Restorations and smiles
To everybody: Your replies put a smile on my face! It's nice to hear how people do the restorations (or hot rod rebuilds) for the fun and to preserve a timeless piece of fun. Mark G. You've restored some nice cars, I always loved 442's. Had a 66 Lemans and a Malibu as a kid, later a Trans Am, a TR7 conv, a GTI, and a Mazda RX7 conv. All were fun, some rusted away, others just wore out or became a pain in the A. I never restored one, just maintained and used. The mini bikes are where it started for me as a kid and now my kids are getting just a little bit of it. My 8 yr old boy loves the Camaro in Transformers... My older daughter was asking what a "Screamin Chicken" decal was...They laugh when I show them pictures of some of the old cars I had. But you should see the smile when they ride the '69 mini chopper. Maybe it won't teach them how to drive a car, but it sure is some fun family time!
And thanks Mark G. for the support on the Big Z mini chopper frame I bought. I was very complete except for the motor. As for the frame being butchered, I straightened the tubing and fitted sleeves and inserts to correct the frame and had it welded. I just ground down the welds on the frame tubing on the Big Z. It's no longer a Z. In fact, I think everyone is gonna have an impossible time finding where the frame was repaired. I too have a NOS seat for it, scored off Ebay a few months back from a group of 7 that were found new on a dealers shelf. Took a lot of cleaning to get the nicotine stains off, but it truly looks and feels brand new. I'll bet Mark G. got his from the same group. My chrome all cleaned up really well with naval jelly and then buffing wheels. And, I have both an HS 40 and a Hodaka Ace 100 E series motor just about ready to put on it. I made a reproduction stainless clutch guard very much like the one on my other CR400 and I scored a 4 X 7 cylindrical tank. It's now more than 100% complete since I can switch between the two motors. I just need to paint and fiddle a little with parts and I'll have a great Birthday surprise for my little boy. I kind of enjoy seeing the bidding on that other bike up past $1500, but I'm not gonna sell!
So Mark G., enjoy the restoration and then have fun riding! And Bayarea, I'm still lovin your bikes. Lookin forward to seeing that black one come back to life. Don't feel bad if you ever sell any off. It's okay when you have multiple bikes. Nobody's gonna get rich doing this, most restore for the fun and recoup very little for their time and cost of parts. And there are people very happy to have someone do the restoration with more skill or patience than they have. When you think of the limited production runs Dave Miller does, his prices make sense, they are obviously more than buying second hand parts that still must be reconditioned. I'm happy he's able to sell reproduction bikes and very glad he and others make reproduction parts, otherwise we'd all be at the mercy of hoarders and have to make our own stuff. Mark G. keep us informed as the rebuild goes...
To everybody: Your replies put a smile on my face! It's nice to hear how people do the restorations (or hot rod rebuilds) for the fun and to preserve a timeless piece of fun. Mark G. You've restored some nice cars, I always loved 442's. Had a 66 Lemans and a Malibu as a kid, later a Trans Am, a TR7 conv, a GTI, and a Mazda RX7 conv. All were fun, some rusted away, others just wore out or became a pain in the A. I never restored one, just maintained and used. The mini bikes are where it started for me as a kid and now my kids are getting just a little bit of it. My 8 yr old boy loves the Camaro in Transformers... My older daughter was asking what a "Screamin Chicken" decal was...They laugh when I show them pictures of some of the old cars I had. But you should see the smile when they ride the '69 mini chopper. Maybe it won't teach them how to drive a car, but it sure is some fun family time!
And thanks Mark G. for the support on the Big Z mini chopper frame I bought. I was very complete except for the motor. As for the frame being butchered, I straightened the tubing and fitted sleeves and inserts to correct the frame and had it welded. I just ground down the welds on the frame tubing on the Big Z. It's no longer a Z. In fact, I think everyone is gonna have an impossible time finding where the frame was repaired. I too have a NOS seat for it, scored off Ebay a few months back from a group of 7 that were found new on a dealers shelf. Took a lot of cleaning to get the nicotine stains off, but it truly looks and feels brand new. I'll bet Mark G. got his from the same group. My chrome all cleaned up really well with naval jelly and then buffing wheels. And, I have both an HS 40 and a Hodaka Ace 100 E series motor just about ready to put on it. I made a reproduction stainless clutch guard very much like the one on my other CR400 and I scored a 4 X 7 cylindrical tank. It's now more than 100% complete since I can switch between the two motors. I just need to paint and fiddle a little with parts and I'll have a great Birthday surprise for my little boy. I kind of enjoy seeing the bidding on that other bike up past $1500, but I'm not gonna sell!
So Mark G., enjoy the restoration and then have fun riding! And Bayarea, I'm still lovin your bikes. Lookin forward to seeing that black one come back to life. Don't feel bad if you ever sell any off. It's okay when you have multiple bikes. Nobody's gonna get rich doing this, most restore for the fun and recoup very little for their time and cost of parts. And there are people very happy to have someone do the restoration with more skill or patience than they have. When you think of the limited production runs Dave Miller does, his prices make sense, they are obviously more than buying second hand parts that still must be reconditioned. I'm happy he's able to sell reproduction bikes and very glad he and others make reproduction parts, otherwise we'd all be at the mercy of hoarders and have to make our own stuff. Mark G. keep us informed as the rebuild goes...
