Grant Lappe with his 1975 Honda Trail 70 Custom
Make: Honda
Model: Trail 70
Year: 1975
Country of Origin: Japan
Engine: 175cc Twin
Transmission: 5 speed
Owner: Grant Lappe
City: Huntington Beach
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Congratulations to Grant Lappe of Huntington Beach for winning Bike of the Month with his 1975 Honda Trail 70 Custom. Grant has been involved with our group for many years but the last time he brought this bike, it wasn't entered into the competition.
The bike is pretty much a custom fabrication from the ground up. Nicknamed the "Thing", it actually started out with an ST90 frame. According to Grant, the 70 and 90 frames are identical, except the 90 frame has more bracing.
The Thing is powered by a 1971 Honda CL175 twin four-stroke engine, that produces around 20hp capable of taking the 225 lbs of steel to 80+ MPH.
The front inverted forks and front brake are from Trail Buddy and the wheels are 12 inch CHP Wheels.
The speedometer is from an SL90 to handle the top speed, and the swing arm is a highly modified ST90 part to get the pivot point in the correct geometry for the handling.
What started out to be a Rat Bike, pieced together out of used parts turned into a very fine example of Grant's engineering and fabrication skills. Mike Richards formerly of Long Beach painted the frame and Artistic Plating plated the chrome bits.
Thank you Grant for bringing it to our meet and sharing your talent with all of us. See all the photos in our July Gallery.
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