I'll start from the beginning...You have probably seen in posts where I have written about wanting to do a custom CT...The problem is that from an early age my dad drilled it in my head to keep vintage vehicles original unless it was something like wheels that could be put back to stock or to keep the original stock rebuilt engine if you had a built one that you were running. But to always keep the original color paint,carpet etc. My family was big into collector cars...namely Pontiac's with my Hurst Olds and 62 Corvette being the exception.

Anyhow back to the custom CT that I want to do...I had planned on using either my 71 Candy Gold or my 72 CYS as the basis for the custom, both are straight and very little rust. I just cannot make myself customize them in the way that I want, some people probably think thats silly but it is what it is...I just can't/won't do it and I want no regrets on this project.

Sooo what to do??...Find a nice... "gasp"... clone. Thats not easy. I met some interesting people on that search...One guy was convinced that his Redcat was a very rare to the USA, ST DAX from Japan, no kidding....The dealer had told him that, and being unfamiliar with these thought that was what he had. The dealer had even put a Honda KO decal on it, but did leave the Redcat decals on as well. ?? I double checked with our JDM experts here just to make sure that I was right since I am not familiar with the later ones either. I actually felt sorry for the guy, he had spent a lot on it and thought he really had something special.

The next guy that I met was also convinced that his 2004 Redcat was very closely associated with Honda...in my first 5 minutes at his home he broke a key off in the fork lock. For those of you who have not been close to a clone, the keys are a VERY lightweight aluminum and look nothing like a CT70 key. He spent 45 minutes trying to get the broken key out and then told me he would "Call the Honda Dealership" the next day and get a replacement! LOL!! He was convinced as well that everything about his bike was Honda. It was pretty and very low miles but he wanted a fortune (I thought) for it and was getting upset when I said that even though it was low miles and pretty...it was still a Chinese knock off. He valued it at $800 at the minimum...I was closer to $300. He has had this bike for sale for months with no luck and keeps dropping the price. I left without getting it..HA!

Same story with the next person

The last guy was very realistic about his bike and super nice as well, this bike was also very nice and had been well taken care of. That is the one that I got...I checked all of them for what Bob and Dan have mentioned to be issues and up until this one almost everything that I had read and been told was evident. Bad welds,rust,blisters and heavy paint, play in the steering, play in the rear sprocket hub area, etc.

For me, I knew that a lot would be changed out eventually but I wanted a solid basis to build on and I wanted to use it safely in the meantime. This bike had been sitting indoors for 6 months without being started and even though the gas was good, it did have some particles in the tank and although it started right up (e start) it was easy to tell that it needed some tweaking to run correctly. The bike has 122.9 miles and a new battery. The PO said that it had always had a bit of a ticking sound to it but that he had never done anything about it and said that it was still in the break in stage...He has been very gentle with it and it shows The bike looks like new and the price was more than right and much less than I thought it would be so I brought it home.

The point of this thread is to document the changes and upgrades that I make to it. I will report on any issues and the good points about the bike as I go along.

The bike is a Red 2005 Dirt Dobber 3...The DD-3 is suppose to be a 110 but this one is a 70cc I believe, which is what I was expecting to get. It has 122.9 miles on it and is an electric start (I like that) as well as a kick start. It is a 4 speed semi auto. It came with a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin. I wanted a semi auto to start with for use at events and camping.

What I have done so far:

Drained the gas and used magnents to get the particles out. (It has a metal tank) I put an in-line filter on.

I prefer the looks of the high fender like the CT so I removed the low front fender and put a Honda fender on up high. It took a bit of modification to do this along with rubber spacers.

I changed the plug but the old one was fine. It was a Torch brand and not gapped correctly.

I drained the oil and checked for metallic particles with a light and magnent and found very few, just the normal fine particles that you would expect in a low mileage motor. The oil was very clean.

There is no rust on the bike itself but there are a couple of small surface rust spots starting on the exhaust at the head. Not surprised about that. The paint is ok..it is a bit heavy in a few places but no runs,raspberries or blemishes. The chrome is ok, it's not Honda quality, but it's ok.

I thought I would adjust the valves to get rid of the ticking sound and quickly found out why it was ticking...There was not a nut on the valve adjuster stem on the intake valve! When I removed the valve covers I could tell that there were no marks where this had been done before so I feel very confident that this came from the factory this way. I believe they forgot to put the nut on! Luckily this bike was purchased by someone who was very gentle with it and didn't use it much. The exhaust side was fine and set correctly. I also used a small magnent and light to see if a nut was inside the head and saw nothing. Hopefuly it's not rolling around in there! HA! Once I put a nut on and adjusted the intake valve the ticking stopped and it runs very quiet.

The carb is marked Mikuni Japan with 21 stamped on it...I don't know if the carb is a clone or not.HA! Like I mentioned when I first heard the bike run you could tell it needed adjusting and what I found was that the air box had way too much foam it it...along with the filter, it had two thick pieces of foam at each end. I took those out. The boot was also not tight to the carb and the intake was not tightened down to the gasket either. Once I did that and adjusted the air mix it runs great...I am pleased and surprised with it.

I have a long list of things I will be doing to it and if there is any interest I will post about it and what I find along the way. I don't want to bore anyone. Here are a few pics...Check out the bug decals... A dirt daubber with a helmet!! The last pic is of the front fender raised to CT70 height.

A few things other things that I have found so far. There were so many loose bolts it was unbelieveable. Now to be fair, the guy that had it had some serious family health issues with his child and did not spend much time with the bike so I am guessing that this was from the factory/dealer?? The other things that were nice surprises is that the throttle rolls back on it's own...Love that! The 12v lighting system rocks...It is such a huge difference between that and the 6v CT70's.

It does/did have this weird thing that when you use the blinkers a very loud horn from under the seat goes off and sounds like a back up horn on a school bus...Got rid of that.

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OK who has insurance for riding on the road and where did you procure it. Progressive will not write my Pitster Pro Classic in Ohio. I am all tagged and titled (Great service from Gary at Pitster by the way) but have no coverage for the street. Would like to have a basic coverage liabilty. Progressive is not a prefered provider for me, just happened that way. In checking my policy found 2 really serious errors in how the policy was written. May not be their fault, I suspect a incompentent agent.

Without boring you to death with details here's the skinny.

I ordered a GPX140 motor from TBolt USA which came to me as a PitsterPro 140 that says ZS on the box (for Zongshen I assume). The rear motor mount is too wide but the top one fits fine. Isn't that a problem with YX motors, not Zongshen?

People with YX motors; did you grind away at the cases or the motor mount? It looks like the swingarm won't interfere, but I guess I won't really know til after the motor's in.

Wiring the YX: my connector came crushed, but I'm not really that upset. The problem I have is I've got 6 wires coming out of the motor; a stand alone green (chassis ground I believe) and 5 going to the connector: blue/white, green, something else, and TWO YELLOWS (?!?). Not a yellow and a yellow w/ red strip; two yellows. Anyone know what to do here?

Thanks

Did the 1984 models come in black and with a manual clutch?

I just got a line on what seems like a great price and the owner says it has 800 orginal miles on it.

The decals are different from anything else I've seen. From the photo one seems to be a large "S"

Pic attached.

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Pulled the trigger on the Pitster Pro 125. Should be here in a few days. looked at a few older clones and some nice restored and survivors. Came to the conclusion that I wanted a 4 speed and electric start. Even thought of buying a fixerupper and putting Lifan power on it looked to be about a $500.00 project plus the cost of a solid CT.

Decision made: With the improvements and configuration just buy new. Cheaper and better to use, not collect. May still buy a collector before I am done.

With any luck Pitster is a fair quality clone. More on that later I guess, commited now. I would guess that the way things are the prices will go up on quality clones (new I understand about used clones) next year.

OHScot

Anybody know if these guys are still in business? Have not answered my e-mail and phone is voice mail? Still thinking clone. Like the electric start female friendly for my wife.

I finally had a chance to run the bike all day I took it and used it a large swap meet/tractor show held here in Florida. All I can say is I definitely need some changes! I can put it in 3rd and forth gear and start off from a standstill with no strain on the engine. I puttered around the swap meet like that all day long.

I have run it up close to the 50 mark on the speedo (betting these things are very inaccurate), its screaming but has more on the throttle and will still pull. Note I'm also southwest Florida so I'm a "flatlander".

Checked out what I have on there now today. Its a 14t front and 42t rear. 3.50 tires. I am ordering new tires very soon as the rear needs replacement and I'm jumping up to 4.00's

The motor on this bike is a lifan 4spd manual clutch, 86cc all stock. It sure feels like it can take alot more strain. I would love to get the revs down a bit at around 45mph and would love to have the gearing a little more useful. also, looking under the cover it does not look like I have a whole lot of room left, I dunno if say a 17t would have enough clearance If I went to something like that?

thanks for any suggestions

Few things, I did mention wanting to change a few things on my previous post and got some ideas/answers.

Here's what I am looking into right now and wonder if anyone has seen any of them done or done them and what problems (if any) I will have.

my bike is a 2003 Rupp trail 90 (lifan kick start only, 4speed, the bike is chonginq or something like that)

1. original honda chainguard.
I guess the holes (which are indented on the clone) would need to be drilled out at the top. I looks like my side cover would accommodate, I may have to cut something at the rear-maybe. TBparts has one listed that is red and looks like the same candy color as whats on my bike.

2. engine skidplate/guard.
Holes would need drilled at the top frame (at least on the left side) But the flat spots are pressed onto the frame-dunno if they are in the right spot or not!
A buddy with a clone thinks one should work seeing as my motor does not have electric start. I guess nobody makes repro or oem one anymore? I just need to look of a good used unit??

3. side information decals.
Just dont like that pressing on the side of the clone, just looks like you lost an emblem or something. Certain years did not say "trail 70" across the top of the decal, just information. I was thinking of using them and covering over the Honda wings at the bottom of the decal. I thought I hears that the pressing on the frame was incorrect in some way and oem decals don't fit right, Is that something where I can just trim the decal up or is there a big difference?

4. rear taillight assy.
want to put an early assy on, I don't care if it will make it dirtier when riding or whatever I wanna loose that big late model plastic mud flap and taillight.

5. front fender (maybe)
not too keen on the low mount fender. I don't really see any accommodations on the bottom of the triple mount for where a high mount honda would fit though

6. tires
Not OEM but I am thinking of the Pirelli sl60's My bike has 3.50x10 street tires, the pirellis are bigger and I guess the smaller ones available is around the same as a 4.00x10 (they list the pirellis in metric) I need to go taller on the gears allready so the tires would help. My thoughts are that these woudl be a little better on the street than the oem trail wings, but still give me a little control on the trails

7. seat
again I would use probably another clone seat, but I would like one that all black and looks a little more vintage (mine has a gray top to it. I guess that the clone seats should all be about the same the way they mount? Mine uses the hinge in front with the helmet lock as the latch.

as you can see, I can't leave well enough alone :) I should just buy a real ct and build it, but I have way too many vintge bikes torn apart being redone a little at a time, don't want to add another to the list. This stuff I can bolt on at will as I use and abuse it as a rider

Thanks!

Hey, I bought a real clean trail 90 Rupp last weekend. Its a nice clean bike, has bad blinker arms. I guess thats pretty typical of these. Anyway I was browsing a bit for some fresh assy's. I would rather put some better units on the bike. I also do not like the taillight and rear plastic fender assy and am curious if I can possible use an older unit without too many modifications to the bike?

I did see a taillight and blinkers assy on Trail-buddy site with the older style taillight and problably better blinkers, but I am not sure if it will fit the bike and of course it out of stock. I'd also like to do something about that terrible plastic chainguard if possible

heres the bike:

I do not have pictures yet. The current owner describes it as blue with no logo on the frame. The seat has buttons on the side like an original CT70. Not the smooth seats like most clones.

Can anyone help? I will try to get pictures soon.

Thank You