Coleman CT200U seat, shocks, front end mods finished today

#22
Sillyness..it's the vintage style girl..I'd never ride a Harley with this on it..but hey..it's a mini bike.....hows your :chinese: class build coming?
Its at a stand still at the moment. Just had some other things going on. I am still working on it in my head... I am ready to get started back on it first of next week. Work on the Jack Shaft and the Swing Arm. I do piddle on it some evenings but it is mostly looking and thinking. I did build a Swing arm jig. So I guess I have made a little progress. And I have determined what length I am going to start with for the swing Arm.

Doug
 
#23
Hey Stitch, awesome job on that suspension. I really want to do something like this on my Coleman, could you post what parts you bought/had to fabricate for this build?
 

gbabins1

Active Member
#24
Well,
I finally finished this project today. Special thanks going out to FOMOGO, KEN and TRIPLE A!
On to another custom DB30.....

View attachment 93763

View attachment 93764
I'm diggin' that seat. Looks thicker than normal. I have a Trail Blazer that has a thinner seat and think the style on yours would be prefect... and help my back on off road rides. Could you post a link where you ordered that one or was it custom? [emoji106]

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#25
Hey Stitch, awesome job on that suspension. I really want to do something like this on my Coleman, could you post what parts you bought/had to fabricate for this build?
I'm diggin' that seat. Looks thicker than normal. I have a Trail Blazer that has a thinner seat and think the style on yours would be prefect... and help my back on off road rides. Could you post a link where you ordered that one or was it custom? [emoji106]

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Guys, Stitch hasn't been on since May of 2017.....
 

gbabins1

Active Member
#28
That seat looks a bit thicker than the ones I've purchased. May help out the old back [emoji106] Don't supposed you have the link to that seat do ya Raskin?

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#31
That seat looks a bit thicker than the ones I've purchased. May help out the old back [emoji106] Don't supposed you have the link to that seat do ya Raskin?

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They are 2.5 " or 3" of crappy foam .scroll down and read the full descriptions...i wish was 4" but i have short rides so putting carpet underlayment is better I'm thinking maybe adding 2" springs using a metal plate under the seat and a metal plate on the frame to mount the spring bottoms https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...bike+seats.TRS2&_nkw=mini+bike+seats&_sacat=0
 

gbabins1

Active Member
#32
OK, I'll check out the link. Maybe I'll do something like that too. The older I get the more my back lets me know my age. Thank you Raskin!

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#34
Yep. You could use clamps also. The inside of the new tubes has a ridge inside where they are joined. Just take a file to knock them down a bit and they slip right on the old forks.
 
#35
Yep. You could use clamps also. The inside of the new tubes has a ridge inside where they are joined. Just take a file to knock them down a bit and they slip right on the old forks.
Got my front shocks in a couple days ago.

Tweety, When you say you could use clamps, you mean use only clamps without welding, or weld the clamps to the forks and use them to retain the shocks?
 
#36
Yes you can clamp them without welding. They fit tight as is, I had to take a file to the inside of the tubes where they are joined together to get em to slide on.
Actually used a rubber hammer to force them all the way on, compressed the springs then tapped them into place.
 
#37
Got my front shocks in a couple days ago.

Tweety, When you say you could use clamps, you mean use only clamps without welding, or weld the clamps to the forks and use them to retain the shocks?
Foust use a bicycle post clamp to secure them. Quick and simple.
[MENTION=54903]Raskin[/MENTION]
 
#38
Yes you can clamp them without welding. They fit tight as is, I had to take a file to the inside of the tubes where they are joined together to get em to slide on.
Actually used a rubber hammer to force them all the way on, compressed the springs then tapped them into place.
Sorry for all the questions, probably should have made my own thread, but y'all have been responding on here and have been very helpful so just a couple more things:

1. Are you talking about clamping on the shocks over the forks? Doesn't seem like that would compress the steel tube much to create a solid clamp force, or clamping above the shock on the forks to prevent them sliding up the forks?
2. Looks like top tube on shock is a little long to fit before first crossbar on bike forks, did you end up cutting the shocks a little short as well, or does the pre-load from the bikes weight compress the shocks that far.
3. How much of the forks did you cut off. I'm guessing if you cut the two right, you can have some room for adjustment on where the shocks sit on the forks to adjust ride height.
4. How did you compress the shocks when you were tapping them on.

Again, sorry for all the questions, I'd probably just try to figure it out on my own, but I'm hoping to go riding this weekend, and hoping to get this mod done before that, but don't want to end up with a bike with no front end because I did something wrong lol.

When I get all this done I'll post some pics and an intro as a new thread. Did a seat spring mod this past weekend to post too.
 
#39
You want the new shocks up tight against the lower part of the tree. So any force is applied to it.
Okay, from my befuddled mind and what I remember, have the bike sitting level, line up each of the new forks with the axle bolt on the old forks. Mark where they would meet the lower tree and cut them off.

Then take a tape measure and insert it into the new fork tube to measure your inside length. From the bottom of the tree you will mark the measurement on the old forks and cut them off. NOTE: Don't forget to add to the weld loss on the old forks. The new ones won't fit up over the welds where the old forks are attached to the lower tree, so take that into account when you cut the old forks.

Now look inside the new tubes and you'll see where the two ends are formed together when they rolled the metal into tubes. You may need to take a half round file to this to let the new forks slide over the old ones. Also depending on how thick the paint is on the old forks you may need to sand them down for additional clearance.

Test fit the new forks to the old, don't have to fully seat them yet, you want to check clearances with the wheel/tire, so you may have to flip the forks around and/or side to side as the axle flanges are off set on them.

All good? Time to seat them, we're not talking hydraulic press tight, a rubber hammer or dead blow works just fine. You can compress the forks by hand and then apply a couple of wacks to each to seat them up on the old forks. NOTE: DON'T FORGET TO INSTALL YOUR CLAMPS FIRST if using them. Or once in place weld away.

That's it.
 
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#40
Okay, I got one of the shocks cut, but...I dont like how not straight it is (don't have an amazing shop at my rental house right now) so I'm gonna take it into work to get it even and cut the other one in the machine shop.

But when I was disassembling the front end, because I'll probably take the forks in too, I realized the axle bolt from the Coleman does not fit into the holes in the Pit Bike shocks. Did you have to bore yours larger or did I get a slightly different model.
 
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