A lot of 'Army brat' military dependents who were teens in West Germany in the '70s fondly recall that bike as a 50cc Dax, American kids could be street-legal on a 50cc bike at age 15 and one of my first sights in country was seeing a pack of new classmates puttering around the Drake-Edwards Housing Area on theirs like a motorcycle gang, I was so envious. But I got an after-school job at the commissary and got the money for a used one in the summer of '75 for street and trail adventures, my favorite ride with a friend was a road trip from Frankfurt to Darmstadt and back on a Sunday in August '75, the day after we had competed in a bicycle race in downtown Frankfurt. And the Dax was always called the Dax over there, no CT 50 or Trail 50 or anything but Dax. But I don't recall ever seeing that dog sticker, sort of looks like Underdog. 😀
Same in Holland. Kids rode the DAX and SS50 to school in the 90s. Have find memories of that time. Now bought a Fantic 125 caballero. It looks a bit like the Honda SS50 :)
You can transfer the manual gears from the 4 speed Grom if you hate the semi auto plus the Dax is geared lower internally for 2 up torque so less top end than the rest of the range.
Just picked mine up 3 days ago here in Arizona and they had to sell it as a Grom cause the Dax wasn’t even in the system yet so they’re gonna redo the paperwork and send it all to me corrected. Looking forward to seeing how your mods go. I’ve definitely got big plans for mine. My Monkey was last cafe’d out but this one will have all the racks and gas can and be more adventure touring.
Had the 70 back in early 70's probably put 50 miles a day on it riding through the old abandoned trolly tracks between Trenton and Princeton and trails along big streams in the area. Would like to try this dax
@mark-fb1dm I from Jersey too. My father found a 1970 CT70 in a dumpster when I was about 10yrs old, so 1990. It looked rough but got it home and cleaned the carb, swapped the plug, I thing put new fuel lines and put gas in. It fired right up. We were piss poor so I was ecstatic. Had the fold up handlebars so we could throw it in the trunk of his Chevy. It was turd brown and ugly but it was faster then all the wealthy kids souped up mopeds. I called him after watching this he's still got it buried in his basement. Dad we got 1 more project to do. Don't drop dead just yet.
Hey, great video. I own the exact same colour Dax in the UK. I fitted a gear indicator from a ct125 on mine and have just put a takegawa tacho on it. I'm really interested in your engine mod ideas so will be tuning in from now on. Thanks for sharing
Because it uses the supercub parts where it can which uses the semi auto. I think they're great to be honest, great for town where this bike shines but also still can have some fun with it on some country roads changing gears.
Dude, years ago I had an old Kawasaki (that I loved) and I used to pick up breakfast for me and my wife and just balance the tray of drinks and the bag of food between the seat and the tank. Your burrito there, reminded me of that.
I wanted the CT125 when I first saw them but, glad I waited for the XR150L which I think was a steal of a bike but, this looks cool as well. Love your YSR in the background. I was racing in A.R.R.A. at Willow Springs in the late 80's and had a YSR as my pit bike but, would throw my leathers on and ride throughout Hollywood, Mulholland Drive and in Griffith Park and had a blast. Mine was modified by SUDCO. INTL who distributes Mikuni so they replaced the 16MM with a 22MM carb with K&N filter the it had the prototype pipe from D&D as they used my bike to make and test it. After a gearing change it could wheelie down the block and did almost 60 which is what my XR150 barely does with my now fat butt.
Thanks man, I actually recently linked up with Team Calamari and they sent me lots of parts of the YSR50 so stay tuned for more content on that bike too :)
I have turd brown 1970 CT70 sitting in my dads basement for 30yrs. We pulled it out of a dumpster, cleaned the carb, changed the plug, put gas in and it fired right up. The original has the fold down handlebars with nobs we could fold them up and put it in the trunk of his car. It was faster than any souped up moped the more entitled kids had at the time. Great bike, no matter how funny looking
@eastcoastish I called my dad after watching this and said it's time for one last project for us together. He's 73 now and not motivated by anything. This got him off his chair and moving shit around to get it out. I'm so glad we held onto it. It was never in mint condition but it's stored properly and I'm fired up to get it going. Thanks man
My father bought two used early 70's Honda Monkey and the CT-70, he took out to the desert to show us how to ride them, of course he popped a wheelie and got dragged and crash the CT-70 so we were scared of it, and basically only rode the 50.
Never understood why most bikes have the one down and four up shift pattern. All up makes more sense, but I don't know the rationale for the configuration. Looks like a cool bike and a blast to ride, although it isn't going to go far beyond your local neighborhood comfortably. Love my Hondas!
For me I prefer 1 down / the rest up. In city driving, it's way more important to me to find first when you need it than neutral. It's nice to know that just stomping down until it stops means you're in first.
It's awesome that Honda decided to bring these bikes back again. Not %100 sure about the auto transmission, probably something I would swap out. That seat looks super comfy.
So when the name was thought up, it was probably "dakkusu" because in Japanese dachshund is ダックスフント "dakkusu funto" (there's no "hu" sound in Japanese so "fu" is as close as they can get... anyway dakkusu would be said really quickly and sound and sound like "docks" - that said, i think most in the US will continue to pronounce it dax like tax 😁 (edited my earlier comment that wasn't complete)
How wrong was I. In the UK I think some of us believe Americans only ride massive custom and sports bikes. Nice to see that you are OK with the Honda MSX, Monkey ST125 thing.
The UK is also oddly fascinated with big American bikes for some reason. When in reality you have a much better selection of bikes to choose from. USA seems to only get the scraps of what the Japanese have to offer elsewhere in the world. Remember too that in the US there are no tiered licenses, except for some states and 50cc or under.
Love my Ct70. Love the fuel injection on this. I’d assume basically crf110 semi auto motor. Would be great for the actual trail side of things when we’re mountain climbing with the fam😅
For city commuting these tires are just fine. Honestly for spirited riding they’re fine too - only time I’d recommend to swap them out is if your taking this to the track - and this isn’t really a track platform 😅
I'm waiting for mine. I want the Blue, so I have to wait. They have the Grey, but I want what I want. I want to upgrade the suspension first. Do you have any suggestions?.
This is going to be a street / cruiser bike for me. I'm going to be doing Gears racing lowered rear suspension and the Racing Bros front lowering kit, plus their upgraded valving kit.
It’s a st125 You forgot all about the 1973-1975 st 90 s that were in America They had 14 inch wheels and were actually better than the ct 70 s Due to the larger wheels
You forgot to mention that that bike has a rotary shifter which means if you're in fourth gear and you shift up again, it will go back to neutral as long as you're not moving!
I live half time in Thailand and they cost 84,900 bhat ($2440) here. I was hoping Honda would send us the 125cc Wave and 110cc Zuma (Yamaha owns the name in the USA).
Is the frame plastic or steel? I saw one at the dealership briefly and it sure sounded like plastic when I felt and knocked on it. Cool bike and will be even better when you upgrade it.
It doesn’t have a regular hand clutch, you can just shift up and down with your foot. All the way down is neutral, then up for 1, up for 2, up for 3 and up for 4.
The exhaust does have a chamber that I assume has some type of cat in it. The seating position on this bike is very similar to the Monkey or Grom; I'm shorter at ~5'7" but I know lots of 6'+ folks riding around on these with no problem.
@@bobbyjoesugar yeah rip off for a bike that everyone is just going to change pretty much every part. Quality from what I see is not what it used to be. I am sure made in China now .
Yeh, it's clear they based the fenders/tires off of the ST70 (which was what the bike was in Europe) and not the CT70 which was more off-roadish that we got here in the US.
What a lazy move from Honda, it’s literally another Monkey with some Grom parts without a fuel tank, yet it’s priced for even more money…. I’d be way more excited for what we already have but w better engine
This monocoque frame design is one of the most iconic shapes of the 70's Honda minimotos (CT/ST70 and CT/ST90). The MSRP for this bike is $150 less than the Honda Monkey.
gas mileage is 107mpg, top speed is 55mph stock, google is easy my man. c'mon i've got lots of videos coming on this bike, this is just introducing it. But yeh, i'm going to focus on what i want to focus on my videos, it's not like I'm a Honda rep.
Sorry for the weird muted music at the beginning and the end - copyright problems that's easier to just try to mute out while i fix it :)
I wish it had a manual clutch like the Monkey and Grom.
Been waiting for these to come stateside! Congrats!
One thing I love about the Dax is how you have easy access to everything and can see the full build of the bike.
Yeh, although I took out the airbox today and that required me to take apart half the bike. Everything under the seat is in there pretty tight.
A lot of 'Army brat' military dependents who were teens in West Germany in the '70s fondly recall that bike as a 50cc Dax, American kids could be street-legal on a 50cc bike at age 15 and one of my first sights in country was seeing a pack of new classmates puttering around the Drake-Edwards Housing Area on theirs like a motorcycle gang, I was so envious. But I got an after-school job at the commissary and got the money for a used one in the summer of '75 for street and trail adventures, my favorite ride with a friend was a road trip from Frankfurt to Darmstadt and back on a Sunday in August '75, the day after we had competed in a bicycle race in downtown Frankfurt. And the Dax was always called the Dax over there, no CT 50 or Trail 50 or anything but Dax. But I don't recall ever seeing that dog sticker, sort of looks like Underdog. 😀
Same in Holland. Kids rode the DAX and SS50 to school in the 90s. Have find memories of that time. Now bought a Fantic 125 caballero. It looks a bit like the Honda SS50 :)
You can transfer the manual gears from the 4 speed Grom if you hate the semi auto plus the Dax is geared lower internally for 2 up torque so less top end than the rest of the range.
Looks sick, dude! Cant wait to see it in the wild!
Just picked mine up 3 days ago here in Arizona and they had to sell it as a Grom cause the Dax wasn’t even in the system yet so they’re gonna redo the paperwork and send it all to me corrected. Looking forward to seeing how your mods go. I’ve definitely got big plans for mine. My Monkey was last cafe’d out but this one will have all the racks and gas can and be more adventure touring.
Had the 70 back in early 70's probably put 50 miles a day on it riding through the old abandoned trolly tracks between Trenton and Princeton and trails along big streams in the area. Would like to try this dax
@mark-fb1dm I from Jersey too. My father found a 1970 CT70 in a dumpster when I was about 10yrs old, so 1990. It looked rough but got it home and cleaned the carb, swapped the plug, I thing put new fuel lines and put gas in. It fired right up. We were piss poor so I was ecstatic. Had the fold up handlebars so we could throw it in the trunk of his Chevy. It was turd brown and ugly but it was faster then all the wealthy kids souped up mopeds. I called him after watching this he's still got it buried in his basement. Dad we got 1 more project to do. Don't drop dead just yet.
I can't believe Honda went so cheap as to not even put knobby tires nor do they put a engine guard
Hey, great video. I own the exact same colour Dax in the UK. I fitted a gear indicator from a ct125 on mine and have just put a takegawa tacho on it. I'm really interested in your engine mod ideas so will be tuning in from now on. Thanks for sharing
That’s awesome-is there a video floating around on how to add a gear indicator?
So cool I love all the Honda mini mos i have the new turmeric yellow CT 125 Trail
Picking up a Trail is still on my list.
This is so awesome, Honda makes great minibikes, gotta collect them all lol
Awesome will be keeping up with this build just like your others 🤟🏽
It's to bad they didn't make it a manual with a clutch.
Because it uses the supercub parts where it can which uses the semi auto.
I think they're great to be honest, great for town where this bike shines but also still can have some fun with it on some country roads changing gears.
Dude, years ago I had an old Kawasaki (that I loved) and I used to pick up breakfast for me and my wife and just balance the tray of drinks and the bag of food between the seat and the tank. Your burrito there, reminded me of that.
I learned on a red Honda CT 70 back in the 90's...i wish i still had it :(
Buy one of these or restore an original!
What a classic! That bike will last a long time.
I wanted the CT125 when I first saw them but, glad I waited for the XR150L which I think was a steal of a bike but, this looks cool as well. Love your YSR in the background. I was racing in A.R.R.A. at Willow Springs in the late 80's and had a YSR as my pit bike but, would throw my leathers on and ride throughout Hollywood, Mulholland Drive and in Griffith Park and had a blast. Mine was modified by SUDCO. INTL who distributes Mikuni so they replaced the 16MM with a 22MM carb with K&N filter the it had the prototype pipe from D&D as they used my bike to make and test it. After a gearing change it could wheelie down the block and did almost 60 which is what my XR150 barely does with my now fat butt.
Thanks man, I actually recently linked up with Team Calamari and they sent me lots of parts of the YSR50 so stay tuned for more content on that bike too :)
I love flatside Miks
I have turd brown 1970 CT70 sitting in my dads basement for 30yrs. We pulled it out of a dumpster, cleaned the carb, changed the plug, put gas in and it fired right up. The original has the fold down handlebars with nobs we could fold them up and put it in the trunk of his car. It was faster than any souped up moped the more entitled kids had at the time. Great bike, no matter how funny looking
I'm planning on adding the folding handlebars on this bike too! Both for the retro-cool look but also then i can strap it down inside the 4Runner.
@eastcoastish I called my dad after watching this and said it's time for one last project for us together. He's 73 now and not motivated by anything. This got him off his chair and moving shit around to get it out. I'm so glad we held onto it. It was never in mint condition but it's stored properly and I'm fired up to get it going. Thanks man
Got one here in the UK but looking forward to the US doing their thing with these! 🤙🏼
My father bought two used early 70's Honda Monkey and the CT-70, he took out to the desert to show us how to ride them, of course he popped a wheelie and got dragged and crash the CT-70 so we were scared of it, and basically only rode the 50.
Never understood why most bikes have the one down and four up shift pattern. All up makes more sense, but I don't know the rationale for the configuration. Looks like a cool bike and a blast to ride, although it isn't going to go far beyond your local neighborhood comfortably. Love my Hondas!
For me I prefer 1 down / the rest up. In city driving, it's way more important to me to find first when you need it than neutral. It's nice to know that just stomping down until it stops means you're in first.
The blue is the exact color that I grew up with
It's awesome that Honda decided to bring these bikes back again. Not %100 sure about the auto transmission, probably something I would swap out. That seat looks super comfy.
It's not auto, just, sort of, clutch less.
Nice can’t wait to get mine to customize
Man, nice how much cabbage !
I was always under the impression that Dax was pronounced “Dachs” (or Docks)…..due to it resemblance to a Dachshund dog.
So when the name was thought up, it was probably "dakkusu" because in Japanese dachshund is ダックスフント "dakkusu funto" (there's no "hu" sound in Japanese so "fu" is as close as they can get... anyway dakkusu would be said really quickly and sound and sound like "docks" - that said, i think most in the US will continue to pronounce it dax like tax 😁
(edited my earlier comment that wasn't complete)
How wrong was I. In the UK I think some of us believe Americans only ride massive custom and sports bikes. Nice to see that you are OK with the Honda MSX, Monkey ST125 thing.
The UK is also oddly fascinated with big American bikes for some reason. When in reality you have a much better selection of bikes to choose from.
USA seems to only get the scraps of what the Japanese have to offer elsewhere in the world.
Remember too that in the US there are no tiered licenses, except for some states and 50cc or under.
I wish they had the ct 70 knobby tires on them
I think this is cool, it's just not a ct70/dax to me. But I am happy Honda brings this stuff to the USA
That's awesome! I same that the SNs we're so close
A low mount monkey front fender would look good. This is going to be an awesome build!!!
Love my Ct70. Love the fuel injection on this. I’d assume basically crf110 semi auto motor. Would be great for the actual trail side of things when we’re mountain climbing with the fam😅
Awesome Vid! I made the top 1k with mine! and I’m a 00’s right on the hundred🤙
I'll wait till there is a manual option
There's no way they release a clutched version of this.
Niceeee !!!!
Beautiful bike.
There should be an off-road version, which i would buy. Back in the early 70s, I owned and destroyed a ct70.
Knobby tires and raised fender and you’re off roading 😁
As a city commuter bike, what do you think of the stock tires? Thanks and thanks for the video-I like relaxed tone combined with the expertise.
For city commuting these tires are just fine. Honestly for spirited riding they’re fine too - only time I’d recommend to swap them out is if your taking this to the track - and this isn’t really a track platform 😅
Cool. 👍🏼
I'm waiting for mine. I want the Blue, so I have to wait. They have the Grey, but I want what I want. I want to upgrade the suspension first. Do you have any suggestions?.
This is going to be a street / cruiser bike for me. I'm going to be doing Gears racing lowered rear suspension and the Racing Bros front lowering kit, plus their upgraded valving kit.
Needs nobby tires and front fender lifted.
happy 4 you!! just wish we got the red one :(
It’s a st125
You forgot all about the 1973-1975 st 90 s that were in America
They had 14 inch wheels and were actually better than the ct 70 s
Due to the larger wheels
It's not called the ST125 in the states though (just like it wasn't called the ST70 in the US).
Closer to the ST 90 for sure. A guy new had one. Great bike.
You forgot to mention that that bike has a rotary shifter which means if you're in fourth gear and you shift up again, it will go back to neutral as long as you're not moving!
what? really?
@eastcoastish th-cam.com/video/4lQE8eZ6rKg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=GVODMIycnmME4kh5
Probably not in the USA
Really?? I’ll have to test that today on mine. Not sure that’s actually true here in the US.
@@bobbycampos6576 try look at the left corner ysr and still in california is usa LOL, dax landed in usa shore
You did a good decision! The same colour as mine.
I live half time in Thailand and they cost 84,900 bhat ($2440) here.
I was hoping Honda would send us the 125cc Wave and 110cc Zuma (Yamaha owns the name in the USA).
Mini buke Mike compiled a ct70 silver tag list
Yeh, he's got my bikes on his list. I think he has a few that are earlier than mine.
@eastcoastish Curious if your engine and frame numbers match on the 69 model. I have a first day production 1978 CT90 that does. #20....
@ no, I’ve never had an engine and frame match perfectly. It’s always close though.
Is the frame plastic or steel? I saw one at the dealership briefly and it sure sounded like plastic when I felt and knocked on it. Cool bike and will be even better when you upgrade it.
Frame is steel. front and rear fenders are plastic.
If the original Honda CT and the Suzuki RV mated.
How close is this frame to the original?
It’s the same general shape but the dimensions are all slightly different.
@ cool. Thank you for responding. I want one.
The specs states semi automatic transmission....what does that mean?
It doesn’t have a regular hand clutch, you can just shift up and down with your foot. All the way down is neutral, then up for 1, up for 2, up for 3 and up for 4.
Does it have a catalytic converter on it. How tall can a rider be on it for you think. Thanks from Brisbane Australia 🦘
The exhaust does have a chamber that I assume has some type of cat in it. The seating position on this bike is very similar to the Monkey or Grom; I'm shorter at ~5'7" but I know lots of 6'+ folks riding around on these with no problem.
@eastcoastish thanks a lot for information. 👍🏍️🦘
What are they 6k lol
$4,199 is the MSRP and Honda has a $300 destination fee.
After dealer markups and taxes they are close to that… way too much imo
@@bobbyjoesugar yeah rip off for a bike that everyone is just going to change pretty much every part. Quality from what I see is not what it used to be. I am sure made in China now .
You can only wonder if the guy doing the video has ever really ridden or had a CT 70😮
Are you talking about me? I've owned close to a dozen CT70s man...
Why does this bike cost 4,199 MSRP?
It's inline with other minis, the Trail124 is $4,099, the Monkey is $4,299...
How much did you pay for it ?
$4,199 MSRP + $300 destination (Honda fee) + $500 dealer markup + tax and registration.
This bike looks big next to you
I’m short 😅
Front fender sucks, need raised like ct and some trail tires
Yeh, it's clear they based the fenders/tires off of the ST70 (which was what the bike was in Europe) and not the CT70 which was more off-roadish that we got here in the US.
The reason the docs did not ever make it is because it is a dax it's not a Honda CT70😮
I went to see one. The seat is TOO HARD !!!! Very uncomfortable.
Nice video, willing to see how it evolves. Will spend 20k€ in modifications !? wow 😮
Do you need to tag something like that?
In most states you do, it’s technically considered a motorcycle in California.
What a lazy move from Honda, it’s literally another Monkey with some Grom parts without a fuel tank, yet it’s priced for even more money….
I’d be way more excited for what we already have but w better engine
This monocoque frame design is one of the most iconic shapes of the 70's Honda minimotos (CT/ST70 and CT/ST90). The MSRP for this bike is $150 less than the Honda Monkey.
@ maybe for nostalgia 4someone, but nowadays i doubt it’ll touch monkeys in popularity. (I’m not a fan of Navi or Ruckus) too
How about more real info about the bike ,, gas, mileage, top speed etc,, instead of focusing on the serial numbers and whatever “plucky” means !
gas mileage is 107mpg, top speed is 55mph stock, google is easy my man. c'mon i've got lots of videos coming on this bike, this is just introducing it. But yeh, i'm going to focus on what i want to focus on my videos, it's not like I'm a Honda rep.
Lame.