Herald mini bike??

[Jwillis336]

Hello everyone. I picked up this mini bike for my son but am now having some trouble finding an exact match on what I have. I have posted on Reditt and was told it may be a Herald and others said doodlebug. I keep seeing this site pop up and thought I’d make an account and ask for everyone’s opinion. There’s obviously been some customization but I’m hoping with the frame pictures it may help nail it down.
The seat is just sitting on there and isn’t attached. I also need to bolt on the rear shocks as the previous owner removed them for some reason. They were just sorta sitting in place for pictures. It starts and runs but the throttle sticks a bit and the kill switch doesn’t work, so I don’t feel comfortable letting my boys ride it until those repairs are made. Kill switch appears to only be a single wire. There is an odd plug that all the electrical goes into. Lights work on it too so that is cool!
Thank you for any assistance!!

 

[RobertC]

Hello @Jwillis336 welcome to the Oldminibikes.com forum.

It's a Heald Super Bronc

A great bike to own.

 

[creia]

How old (and what size) is your son? I own one of these (VT-8) and they can be a handful even for an adult to ride. If you are not careful they can get away from you and leave you on your ass.
Michael

 

[superflea]

I can't ride anymore but I have a stable of these bikes and one is really nice. So awhile back I jumped on it and with that big fat front tire it was really jiggy. Yours is either a vt10-12 or a vt8-12, with the 12 indicating the big front tire. They made bikes that were just vt8 or vt10 and those had a smaller front tire which I have heard makes them more friendly to handle. The 8 and 10 indicates horsepower.

 

[FOMOGO]

It's definitely a Heald.

Here is what a VT812 should look like.

DSC00039.JPG

• FOMOGO
• Mar 9, 2020

 

[FOMOGO]

After looking at the pics again it has a shaft mounted drum brake like a VT7 or VT5. Not the integrated drum brake on the torque converter the VT8 had. But the 7 or 5 wouldn't have had the big front tire.

hsfdh_2072

• FOMOGO
• May 26, 2017

 

[Mark G]

^^^^^What he said.
It's a HEALD VT-7, the dead giveaway is the top frame tube goes down at a slant like that blue bike. The VT-8 and VT-10 frame are flat at the top, just behind the steering neck like the red one posted above. The VT10-40 frame is similar to the VT-8 however it has a thicker engine plate, as well as a mount just forward of the seat for top of the motor to attach. The "7" denoted horsepower. That engine tag should start with H70_________. It may be hard to read as the jackshaft is kind of in the way. Looks like the original motor. Also that's a VT-7 jackshaft plate, as the VT-8 and VT10 was bolted to the engine, and the VT10-40 is different yet. I'm willing to bet the reason the seat is off because the front bolts tend to rip out from the base of the wood due to the extreme proximity to the edge. Very common problem.
It looks like the forks were either modified or swapped out, as mentioned the VT-7 came with the narrower front end. Either way, that bike is nice and complete which most aren't' these days so you have a great starting point. Good luck with it!

 

[toomanytoys]

I have a VT7 with a wide front end. Bought the forks and Handle bars off Ron Kimball forever and a day ago. Also bought several gas tanks and other parts he had on hand.

 

[RobertC]

Thank you for clarifying @Mark G ...I thought that front end looked narrow for a vt-8.

I think those vt-7 bikes are even fewer in numbers than the vt-8.

 

[Jwillis336]

How old (and what size) is your son? I own one of these (VT-8) and they can be a handful even for an adult to ride. If you are not careful they can get away from you and leave you on your ass.
Michael

My son is 10 and about 5’5” and 140.

 

[Jwillis336]

So when I talked to some folks at a power sport store they didn’t even know what I was talking about in regards to the heald brand. They told me the engine was off a snow blower but I agree with you that it’s original to the bike. The numbers on the engine are H70 130105 serial number 2131R.

The problem I’m having is someone rigged up a throttle assembly and it isn’t working how it should. The throttle sticks a bit and doesn’t return, so I don’t trust the kids riding it till it’s fixed. I rode it around a bit and now it doesn’t want to run anymore.


Can anyone tell me where to get the throttle assembly? I’ve looked online to no avail. I’m new to all of this and and with this being so old it’s a bit frustrating.

thanks for the info this group is great!!

 

[creia]

My son is 10 and about 5’5” and 140.

Has he ever ridden minibikes, scooters, or motorcycles before? If not, this is a hell of a bike to learn on and he will really have his hands full- just saying....
Michael

 

[desert rat]

Parts Maybe

https://www.jackssmallengines.com/

 

[Mark G]

So when I talked to some folks at a power sport store they didn’t even know what I was talking about in regards to the heald brand. They told me the engine was off a snow blower but I agree with you that it’s original to the bike. The numbers on the engine are H70 130105 serial number 2131R.

The problem I’m having is someone rigged up a throttle assembly and it isn’t working how it should. The throttle sticks a bit and doesn’t return, so I don’t trust the kids riding it till it’s fixed. I rode it around a bit and now it doesn’t want to run anymore.


Can anyone tell me where to get the throttle assembly? I’ve looked online to no avail. I’m new to all of this and and with this being so old it’s a bit frustrating.

thanks for the info this group is great!!

Heald went out of business decades ago so it's not likely any powersports shop would know anything about them. Most were sold through independent dealers and mail order. Ironic they tell you they don't know anything about it, yet tell you the origin of the motor. I hope you ran away from that place.
I can see in your pictures there are a few missing throttle pieces. The assembly is detailed in this thread:

https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/...ur-h40-h70-tecumseh-big-block-throttle.23646/

If you can't find the NLA parts on ebay or the usual parts houses, you can try a want ad on this site. Chances are someone here has what you need.

 

[chrisr]

It looks like a VT-7 front forks and not the VT-812 front forks - just a VT-7 with a bigger tire installed. The factory VT-7 or VT-812 both use the standard 8" rim - right? You can see in one of the pictures where the bigger tire is rubbing on the forks, whereas, on the VT-812 it has clearance. Nice score and for sure where the VT-7 is much rarer than a VT-812

 

[toomanytoys]

You aren’t going to find a

It looks like a VT-7 front forks and not the VT-812 front forks - just a VT-7 with a bigger tire installed. The factory VT-7 or VT-812 both use the standard 8" rim - right? You can see in one of the pictures where the bigger tire is rubbing on the forks, whereas, on the VT-812 it has clearance. Nice score and for sure where the VT-7 is much rarer than a VT-812

my vt7 came with the narrow forks. You couldn’t fit a wide tire on it.

 

[Jwillis336]

So I’m sure some of you will want to kill me… but hear me out. So I ended up doing a predator swap on the minibike. We are up north in the middle of nowhere and couldn’t really find any parts for the Tecumseh motor that was on there. I did have a fully functional and running predator engine on a go cart so we took an hour or two and swapped it over so the kid could ride the minibike. We ran to a local hardware store and picked up a few 35 inch belts that seem to work just fine. I plan on keeping the original Tecumseh motor and may get it running and put it back on to keep things more original, but it is definitely nice with the predator that always starts on the first pull. In the end I just wanted my son to ride around on it and have fun. As is with the predator it goes 23mph with me on it. I’m 300lbs.


A few other questions… there is a God awful clanking sound that is coming from possibly around the break band. I’ve felt around and it seems as though that long shaft that runs from one side to the other may be a tad loose and is rattling. I can’t find any way to tighten that up. Anyone have any ideas? Also if I were to keep the predator engine on there can I flip the back tire around so the sprocket is on the drive side of the engine? Then I would theoretically just need a smaller sprocket up by the torque converter and run a chain between them , if that makes sense. As I’ve said I’m pretty new to this and I’m trying to figure it out. Our other minibike for my nine-year-old son is a stock Coleman BT200X.

 

[toomanytoys]

Im amazed it runs off that belt that’s completely wrong.

you probably need bearings for the jack shaft. 5/8 ID 1-1/8 OD. You can find them on Amazon.

I’d like to predator 301 swap

 

[Jwillis336]

Im amazed it runs off that belt that’s completely wrong.

you probably need bearings for the jack shaft. 5/8 ID 1-1/8 OD. You can find them on Amazon.

I’d like to predator 301 swap

yeah it works and goes pretty fast lol it’s a 212 so no way I’d go up any bigger for him. I’ll look at the bearings, thank you

 

[Jwillis336]

Im amazed it runs off that belt that’s completely wrong.

you probably need bearings for the jack shaft. 5/8 ID 1-1/8 OD. You can find them on Amazon.

I’d like to predator 301 swap

Toomanytoys, you sure on the OD size? Not seeing bearings on Amazon or on mob warehouse. Just wanted to double check. Please and thank you