Thread: What am I Thinking? Long Story w/pics

Originally Posted by fatcaaat

Well, the stories of the hub seperating from the back is not for these type wheels...it is from the solid cast wheels they made for daxes. These are likely to be just fine.

Thats good to know about these wheels Jarad, Thanks. I appreciate the offer of your 81 wheels etc, but I have an extra set I was going to use with Trail Wings. I want to put the Michelin Reggae 120/90/10 on it at some point. I guess they will fit on these wheels if they are safe. Do you know? And thanks also for your help on the motor I.D.

Side Note...I was confused about the motor because the DD-3 is marketed as a 110 but the cyl on mine is stamped 72cc. Jarad, Mike and Aaron explained the VIN to me. I had not ridden it hard yet to see the speed capabilities. I wanted to know what motor I had for parts that I know I will need at some point and they all were very helpful explaining what the numbers meant and where to get parts. THANK YOU! Unlike the CT70, the clone VIN does mean something other than what production number the bike is. If anyone wants to know, just ask...I know now! HA!

Does anyone know where to get chrome wheels for these?

Originally Posted by hornetgod

Not sure about that. I do know that just about anything dealing with the DMV in this state is a major pain in the @$$. They make everything as difflicult as possible. When I went to register my custom made trailer, they wanted reciepts for every part used to put it together and sent me to two different DMV's and even than, bounced me from counter to counter until someone had a clue and helped me out. I'm not looking forward to registering my HK1.

That is unbelieveable for a trailer! WOW!....Is the trailer that you are talking about the one in your thread on your new bike? I like that trailer...it looks like a common style here, meaning nothing to raise a red flag about at the DMV. I couldn't see it too well in the pics...Did you build it from a kit or was it completely homemade? You mentioned custom...maybe thats why they were so picky about it?? Crazy.

Trail buddy has some chrome rims but the off-set is 3/8 off to one side. I used the two wide halfs for the rear and the two smaller halfs for the front. the chrome is cheap though. CHP has some new polished alum. rims you might look into. If you want chrome I would sorce good aftermarket ones or buy 4 new rim halfs and have a good chrome job put on them.

Originally Posted by Grant's trail

Trail buddy has some chrome rims but the off-set is 3/8 off to one side. I used the two wide halfs for the rear and the two smaller halfs for the front. the chrome is cheap though. CHP has some new polished alum. rims you might look into. If you want chrome I would sorce good aftermarket ones or buy 4 new rim halfs and have a good chrome job put on them.

Thanks Grant, I will check those out. Polished aluminum would be okay also. I like the look of the wheels and tires that GreyDoggy has on that Trail Buddy bike.

Originally Posted by kmcrab

I'll start from the beginning...You have probably seen in posts where I have written about wanting to do a custom CT...The problem is that from an early age my dad drilled it in my head to keep vintage vehicles original unless it was something like wheels that could be put back to stock or to keep the original stock rebuilt engine if you had a built one that you were running. But to always keep the original color paint,carpet etc. My family was big into collector cars...namely Pontiac's with my Hurst Olds and 62 Corvette being the exception.

There's a world of difference between CT70s and ANY collector car marque. The only absolutely essential parts needed to potentially build a concours-correct/100-point CT70 are the frame & LH engine case with the "correct" S/N...and even that's not set in stone, there is no factory registry for indisputable documentation. A full-on custom CT is likely to retain little, in terms of original parts, beyond the frame, gas tank, seat pan and folding bar clamp; orphaned frames, that will never be worth much, are easy enough to source in solid condition, cheap, too. That's partially why I built mine on ST70 frames. You don't get to ride right from the get-go. It's still a blank canvas. Just as form follows function, title follows VIN. Aside from initial acquisition cost, the biggest differences are likely to be regulatory hoops you may have to jump through and obtaining insurance. Pre `74 bikes face few regulations. Specialty insurers have few qualms over agreed value coverage on a Honda, the same might not be true with an obscure moniker, such as "Dirt Dobber". You might want to try titling & insuring the bike before investing your time & money into customizing it. The heartbreak you prevent could be your own

The best Q/C I've seen on any clone bike was on the last of the Jinchengs. They came closest to replicating Honda details but vanished from the US market as others popped out of the woodwork with cheaper versions. Rupps & Dirt Dobbers were decal-engineered versions of the same bike; not quite as well made as the JC versions, but better than what's followed in the ensuing race-to-the-bottom price war. As I recall, your rear hub is a reasonably faithful copy of the OE design, with the 4 rubber isolators & steel C-clip ring land cast into the hub. They predate the failure-prone (doomed?) all-aluminum copies used with the tubeless, one-piece, rims. Stay away from the newest rear hub copy, mainly marketed under the Skyteam moniker, that uses 4-bolts to retain the sprocket. Those OEM rubber pieces are there for a reason.

Circa 2001, JC bikes cost more at dealer wholesale than most clones do, at retail, in 2010. I wouldn't go so far as to say that production numbers, alone, account for the quality of the finished products. Look at what's happened to raw material costs, alone, since then. It's more a matter of the varied ways the bikes have been built to ever-lower costs, something had to give.

Karen I looked at Greydoggy's pic's and it looks like he has stock silver painted rims. Maybe I'm looking at old pics but in his album they look like painted stockers.

Originally Posted by kmcrab

That is unbelieveable for a trailer! WOW!....Is the trailer that you are talking about the one in your thread on your new bike? I like that trailer...it looks like a common style here, meaning nothing to raise a red flag about at the DMV. I couldn't see it too well in the pics...Did you build it from a kit or was it completely homemade? You mentioned custom...maybe thats why they were so picky about it?? Crazy.

Yes, it's the one in the pictures I've posted. I had a welder/fabricator make it for me. I added the wood deck, tie downs, trailer storage box, and all the lights. They told me since I requested a VIN for a custom trailer they had to verify it wasn't stolen and was in fact made by/for me. That's why they wanted to see all the reciepts. I saved a lot of money over buying a name brand trailer.

I had a set of polished CHP rims in my possession for a little bit. I sold them when I purchased a set of solid wheels with monkey hubs. The CHP wheels are pretty nice for the money. Yes they are aluminum and they are the exact size as the original wheels so you can swap them in. They are polished aluminum and have a clear coating over them. I stripped the coating from one of them and then attempted to polish them better. Overall came about about the same, most likely due to my incompetence as a aluminum polisher.

if you were looking for a set of rims and wanted lighter versions, I would highly recommend the CHP wheel set. At 135 we're about the same price as honda originals and they will never rust.

As for the Michelin Reggae's, I hear they are a nice tire. a 120/90-10 is larger than recommended on 2.5" rims, as an FYI, but I run Michelin Boppers on my stock wheels in the same size with no ill effects.

I wouldn't worry about those Lifan wheels...they will be fine. Instead, think about changing out the fork oil, and rear shocks should you decide you need it to go faster.

I wouldn't worry about those Lifan wheels...they will be fine. Instead, think about changing out the fork oil, and rear shocks should you decide you need it to go faster.[/QUOTE]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatcaaat ,
What's the problem with the rear shocks ?

You don't notice the pogo shocks on a low powered bike. When you snap the throttle there is little pressure put on the rear shocks. Now, put a big torquey big motor in there starting about 125cc china style...or something huge like a GPX177v2 and when you snap the throttle all the pressure has to go somewhere. If you have light sprung pogo shocks, the shocks will significantly compress. If you have really stiff shocks, all the pressure goes to the frame center (because you'll never bend the stock swinger upwards)

If you have good shocks...like progressive ones or even updated taky or kitacos that are relatively cheap, some of that energy is dispirsed appropriately and provides a more even ride on hard accelerations

Originally Posted by racerx

There's a world of difference between CT70s and ANY collector car marque. The only absolutely essential parts needed to potentially build a concours-correct/100-point CT70 are the frame & LH engine case with the "correct" S/N...and even that's not set in stone, there is no factory registry for indisputable documentation. A full-on custom CT is likely to retain little, in terms of original parts, beyond the frame, gas tank, seat pan and folding bar clamp; orphaned frames, that will never be worth much, are easy enough to source in solid condition, cheap, too. That's partially why I built mine on ST70 frames. You don't get to ride right from the get-go. It's still a blank canvas. Just as form follows function, title follows VIN. Aside from initial acquisition cost, the biggest differences are likely to be regulatory hoops you may have to jump through and obtaining insurance. Pre `74 bikes face few regulations. Specialty insurers have few qualms over agreed value coverage on a Honda, the same might not be true with an obscure moniker, such as "Dirt Dobber". You might want to try titling & insuring the bike before investing your time & money into customizing it. The heartbreak you prevent could be your own

The best Q/C I've seen on any clone bike was on the last of the Jinchengs. They came closest to replicating Honda details but vanished from the US market as others popped out of the woodwork with cheaper versions. Rupps & Dirt Dobbers were decal-engineered versions of the same bike; not quite as well made as the JC versions, but better than what's followed in the ensuing race-to-the-bottom price war. As I recall, your rear hub is a reasonably faithful copy of the OE design, with the 4 rubber isolators & steel C-clip ring land cast into the hub. They predate the failure-prone (doomed?) all-aluminum copies used with the tubeless, one-piece, rims. Stay away from the newest rear hub copy, mainly marketed under the Skyteam moniker, that uses 4-bolts to retain the sprocket. Those OEM rubber pieces are there for a reason.

Circa 2001, JC bikes cost more at dealer wholesale than most clones do, at retail, in 2010. I wouldn't go so far as to say that production numbers, alone, account for the quality of the finished products. Look at what's happened to raw material costs, alone, since then. It's more a matter of the varied ways the bikes have been built to ever-lower costs, something had to give.

Good Points Thanks!...I did talk to my insurance agent and it will be insured as a Lifan...That company is acknowledged in the insurance world and it actually surprised me to find that they even have NADA Motorcyle Appraised Values! LOL!! I did not expect that. You probably know this but for others that don't... The official name is Chongging Lifan and I was informed that they are one of the largest manufacturers in the world...I didn't know that. I really don't know much about the China stuff. Evidently if a person is going to buy a Chinese vehicle and wants insurance,Chongging Lifan is a safe bet. I was also told that Chogging Lifan and American Lifan are two different companies and that is where trouble can arise....Of course I have zero past experience with this and only found this out when I called about insurance availability on a clone. I will make sure that it's tagged before I invest much into it.

I probably wasn't clear in comparing the Honda Ct and vintage cars...for me and it's just my own feelings, I have a hard time not staying very close to stock on anything vintage.. even if it's a bicycle,coke machine or one of the old pedal trikes I have. I like restoring to original. It's just the way my mind works...I like a restored blast from the past that brings back good memories and seeing the looks on peoples faces when they see something like they knew of or had as a kid!

I know we are not talking about any huge amounts of money or title histories...It's just me and what I like and feel comfortable doing. I absolutely love your purple bike and Jamie's and Dan's and other customs I have seen built on a Honda frame...CT's or ST's. If I like how this bike comes out...I might customize an orphaned salvage yard Honda...They are my favorite!

Do you know if I can put the 120/90/10 tires on these wheels? Thanks Bob