New to this forum...

J

Jpar

Member
#1
#1
Hello I'm new to this forum and found myself with a newly-acquired Bonanza MX mini bike... It was pretty much a basket case and from what I can tell so far is missing quite a number of original parts...
So far I have completely disassembled it and took the frame forks and rear swingarm along with the rear fender and the front fender support to the sandblaster... I ordered two new tires and tubes... And I am taking what I believe is nowhere near the original seat tomorrow to a friend that does upholstery work..
If I can post pictures I can post what it looked like when I got it. I'm about to order some new rear shocks from some minibike go kart place back east.... I'm just not sure about some of these places yet because I'm not familiar with ordering from them.
The motor was pretty much toast I'll get something new..
I'm very familiar with posting on the car forum that I'm normally on.. I've been calling this a project for the grandkids but realistically I'll probably have it half worn out before they get it LOL...
The handlebars are not making it for me at all... I'm trying to keep my eye out for at least something similar to the original...
IMG_20200811_090027.jpg
Thank you for allow me to post and share and anybody with any suggestions or comments or more than welcome thank you again...
IMG_20200812_143216.jpg
The rear tire came off friendly but the front tire gave a little bit of a struggle..lol..
IMG_20200813_103354.jpg IMG_20200813_103401.jpg
Of course all the stories came in of all the family members jumping off ghost riding crashing and the engine that they never could ever get running again LOL.. the stories were confirmed when I looked down the fork tubes and they were bent LOL..
When I get them back from the sandblaster my plan is to heat them up bend them back and quench them in water to re harden...
 
J

Jpar

Member
#4
#4
I'm thinking about ordering from OldMiniBikes tomorrow for some rear shocks...
There's another place called go-karts USA that seems to be a lot closer to me. I'm in Portland Oregon.
Is there anything to look out for for either one of these places? Thank you for anybody's help and experience...
That's weird when I use the abbreviation for that warehouse it turns it into the name of the site?..
 
Charles S

Charles S

#5
#5
Jpar said:
I'm thinking about ordering from OldMiniBikes tomorrow for some rear shocks...
There's another place called go-karts USA that seems to be a lot closer to me. I'm in Portland Oregon.
Is there anything to look out for for either one of these places? Thank you for anybody's help and experience...
That's weird when I use the abbreviation for that warehouse it turns it into the name of the site?..
Click to expand...
If you try to link or mention that "warehouse" place on here, it will be changed.

Check out https://hent.com/ , owned by the guy providing this forum for us.

I've had good experiences buying from https://www.bmikarts.com/

I have no experience with GKUSA.
 
J

Jpar

Member
#12
#12
So instead of starting a new thread I guess I'll just continue what I'm doing here on this one is everybody who has any interest will see where it started and where it ended. I'm starting to realize that getting these back to original is the ticket for most.. obviously bring the most value to them too.. well I'm not trying to make a crackhead minibike it's likely that this will not return to its original self as I'm not sure I'm willing to invest that kind of big bucks into getting it there.... More interested in a comfortable good looking solid runner.. and try not to completely ruin it in case someone wants to make a full restoration one day..
Again should get frame back from sandblaster Friday.. also tires and tubes should be here Friday. I spent some of today trying to find some handlebars and I got a couple different sets to try. I'm not really happy with the BMX bicycle handlebars that came with.. it was suggested by a member in a p.m. to try and restore my rear shocks and I went ahead and watch the video and got them apart and cleaned up. Not sure what I'm going to do with them from here probably just end up painting the pieces.. The chrome is shot completely...
IMG_20200819_144327.jpg IMG_20200819_144308.jpg
 
J

Jpar

Member
#13
#13
I got the minibike back from the sandblaster and got a couple of coats of primer on it. I cleaned up the rims the best I could and got some primer on them as well. The front one is a real Bonanza rim but I don't think the paints going to hurt it..
IMG_20200821_130129.jpg
 
J

Jpar

Member
#14
#14
Got some paint on and a little bit of assembly... The new tires and tubes seem to fit well...
Neighbor behind me donated a 6 horsepower Briggs & Stratton from a pressure washer that was running great except for the pump. So he had it for many many years now thinking he would do something with it but found out about my minibike project and donated...
IMG_20200824_143939.jpg IMG_20200824_131852.jpg
The engine is a little too tall with the gas tank on so I may have to do some customizing...
(My favorite part)...
 
J

Jpar

Member
#19
#19
SCooke123 said:
Coming along nicely. I like the color of the wheels - look good with the blue frame.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the compliment it's very encouraging for sure! I think I explained I've been associated with a Mopar car forum for a number of years now so I'm familiar with forum and how people get about originality as opposed to customization and making it your own.. there's people who feel strongly about both I believe. Anyways after reading that article about the number one Bonanza mini bike and it's gold wheels I felt a little relieved LOL that I wasn't tearing this up that bad... Really the only thing stock on it is the frame forks swing arm and rear shocks. As well as maybe the front rim..
It seemed to have been just constantly cobbled together just good enough to get the kids out of the owners hair...
I did save all the original nuts and bolts and hardware or what I thought was the original in a box and have replaced everything with new nuts and bolts.. that includes the axles and steering pin as well...
 
owend

owend

#20
#20
You can remove the tank off the engine and get one of the rear mounted ones that go under the seat, like on a BC series bike. Also look to see if someone is selling a frame mounted tank.
 
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