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Monthly Archives: October 2014
An Enjoyable Compilation of Bad Ideas (a Custom Baja Minibike)
compilation :
[kom-puh–ley-shuh n]
noun
1. the act of compiling 2. something compiled
Yes that sounds like the perfect definition for this little project, it was a compilation, and now it is a compilation. It started out as a little extra sweetener thrown in on a deal when I purchased an old motorcycle to part out. Originally I planned to see if it would run and do the bare minimum to get it rideable and flip it. One of the great things about the Baja MB165 & MB200 minibikes is the fact that they are actually big enough for a grown man to ride comfortably. The bad thing for a full grown idiot like myself is that they are slooow. This is great when your kid is riding it but kind of dull for daddio. Plus there was no dirtbike in my stable so I decided to keep it and have some fun with it!
The original gas tank was full of rust and the carburetor was gummed up but the engine was otherwise sound. It turned out to be so inexpensive to replace the Honda clone carburetor
The other really noticeable bad idea you see here is the addition of a large heavy duty sprung bicycle seat
Of course, being me I kept as much of the crustiness as I could only covering the fenders and the crappy looking dirtbike handlebar with a thick coat of do it yourself truck bed liner
The handlebar came from an eighties Honda XR250. It had a fair amount of surface rust that I knocked off with a wire brush before coating it with the bed liner. I am sure the rust will eventually come back through but that’s okay with me for now. Changing out the handlebar was the single best comfort & control improvement to this minibike. From the factory Baja installs what looks like a “beach cruiser motorcycle” handlebar on it. Very good for little people with short arms, not so good for long armed gorillas like myself. The foot pegs are a set of passenger pegs from another old Honda motorcycle and are much bigger & sturdier than the oem items that came with it.
Also missing was the original big round chrome chopper style headlight, but in all honesty it would have been ditched in favor of the evil eye shaped driving lamp you see below. Like the original this light’s a bit dim at idle, but give it some gas and it keeps getting brighter & brighter.
There is one really good performance enhancing mdification and that is the installation of a GTC Torque Converter. In my last post I did a quick installation overview & product review on this part. There is also a video of this mini running & being ridden on that page so that you can check it out. Click here to view it if you haven’t seen it yet.
The front end is still a little bit tweaked from an accident that is was in prior to my owning it, and will stay that way. It’s such a little thing & it doesn’t bother me or anyone else who has ridden it. It’s just that the handlebar is cocked about a half a degree to the right when the bike is going straight, & not really worth trying to fix.
Now that I have told you all about this custom Baja minibike, it is time to say that it is for sale. There’s a real running dirt bike sitting in the barn and I anticipate that this one will soon be sitting around more & more. So the first person to give me $350 bucks for it gets it. Although I would prefer to sell locally for cash, I am willing to crate it for shipping as long as 1. you make all the arrangements for the shipping. and 2. I get at least 3 working days notice to build the crate before pick up. and 3. I have been fully paid via verified USPS money order. NO online payment options available for this, as I have been the target of too many scams lately. If you do purchase this machine you acknowledge that it has been altered from its original factory condition using questionable & potentially unsafe modifications and that you the purchaser assume all risks associated with operating it including the possibility of severe injury or death. And for heavens sake if you’re gonna let a kid ride it, put a belt guard on it.
This minibike has been sold!
Peace Y’all
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The GTC Torque Converter for Minibikes & Go Karts Installation and Review
Here’s what came in the box. I ordered it from GoKarts USA mainly because it was listed as being a direct bolt on fit to directly replace the cheesy jackshaft plate & tensioner that this minibike came with. Despite what is said on some of the forums around the internet, this is a good quality unit that is made right here in the good old U.S.A. Yeah sure it’s got a couple of imported components in it, but suck it up sunshine that’s just the way the world is, we’re all on one rapidly shrinking planet and the market place is making it smaller everyday despite the best attempts by idiot politicians and knuckle dragging nationalists to stop it. Still it’s nice to see something made here that is of good quality and is price competitive. The backing plate is especially well machined & finished to the point that it is almost a shame to cover it up with a belt guard.
Now this is not going to be a full complete step by step set of installation instructions, just an overview with a few tips. If have lost your kit instructions or have purchased a second hand unit without instructions please click here to get a set from the GTC website. As always you may click on any picture here for a larger view.
First you have to remove the original plate with the factory clutch & intermediate sprocket.
Make sure you remove all of the spacers from the end of the crankshaft, if you are doing this to an older engine oxidation may cause the spacer to look like an integral part of the crankshaft. If you don’t remove it the drive pulley won’t line up and you’ll be scratching your head for a few minutes like I was.
This tab is no longer used and will have to be flattened or removed for the torque converter to fit.
The kit comes with longer bolts to mount the plate if needed.
This particular installation just reused the stock bolts
A picture of the driven shaft with the snap ring and washer installed.
Here it has been started through back of the mounting plate.
Next get the chain sprocket, key & spacer,
sprocket,spacer, & key
and slide them onto the driven shaft as shown here.
The next shot shows the driven pulley with it’s associated hardware, slide it all into place and install the nut finger tight at this time.
Here is the driving pulley & the belt. When you cut the tie wrap to install it take not of how the various parts & pieces fit together so you can re-install them correctly.
I should have cleaned up the screw threads in this hole before I got this far, be sure to learn from my mistakes. BTW your engine must have an existing tapped hole in he end of the crankshaft or you cannot install a torque convertor. Be sure to check this before you spend your money as a few of the Honda clone engines are missing this feature.
The other drive pulley parts
Stick the belt into place & begin assembling the drive pulley onto the end of the crankshaft.
Now that you’ve gotten everything assembled it is time to tighten it all down.
You really need to use a torque wrench
I did this install several months ago and have been driving this thing around the farm at least two or three times a week. While it did not transform my otherwise nearly stock MB165 into a 50 mph speed demon it did bump the top speed up enough to be much faster than a stock Baja minibike. Perhaps on a smooth surface with the governor removed it would but it is already able to outrun it’s own steering and stability out here in the deep soft sand & mud where I live.
Four months ago when I installed this it was purely out of curiosity to see if it would really be an improvement, and it really is. The initial low speed engagement is much smoother than with a factory clutch allowing it to be driven at a lower speed than was possible with the clutch, while still increasing the top speed. The belt has proven durable and still looks fine after four months of hauling my big 200+ pound ass around the farm, down the dirt road, through the woods. And when it does eventually wear out the belt is a little over half the price of a factory clutch. So is this worth spending the extra $200 buck on? If you are serious about actually riding your minibike, the answer is yes especially since the GTC TC2 is a direct bolt on that does not require engine mounting spacers to fit a stock Baja frame. Granted at this price it should come with the plastic belt guard but that really is my only complaint. At this time I’m running mine without the guard for a cool but possibly dangerous open primary look, but I don’t let kids ride it either.
Here’s a little video of the completed minibike so you can see how it works.
Peace Y’all
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Attention Deficit Project Disorder!
Well it was another rough week at that thankless job that I go to everyday of every week to keep the lights on around here until my web store catches fire & I can sell enough products to retire from everything but blogging. (go buy something, click on any ad here and help a brother break free!) My original plan for the evening was to go climb up in a tree & try to shoot Bambi’s father, but it was starting to rain kinda hard when I got home so instead I decided to grab a beer, & carry the forks that the mail carrier just dropped off from the house out to the shop and maybe work on fitting them to the CM400 bobber that I’ve been tinkering with for the last few months, but decided that the shop really needed cleaning up a little before proceeding so I pushed some of the junk bikes out into the rain for more room.
What’s under your desk?
Then I moved the two portable work benches back to the sides of the shop to clear up floor space. Then I decided to go ahead & start soaking my new to me,old pile of junk Suzuki with penetrating oil so that it would come apart easier when I go to replace the rear inner tube and the 40 or 50 other parts it probably needs to be trail worthy. Of course it’s a lot easier for an old fart to work on a motorcycle if he doesn’t have to bend over so I grab the old furniture truck ramp from the yard and dig through my lumber pile for a couple of timbers to set it up on since my motorcycle lift table is loaded down with my CB360T restoration project. For some reason as I was digging through my scrap lumber pile, a misshapen piece of wood that was left over from some long forgotten construction project jumped into my hand and said, “hey look at me, wouldn’t I make the perfect Plains Indian gunstock war club?” But by this time I had enough of a buzz going that there was no way you could ever get me near the bandsaw so I threw it back on the pile, got the timbers and headed back inside to prop up the dirtbike. Hopefully I can find it again when I am sober & have some time on my hands as it would go so well with my Hawken, powder horn etc. In fact it would look really sweet hanging up next to my black powder shotgun if I ever finish building it….
Can you see the pattern here? It’s a serious disease that afflicts middle age men. ADPD Attention Deficit Project Disorder It’s incredibly dangerous, because the problem just gets bigger & bigger. You become an addict scanning Ebay & Craigslist for just the right item at the right bargain basement price. The problem is that you don’t need it, there are a dozen projects, plus your honey-do list ahead of it, and just as sure as hell your boss will start demanding extra overtime on top of what you already work, so your discretionary income is temporarily enlarged while your time to enjoy it is diminished, this leads to more shopping & less doing until your place starts to look like a salvage yard, and your neighbors start calling you Fred G. Of course this is also the time when everything in your house will break down too, so you have to take care of those things first. Sure you could pay someone to fix the plumbing or the light fixture but for two things 1; the guy you call can’t do it any better than you can & maybe not even as good. 2; You just scored the deal of the century on another old piece of shit motorcycle, gun, car, jeep, boat, plane or what ever your addiction is & spent the money already.
At any rate I got the TS185 up on the ramp so I can work on it, but since the weather is supposed to be nearly perfect for riding tomorrow, it was time to give the old CB650 a good going over & adjust the chain so I stopped to do that instead. Hey you got to look after your main squeeze if you want her to look after you! Well it’s been fun blogging with a little buzz going on, but right now I need to find a carb kit & battery for the 1969 CJ5 under the carport & figure out when I’m going to get time to fix my tractor so I can keep the wood lot clean & get the garden ready for next year. Then maybe I can relax, watch a little television while checking out the crack-list on my tablet.
Peace Y’all
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