Mini Bike for Christmas

Travis:

May I suggest a powder-coat finish?

SD

No Powder Coaters close to me though....

Travis:

Even if you have to send the bike to a powder-coater the finish is well-worth the expense. Your call of couse.

SD

Not too worried about it Dave.

Good gift Travis. Should clean up well. Do you plan on rebuilding the Briggs or are you just going to plop a new one in there?

Ron

I'll be installing one of these Predator 3hp engines:
http://www.harborfreight.com/engines-generators/gas-engines/3-hp-79cc-ohv-horizontal-shaft-gas-engine-69733.html


Here is Brandon's... It needs some work again on the brakes though...

That engine is certainly the right price. Who needs brakes?  

WingingIt74 wrote:Not too worried about it Dave.

OK, but you'd find power-coating a whole lot more durable that a painted funish.

SD

It's OK Dave... regular paint will be fine

Finally!!!!! Just found out it's a 1975 Sears Mini

WingingIt74 wrote:It's OK Dave... regular paint will be fine

Travis:

It was (as I said initially) just a suggestion.

Sorry. Happy painting!

SD

Powdercoating is a good option and I plan on doing just that on my Triumph frame. It's going to cost around $400 or so to get it all done. If I was doing a small bike like Travis I would probably just paint it as well.

That's very cool Travis! I hope the clutch/chain/rear-sprocket match-up works out without too much trouble. I had a "Toyoco" bike as a kid. It was nice looking, with a frame-mounted tank. It had a badly worn centrifugal clutch though... and used to "throw the chain" a lot. My buddy's "Rupp" had a torque-converter and was faster and much more reliable.

I was a kid, and didn't know much mechanically back then... and my Dad wasn't handy with that stuff at all. It's great that you're doing these things with/for your boys!

Good Luck with it!

Roddie

Powder coating is fairly easy with the oven or heat source being the problem for bigger items like a motorcycle frame

The Harbor Freight gun and powders are actually pretty good quality for the price. I did my 93 Harley FXR with the HF kit and a home brew oven for the large frame. One shot slap together as I doubt I will ever melt the powder on anything that large again. 350 to 400 degrees is needed depending on brand or type of powder. I built a "oven" out of used exterior ply wood and a 3 burner hot plate and a cheap oven thermometer.

Most of the kits give you dwell time in the oven based on the temp. My frame took 20 min at 390 degrees for full flow out and cure. I built another smaller box to do smaller sized things like the swing arm to stop the use of the kitchen oven (by the way using the house oven will/should not tick off the wife as neither of us ever smelled the process).

One draw back of the house oven was hanging the piece to be cured. My plywood oven box is not thermally efficient but as seldom as I have used the process so what..... No Virginia, ply wood will not spontaneously burst to flames at temps under 500 degrees

Note on the process.... once coated, do NOT bang or jostle the part..... carefully put int he oven or hang out of any breeze..... They sell ( I have never used) relatively inexpensive IR Heat lamps that can be used ...but seemed to me moving a lamp assy around a big bike frame would produce uneven curing

OK back to mini Bikes.... in another thread I lamented that my folks never let me have one...a old skool 3.5 HP Brigs taco or similar is on my "to do" list ... I keep being a day late this last year on all the Craig list basket cases in my area. I can not (Jew in me) buy the full kit from the guys on line although what they offer is exactly what I want

http://gokartsusa.com/Taco-22-Mini-Bike-Kit-4-1.aspx


An option I am seriously considering is the Norther tool "kit" for $399 that only needs paint, assy and an engine

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200006624_200006624

That Taco is sweet!!!!

I really like Hodaka Bonanza's though. This could be you Fred!

anyone remember the "Dirt Squirt" or how about the "Combat Wombat"?!!!!!

roddie wrote:anyone remember the "Dirt Squirt" or how about the "Combat Wombat"?!!!!!

Yep, I have ridden a Dirt Squirt  and an Ace 100. I also owned a 1974 Super Combat.

The best part about Hodaka's were the advertising and decals!

One of my best friends as a teenager had a Hodaka 100 Road Toad. We abused that thing.

I got a concussion on one of those when I was a kid and I was wearing a helmet. That thing needs a Briggs & Scrapiron like the one I had on it. It caught on fire once as I ran it hard on a hot day and the gas was boiling in the tank!