"Just for fun" Class Tote Gote Nova 780

#1
Nova 780 serial number 106. Worm gear drive via proprietary TAV, 7 HP Briggs not original, missing parts.


When we get an engine missing the air filter, this should be our first clue. Rod bearing was so ground down, the bolts were finger tight.


Bad rod, crank, bore, and numerous stripped threads on block along with missing shroud mount lug, welded on shroud, and several missing pieces. This motor is scrap.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
#3
Oh yeah, that round thing that looks like a feeler gauge is really a quarter. I don't actually have any quarters, on account of the IRS taking them all. I was lucky to find the shit paper next door, as the neighbors left their door unlocked.

I was never "in" to Tote Gotes. As kids, mini bikes were cool, but gotes, well, they were the machines our Father's rode. Uncool, slow, purpose built. 45 years later, they make sense to me.

I'm torn between doing it up as a legitimate "restoration," or as a more modern version, with flashy paint, chrome, and different suspension. I rubbed out some of the original paint with 3M machine glaze, and it will probably buff out. Problem is, the frame requires some welding.

Rest assured, it will not have a Chinese motor in it. :repuke:

Stashing helpful links here: http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/project-logs/50878-665-tote-gote-3.html
 
Last edited:
#9
i vote for the flashy paint chrome and some sweet shocks:thumbsup:the drive shaft is is mad rugged :scooter:
Those are the rare and valuable "Taco" shocks. I have a larger, beefier set that look identical. Might try those on. When I bounce my fat ass on the bike, it is extremely absorboramaish.

Keep it vintage but with modern power.:thumbsup:
I know, right? Some loosely machined gem from a collective nestled along the shores of the Yangtze. Pure heaven. :laugh:

Because of the sideways design, (crank faces aft) nothing larger than a Predator 212 would fit, and then it's a shoe horn job.

No sir, I am not going to allow 40 years of small engine design to hamper my efforts to keep it as low powered as possible, all in the name of originality.
 
#14
Just ordered the various bits to fab the missing center stand. It's going to be 3/4 instead of 11/16 due to availability.

Richard Trotter painstakingly took these measurements for me. I'll use the 3/8 rod and make rivets to mount.

 
#15
I spent an entire day cutting some nice 1/2" plywood for the front seat, and fabricating three special, angled seat mounting pieces, so it can be removed in the field with one Phillips screw.

Welder ran out of argon. Sat on newly fabricated front seat assembly, sans good welds and discovered the original placement of the front seat is commensurate with someone about five feet tall.

Now it will be a single passenger machine with the rider position almost as far back as the passenger seat.
 
#18
I asked to put this in the "just for fun" class. I really don't care about the vote, and would rather concentrate on doing my own thing here.

Anyone following this, I finally got close enough to that tag and read plainly "Model 780" not 680 as I originally thought. :hammer:
 
#19
Hi Tony. I'm a fish outta water on this one. It's simplistic in design, but complicated in execution of putting it all together fabrication-wise.

Still looking for an original throttle assembly. (hint) :laugh:
Hey Dave neither of my other two Gotes have the original throttle either.
 
#20
Pulled the bike apart. The sub frame carries the engine, drive shaft, rear wheel and suspension, as well as the center stand.

On disassembly, I found one of the drive shaft mounting bolts to be very small, and evidence that the shaft had come loose under power, breaking the axle tab. This had been repaired in the past.



Ground down and re-welded.



The inside had cracks that were never addressed.



Welded and faired.



Center stand will be next.
 
Top