up for the money and sure enough Dad came with me and bought me the bike.
The whole summer that thing never cooled down. I went everywhere on it. It was the most reliable thing I ever owned and most everywhere I went I rode alone. I would go so far out in the wilderness I would often see wolves, caribou and just about every other critter you could imagine. I was having a ball and life was great. Little did I know that things were about to take a turn for the worst.
After the summer of "72 like all of us do now I put my bike away for the long winter ahead. My birthday came in January and five weeks later my Mom suddenly passed away. One could never imagine the pain I felt at that time. Life as I had known it had ended that day. A 13 year old with out a mother is not a very comforting feeling. My Mom was 50 years old when she passed. As the winter went on it was just me and my Dad. He was a good father but like all of us he had to work which left me home alone allot. The emptiness was terrible, the silence in the house was deafening.
As the winter came and went and the spring arrived I got my CT70 out and started riding again. Oh the feeling was fantastic to be able to ride and explore all around the town and beyond. It was as if I had my best friend back again and although I still missed my mother the CT70 filled a gap that I just can't explain. As my life went on and I moved on to larger bikes I always remembered my "72 Honda CT70 and the hard times it helped me through and I always told myself if I ever get the chance to get another I would and restore it to the bike it once was. It would be a kind of "Thank You" to the CT70 for all it had given to me.
As fate would have it I found a "72 CT70 in Quebec this past August. It is the same color as the one I owned back in "72. My mom was 50 years old when she passed away and this coming January I'll be 50 so that even added to this whole restoration for me personally.
About the bike:
Thanks to my son Dennis and his girlfriend Amanda for driving to Quebec and picking up the bike for me. He knew it mean a lot to me and he made it happen by picking it up and shipping it to me.
All parts used were either original or NOS except for the seat and small windshield. The seat was hand made in Viet Nam and the small windshield was just a little custom touch I added to it. Some parts were re-plated at Zenith Electroplating while everything else was done by my wife Kathy and myself. Kathy is responsible for all the ordering of parts, shipping and communicating with all the fine folks it takes to pull all this together and I truly thank her for all her help. It may be a small bike but it takes many hours to restore it properly.
I've attached pictures and a video of the steps it took to make it look as you see it today. As I was restoring the old bike It bought me back at times to the days I remember so well. I'll admit there were times it reminded me of some tough times as well but life goes on. As one guy said to me after a long conservation about the old Honda CT70's a few weeks ago at a local automotive paint supplier in town, he said as he was leaving, "Thanks for the memories".
All that being said here is my When, Where and Why bike.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/user/7863348#p/u/7/Y4EKk57a1PQ
There's been a little bit of interest in some of my work so I thought I would include you in a little story I told just before Christmas on one of my local bike sites. I got so many calls because of it I could hardly believe it. This is only the second time it's been told so If you don't mind taking a little break from tractoring and you like to read a little I'd like to share with you the reason I restored this 1972 Honda CT70. I call it my When, Where and Why bike
Let me take you all back to 1972 to a place called Labrador City which happens to be in Newfoundland, Canada. Back then Lab. City was a bustling mining town that was relatively new. Everyone had a job and a new home, the town was growing on a daily basis and it seemed everyone was doing very well for themselves.
I was twelve years old at the time. I was the youngest of six children and all my brothers and sisters were grown and gone out on there own so being the only one left I guess it was easier to get Mom and Dad to buy me stuff that the rest never had.
As the summer of "72 started I was riding my 1969 Honda Z50 around all the cool trails and paths that were scattered all over the town. I was growing like a weed and to tell the truth my little 50 cc Honda that I had for the last two years wasn't cutting the mustard for me anymore and I needed a bigger bike. I had to approach my parents and ask them if I could get a bigger one so that's what I did.
I asked Dad and reminded him that I had the Z50 for two years and I needed a bigger one and to my surprise he agreed so I went on the hunt.
I found an almost new 1972 Honda CT70 just a few blocks away. I remember talking to the old guy. He looked at least 30 years old at the time but I can't remember what he wanted for it but man did I ever love the look of that bike. It was a candy gold and looked as if it just came off the show room floor. Off I went to Mom and Dad to hit them up for the money and sure enough Dad came with me and bought me the bike.
The whole summer that thing never cooled down. I went everywhere on it. It was the most reliable thing I ever owned and most everywhere I went I rode alone. I would go so far out in the wilderness I would often see wolves, caribou and just about every other critter you could imagine. I was having a ball and life was great. Little did I know that things were about to take a turn for the worst.
After the summer of "72 like all of us do now I put my bike away for the long winter ahead. My birthday came in January and five weeks later my Mom suddenly passed away. One could never imagine the pain I felt at that time. Life as I had known it had ended that day. A 13 year old with out a mother is not a very comforting feeling. My Mom was 50 years old when she passed. As the winter went on it was just me and my Dad. He was a good father but like all of us he had to work which left me home alone allot. The emptiness was terrible, the silence in the house was deafening.
As the winter came and went and the spring arrived I got my CT70 out and started riding again. Oh the feeling was fantastic to be able to ride and explore all around the town and beyond. It was as if I had my best friend back again and although I still missed my mother the CT70 filled a gap that I just can't explain. As my life went on and I moved on to larger bikes I always remembered my "72 Honda CT70 and the hard times it helped me through and I always told myself if I ever get the chance to get another I would and restore it to the bike it once was. It would be a kind of "Thank You" to the CT70 for all it had given to me.
As fate would have it I found a "72 CT70 in Quebec this past August. It is the same color as the one I owned back in "72. My mom was 50 years old when she passed away and this coming January I'll be 50 so that even added to this whole restoration for me personally.
About the bike:
Thanks to my son Dennis and his girlfriend Amanda for driving to Quebec and picking up the bike for me. He knew it mean a lot to me and he made it happen by picking it up and shipping it to me.
All parts used were either original or NOS except for the seat and small windshield. The seat was hand made in Viet Nam and the small windshield was just a little custom touch I added to it. Some parts were re-plated at Zenith Electroplating while everything else was done by my wife Kathy and myself. Kathy is responsible for all the ordering of parts, shipping and communicating with all the fine folks it takes to pull all this together and I truly thank her for all her help. It may be a small bike but it takes many hours to restore it properly.
I've attached pictures and a video of the steps it took to make it look as you see it today. As I was restoring the old bike It bought me back at times to the days I remember so well. I'll admit there were times it reminded me of some tough times as well but life goes on. As one guy said to me after a long conservation about the old Honda CT70's a few weeks ago at a local automotive paint supplier in town, he said as he was leaving, "Thanks for the memories".
All that being said here is my When, Where and Why bike.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/user/7863348#p/u/7/Y4EKk57a1PQ
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