5 miles on the worst trail I have picked so far.......Bent pegs and all.

Rapidrob

Rapidrob

#1
#1
The ride today was only 5 miles long. A loop. There were however the largest boulders I have encountered so far. And, to add insult to injury there were over 4 miles of rocks and boulders. The trail is so challenging someone built a "blue" bench to match your bruises and a wooden box nailed to a tree so you may sign the log in the box saying you have done the trail.
The Baja Hhawg Ty ran the gauntlet with stride but I did manage to bend the foot pegs on both sides pretty good. Not much ground clearance.
When I got home I tied the bike to a telephone pole and long ground spike driven into the ground. Using a Come-along, I was able to bend the foot pegs back into shape. A hammer would have cracked the welds.
I'm worn out now but will post the photos of the ride,and there are a lot of them.
Looking back at the bike. This is the "easy" part
BPB.JPG
Looking at the begging of the downhill trail. The boulders went for miles.
BPC.JPG

At the end of the ride I could see the extent of the bent pegs. The left one should be in Front of the clutch cover.
BPA.jpg

The ride really showed me how well the Baja bike could really cope with the crawling over the boulders and the extremely steep inclines. The clutch got so hot on one climb it started to slip and the bike dropped down to a crawl. Would a Torque Converter have done better? Would the belt hold up? It's anyone's guess.
I'll post the photo's in lots of 15. It will take some time to edit them.
 
chrisr

chrisr

Active Member
#2
#2
To your question "Would a Torque Converter have done better? Would the belt hold up?" I think you would find the torque convertor would hold much better to off road and give you more climbing ability. I go off road in Kansas with the bike I built in my avatar that has the 30 series torque convertor, but in Kansas, its mainly caliche type dirt which turns into cruel/unforgiving mud, sand, and occasional snow.

BTW - I love the ride pics and the trails that you are riding on look pretty amazing. Please keep sharing the ride pics.
 
Rapidrob

Rapidrob

#3
#3
Thank you for your opinion on the Torque converter. I may go that route. Oiling the bushing is not big deal. I got up a dawn today and took the centrifugal clutch apart for cleaning and lubing. It got so hot the clutch cover turned blue.
With the Torque Converter being wider than the CC, do you find that a problem with your left leg/ankle?
My mountain is covered in caliche as is my property. I've had to put down over 100 tons of crushed rock on my road which disappears when wet.Where it goes is the question?
 
chrisr

chrisr

Active Member
#4
#4
Rapidrob said:
Thank you for your opinion on the Torque converter. I may go that route. Oiling the bushing is not big deal. I got up a dawn today and took the centrifugal clutch apart for cleaning and lubing. It got so hot the clutch cover turned blue.
With the Torque Converter being wider than the CC, do you find that a problem with your left leg/ankle?
My mountain is covered in caliche as is my property. I've had to put down over 100 tons of crushed rock on my road which disappears when wet.Where it goes is the question?
Click to expand...
The torque convertor will extend out a little more maybe than the centrifugal clutch, I know a lot of people on this forum have done this conversion on your type of bike so they may be able to weigh in on this. I have had centrifugal clutch minis that were off roaders and converted to torque convertor and well pleased. The one in the avatar is a 10hp 3/4 PTO is why I went with the 30 series but I have a similar one I built with a 8hp 1 PTO with the 40 series which the 40 is much stronger with a higher HP rated. I actually broke a 30 driver in the caliche mud, I was really thrashing it that day at the badlands - the name says it all, the mud there can break a lot of parts.

Including some pics
https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/broke-a-30-series-driver.159700/#post-1182749

https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/trail-riding.159695/

https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/mudding.48499/

https://www.kansasbadlands.net/park-riding-rules

https://www.google.com/maps/place/K...a64c9760130b24!8m2!3d37.0577058!4d-97.3304394
 
Kyminibiker

Kyminibiker

#5
#5
those are normal trails here in se ky, I actually think a mini bike is better then a 4 wheeler in most cases as you make a smaller footprint which in most cases tends to be easier then tryin to manuever over rocks of different sizes at the same time. you need a TC bigtime, you'll never go back to a clutch. cool pics, looks like you had a good time. we have trails (more like goat paths) here that easily let you make a one way trip of up to 50-75+ miles. I'll have to get a go pro and take some pics next time i go on a all day ride.
 
Rapidrob

Rapidrob

#6
#6
That is one bad-ass bike!
Thank you for the links. Looks like the "track" is pretty cool. We have one for the dirt bikes 14 miles from my house in Moriarty,NM just off of I-40.
I'm going to order a Torque Converter today. I have a milling machine so fitting the mounting plate will be no big deal.
Not much mud here due to it being so dry most of the year. This summer is an exception with the monsoon rains several times a week.
This makes riding familiar trails a whole new ride due to the erosion of the trails from run-off and flash floods. You never know what you will run into.
I have a couple of mini bike frames I got while at the minibike meet in CA a few years ago. One has nice larges tires. It's buried in the back of a shed.
I think an 8 HP engine may be shoehorned into the frame. No Idea who make the original bike.

unknown minibike.jpg
 
S

SAT

#7
#7
Rapidrob said:
The ride today was only 5 miles long. A loop. There were however the largest boulders I have encountered so far. And, to add insult to injury there were over 4 miles of rocks and boulders. The trail is so challenging someone built a "blue" bench to match your bruises and a wooden box nailed to a tree so you may sign the log in the box saying you have done the trail.
The Baja Hhawg Ty ran the gauntlet with stride but I did manage to bend the foot pegs on both sides pretty good. Not much ground clearance.
When I got home I tied the bike to a telephone pole and long ground spike driven into the ground. Using a Come-along, I was able to bend the foot pegs back into shape. A hammer would have cracked the welds.
I'm worn out now but will post the photos of the ride,and there are a lot of them.
Looking back at the bike. This is the "easy" part
View attachment 247458
Looking at the begging of the downhill trail. The boulders went for miles.
View attachment 247459

At the end of the ride I could see the extent of the bent pegs. The left one should be in Front of the clutch cover.
View attachment 247460

The ride really showed me how well the Baja bike could really cope with the crawling over the boulders and the extremely steep inclines. The clutch got so hot on one climb it started to slip and the bike dropped down to a crawl. Would a Torque Converter have done better? Would the belt hold up? It's anyone's guess.
I'll post the photo's in lots of 15. It will take some time to edit them.
Click to expand...
Rob,
I prefer to run torque convertors on our parade bikes. They are warm and fuzzy with the constant throttle-no throttle use. Clutches like to engage and stay that way for a while. If you feel you are heating the well-maintained clutch on your bike, it might be time to look at a Comet TAV model suitable for your use. We only use the TAV30, so no direct knowledge about the 20 model.
Nice images.
 
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