Thanks for letting me know about the forum rules. I guess I should re-phrase my question: if I were looking to purchase these bikes to restore them, what should I know regarding the cost of restoration? I've really only dealt with Rupps(which tend to be on the expensive-side of mini bikes), but I would have to assume that these may be in the same ballpark? Again, just looking for any insight in to these bikes. Thanks again!
The 69 is a 69 and you'll have close to $3,500.00 into it by the time you're done, not including what you pay for the bike, that is, if you want a decent restoration and you can do a lot of the work yourself. The 81 seems to be right, they're not really a hot ticket item and not really worth putting a lot of time, money or effort into restoring. The only bike like that 81 that's really a hot ticket item is the 86 Christmas Special, those fetch big $$$. The worst thing about the older 68-71 bikes is finding a decent gas tank. All, and I mean all the reproductions are JUNK!. Unfortunately if you can't find a restorable tank for less than $500.00 most people turn to those garbage reproductions. There are key areas to look for on the 68-71 bikes where the frames crack, most are cracked. Also the steering stop at the bottom of the steer tube, if it's bent, chances are the steer tube is out of round and they can be a pain to get back round so the bearing cups stay in. The older mini trails are not cheap to restore by any means, especially if you're trying to restore a special or limited edition. I have what I believe is the only REAL set of oval Honda "Monkey" tank badges for my 1971, just to give you an idea of what kinda money you'll drop on one of these, the "Honda" reproductions sell for $400 a set. It took me about 5 years scouring the internet to find an original set, I will say, you'll meet a bunch of weird people and a bunch of nice people along the way to restoring one of these, hopefully, I'm one of the nice people, Hahahahaha.
Wow, thank you for the detailed rundown! Seems like this may be a project that I'll forego, given my limited knowledge of these. They sound like they may be complete money pits, if I can even obtain the necessary parts. I initially assumed they would be in a similar realm to the CT70's(I constantly see them going for $2000-$7500 in all conditions), but you know what they say about assumptions! I think I may stick to Rupps, and the like, for now, unless I find a real steal. Again, thank you for the help, and for helping me avoid throwing my money away.
well, I didn't mean to scare you off from getting them, I just wanted to give you a realist view of parts cost and whatnot. Sure you can clean up what's there and enjoy it but to do one somewhat right will cost you. Just the correct paint is around $400 a quart, sure you can rattle can it for less and get decent results but you get what you pay for. I have quite a few original tanks and even the nicest ones, ones I spent a good chunk of change for, need work. Occasionally Honda reproduces parts for these and most of the NOS parts you find are actually Honda reproductions. If you find what someone is selling as NOS and it has a box or bag with a barcode, it's a Honda reproduction. The barcode system wasn't around until 1973 or so, that still doesn't stop those reproduction NOS parts from getting top dollar. There was a 69 "Honda" reproduction tank listed here in the classifieds for $1,200 just to give you an idea. The 69 that you're looking at appears to be mostly complete and a lot of those hard to find items you'll already have. I did notice that the tank was painted while on the bike, most likely repaired too. The headlight bucket isn't there, Cha-ching $$ and so on and on. Without being there to kick some tires, I wouldn't pay more than a $1,000-$1,200 for the 69 bike. There's quite a few of the 81 style around and I have seen them listed in ridable condition for $750 on the low side to $1,500 on the high side.
those are Honda's there isn't a better couple of bikes to pick up if the price is right, they just run, good dependable machines but they are just mini bikes so it depends on what the current owner is willing to take, I know if they were in new york or close to it I would be trying to grab the pair for the right price, that being said me myself before I put 3500.00 into a mini bike I would throw it in the dumpster, good luck
Yeah,The prices on those have gone through the roof. One can buy the new version for about the same price and have something you can actually ride. I bought a '93 Z50R back in '99 for my oldest daughter. She and the others had a blast with it. A friend gave me another a couple of years ago.They still ride them when back in town. I doubt they would have had anymore fun with a $4000.00 dust collector
Check out the Mecum motorcycle auction in Las Vegas later this month ...Like the Doobie Brothers sang, "What a fool believes".. nothing personal
The reproduction white grips are pretty nice and not badly priced but yeah, if you bought a set of NOS Honda grips, OUCH!. Those auction sales are ridiculous and just makes everyone think their rusty old junk is worth waaaaaay more than it really is. What those auction shows don't tell you is that a lot of times the bid goes to some charity, making the sale a tax write-off.
