BIKE OF THE MONTH


July 2011 Bike of the Month
Bike of the Month 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


1975 Honda Trail 70 Custom

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.

The Bike of the Month contest is held monthly at the Vintage Bike OC meet. Qualifying motorcycles must be 30 years old or older. Former Bike of the Month winning bikes are not eligible to win again. Anyone attending the meet is eligible to enter a qualifying bike in the contest and vote for their favorite bike. The winning bike is chosen by a popular vote and is featured on the Home page for one month and in this feature article. The Bike of the Month articles are permanent content on the site.

Bike of the Month Gallery
Photo gallery of all the Bike of the Month winners.
previous Archive next
July 2011
1975 Honda Trail 70
June 2011
1969 Honda Mini Trail
May 2011
1955 Velocette MSS
April 2011
1970 Parilla
March 2011
1968 BSA Firebird
February 2011
1952 Triumph 6T
January 2011
1959/77 Triton
December 2010
1964 Triumph TR6
November 2010
1950 Norton Model 18
October 2010
1950 Triumph Thunderbird
September 2010
1942 Indian 741-B
August 2010
1948 Indian Chief
July 2010
1938 Indian 4
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