Finally got a Mini Bike, ID Help

[Texan]

I've been on the lookout for a mini bike for some time now. They are not nearly as available as go karts in this area. The ones that are for sale are usually at least $200, even seen some one recently for $700! I wanted more of project, project=cheap.

Last week I got burned by two sellers. The first was a lady selling a Doodlebug with 212 Predator for $180. I saw one of tires was flat, so I offered $140, she accepted and we exchanged phone numbers and location. Just as I'm about to leave to pick it up, she texts me "sold". How can you make an agreement and then sell it out from under a person. It hadn't even been 30 minutes from our initial agreement, what a

Then I find a nice looking project bike, I think it was a Manco Thunderbird. It was partially disassembled with no seat but frame and wheels looked good and it had a old engine still mounted. Guy was asking $100, so I offered the $100. So I get him on the phone, and he tells me he is off from work today and would deliver it, cause he wasn't too far from my job. He asks for the address and said he would load it up and head my way to meet me on my lunch break. Lunch goes by and no word for him, look at his ad and he marked it as sold. Try to call and message him, he just ignores them. Another SOB

Well I guess things worked out for the better. Yesterday I came across an ad for a "mini motorcycle" for $40 It was right before my lunch break so messaged the seller and told him I would be there in 15 minutes. Glad I did, when I picked it up he said the ad was not even up for an hour and a lot of people were messaging him. I guess mini bikes are highly sought after, plus the price was great.

Anyways, this is what I got. I looked it over and didn't find any tags or markings. Anybody know make or model? It is 4' long and about 42" to the top of the handlebars.

 

[pRoFiT]

Bird Nighthawk mini bike

Interesting find. looks like new everything is needed

Edit: well bird mini bike. could be a nighthawk.

 

[Bbqjoe]

Looks like he hit a rodent or a small dog with the rear sprocket.

 

[Hellion]

Nice find, dude.

I feel a full restoration/resto-mod is in order. The black and gold color scheme looks catchy.
Good call on the ID pRoFiT.

 

[pRoFiT]

Red is most always mini bike colors. And sometimes blue. But black and gold does look nice. I had my frame gold for like 1 minute before I covered in red. Gold looked real cool!

 

[Ebrownie]

It even has springs on the front! Nice find. Put a wider rim and tire on the back for some more traction

 

[Hellion]

The front forks from top to bottom look zig-zagged from the side--or is that just me?

...I had my frame gold for like 1 minute before I covered in red. Gold looked real cool!

Apparently not cool enough for you.

Tell us what you really mean because it sounds like you're contradicting yourself. It's ok, we're just a big family.

 

[pRoFiT]

The front forks from top to bottom look zig-zagged from the side--or is that just me?



Apparently not cool enough for you.

Tell us what you really mean because it sounds like you're contradicting yourself. It's ok, we're just a big family.

Forks look strange to me to. almost like yah zig zagged. a Z.

No i liked gold but i was doing america theme. check out my min bike build log Gold reminds me of all the call of duty guys with there gold guns.if you know what that means

 

[Texan]

Thanks for the ID help Profit. You and Hellion are right about the forks. They are buckled out. I thought they were bent, but today I did some reading and one guy said the fork uppers and lowers are held together just by the springs. Hopefully they are just dislocated. I will check that out closer tonight.

I tore the bike down yesterday. Too bad my phone broke so cant post any pics today. I will be doing a full rebuild, and I'm a sucker for keeping things original, so I might go with the black and gold theme.

 

[Texan]

So as I said earlier, I broke the bike down. My first task to tackle was the frame. This thing had a very thick coat of numerous different color paints. I want the bike to look smooth and clean, so I decided I needed to take it down to bare metal. Instead of wire wheeling it to death, I used Klean Strip paint stripper in a spray can. It took a few coats and work with a putty knife, but it got most of the paint off easy. Once I got the majority of the paint off, I hit it with the wire wheel and used a small drill wire wheel in the hard to reach areas. Gave it good rinse with soap and water, let dry, and then wiped down with acetone.

Luckily the frame didn’t need any repairs. Also did the fenders at the same time. For now, I just gave them a couple of coats of Rustoleum primer until I get the finish paint.

 

[pRoFiT]

Wow. looking good so far. Have i mentioned i hate stripping paint?

Yah black and gold? im not sure if thats original. just the bike in that image looked nice so i posted that one.

Could be any one of these models?


Looks mostly like the nighthawk.

P.S!!!!! found a cool site. maybe helpful for everyone! or already found and im slow. http://www.usminibikemuseum.com good for identifying bikes?

and bird bikes here http://www.usminibikemuseum.com/bird.htm

 

[Texan]

Thanks again Profit, but yeah I had already found that page, also found a couple of builds on OMB, but not much else. And I too HATE stripping paint, especially when something has rainbow layers of paint. On other projects I do, if the paint isn't too bad or too much rust, I just give it a light sanding and paint over the existing paint. This frame had too many deep gouges and scrapes that would have shown thru the new paint.

On the Nighthawk catalog page, it specs black and gold paint, plus I started working on the wheels and found the original gold paint underneath also on the sprocket. So I will be doing the black and gold theme.

The tires and tubes were actually still holding air since I aired them up last week, but the tires have too many cracks and the wheels need some love.

 

[Rail rider]

Looks like he hit a rodent or a small dog with the rear sprocket.

Or a few fingers run thru the sprocket.

 

[Texan]

So the forks are bent and looks like they have been for some time by the paint lines on the upper forks and didn't have any up and down play. I tried to separate them, but they would not budge, I had been spraying them with oil penetrant everyday. I finally beat them loose and will start to repair them.

Found the original tag behind the forks, didn't think it had anything on there, but I scrapped off the paint and it says "Phoenix Engineering, INC, Freemont, NE 68205, Date: yyE4, Serial No: 16901".

Did some research and found this from a graphic designer who worked for Bird: "Bird Engineering grew from the original Fox Corp. and later changed to Phoenix Engineering. Main product line was go-karts and mini-bikes – "Fun Machines." During an 11-year period, I designed, named and decorated the product line plus created all marketing material and advertising. Sales during that time increased from $600K/yr to $6.5MM with effective marketing, ad placement and a great line of customizable products."

So just to confirm, this bike is a Bird / Phoenix Engineering Nighthawk. Don't know what to make of the date code, but the name change was in 1984-85, so it is around that time period as they were out of business before the 90's.

 

[Rail rider]

If I'm seeing that right. I wouldn't jump that or pull wheelies... what keeps the forks on the tubes?

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

If I'm seeing that right. I wouldn't jump that or pull wheelies... what keeps the forks on the tubes?

The kink in the tube apparently.

 

[Rail rider]

The kink in the tube apparently.

I'd weld some washer to the spring and bolt that to the forks????? Maybe ..I'd need a good think over those...

 

[Texan]

If I'm seeing that right. I wouldn't jump that or pull wheelies... what keeps the forks on the tubes?

The springs actually hold them together.

 

[Rail rider]

The springs actually hold them together.

I looked for the fork diagrams, to no avail. I wanna see how they are retained....

 

[Texan]

Coil ends thread into these retainers.