Thread: Video: How not to ride a Trail 70

The rear shock mounts have to be bent.

I could see that leading to cracks in the frame :/ at least it is getting enjoyed rather than at parked rusting away like some

Aye -- Was that Grant ! Now we know what happened to that leg . (Dukes of Hazzard)

We rode them like that all the time when we were kids. They were made to have fun on, not to be enshrined and merely gazed at. You have to remember they were originally made for kids,not 200 to 300 pound adults.

WOW!! that bring's back memories!!! Let's see?....... then there was the ambulance ride,
and then?...........Oh yea, I'm back now..lol, That's real good air for something that only has a couple of inches of travel. And when the kid brings it back home and the dad see's it, and asked "What happened?" and the kid says" Me and so and so were just riding it around in the field and it broke.........sob sob..ha ha...Hey Bill, thanks for posting that one!

Originally Posted by hondaman

We rode them like that all the time when we were kids. They were made to have fun on, not to be enshrined and merely gazed at. You have to remember they were originally made for kids,not 200 to 300 pound adults.

Would you let him borrow your's for the weekend? I rode my HKO pretty hard as a kid but, never jumped an entire road. It's a "Trail 70" not a Jumping 70.

Originally Posted by hondaman

We rode them like that all the time when we were kids. They were made to have fun on, not to be enshrined and merely gazed at. You have to remember they were originally made for kids,not 200 to 300 pound adults.

Maybe you came along a bit later. The whole "big air" and supercross thing was a post-`80 evolution. Circa 1970, trail biking was just hitting stride. To most, it was amazing enough being able to stay upright while dealing with grades, rough trails & low traction conditions. What consititutes "new & exciting" is a moving target. The bar was a lot lower 40 years ago. This is manifested in the suspension and frame designs of the day. You don't see contemporary bikes, circa 2010, intended for supercross & stunt jumping with a mere 3" of suspension travel. The really "tough" offroad bikes of the late `60s/early `70s were referred to as "enduros", a term that has completely vanished. The XL70 is a classic example, with it's full-cradle/twin-spar frame and 17" wheels. 10 to 20 years later, many CT70s & Z50s were, indeed, ridden..."like that all the time"... and I've seen many examples that show the sad results. With CT70s it's bent/broken rear shock mounts & bent fork legs; with Z50s it's broken frame hoops, on hardtails, and swingarm/swingarm pivot damage on soft tails, along with bent fork legs. Non US-spec models (ST70s) had GVW ratings up to 240kg; that's 528lbs! Subtracting the nominal 156lb weight of the unladen bike leaves 372lbs for...shall we say..."payload" True enough, US marketing was aimed mainly at kids. That wasn't true in every market, particularly in those where sales brochures referred to the ST70 as "the Monkey Bike for two". Perhaps, the frame and suspension weren't made for ..."200 to 300 pound adults"... But then, neither was the human frame and look at the results of putting that kind of strain on it. Could be the reason there aren't many 200 to 300lb track stars competing at the olympic level.

IMO, there's a world of difference between "hav(ing) fun on, not to be enshrined and merely gazed at" and outright mechanical abuse. How you choose to ride your bike is 100% your call. It's still a mechanical device, meaning that it will break when stressed beyond its mechanical limits. I'll still enjoy the videos, even whilst thinking "better him than me"

Don't sell these little bikes short anyone, I remember not too long ago, a post where some kids were at a quarry and sending them off a 20 -30 foot embankment. They would walk down to the bottom, pull the bent bars back apart and the thing would start right up. No, I wouldn't do it, but like Racerx said, I'll still watch the video.

Originally Posted by HymieP

Don't sell these little bikes short anyone, I remember not too long ago, a post where some kids were at a quarry and sending them off a 20 -30 foot embankment. They would walk down to the bottom, pull the bent bars back apart and the thing would start right up.

Here you go............

wow they really beat the crap outta those two bikes

at least the one guy got a handlebar up the ass as a result.