Oh look! Another one of them "Tru-Test" minibikes!
Hey all,
After selling my pride and joy bike recently, I am able to begin work on another project I have been contemplating for a long time now. A classic styled, rat-rod minibike drift trike! Bit of a mouthful if you ask me, so i'll have to come up with a better name :laugh:
Some of you may have seen this frame before, I believe I posted it in the "Minibikes In New Zealand" post mid last year.
This frame is well beyond restoration, so we drew up a frame template for future reference and put the frame in the garden as "art".
After letting the frame hang up in a tree for a year I decided to bring it down, and blow all 3 different species of spiders out of it. I proceeded to look at it for a good 10 minutes before beginning convince Dad that it was a good idea...
...I then began to bend up some old galvanized television aerial tubing and cut it to the correct size. I will be replacing the bottom right section of the frame, and the fork tube. Since the bike will not be ridden on the streets & neighborhood, I decided to leave some of the badly pitted areas of the frame intact.
I plan to mount the axle underneath the frame, therefore giving the bike a sort of dragster look. I plan to use go kart wheels, and PVC sleeves to slide around.
The engine is a bit of a mix of parts. It's a worn 5hp Briggs, with 4HP tins. I also noticed that someone put the 4HP head on the 5HP. I understand this was a popular mod to do back in the day but I read that I loose flow. The engine runs perfect for what it is, and it was a no brainier for the pricey sum of $1. The paint will stay as-is, its got that patina look. Tins are from 1962, an unusual year for big block Briggs.
I have cut the worst section of the frame out, and the new section is sitting in place.
I'll try and update this as much as possible, but there might be a big gap between updates at times.
Let me know what you think,
-Jack
Hey all,
After selling my pride and joy bike recently, I am able to begin work on another project I have been contemplating for a long time now. A classic styled, rat-rod minibike drift trike! Bit of a mouthful if you ask me, so i'll have to come up with a better name :laugh:
Some of you may have seen this frame before, I believe I posted it in the "Minibikes In New Zealand" post mid last year.
This frame is well beyond restoration, so we drew up a frame template for future reference and put the frame in the garden as "art".
After letting the frame hang up in a tree for a year I decided to bring it down, and blow all 3 different species of spiders out of it. I proceeded to look at it for a good 10 minutes before beginning convince Dad that it was a good idea...
...I then began to bend up some old galvanized television aerial tubing and cut it to the correct size. I will be replacing the bottom right section of the frame, and the fork tube. Since the bike will not be ridden on the streets & neighborhood, I decided to leave some of the badly pitted areas of the frame intact.
I plan to mount the axle underneath the frame, therefore giving the bike a sort of dragster look. I plan to use go kart wheels, and PVC sleeves to slide around.
The engine is a bit of a mix of parts. It's a worn 5hp Briggs, with 4HP tins. I also noticed that someone put the 4HP head on the 5HP. I understand this was a popular mod to do back in the day but I read that I loose flow. The engine runs perfect for what it is, and it was a no brainier for the pricey sum of $1. The paint will stay as-is, its got that patina look. Tins are from 1962, an unusual year for big block Briggs.
I have cut the worst section of the frame out, and the new section is sitting in place.
I'll try and update this as much as possible, but there might be a big gap between updates at times.
Let me know what you think,
-Jack