Estimated read time: 6 minutes
Welcome back to the Dispatch. Series 4 of the garage series is rolling on Instagram, the October chill is settling in, and the market keeps telling the same story: the nicest bikes keep bringing real money. This week: two concours restorations sold out of a Connecticut dealership, a first-year Silver Tag bike at Bonhams, three bikes for sale right now (including a $1,400 project and a running H-model for $1,250), and how to put your tank to sleep for winter the right way. Grab a coffee and settle into the garage.
Market Watch: What CT70s Are Actually Selling For
Asking prices are wishes. Hammer prices are facts. Here is what the market has been doing since Issue #2.
1970 Honda CT70, concours frame-off restoration, sold out at $7,500
Kaplan Cycles in Vernon, Connecticut, moved this one at $7,500. Ten and a half miles since completion, rebuilt engine, showroom condition inside and out. The page now shows sold out. That is the strongest CT70 number in the Dispatch’s coverage window, and it did not need an auction to get there.
View the sale page
1974 Honda CT70, frame-off restoration, sold out at $6,950
The second Kaplan bike, a red 1974 with 83.6 miles on a full restoration, sold out at $6,950. Two concours bikes, both gone, both near or above the $7,000 BaT result that led Issue #2. The pattern is getting hard to argue with: a genuinely restored bike, done right, clears six and a half grand without blinking.
View the sale page
1969 ‘Silver Tag’ Trail 70, fully restored, sold for US$3,450 including premium
At Bonhams, a first-year 1969 from the Carter Collection brought US$3,450 with premium. The Silver Tag bikes, the reflectorized frame tags from the first two months of CT70 production, carry the early-production premium even at modest money. Candy Sapphire Blue, sold on a bill of sale.
View the auction record
The big picture: Issue #2’s range was $3,350 to $7,000. The ceiling just moved to $7,500. At the top of the market, restoration quality is the entire story: the two Kaplan bikes and the $7,000 BaT bike from early October are all the same story, frame-off restorations bringing real money while driver-condition bikes hold in the mid-threes to fours. If you own one, this is a good time to know exactly what it is worth, which is precisely what the Pricing Guide below is for.
Bikes For Sale Right Now
1973 Honda CT70 K2, restoration project, $1,400 or Best Offer (eBay)
Listed within the last few days out of Bentonville, Arkansas. Non-running, but the engine is intact and untested, which is project-bike speak for “you might get lucky.” Blue, solid steel, and the listing already has watchers. If you want into a CT70 for the price of a decent used iPad, this is the door.
View the listing
1971 Honda CT70, restored, Candy Ruby Red, $5,600 asking
A 1,981-mile restored 1971 with a rebuilt engine and transmission, finished in Candy Ruby Red, on AllCollectorCars. Includes the original owner’s manual. This is the middle lane of the market: a turn-key bike at the price of two years of dealer restorations on the installment plan.
View the listing
1972 Honda CT70H, all original, $1,250
Read that twice. Supreme Motos in Mercer, Pennsylvania, has an all-original 1972 CT70H, registered and street legal, running perfect, at $1,250. 2,794 miles, 4-speed manual clutch, VIN CT70H-2013114. The H-model premium is real when these trade among collectors, so an all-original runner at twelve-fifty is the kind of listing that does not survive the weekend.
View the listing
From the Workbench: Putting Your Bike to Sleep for Winter
The riding season is winding down, and a CT70 parked wrong all winter wakes up sick in spring. Varnished carbs, dead batteries, flat-spotted tires. Here is the cheap insurance, in one afternoon.
Step 1: Stabilize the fuel. Fill the tank full (a full tank does not rust from the inside the way a half-empty one does) and dose it with fuel stabilizer at the ratio on the bottle. Run the engine for five minutes so the treated fuel reaches the carb. Then shut the petcock and run the carb bowl dry, either with the drain screw or by letting it idle out. Treated fuel in the tank, dry carb. That order matters.
Step 2: Pull the battery and keep it warm. Batteries hate cold garages. Pull it, clean the terminals, and put it on a tender or charge it once a month. A Battery Tender is about thirty bucks and pays for itself the first spring it saves you a battery.
Step 3: Fog the top end (optional, worth it). A quick shot of fogging oil through the spark plug hole, then crank the engine a couple of turns by hand to coat the cylinder walls. Put the plug back in. This is the difference between a spring startup that smokes for ten seconds and one that smokes for ten minutes.
Step 4: Get the weight off the tires. If she is sitting all winter, lift the bike or at least roll it a few inches every month so the tires do not flat-spot. Series 4 covered this in the tires-and-storage post, same rule applies here.
Step 5: Cover it and leave it alone. A breathable cover, not a plastic tarp that sweats. Then walk away. Every “quick check” in February introduces condensation. Let the bike sleep.
Come spring, you will thank October-you.
From the Shop
The Shop Manual, $7.77. The factory service manual, digitized and searchable. Torque specs, wiring diagrams, exploded views. If you own a CT70 and turn your own wrenches, this pays for itself the first time you use it.
Get the Shop Manual
The Official Trail 70 Pricing Guide, $9.99. Every model and year, with real market data so you know what your bike is worth before you buy, sell, or insure it. Instant download.
Get the Pricing Guide
The Grease Monkey Bundle, $17.77. The Shop Manual plus the Pricing Guide, together at a bundle price. The full garage reference shelf in one download.
Get the Grease Monkey Bundle
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The Dispatch goes out weekly: real sale prices, bikes for sale, and one practical tip from the workbench, every time. If a friend forwarded you this issue, sign up below so the next one lands in your inbox.
The Trail 70 Dispatch is published by the Trail 70 Association. Sale prices are reported from public auction records and are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Listings were live at the time of publication but may sell at any time.
