Why are we here?

Hi,

This topic won't get very far with our 3 members (so far) but I thought it would be interesting to hear about each other and why we are here!

Right, I will start! I was given my bike (1975 Honda ST70) a few years back and had been into bikes for years. I passed my motorcycle test in 2004 but haven't really rode much since! Hopefully that will change this year

I set up the site so I could keep track of my restoration progress but then decided to try and make the site into a resource for other owners. I am a huge fan of classic cars and bikes and love the retro look!

I have big plans for the website but have to try and fit them in and around my work

Thanks for reading!

Just like James... I'm a fan of old cars and bikes.

And it's always nice to learn something, and to help people out.
That's pretty much the purpose of a forum I guess.

guess that leaves me . . . . .Well, like the rest of you I also am a classic fan. But not just cars and bikes. . . Anyway I got my first Dax when I was stationed in Alaska with the US Army. I purchased it from an Airforce Major and rode it all over Fairbanks. I was married at the time and she enjoyed it too. Lost the wife kept the Dax. This was back in 1981 and I still have that bike. However I now have 5 Dax Exports and 4 CT70 MiniTrails. Only 3 (all Dax) are (were?) running. I hope to share what little knowlege I have gleened and pick up any you may share. . .

One thing, my current job (nice to have one) has me sailing about the Asian Pacific, Philippine Islands, Guam, Singapore, and I make little side trips to Japan. Yes I scourer every port I go for bike and VW parts. . .My bikes are on the north west and the south east coast of the US. If anybody can think of a place to look just give me a hint. . .

Hi

Only stumbled across the forum a day or two ago but hopefully others will do so soon making it a busy place in which to discuss all things ST!

My dad's original ST70 (which is still in the family) was one of the first bikes I ever rode rode. We used to do a lot of caravanning in the 1970's & 80's and we carried the ST70 in the back of the Land Rover my dad then owned. I used to ride it around the camping fields and even to a youngster (I was about 11 or 12 then) it was dead easy to ride.
Moving on 30 years or so, my dad is nearly 80 and having sold his last big bike a year ago he decided to get yet another ST70 (his third) to use as occasional transport (he no-longer owns the other two). I was tasked with finding one and got a 1975 red ST70E at a reasonable price a few months ago.
Although a decent runner and in reasonable condition, I decided to give it a complete mechanical overhaul and unfortunately discovered that the engine has suffered little in the way of maintenance over the years. I am currently awaiting delivery of the necessary engine parts (ordered from David Silver) and as soon as they arrive I will get stuck in. On removing the engine I also discovered that the frame is cracked at one of the engine mounting holes (front) and am looking at whether I can weld up the frame myself or if I ought to get a professional job done which will almost certainly be neater & better looking.
If/when my dad decides that he has no further requirement for the ST I am going to strip it down and give it a complete nut & bolt rebuild, I caught the bug when I rebuilt one of my Laverda Jota's a few years ago but the size of the ST makes it more practical in my ever shrinking garage (the garage itself isn't getting smaller but the amount of stuff in it is getting greater!). I still have my day to day machine (BMW R1150GS) and my other hobby is my Land Rover so rebuilding an ST will be childs play (if not a little expensive if I decide to replace parts rather than refurb them).

Look forward to conversing with you soon and if you will answer my questions as & when they arrise, I will endevour to answer yours if I can.

Alan
(Beds/Bucks border).

Hi guys,
I'm new to the club having been contacted by James through Planet Minitrails.

My bike is an original Japanese ST50E "White" Dax which I found outside a little bike shop/shack in Obihiro, Hokaido in 2005. I ventured inside and asked the owner, mostly in sign language, if it was for sale? Much to my dissapointment he declined to let it go and that was that. Just to clear up a small point, I was in Japan with the Subaru World Rally Team for whom I was in charge of all logistical matters.
Anyway, in 2006 we were back for the Japanese round again and there it was still sitting out the front of the shop. After a few more tricky questions the owner managed to explain that the bike had a carb problem and that was why he didn't want to sell it, my reply to this was simply that I didn't care and just wanted to buy it. After some serious bartering I came out with a purchase price of 21,000 Yen (£104.00)!!!! Bargain.
The little bike then travelled from Japan to the UK, via NZ and Australia, in one of our seafreight containers before arriving in Banbury just before Christmas 2006.
In early 2008 I decided to see if the little thing was interested in starting before I stripped it down so duly cleaned the plug, turned the key and had a spark!! Had a quick look in the fuel tank and all seemed to be clean enough, poured in a drop of new fuel, sorted a small fuel leak on the carb and she started on the 3rd kick!!!! All the lights worked, bingo.

I then started the serious stuff, stripped it down over 3 days bagging and labelling parts as they came off and also took detailed photos for my records. Being as I still worked for Prodrive I took advantage of the sand blasting facilities and spent about 6 days cleaning the parts up each morning from 6.00am till 08.30am, they came up beautifully. The frame was last due to another favour being called in from my friends in the livery department of the then Honda F1, now Brawn GP,in Brackley. They took it in, photographed every sticker and kindly reproduced them for me completely as original and in Japanese text, and all for the princely sum of 2 cases of Fosters!! I have now got spare stickers as well and also the artwork on DVD!!

Got our paintshop to colourmatch the frame using a section of unfaded paint behind the helmet lock, then finished off the blasting to the frame ready for paint. SGM racepaint then painted it and wow, what a finish.
All of the powdercoating was carried out by Central Blast Cleaning in Banbury and this also came out top dollar.
What I finally needed to find was someone capable of re-chroming to a high standard, this took a long time but I settled for a company in Hinkley, Leics called Classics & Chrome. Very helpful guy there by the name of Dave told me that there should be no problem with any of it, called me 2 weeks later and there it was just like new!! Be careful when choosing a plating company, you must choose one that can apply the copper used to rebuild damaged surfaces before chroming, many can chrome but use a less labour intensive method giving poorer finishes.

Loads of bits later, mostly from CMSNL but also from Monkeybike UK & the States, she is back together and running again. I have yet to strip and rebuild the engine but have cleaned it and put it back in due to a house move to North Devon. We are looking forward to getting it registered, anyone have any experience of this please contact me, and tearing up the towns around Ilfracombe!!

Great new website, I will post some pictures soon.

Regards Dave

Why are we here? ..........................Honda ST70 Owners Club states the obvious!!! Apart from the obvious, I guess its because we all enjoy owning, restoring, using, maintaining and keeping a real classic little bike from the 70's. I think these bikes are probably more popular now than they were when they were made - fast becoming a cult bike and 70's icon and as a consequence, the value of them has rocketed!!! I know the Japenese love em and in America, the CT variant is just as well favoured. I have seen via the internet that the ST's are still very popular in Europe as well. I always fancied owning a monkey bike when I was young (even though I owned 4 bikes at the time (Honda CB900FA, XR-75, Suzuki MK1 X7, TS-125) but never really got the opportunity.

On a sunny day in 1983, an opportunity arose when I heard a friend of mine was selling a DAX - I went to see it and bought it!! It was all complete (ST70E with the low German soldier helmet type mudguards) and I used it for a while until I got married and bought a house. ......... then moved house........ then moved house again and eventually, my poor old DAX languished in the garden shed where it suffered from the ravages of time and damp. To cut a long story short, I went in the shed one day, saw my DAX sitting there and thought what the hell am I doing letting that lovely little bike go to ruin??? I stripped it painted and rebuilt it and now it has pride of place in my garage - never again will I let that happen!! Its 2009 now, I'm 47, I've owned the DAX for nearly 26 years and that bike is stayin' with me.

I've just started another restoration of a DAX that languished in wooden boxes in its owners garden shed for over 20 years. You can see pictures of it on this link: http://www.st70.net/forum/viewtopic.php ... p=797#p797
along with my restored DAX. Anyway, I guess that's why I'm here, cos I like classic bikes, cars and hi-fi equipment from the 70's. I also love restoring things that appear to be cream crackered into something mint and sometimes I get the feeling I must be a glutten for punishment!!

Well I Must be member #5.
I've been riding for a few years, mainly enduro/track/trail in the seventies and eighties. Had a layoff for a few years until the mid ninties, when I hired a harly for a weekend trip with a few mates. Got sucked into the hog thing and customised a few bikes, until one fateful day a young kid in a subaru wrx ran into me. No damage to my person, I manged to flip through the air like in the Matrix. The bike was a mess, so it's parked in storage waiting for the money men to arrive with parts and loving.

Moved to tropical Qeensland recently and one day at my parents place, parked up against the wood shed in the rain, I saw the Old Honda 70 (10th birthday present from the parents), rusted and looking very sorry. As you do when you get older, I felt sorry for the old thing and decided to restore her in my spare time. Fast fwd 3 years(2009) and I have three minis 2 x CT70s and a ST 70.
I'm into all sorts of restos, but prefer the Old skool look, white wall tyres etc with old honda engines.

dan