finally got my mini bike done.. Can't wait to her out. :) I just have to rejet the carb and it will be a screamer. Front suspension and juice brakes should really help out

https://i.imgur.com/4WamOckh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HQ6kZjZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5rMIQUMh.jpg

cool looks really good. I rode one of my around my property the other day and when I parked it I came to the conclusion that at 6'2" its a whole different ride than it was when I was 8 years old.

Old mini bikes
 

My Buddy Derick on what would become mine, a Blue 1969 Rupp TT-500 Roadster. 5 Horsepower Tecumseh with 2-speed clutches and Jackshaft. Technology at it's best from Mic Rupp out of Mansfield Ohio in 1969. I remember mud would get stuck under the front fender when I off roaded it and I had to dig it out with a stick, but cool suspension for its day

Guinea pig optional.

Old mini bikes . Com
 

Rick,

How do you know Derrick?

Bill

Would love to see your pics Ryan. Here is my 1970 CT70H (4 spd) still rolling on it’s original tires:

Love the Honda 70, would love to find one!

I will start digging!!

Ryan W31

My latest monster ride.

I love my Honda 70 but I’m also partial to Ruttmans. Here’s my Spyder almost completed:

Here’s my 67 Ruttman chrome washer frame (GT250) that is next-up for resto:

Now that’s killer!

I had dinner at Moms last night and we dug out the old photo albums.

What a trip down memory lane!!

Mom and Dad bought my brother and I this CT70 brand new, these pictures mostly were taken on the first day we had it. One of my first rides I slipped back off the seat, pinned the gas,bounced off my parents Datsun, bounced off my grandparents Cutlass, then hit the ground. You will notice all the. Linkers and mirrors are missing from the afternoon pictures. :-(

The bonus picture is my first kiss, also the same girl riding double on our mini bike.

Ryan W31

My Honda fiddy pit bike. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...s/HPIM0752.jpg

My father and his friends in about 1964 or 65 on their mini bikes that they built in high school welding shop class. My father is the one on the bike pointing left. Years later my grandfather bought me a similar bike used out of the newspaper with no engine and my father and I put a 3.5 HP Briggs generator on it. It kept tossing the chain but gave me many years of enjoyment.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psfqfbzvjy.jpg

When I was in about fifth grade I'd mount a B & S motor on a bicycle frame and hook up a pulley to a tire with direct drive, no centrifugal clutch. On a rare occasion, I'd get it going somehow by pushing the darn thing and drive a block or so. Yes, no brakes at all and I'd reach down to the engine to give it gas......

We had them here on Long Island Tim, we used to call them "Motobikes". Stingray frames worked the best. What it took to build one

1. Good Stingray frame
2. 1.5' piece of 2x2' Angle iron drilled and bolted to the frame uprights
3. 3hp B+S, or Tecumseh that you would mount on the angle iron via 2 of the 4 mounting holes, minibike throttle
4. Mount a large pulley (usually pulled the out of old Dryers) on the rear wheel, with small pieces of wood/metal to hold the bolts going through the spokes (yikes)
5. Fan belt pulley on the engine

When I tell you these death traps hauled ass, big understatement. But a ton of fun

JR we used to make similar motobikes with cutoff baseball bats as direct friction drive.

came across this old photo yesterday

Amazing how we all seemed to have the same idea. I took a girls Schwinn bike, heated an aluminum plate (in oven), bent and bolted it in the bike V and mounted a 6hp Tecumseh. I purchased a rear wheel from Cycle City and mounted a sprocket. The rub was the engine shaft was 1 inch and no clutch would fit, so I purchased a sprocket and my father took it to Boeing where he worked and opened the ID to 1 inch.

I had a group of neighborhood friends donate the bike frame, seat and throttle. I rode it two times that I recall. The first the chain immediately fell off due to alignment issue. The next and final time the front wheel immediately lifted as I accelerated. The time front wheel was up an eternity because time sat still. As I was riding my friends were following and cheering me on. I will never forget the pulsing of every powerstroke of the 6hp engine. I knew it was not functional without a clutch..... I ended up getting a Heath Kit mini bike with the variable ratio trans with the huge back wheel.... what a beast !

'

Good fun also cool how many of us here had these crazy bikes as kids.
My best pal and I split on one in '72, used roller Mini like BM's above w/ no brakes but good tires for $10.
We scored a 60's McCulloch 2-Stroke Chainsaw engine for free and got it bolted in but had to pay $20 for a centrifugal clutch which seemed like a thousand then.
The 2-Stroker was way too much power but "luckily" chain and rear sprocket a slightly different pitch than clutch drive gear so chain would come off about 30 mph although gearing felt like it would've done twice that or more.
Yikes it was 50 years ago!
:beers:
~ Pete

I had a mini bike BITD that needed a centrifugal clutch but it took my dad forever to buy one. I guess I didn't realize how expensive it was to raise 5 kids on one salary while sending them all to private catholic school.

I'd love to have an early Trail 70 but they're apparently worth their weight in gold these days.

Motobikes
 

As I remember them, this were wicked fast (and dangerous)