Havasu Dave's - "Mini Bike" - (Just For Fun)

It looks like it did three days ago, when I posted mock up version three, except that I redid the clutch guard so it wouldn't be part of the engine mount, and put the chains on.

And here it is this morning sitting where I left it after the rest run yesterday. I'm going to take a few days off before I disassemble it and begin the beauty treatment.





 
Honestly, I like the way it looks in beast mode. Maybe because I have spent nearly six months looking at it like that. Undoubtedly, that is why I am having a hard time choosing how to paint it, and what the basic color scheme should be, outside of "rusty bare metal scratch" color.
 

CarPlayLB

Well-Known Member
Looks great Dave! Is that some underwear on the seat mount? :laugh:

I know this bike has kicked your ass, the timing and all, and all the little struggles along the way. I know you have wanted to give up several times, but the end results of you working through all the issues, will be worth it in the end. You certainly have a bike to be proud of.

G's tank came out great. Perfect fitment and a very clean installation. Every part of this is well thought out and engineered to be bad ass!
 
Thank you Eric. By far the most challenging period of my life so far. I don't even want to know what sort of twisted, psychological strings have been woven in and around me and this machine. He's been there, right over my shoulder, and then I think it's been awhile since I called him, and then I put down the wrench, and think about the finality of it all.

All of that is a lot to ask of a mini bike, which has grown exponentially in proportion to everything that has happened.

Riding it yesterday was actually an emotional event for me. Either that, or those sharp pieces of seat support were a pain in the ass. :scooter:
 
Looks like it would be a blast to ride. OK, I have one mini bike with a predator - aluminum flywheel, larger jets, no governor - about 10hp and I can't keep the wheels on the ground. Yours must be an absolute rocket! It looks better before the beauty treatment than most look fully dressed! Beast mode is working!
 
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Do you have a seat for it? Someone one here posted about someone making a copy of the bates tt/roadrace seat out of metal. It was pretty inexpensive and I went and bought one and it is really nice, I could picture it on that bike. Actually I could see it polished with scotchbrite rotary discs as well as the whole frame and clearcoated if you like that look although myself I always like to paint them. This is a very cool bike and I just love west bends as when I was a kid and had Clintons the kids with money had west bends and mccouloughs, and I just remember the west bend decals on the engines and they were so much faster than the lowly Clinton. Your building skills never cease to amaze me.
 
Looks like it would be a blast to ride. OK, I have one mini bike with a predator - aluminum flywheel, larger jets, no governor - about 10hp and I can't keep the wheels on the ground. Yours must be an absolute rocket! It looks better before the beauty treatment than most look fully dressed! Beast mode is working!
Thanks J57, a "stock" Predator has more HP and torque than this engine does. No rocket ship here, just an ear splitting noise monster, that vibrates a lot. This is a very tiny engine on a very small frame. 95cc.

Do you have a seat for it? Someone one here posted about someone making a copy of the bates tt/roadrace seat out of metal. It was pretty inexpensive and I went and bought one and it is really nice, I could picture it on that bike. Actually I could see it polished with scotchbrite rotary discs as well as the whole frame and clearcoated if you like that look although myself I always like to paint them. This is a very cool bike and I just love west bends as when I was a kid and had Clintons the kids with money had west bends and mccouloughs, and I just remember the west bend decals on the engines and they were so much faster than the lowly Clinton. Your building skills never cease to amaze me.
Thanks Ole, I had to cut out a seat earlier in the build to figure out the mounts. The seat is at Manchester1 for upholstery now.

I did shoot the paint the other day. Primer is 2K gray. Top coat is Acrylic Enamel in a Toyota code from the nineties. A few things are unique on this machine, and worked out pretty well. You can see some of them in the photos below.



 
A close up of the throttle. These are the grips I bought from Karl [MENTION=48751]Not so mini bike[/MENTION] for $27 shipped. They are made for 1" bars. (I assume Harley) What I didn't figure was that if I installed them on painted bars which allowed me to see through the grips to the paint below, the first time I moved the throttle, the paint would scratch.

First I tried the Arlen Ness "Throttle Bearing" which is a piece of rubber inserted into the bar end, to which an allen bolt is threaded, to which a bearing at the end of the throttle rides. It didn't prevent the rubbing I was concerned with, so I cut the bars off just outside of where the throttle clamp is retained. To that I slugged on a 7/8" bar I cut from a Cat set of bars. I then modified the Ness rubber insert to fit the end. Results accomplished. This is by far the smoothest throttle of any machine I have ever felt, and that includes every motorcycle I've ridden, or owned since 1969. I am more than happy with the way it turned out. Note the 1/16" gap. The bearing on the end of course is hidden by the grip.



The dummy side worked out fine, except that I did have to notch the grip to accommodate the brake lever.



The throttle feels so good when I grab it, I just can't stop doing it. Grandma said this was wrong, but so far, no hairy palms.
 
As discussed earlier, the exhaust hits the frame. Not just exhaust, but oil. Rolled a piece of .025 stainless, steel standoffs, stainless machine screws tapped into the frame. Scratches will need to be buffed. I will probably cut it down a bit more on the back side. [MENTION=53722]FOMOGO[/MENTION], I took your advice on using the stainless, and it was a good choice. I imagine the first time I run this, the look will be forever changed. :laugh:

 
I can not locate Manchester's seat thread, but here is the custom seat she did for me. It's on the way. Karen took the photo, so I hope she doesn't mind if I share it here. Thank you [MENTION=18286]manchester1[/MENTION] it came out exactly like I wanted it.


 
Great Idea on the exhaust stand off Dave , that should work and look great. :thumbsup: Seat is just awesome I like the color and texture of the covering.

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Is that Havasu Rattle Snake ??? :wink:
 
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