Hi everyone! Newbie here. I picked up an old mini-bike frame at a rummage sale.
I'm one of those guys who would always have loved one as a kid, but my mother would forbid me even if we could have afforded one.
Now, I am an adult, saw this and thought it looked like fun. I really don't know anything about mini-bikes, but like working on projects and learning new things.
It appears that this frame is a Stellar Black Beauty. (Anyone know approximately what year it's likely to be from?)
I have worked on some electric projects before, including converting a Kawasaki KZ440 to electric, so I have at least some experience. I have a few motors and batteries around, and though it would be fun to put this mini-bike together as an electric.
I'm also a bit of an old time radio fan, and Black Beauty was also the name of the car of the Green Hornet. (Kinda like the Batmobile, only way more awesome...) So, when I'm done, it might be fun to paint it black with green accents and give it a Green Hornet vibe.
The bike came with the frame, handlebars, kickstand, one fender, wheels & tires, and hub. There were no brakes, brake handle, engine, gas tank or seat.
Unfortunately, no stores near me carry any mini-bike or go-kart parts. (Northern Tool, Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight, Farm & Fleet, etc.) Which makes me severely disappointed. About the only thing I could find locally was #35 chain.
I mail-ordered a 60-tooth sprocket with a 2" hole and four bolt pattern and was able to get it to fit the hub.
I was also not familiar with it, but it appears that some of the old mini-bikes had brakes where the drive sprocket was used as the brake disc. I mail-ordered a generic brake caliper. The bike does have a tab welded on the frame that appears to be the original brake mounting point. Unfortunately, it's not the right size/shape/position for the brake that I have. I believe that I will need to cut this tab off and make a new one appropriate for my brake and weld that on in the correct position.
I removed the front and rear suspension so that I can clean it up and paint it. The front shocks came right apart. It's interesting to see how they work - nice and low tech - a tube within a tube (were these things just made from conduit?) with some grease and a spin.
However, the rear shocks were all rusted up solid. I've sprayed them down with PB Blaster, let them soak, spray them again the next day, etc, etc. Still no luck with the shocks. I put one in a vise and tried twisting it an adjustable wrench. No luck, I could start bending the entire tube, but not have the two halves break loose from each other. I also tried heating it with a torch, and that didn't seem to help any either. Any secret techniques or special fluids to soak in to be able to still re-use the original shocks? I'd like to use the originals for several reasons, including that I don't actually have any money to sink into this project. I'd love to fix it up mostly with parts I already have.
So, my two big questions right now are:
1) Brakes - any and all advice on mounting the brake caliper appropriately to go to the drive sprocket?
2) How to break loose the rust on the rear shocks so I can re-use them? Any affordable sources for the same shocks if I just want to replace them?
I still will also need a brake handle and cable to go to the caliper, will need to make a seat, and need to paint the whole thing. Anyone have a favorite online parts vendor?
As for what electric motor and batteries will actually go in there.... I'm not sure yet, but it would be fun to have something that could do a burn-out AND run around a camp-ground late at night, without all the gas engine noise.
Here's the rear wheel with the 60 tooth sprocket temp. mounted up. I set the brake caliper on the drive sprocket. It's not in quite the right place, but I can't put is exactly where it should go right now because the original tab is in the way. I think I'll need to cut off the original tab, fabricate a new one, and weld it in an appropriate location, but I'll take some advice from you folks before I do that.