E350 Chinook Build

willywalderbeast

Master of None
Looks like an old Honda Trail 70? I had one of those growing up and then sold it when I was in high school and used the money to put new wheels on my '72 Firebird. Mine was red, but I like the green! Safe travels to you.

Yup! I thought it was bad before on how many people would stop me to talk about the rig at the gas station/store or anywhere we stopped really. Now it’s even worse with this little guy on the front haha. It’s fun to hear older guys reminisce on how they had one or new a kid on their block with one, or wanted one but there parents wouldn’t buy them one haha.

I left my GS310 in Colorado and picked this 1970 CT70 up in Portland. I’ve been slowly rebuilding it while on the road, did a 88cc kit, converted it to semi auto 4 spd, new carb and pipe, re-wired the whole bike, tires, etc. It’s the perfect bike for the rig. It goes 55mph so ripping around cities is fun as hell and she eats up trails back at the campsite. I’ve used it soooo many time running into town for beer or riding down to the fishing hole. And it comes on and off the rig so easy compared to the GS that I use it so much more.68998A8B-27E3-4BA2-AE66-EC31391368E7.jpegFB090A78-3A6B-4C67-8D1B-009349A1D375.jpegBB02F341-FEFA-4C1B-9A80-31E77CEA3CC3.jpeg
 

willywalderbeast

Master of None
I'd love to hear more about the stove after you've used it for some time. Looks like the propane version?

Yup tapped right into the rigs propane system. Used it up in Taos last week when a cold front came thru and nights were in the teens and it’s snowed about 8”. Ran it for 3 days straight keep the rig comfortable the whole time. Still need to test it more but I think it’s going to work out great.44FB8EFD-014F-4CE1-AC23-B44A70ACD267.jpeg
 
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68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Looks like an old Honda Trail 70? I had one of those growing up and then sold it when I was in high school and used the money to put new wheels on my '72 Firebird. Mine was red, but I like the green! Safe travels to you.

Awesome, I had the Z50 and then 100 back in the day. My buddy had this 70. We drove 'em into the ground..........so much fun......
 

BritKLR

Kapitis Indagatoris
Yup! I thought it was bad before on how many people would stop me to talk about the rig at the gas station/store or anywhere we stopped really. Now it’s even worse with this little guy on the front haha. It’s fun to hear older guys reminisce on how they had one or new a kid on their block with one, or wanted one but there parents wouldn’t buy them one haha.

I left my GS310 in Colorado and picked this 1970 CT70 up in Portland. I’ve been slowly rebuilding it while on the road, did a 88cc kit, converted it to semi auto 4 spd, new carb and pipe, re-wired the whole bike, tires, etc. It’s the perfect bike for the rig. It goes 55mph so ripping around cities is fun as hell and she eats up trails back at the campsite. I’ve used it soooo many time running into town for beer or riding down to the fishing hole. And it comes on and off the rig so easy compared to the GS that I use it so much more.View attachment 623087View attachment 623088View attachment 623086


OK........you suck.....I've bee looking for one of those or the new monkey to carry on our Tiger.....super envious!

Do you have a rebuild thread for the bike?

Have you ever tried to ride two-up for any distance? How's that go? ( My wife enjoys riding so I need to factor that in)

Be safe!
 

willywalderbeast

Master of None
OK........you suck.....I've bee looking for one of those or the new monkey to carry on our Tiger.....super envious!

Do you have a rebuild thread for the bike?

Have you ever tried to ride two-up for any distance? How's that go? ( My wife enjoys riding so I need to factor that in)

Be safe!

???

No thread as there’s not much to these things haha. Bought all my parts mostly from CHP Motorsports. Biggest mod I did was converting the coveted H model (4-speed with a manual clutch) to a semi-auto clutch using a 3-speed case. It rips pretty good with two. I have a set of buddy pegs to put on but I need to tap out the hole first. But we’ve bopped around camp and to the bar a couple times on it haha. It’s def not for serious 2up riding.
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jcgilmore2

New member
That bike is rad... I have a 80s model Honda CG125 that I rebuilt into a little scramble + cafe mishmash of a bike. Still need to get a motorcycle hitch mount for it and use it the same way you do.

How's the stove working for you so far? Still on the fence for what I want to do, but thinking I might end up going with a diesel heater but not sure. I have an Atwood furnace built in, but don't like using up my onboard propane and battery to run it unless I have to. I'd like to get something that is a little easier on fuel and power, but a bit more permanent than a Mr. Buddy or similar
 

willywalderbeast

Master of None
That bike is rad... I have a 80s model Honda CG125 that I rebuilt into a little scramble + cafe mishmash of a bike. Still need to get a motorcycle hitch mount for it and use it the same way you do.

How's the stove working for you so far? Still on the fence for what I want to do, but thinking I might end up going with a diesel heater but not sure. I have an Atwood furnace built in, but don't like using up my onboard propane and battery to run it unless I have to. I'd like to get something that is a little easier on fuel and power, but a bit more permanent than a Mr. Buddy or similar

Hell yeah! I love small cc bikes now. I went from riding big Harleys in my teens to smaller and smaller bIke’s over the years. They’re just more fun to ride.

We haven’t used the stove much lately since we’ve been in 70-80 deg weather on the beach for that last couple weeks . Texas gulf is amazing btw. No people this time of year, endless spots to sleep on the beach, good seafood, easy access to dump and fill. Life is good ?

AD5A05F8-D57A-4066-8B25-27B908C8BE94.jpeg6C515E3D-061B-4C80-AEFB-4479C663D0E3.jpegC386C252-E53D-4605-A407-2352E25F10EA.jpegF17D2967-B56F-4C84-8765-76108F130FB5.jpeg4E9C00FE-A61F-47CA-A02A-5FFBB044C4DB.jpeg
 

RVflyfish

Fishing is life. The rest is details.
Dude and you fly fish? I need to get on your program ASAP.

So get this. In the small world department, my buddy is super into truck campers. So I sent him that pic of the Dodge. Turns out he knows the guy! They met at a hot springs in the middle of nowhere west TX. He says "best build ever." Sent me some pics too...

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willywalderbeast

Master of None
Yea his setup was rad. Said the camper was a ‘66, same year he got drafted for Vietnam. Cool dude, I randomly bumped into him and bought a surf rod off him. Set me all up and told me the best fishing spots. Gave me his address to come stay at his place outside Austin too! EFF8DB88-7407-4FAD-9E3E-176E67451733.jpeg
 
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willywalderbeast

Master of None
That is a cool truck camper.

Ever go to Bolivar? There's a cool spot that cars can't get to and you have the beach all to yourself. I plan on spending a week there next summer.


No we haven’t but we’ll put it on the list ??

We pulled ourselves away from the beach finally. Love camping on the beach but boy does stuff rust fast. Gonna spend a day cleaning the truck, re-painting some things and fluid filming everything again.
 

UjointoffroadCO

Well-known member
Hey Buddy! Glad you are still running good! Thought This belonged in your thread!
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kuper

New member
After tons of research and looking at a few ambos and a handicap bus, I finally bought my '98 Side Entry Chinook Concourse. Decided that building out a full camper setup would take more time then I had, and kept thinking that having a bath would be so nice (it is!). Once we decided on a Chinook, we realized it would need to be a side entry so we could haul around a motorcycle with us, which are very rare, never mind the fact that I wanted it to have the v10 not the older 460. SO, after looking on and off for almost a year, and almost giving up and buying a rear entry chinook (literally two days before I found the one I have now) I found ours on CL 3,000 miles across the country. We paypal'd the buyer that night, booked tickets for the following week and drove her home to CT. Fast forward 6 months and we just got back from heading across country again with her over the holiday break to leave it at Weldtec Designs for a custom 6" lift! Figure I'll use this thread to show some upgrades and modifications I've made and also some travel pictures. Along with the lift the Chinook is getting front and rear bumpers, winch, onboard air, custom roof rack, I will be updating the original solar/electrical system, full respray, etc.

The first night we picked her up in Hood River OR and camped in downtown Portland.
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Making our way across the country we had to stop at the salt flats and she what she had in her!
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First mod I did was swap the mirrors out for some ford telescopic mirror.
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The little dr350 we'll be carrying with us most of the time. My buddy is building a custom rear bumper/bike hauler for the camper now.
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Shot of the front end before I swapped it for the 08+ front end. Also my other "camper"
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We remodeled the interior using IKEA draw fronts on the existing cabinets. Also installed an oven, new countertops, sink, lighting, etc.
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One the recent trip out to San Diego I grabbed a set of sienna seats of CL for $400!
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where do you get the base to install in the van ?
 

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