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Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:24 am

Just wondered if anyone has a old skool minibike since I see quite a few of them at the VW shows and swapmeets. I have a couple, one Im trying to rebuild.

Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:24 am

What type exactly? We have collected vintage Honda mini-bikes for years now, have about 8 CT-70's and one 50 from the late 60's-early 70's.

Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:15 pm

I'd love to find an old Rupp or sililar Briggs and Stratton powered mini-bike. Dang - I'm going to check craigslist right now!

Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:28 pm

Used to have quite a few of them..Rupp, Lil' Taco, Bonanza, and some off-brands... there are samba-type websites dedicated exclusively to minibikes, complete with buy-sell forums, BS forums, tech forums, gallery photos, etc...
Last one I did was an old El Tigre, with suspension front and back, and had a Harbor Freight 6.5 horse engine... not period correct, but lotsa fun if I didn't wipe out the centrifugal clutch, or snap the chain....

Here's a photo of it right before I sold it-

Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:14 pm

we have an 81 yz 50 yamaha it has stock tread and handle grips
it has lots of power for a 50 the previous owner sold it to us for really cheap because he was riding it in the street doing wheelies and snapped his leg.

Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:52 pm

XR50, too bad the latest CRF50s or whatever they call them now are banned for a while at least, what a bunch of BS

Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:22 am

Built two of them for under $100 each back in the day, mid 90's to be precise, including new clutch and throttle cable for both. Much cheaper to build than a go kart since stripped frames are available for around $20.00 at 1 out of every 10 yard sales. Never did have brakes on either of them and the chains kept falling off but still fun. Not sure what brand the frames were, there seems to be more generic ones going around than brand name (not the kind of product you'd want your company's name on).

Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:31 am

jmsmilin wrote: XR50, too bad the latest CRF50s or whatever they call them now are banned for a while at least, what a bunch of BS

I totally agree. How many kids are able to eat and digest a motorcycle?

Last I heard, you have to be able to digest alloy in order to extract lead from it. Complete BS!

Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:08 pm

I've got a vintage Bird Duck bike I'm wrapping up... 3.5 hp Tecumseh engine, just wrapping up a few details. Hell of a lot easier and cheaper to work on than a car, lol. :lol:

Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:28 pm

i had a no-brake sportin, lawn mower engined ghetto cruiser mini bike. I fabricated a rack behind the seat for my Boom Box!! :oops:
I used to ride the streets (and avoid the police)to get to the old gravel pit near the house i grew up in. those were the days....

Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:45 pm

[img]

71 KV75
Needs P/C assembly. [/img]

Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:30 am

A freind of mine always wanted a mini bike. He orderd a kit from Ebay and this is what he put together.
[img]

I think it is pretty cool![/img]

Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:06 pm

Thanks fellas for the pics and the posts...Ive got two mini's..one is a baja motorsports doodlebug with the stock 2.8 china engine..Im thinking on changing it over to a 6.5 harbor freight clone engine.Theres a kit you can buy to do the changeover engine included..My other bike is a homemade job I guess, bought it from a vw friend and had to hook up a throttle and new tires,chain, clutch..lucky a friend whos good with engines helped me out and it running now. Its pretty fast with the 6.0 tecumseh..having a problem though now with the scrub brake not stopping the bike..guess my new tires are too small..working to correct that now..if I can figure out what size tires to get..Heres a pic of my 6.0

Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:40 pm

I would love to have a bike like your friends kit on ebay..that is super sharp!!! I would appreciate knowning which seller he got it from or if they have other kits for sale.Thanks!

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:07 pm

SoWesty wrote: I would love to have a bike like your friends kit on ebay..that is super sharp!!! I would appreciate knowning which seller he got it from or if they have other kits for sale.Thanks!
i just seen one at harbor fright just like that one...hope you find one!

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:07 pm

I have a benelli dynamo.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:32 pm

I've been restoring Z50 Mini Trails for the last 7 years. I was high bidder on a '71 that i found on Ebay when i was looking for parts for my new XR50, and spent the next 6 months restoring it. I've bought & sold at least 20 since then. The yellow one in my avatar was the last one I did. I sold it a few months ago for $2K.

The first one before & after:

Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:11 pm

Lair wrote: I've been restoring Z50 Mini Trails for the last 7 years. I was high bidder on a '71 that i found on Ebay when i was looking for parts for my new XR50, and spent the next 6 months restoring it. I've bought & sold at least 20 since then. The yellow one in my avatar was the last one I did. I sold it a few months ago for $2K.

The first one before & after:

you do great work!

Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:22 pm

Thanks! That one wasn't correct, but it was my first one. I took some liberties with it - like changing the rear fender, changing the color, and running a 75cc big bore with a CRF50 carb.

The yellow one turned out well. It wasn't a hundred point bike, but it was a pretty decent restoration. I'd rather build bikes that people can ride, anyway. I spent a ton of time on the yellow one, but it only brought a couple hundred dollars more than my first one.

I just built an 88cc big bore motor that's based on a late Z50 12 volt CDI engine. It's going into a Z50R frame that will eventually be a hot rod Honda Monkey copy. I have most of the parts already, but it'll be a while before I get started on it. I also have a couple more early hardtail Z50's on the shelf. They're great winter projects, because you can assemble them in the living room.

Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:32 pm

Lair wrote: Thanks! That one wasn't correct, but it was my first one. I took some liberties with it - like changing the rear fender, changing the color, and running a 75cc big bore with a CRF50 carb.

The yellow one turned out well. It wasn't a hundred point bike, but it was a pretty decent restoration. I'd rather build bikes that people can ride, anyway. I spent a ton of time on the yellow one, but it only brought a couple hundred dollars more than my first one.

I just built an 88cc big bore motor that's based on a late Z50 12 volt CDI engine. It's going into a Z50R frame that will eventually be a hot rod Honda Monkey copy. I have most of the parts already, but it'll be a while before I get started on it. I also have a couple more early hardtail Z50's on the shelf. They're great winter projects, because you can assemble them in the living room.

That is pretty damn cool. Nice work.