First, I would like to thank JohnP for covering last week’s Nostalgic Wednesday. These past few weeks were both crazy and amazing because my wife and I just had a baby boy (named him Blaze Alexander). Having a son, having this passion for cars and being a part of Mayday Garage gives me so many dreams for this kid; like taking him to car shows and photo shoots, what his first car would be, helping him cut the coil springs to slam his first car, go-karting parties, and many more. As a new car enthusiast dad it’s something fun to look forward to. All these ideas have inspired me for today’s Nostalgic Wednesday. When I was younger I wanted a mini-bike, not just an ordinary mini-bike from Pepboys, but a Honda Mini-Trail CT70.
wood.
Also known as pit-bikes, these bike’s small frames allowed the crew to fit in the corner of just about any trailer during race days. Its predecessor was the Honda Monkey Z50Z. The difference between the monkey and the CT70 was its distinct T-bone frame. The CT70 was sold in the US was and also marketed in Europe and Asia as the Honda “Dax” or ST70. The name Dax,which is a reference to the dachshunds (dog), the silhouette which is a resemblance to the shape of the bike.
love how the Japanese find inspiration in anything...
These mini-treasures are still around. Most of them you will see in the garages of enthusiasts fully restored, some of them forgotten in barn yards, and occasionally in craigslist for sale price ranging from $100- 1500 depending on the condition.
$1200 for this condition...pretty pricey.
In Asia, specially China, these mini-bikes are being cloned from their distinct frame down to its bolt size due to Honda’s patents for the Honda Mini Trail CT70 expired on 1998.
a clone by Lifan China.
Until today, the tags CT70, DAX, Honda Mini-Trail still drop down on my autofill preference when I scour Houston’s Craigslist searching for that awesome deal and fulfill my dream of owning a Honda CT70, a mini-bike which I can hand over to my son to hopefully become his first build.
Start em' young.
-Mark-