current minibike pictures

[philip metzner]

here is what it looks like now. my wife made the seat and it came out good but i think i should have made it full length, cause i think it looks odd on the bike. what do you guy's think? i went with the short seat cause if your not right up on this thing it will wheely and flip over. its got alot of power! i still want higher handlebars and need a twist grip throttle and brakes.:D

[robertdjung]

looks killer!

[mikeandike]

I agree with robert. I think the seat is fine if it does wheelies just put a back rest on it :)

[2or3wheels]

couldnt you just use reg bike seat? then no welding on back? and wount do wheelies?

[philip metzner]

i thought about useing a bike seat, but i needed to put my gas tank there. you cam modify that plan as you want to. what i should have done is made the bottom of the frame longer so the rear wheel is further back. i did do this a little but not enough. if it had a diferent engine it wouldnt be a issue. that McCulloch make between 10--16 h.p. depending on what carb and stuff you put on it.--phil

[2or3wheels]

How do you start it it doesnt look like it has a pull starter?

[philip metzner]

its a racing gokart engine and it uses a remote electric starter with a v belt. sometimes if everything is right you can wrap a rope around it and start it. this mini is realy being built as a test bed for these engines. i am into vintage karting and have 13 of the engines. its easy'r for me to stick a engine on there and go off road someplace to test or break in an engine then to try to use the kart and get in trouble with the cops on the street. plus it FUN!-phil

[my_mini_bike]

that bike is awsome. top job. Like you said, i reocn you need a bigger set of bars... big ape hangers ohh and brakes, brakes always help :p

[philip metzner]

yep, im looking for some ape hangers. also my wife is going to kill me after doing the seat for me but im going to change it to one that goes all the way back to the end of those bars. it just doesnt look right to me.-phil

[clintonsrule]

It looks good ya know.

[my_mini_bike]

to save the trouble of making a new seat, just cut of some of the extra pipe and make the seat more central to the seat support ?...

[robertdjung]

that or just cut the back pipe off and reposition?

[philip metzner]

thanks guy's, when i got the stuff to make the seat i got enouph for a bunch of them, and i kinda like the frame the way it is. ill put a long type seat on it and i think it will look good. the weight balance is realy pretty good, its just the horse power. its like useing a racing dirt bike 100 cc 2 cycle on a frame thats feather lite, plus im almost 50 now and it takes longer for me to get used to something. i went for a test ride the other day and my dad who is 82 was watching. i gave her a little to much throttle going down the drive and even though i was up on the handlebars she lifted way up and was spinning the rear wheel. it scared the crap out of me! but it made me laugh all day!-phil

[2or3wheels]

sounds fun and scary. i think the mini bike plans should be modified to put the seat up more. so thats less likly to happen (unless u want it to :D ).

[philip metzner]

i think part of the problem mite be that 26 inch bikes arent made the same as they were back in the day. the part of the frame that the seat post goes into is angled forward more and made it hard to bend the front bar forward enough to get the measurement the plan called for. i could have chosen a better frame to work with but it was the only 26 incher there at the time. the plan calls for part of the bike frame that you cut off to be re-used as the rear seat support, but it was so flimsy i couldnt use it.-phil

[philip metzner]

looks like the site is slow lately, not been much work going on here on the minibike either. i have a disc brake caliper i was hopeing to mount and use the sprocket as the disc, but i just cant get it to fit. now im thinking of putting a brake band around the clutch drum. what do you guy's think.-phil

[Kartmofo]

The band around the clutch could work but u could wreck the clutch drum. But the sprocket could work better! :)

[Kartmofo]

Hey ppl, just got a crazy idea. What about getting a sprocket holder and putting a hole shot sprocket and a high speed sprocket together. Bolt them together and have a system set up so you can move the chain and adjust the engine.That would be kool:)

[robertdjung]

Hey ppl, just got a crazy idea. What about getting a sprocket holder and putting a hole shot sprocket and a high speed sprocket together. Bolt them together and have a system set up so you can move the chain and adjust the engine.That would be kool:)

It too me a while to understand what you're talking about. Then I thought about boating! For those that don't know, "the hole" is when you're stopped/going really slow. If you want to "get out of the hole faster" then you want a good low-end power. hahah, anyway I was confused!

About the idea -- you certainly could, you've just to have something to do with the excess chain when you change the size. Like an idler sprocket and tensioner setup. And you'd have to be able to move the sprocket holder over on the axle to keep the chain and the engine clutch in perfect alignment. It would be a nice setup.

About the sprocket + disc brake setup -- that's how my mini chopper is. it works pretty well.

[Junkman]

How about a de-railer like on a 10 speed bike?

[Kartmofo]

That could work but I think the chain would be too small and weak.

[robertdjung]

You could make a derailler out of an idler sprocket and a tensioner, but I think that a bike chain can stand to be at a "non perfect" alingment since you're only dealing with very little power. I don't know how many horse power my legs are, but I'll wager 1/4 or less!

[jrjulien1]

unfortunately bike derailleurs are too flimsy to shift a go kart chain and would break under the stress however if you were using a very small engine it might work providing you are using an actuall bike chain


hope this helps

[jrjulien1]

as a response to what robert said. i have had bikes on which i have broken the chain under leg power only doing whelies and when in replaced my chain a few months back because it was getting too short because of all the breaks i used a super strong titanium thick wall bike chain {the side wall is 1/16 thicker} which i bought for 60 bucks or so and i havent had any problems with it

hope this helps

[robertdjung]

sure.... but now we're talking about bike chain which is weak... not a good plan for a motor.