My Cool Trail 90

  • Thread starter Thread starter Victor Vance
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Victor Vance

Victor Vance

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I know this might sound a little weak but I'm tricking up one of these:
ct90-79.jpg

(1979 Honda Trail 90, CT90)

I think it's damn cool, my neighbor gave me it with 26 miles on it a month ago. It now has 200, just from riding it around our block. Oh, yeah, and our trip to Jefferson, NY (where our property is). Anyways, it has some rust so I'm gonna sandblast the back rack tomarrow and the entire exhaust system. The rack's gonna get some primer, the Plasti-Kote Bumper Chrome and the exhaust is going to get some other Plasti-Kote flat black paint, rated at 1500* and designed particularly for exhaust manifolds and the like. Right now the plastics are close to this:
ct90k2.jpg

Hideous. I might steam off the stickers and paint them something closer to the current Honda Red using Krylon Fusion. I'll paint the frame a similar Krylon red and any other painted parts as well. I'll have to use paint stripper on the fuel tank (obviously, sandblasting is too risky ain't it?) and do something about the frame. Since it runs perfectly fine I won't touch the motor. I dunno what to do about the spare fuel can. (apparently Honda realised that this thing guzzles gas like an SUV, and added a secondary fuel can for extended rides) Once it's all done I'm gonna have Dad get it registered :)

Money we've spent on it so far:
Repair Manual $40
Headlight $46 (I have no idea why it was busted with 26 miles on it)
New Points (yes, a points type ignition. They switched to electronic in '83) $25
Speedomer illumination, High Beam indicator, Turn Signal Indicator and Neutral indicator $15
Taillamp bulb $5
Paint $15


Future mods:
CT110 Cylinder head and block (the head slides right off and the cylinder is easily interchangable)
Jet Kit for CT110


0-30: 10 seconds, giove or take
Top speed on block so far: 40@ redline in 3rd
Highest speed yet: 50 in 4th (redline's 55, marked by 'shift points' on speedo)
Tunring ability: Pretty damn capable
Fuel Economy: about 25 mpg with Michael Schumacher driving style :indiff:
Top speed (low range): 30 at approx 1200 above redline, I don't wanna blow this baby up.
 
Not exactly my R6, but looks like fun to kick around the block. My friend has a old 80's Honda 50cc, and we ride that thing all the time. Good Luck with it! 👍
 
Thanks the rust condition makes me question the mileage but the wear of the 1979 tires (well, the back one's a little 'burned out' ;) ) suggests otherwise.

BTW my other rides are this
index.jpg

Has beaten a new 400EX
Top speed so far: 65 (am looking for a spot long enough to hit the bike's 'shift-point'-indicated 95 mph top speed)
Mileage: 7200 (75 of them are mine)
Cost: $1200 (unlike the freebie CT90)

613929.jpg

1997 Honda Z50
-Everything's shot (brakes worn, rims bent, carb needs repair ect) Bought new as a birthday present

moto_lt50_amarela.jpg

(not exactly it, but something like it)
1984 Suzuki Quad Runner 50
-Bought as a birthday present
-Carb is shot (mint otherwise)

Picture_0035.jpg

2000 Polariz Xplorer 4x4 (250)
-Front bumper smashed (due mainly to 'bulldozing' small trees)
-Plastics scratched (due mainly to my boots)
-Electric starter shot (water damage, that starter is a ****ing joke)
 
I still don't get it....how did your neighbor manage to put on 26 miles in 25 years, yet still keep it running? After 25 years of not moving...wouldn't it rust into really little pieces? But other than that....nice! Hope the projects go well, have some fun, and don't break yourself falling off.
 
Wow! I didn't know any of those still existed. We started out with a pair of these 50cc monsters - throw them in the trunk; complete with folding handlebars):

1974_hon_minitrail.jpg


Then we graduated to these - 60ccs of Yammie power, and wheels that would actually roll over something larger than a broomstick:

FT1%201972%20Flavio%20Abbud%202.jpg


Then I graduated to this in about 1975, when my dad got a 175. Four-stroke torque was a revelation, and I drove the wheels off of this thing. It was a ball to drive, very light, very powerful, easy to jump. I knocked my front teeth out on it:

restor10.jpg


Then I got one of these - a used 1973 Kawasaki 175. It had a fair amount of power, nice short gearing, a compression release, and some other goodies, but it was heavy. Not as much fun to drive as the Honda, and just a little before the modern era of dirt bikes with lots of suspension travel. I still rode it a lot, though:

k175.jpg
 
MY neighbor got it from some guy... all the engine settings (valve, points, carburator) were out of whack. Fixing up the valve timing is next, but hey, at least now it feels like a 90! (before it ran real crappy and felt even slower than my 50 with the old points and bad carb. settings. Lucky me dad's a good mechanic) BTW I forgot to mention the 2 wheeler is an XL350... four-valve single cylinder with twin carbs.... has the output of a brand-new XR500... have compared both of them with my butt-o-meter, and the XL350 is faster.

I can't wait to get this puppy back on the trail, I think it's more fun than my 350 or Xplorer! 👍

BTW not bad wheels Duke I saw an '83 or so something-175 at a Honda bike place in South River. If you live anywhere near there, I can hook you up with directions via PM. It's in good shape and has been out there, for, like 9 months :crazy: Its in good shape too so I have no clue why it didn't sell yet.
 
OK, work done so far:

Rear rack and exhaust removed, front exhaust guard removed. Rust sandblastedd, which was futile, so I took out a high-speed drill and wire brush disk thingey and ground the rust right off. Front exhaust guard and rear rack primered. Am considering cutting off the rear portion of the exhaust because a:} I broke a screw in and B:} the sound sucks. I'll put on one of these for $49.95:
dg-03-boltonsteelsilencer.jpg

Not only does it look better, but it's shorter and reduces the amount of backpressure. If we're going to bore out the engine, we need a less restrictive exhaust...
 
My dad's boss(well, kinda my boss too) has one of those Mini Trails, my dad worked on it and I rode it, pretty damn fun, but I managed to hit the rear bumper of the 323 with it(I thought it was in nuetral!). It was also quite fun to run it in 1st then go flat out to 2nd, had enough of a kick to pop a wheelie.
 
LOL I remember when I was revving the death out of my 50 back in the day and suddenly it kicked into 1st and ran right into the garage door :lol:

aah, the memories. I've had my fair share of chills and spills learning to ride fast on my 50...

I still can't wait to saw off the bazooka tin-can tube and get some real sound out of the 90 :trouble: I've gotta run the engine for 60 minutes after painting (according to the label) the new 'shorty' exhaust without the silencer, can't wait to hear it unmuffled...
 
Dad's more than a little worried about registering it later and right now we're instead looking for someone who can mend metal to the muffler's shape and run straight pipes, and storing away the original exhaust for later usage...
 
I took the spark arrestor out at the end of the exhaust and the engine sounds louder a bit and has a wee bit more power 👍

I think I'll stick to the stock exhaust :D
 
Victor Vance
Wtf? Argh stupid Angelfire... I really need a free site without this stipid anit-remote linking thing
Click to expand...
Try maybe geocities, and link it to Da.ru. I've had a site done like that on Da.ru for a year now. Noone visits it, except the other day I did and it's still there.

Put your .zip file on geocities, and link it to Da.ru.
 

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