Old bikes like today’s Nice Price or No Dice Honda stick around only because people find them quirky and desirable. Let’s see if this little dual-purpose scrambler’s price gives it broader appeal.
In his song Changes, David Bowie asked us to “turn and face the strange.” The 1986 Ford Mustang SVO that came our way yesterday had seen a number of changes, both visual and related to its performance. None of those, however, made the car worth a $16,750 price tag. At least that’s the takeaway from the 83 percent No Dice drubbing you all gave it at that asking.
Staying with the music theme, let’s talk a bit about The Rolling Stones’ 1969 song Monkey Man, off the album Let It Bleed. It was recorded in the period immediately after the death of Stones guitarist Brian Jones due to a drug overdose but before the addition of Mick Taylor as Jones’ replacement. That meant that Keith Richards had to do double duty, playing both lead and slide guitar on the track.
Monkey Man could easily be the theme song for today’s 1972 Honda Trail 70. This model not only hit the American market in 1969, the same year as Let It Bleed, but it’s also an evolution of a series of small motorcycles that in Japan had gained the nickname “Monkey Bike” for their diminutive stature. The CT-70, or Trail 70 as it’s better known, is also almost as enduring as The Stones, lasting in production all the way to 1998.
The bike’s heyday, though, was the 1970s, when the model became wildly popular in the U.S., serving as everything from a farm bike to something RVers tootled around campsites on. Its diminutive size and low cost, matched with Honda quality, made the bike a winner and engendered its cult status for years down the road.
Its form factor—a T-bone frame serving as both the structural base and hard mount for the engine, suspension, and seat—is today about as iconic a design as anything with two wheels could be. That, along with the sizable attrition rate that afflicts almost all relatively cheap, obtainable products, has driven prices on decent survivors to extreme heights.
This one comes in what appears to be very good condition and is one of the rare (three-years-only) manual four-speed editions. Painted candy apple red and carrying all its original decals and chrome brush bars, it seems ready and eager to fire up and go.
You’ll note, too, that, despite its shrinky-dink size, it still has a banana saddle and a pair of buddy pegs on the swing arm for two-up, very intimate rides. That won’t be a particularly quick ride as the 72 cc four-stroke single that powers the Trail 70 only offers about four and a half horses to motivate the bike. Maybe that’s why this one’s only done an indicated 1,306 miles.
On the downside, the tires look ancient and there’s some chipping in the paint on the front forks and frame, possibly from carrying a lock and chain there, as was common at the time. There’s also no title, which means the bike will be sold with a bill of sale, and it will be up to the new owner to deal with the DMV. And yes, these are street-legal in many places. To take on that responsibility will cost $3,950 as that’s the seller’s asking price. Coincidentally, that’s almost exactly ten times the bike’s original cost of around $395.
That’s a lot of cabbage for so small a bike. And, while the Trail 70 has long enjoyed cult status, pushing prices ever higher as time goes by, the question of the moment is, could that be an appropriate price tag for this particular bike?
What do you say? Is $3,950 a fair deal to hit the Trail? Or would paying that much make a monkey out of the buyer?
You decide!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Michael Clark for the hookup!
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