Hey all-great site here.I,ve been lurking a few weeks now trying to gather alot of information.Seems to be alot of knowlegable people with some very sweet mini's.Anyway-i've been eyeballing the Azusa minibike kits available all over the net.Are these kits worth the money? In particular i've been looking at the mini kit & engines available at GoKartsUSA.I've searched all over the place locally trying to find some runners or fixer-uppers with no luck.Looks like my best bet is to buy a kit & motor package.Any info good or bad would be appreciated.
i bought one of those kits and it was fine a good bike to start out with you can do alot with it . some people will tell you to wait to get a vintage mini but get what ever makes you happy they a good little frame with lots of potential to make a nice bike.!! this is what it looked like when i got it , and now it turned into a little hotrod. it is my favorite bike . good luck :thumbsup:
Vintage bikes are everywhere and have something special about them, I'd go that route but what ever floats your boat. I do have a complete asuza with 5hp brigs up in the rafters that I got for $30 and might chop it into a drag bike some day.
Honestly, for the money to complete it,,,, you could get a cool vintage bike that's the real deal , I see them in every state.
Honestly, for the money to complete it,,,, you could get a cool vintage bike that's the real deal , I see them in every state.
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Azusa
Thanks for the replies people.Thats a good looking bike you got Jim.What size tires are you running?I see you can order them with several tire & wheel sizes.I was just wanting something to build to bomb around the yard and maybe a few speed runs up & down the street.I.m guessing the 5" or maybe 6" wheels would do for what i want to do with it.I would like to get a 5 or 6 horse motor to put in it.As im a welder/fabricator by trade i like to tinker around in the shop just a little so i think this would be a neat little project.:weld:
Thanks for the replies people.Thats a good looking bike you got Jim.What size tires are you running?I see you can order them with several tire & wheel sizes.I was just wanting something to build to bomb around the yard and maybe a few speed runs up & down the street.I.m guessing the 5" or maybe 6" wheels would do for what i want to do with it.I would like to get a 5 or 6 horse motor to put in it.As im a welder/fabricator by trade i like to tinker around in the shop just a little so i think this would be a neat little project.:weld:
I have a couple of Azusa minis, I like the fact that parts are easy to get. My electric set-up is rated 19 horse and it powers up to 50 mph in under 6 seconds, very stable under hard acceleration and at full speed.
any more info about your elec. setup? I was just looking at building one, and have never really messed w/ much electric stuff besides forklifts and RC airplanes. Some more info would be GREAT!:smile:
and Yellowhand--thats a nice lookin variation on the kit-bike!
Thanks for the interest born loser, the electric minibike started as a way to let my 12 year old son ride around the neighborhood without bothering the neighbors (where I live in California the local authorities and the neighbors have limited patience with loud minibikes). Anyway, due to my hot rod upbringing I naturally over engineered the project and shoehorned a power combo consisting of a Briggs and Stratton Etek motor, an Alltrax controller, 4 x 20ah B&B batteries, all linked up with 6awg wire. The system produces 15,000 watts, 19 horse peak/10 horse constant with three times the torque of an ice, luckily the Alltrax controller (blue) that sits on the battery box is fully programmable which allowed me to tame the beast down so that my son could ride safely.
The minibike runs two 100w converters that power the two 55w spider eye headlights, an LED Maltese cross tail light and some purple glow treatment because why not, it is a blast to ride at night.
The aluminum number plates cover up the motor and keep fingers safely away from the drive gear, terminals, main fuse, shunt, and solenoid, (there’s lots of stuff under there that will shock the shit out of you).
The system has only one moving part which is the drive gear twisting the rear wheel. There are no fluids, no intake, no exhaust, no tune-ups, no warm-up, no pull start, no vibration, and no noise.
I have a trick 6.5 clone in another Azusa frame and although it is fun to ride, it can't compare to the advantages and performance of the electric.
Now the downside, the runtime is about 10 miles max, it takes 6 hours to recharge, the batteries are 80 bucks each and you need four of them, they can be recharged about 400 times before you need a new rack, and finally, the cost to build it was about $2500 so it wasn't cheap... But it was worth it and I'm currently building another one. :biggrin:
The minibike runs two 100w converters that power the two 55w spider eye headlights, an LED Maltese cross tail light and some purple glow treatment because why not, it is a blast to ride at night.
The aluminum number plates cover up the motor and keep fingers safely away from the drive gear, terminals, main fuse, shunt, and solenoid, (there’s lots of stuff under there that will shock the shit out of you).
The system has only one moving part which is the drive gear twisting the rear wheel. There are no fluids, no intake, no exhaust, no tune-ups, no warm-up, no pull start, no vibration, and no noise.
I have a trick 6.5 clone in another Azusa frame and although it is fun to ride, it can't compare to the advantages and performance of the electric.
Now the downside, the runtime is about 10 miles max, it takes 6 hours to recharge, the batteries are 80 bucks each and you need four of them, they can be recharged about 400 times before you need a new rack, and finally, the cost to build it was about $2500 so it wasn't cheap... But it was worth it and I'm currently building another one. :biggrin:
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by 'kit', do you mean frame/forks or the whole deal w/ wheels, all the accessories,etc? The frame seems like an OK deal at 99 bucks. Then when you throw in all the parts, it starts getting pricey.
A used old mini that is complete can be had from 50 bucks on up, and can be ridable as is. And it has the benefits of being old and cool (IMO).:thumbsup:
I rarely see a good used mini cost as much as a complete azusa kit.
But hey, I might get a frame/fork just to mess with...:wink:
A used old mini that is complete can be had from 50 bucks on up, and can be ridable as is. And it has the benefits of being old and cool (IMO).:thumbsup:
I rarely see a good used mini cost as much as a complete azusa kit.
But hey, I might get a frame/fork just to mess with...:wink:
Here is a link for the cheapest mini bike kit I could find. All ya need is an engine. Let me know what you think.:thumbsup:
Bad Dog Enterprises - Mini Bikes, Mini Choppers, Parts, Kits & Assemblies
Bad Dog Enterprises - Mini Bikes, Mini Choppers, Parts, Kits & Assemblies
Hey, I see that Bad Dog has those Astro stars set up to accommodate a drive sprocket,
I read about other guys trying to set up a hub arrangement for those Astros and the consensus seemed to be that the casting was too thin to use them as a drivewheel
They are cool wheels, I may need to call Bad Dog and ask him about it
I read about other guys trying to set up a hub arrangement for those Astros and the consensus seemed to be that the casting was too thin to use them as a drivewheel
They are cool wheels, I may need to call Bad Dog and ask him about it
