Thread: CT 70H K1 Build With Plenty of Pics

Previously cleaned up a CT 70 K1 3 speed. Completely stripped it & installed new frame decals. All candy ruby red & side badges are original yet. Installed new seat, exhaust, & some other bits. Rebuilt the motor with new piston, rings, bore, etc. Rattle canned the wheels & misc.; not a full restoration more like a refreshen.

BEFORE:



AFTER:




Found a CT 70H K1 4 speed. Want to do a full restoration this time. Bike ran & drove before disassembly.









The seat is in disarray. The exhaust has been repaired. Someone put Z50 bars on it (no horn button hole & the angle of the levers does not match). The build begins, I will be stealing some of the new parts from my red one such as the new exhaust since the red one has been started exactly once since the rebuild.

---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 PM ----------

Making sure the replacement decals match the originals before they are destroyed.



Side badges are on aluminum plate & still have a plastic film on them so they are not quite as bright as they will be once is it removed..

Your K1 looks awesome! I did a Candy Ruby Red HK1 restoration myself. I converted it from Candy Yellow Special. What color do you plan to paint it?

BEFORE..................






AFTER....................

Thanks, I have seen your bikes & they look flawless. I am going to go with whichever color I can get closest to. I hope to stay yellow but if my options for yellow are not as close as the red I will switch to red.

Found my first few suprises of what I am sure will be many as there always are with projects like these.

Busted neutral switch area--still holds the bolt so may leave this alone.


Hole poked in the engine case from too long a bolt on the sprocket cover.


Frame had a dent I did not see until I removed the decals. A body shop was able to fix it with paintless dent repair. This is after.


Due to the case issues I had to split the cases, was not planning on that originally. At least this way I know all the tranny gears look good. Here is how it sits now:

Your red bike has been taken beyond what I'd call a quick re-freshening. IMO, that effort clearly qualifies as a "sympathetic restoration"; that's a legit term within the collector vehicle world. The parts still wearing the original paint look too good to strip & refinish, even with some minor blemishes. The only items not quite as good as they could be... the black inset on the muffler heat shield and what appears to be a fresh, heavy, application of white spray lube on the chain...are trivial and easily changed, if you wanted. Don't often see HK1s this OEM-correct and clean, very nice work.

As for your CYS project, a few notes & suggestions regarding the engine. First off, that hole was originally filled with epoxy, right from Honda. It was not a threaded hole. Had this been broken-through by a fastener bottoming-out, there would almost certainly have been breakage over a large area. If it were mine, I'd take that case half to a heliarc pro and have the hole filled & the missing aluminum properly replaced. A machine shop can easily re-drill & tap the neutral switch retaining boss. Then you're done, the case solidly repaired, for a guesstimated $50-$75 total.

LH case detail H with highlight.jpg

While you have the cases split, check the big end of the connecting rod for wear. A worn crank can be rebuilt, or replaced with an aftermarket assembly, which is currently available & cheap. Lastly, inspect the shift forks closely. If you find gear contact anyplace other than the contact pads, and/or scoring, they're worn. New gen, OEM, shift forks are available and the revised contact pads should last longer than the vintage originals.

The muffler guard is not very good so I never bothered repainting it (or even bolting the front mount if you look close). Since that exhaust will go on the H & the H exhaust will go on the red one I will need to find a nicer shield for sure now. I had to buy a new red chain guard--you can see it looks a little redder than the rest.

The hole is on the bolt for the sprocket cover, this one...

Guess it depends on how bad the muffler guard is. These things are only going to harder to find, so as long as the metal isn't bent, or cursed with serious road rash, they're at least worth keeping for "some day". Chrome isn't getting any cheaper either, but given the choice between shelling out cubic bucks and no part at all...

I did notice the chainguard, the shock covers look a little too good, also; both replacements are perfectly acceptable in my book, as they are really vulnerable pieces and rarely found in tiptop shape. Just so there's no misunderstanding, I was complimenting your accomplishment by mentioning just how little was left to even nitpick. That's a really clean K1.

Bummer about the case damage. If there's enough thread depth, my first choice would be installing an M6 set screw, from the inside of the case, then having that boss heliarc welded, re-drilled & tapped. Welding heat should lock the set screw permanently which, hopefully, will limit peak temp at the kickstart shaft bearing surface.

If you don't give a about the engine SN, intact LH case halves aren't rare, or expensive.

The shock covers are original but are very nice--so nice I am going to rob them to use on my H & replace them with some ruby red aftermarket ones on the 3 speed.

Powder coat on the black parts...

Powder coating the black parts is a good call. It's very durable and looks as good as OEM paint.

Powder coat on the silver

dang, I wish I had someone in my area that would do powder coating, I did a bit of research, and I was thinking of setting my self up with a little PC setup. Your work is very, very nice!! keep the pictures coming!!