this photo was taken by a friend on their cell phone camera, and sent over MMS so its pretty bad resolution. when we get the high quality one we might do a little post processing + share some of the other photos!
most of our two wheel activities are on pedal bikes so our strategy for being seen on those is to just dress really hot. this has the added bonus that cars will treat you like a diety! making a turn across a busy road? cars will just stop for you even if it holds up traffic. pretty privilege is very real, for better and for worse.
but unfortunately that is far trickier with motorcycle gear. so, we turned to a geologist friend who does their work on motorcycles, and they suggested this!
and wow do we look like a traffic cone. but it WORKS. perhaps in the future we will find a way to dress like a slut in this gear x3
mmhm!
it is one of the later years of the honda CT90/honda trail 90/honda trail cub (90). pretty much it evolved from some dealership nearby in idaho modifying honda super cubs for off-road use, it selling so well that honda visited them to see why they were selling so many, and then honda basically copying the idea. initially it was just a super cub with a big rear sprocket, knobby tires, no fairings, and some decals, but it evolved into this sorta thing.
it has an air cooled 89cc single cylinder overhead valve motor that runs on gasoline and produces a few horsepower. it is attached to a four speed transmission with an automatic clutch that has the added quirk of a hi/lo rangebox (in lieu of that giant rear sprocket). it also has a high exhaust and intake that lets you go very very deep in water! overall it weighs between 200 and 215 pounds, we aren't sure of the exact figure but its very very light.
another quirk is the handlebar mount that lets you turn the handlebars 90 degrees relative to the front wheel, apparently for stowing on the back of an RV.
this one in particular sat for a while (registration expired in 1987), and then the now previous owner (who is retired) bought it and restored it for their wife to ride, as she had a knee injury and they wanted something for her to be able to get around. unfortunately the riding position puts a lot of bend into the knee which didn't work well for her. so it sat for a year and it ended up in our hands!
aside from the electrics they did a very good job restoring this thing. they repainted the frame and everything, and noted the only thing they didn't go super into was the motor beyond checking for the usual bad stuff and tuning the carb. of course old bikes are never devoid of issues and we had a few days of just exorcising the various electrical demons but we got there. apparently they ended up riding it all of like half a mile up and down their private drive.
we absolutely adore this thing though! it looks even cuter and prettier in person. the cushy suspension is also insanely comfy. its so awesome.