Montgomery Ward 525 custom

[bubba297]

Hey all, been a member for awhile but not made any posts. I am 41 and love old minibikes.

The wife and I enjoy going to Little Sahara, OK to ride wheelers. A couple of years ago they quit letting people ride double in the campgrounds unless the vehicle was made for it. So I decided to build a double person minibike and solve that problem.

I started with an old Monkey Ward 525, quite the deluxe model in it's day. I cut the frame and lengthened it 14". The original footpeg mountings will be for the rear passenger, and the bar in front will be the driver foot mount. The original Tecumseh was in very poor shape, so I built up a 5hp briggs instead. It has a ported block, higher compression, small performance cam, billet rod, custom intake and round slide carburetor without a governer. Still going to run the jackshaft with larger sprockets and larger chain. I reinforced the frame in key areas, and adapted a set of older Honda Z50 front forks to work on the front end. It has bearings and a spacer collar so it can be tightened up nicely and move freely. I am building a set of forks from raw steel and using the later style XR50 springs to hold the extra weight.

And I notice that a lot of people have a hard time finding a gas tank. The original tank was junk, so I am building one from a mid sized fire extinguisher. This one is 16 gauge (.055) metal and very easy to work with and weld. I cut the one end off, used the fill cap and tube from an E-bay user of Coyotegear (?) and welded it in place with a tailpipe adapter of 2"-1&1/2". Just a little more work to do and it will be ready for paint. I dont have a ton of fancy equipment, just some time and patience. Hope you enjoy and I will try to keep photos coming. Thanks, Bubba

 

[Outlaw Ace]

Welcome:thumbsup: Minibike Paul stretched a Powell minibike and made a nice ride for he and his wife. Yours is on it's way, keep the updates coming.

 

[buckeye]

Nice project. You need one of the tandum bikes.But are making your own.

 

[hammeron]

looking good, keep the pics coming. i like those 525's.

 

[bubba297]

Well I decided to use the 8" Z50 wheels and hub assemblies. The longer bike looks better with a taller tire, and the fit was nice.

The handlebar risers came from e-bay, and I thought they were going to be cheap junk for the price, but instead they turned out to be NOS parts from Japan. that was a score! Still going to use a taller set of bars as well. So maybe in a week or so I can have this thing ready to test ride. The wife and I both sat on it last night and the suspension feels just about right.

 

[Randy]

Neat project! That thing will ride like a caddy!

 

[bubba297]

:biggrin: OK, here is the almost done pic. Or maybe I should say the rideable pic. The wife and I took it down the road today. It does drive like a caddy, not the fastest top speed with a super low gear but does the job.

If anyone would like to chime in and give ideas about what I can use to fill the gap, let me know. I would like to have something to carry a 20oz bottle or 2 and not be funny looking. I have been searching Lowe's, Walmart, and Hobby Lobby to no avail. There's not really a right sized cooler to fit in there, just some ideas would be great. Thanks!!

 

[SimpleTom]

Looks good! What color are you going to paint it?

 

[mopar70]

I like it!! The blue on the forks would look good for the whole bike, but hey I like blue LOL

 

[KustomKartKid]

If anyone would like to chime in and give ideas about what I can use to fill the gap, let me know.

how bout fabbing up a little sheetmetal storage box that tapers with the shape of the frame....I don't think the ones on the Terra Tandems even had a lid....:shrug:




added:

 

[Square_Chopper]

Excellent work on that! Looks like a great rider! :thumbsup:

 

[bubba297]

Kustom Kart, that is a great idea...... but 2 things about it. Since I stretched the frame where the lower bars were angled, I had to heat and bend the 2 downtubes from the neck to match up. It's pretty close up there with the footbrake addition as well. If I could aluminum weld (the only thing I dont have in my tooling) I would build a custom aluminum box. I do want it to be a cooler of some sort.

Would a very small carry toolbox (plastic or metal ) look funny in there? I mean it would be mounted on a stand of some sort.

The wife also gave me an old ice cream bucket (aluminum with lid) thta I could make a mounting for and stand up in there. :shrug: ?????? Any more ideas I greatly appreciate. I'll start tearing it down for paint in a week or so.

And Mopar, we have 2 restored Z50A's (73&78) that are painted in a blue almost that identical color. I love the blue as well. Keep the ideas coming!! Thanks!!

 

[KustomKartKid]

If you have a finger brake you could bend up a nice little box out of galvanized sheet and solder the joints...it would even look like an old school cooler then....man there was an old tin knocker I worked with in EXXON he could make beautiful boxes and trays out of galvanize...all soldered up with hemmed edges.... they were liquid tight and rustproof when he was done :thumbsup:

 

[mopar70]

What about something like this?
CHEVROLET VINTAGE BEVERAGE COOLER NEW 5 GALLON BLUE W/ BUILT IN BOTTLE OPENER | eBay

 

[Fat Boy]

I like the way the Wards made a nice looking tandem , I like the tandem bikes so I stretched a Terra DeLuxe

into a Terra Tandem and it is almost ready for paint and assembly I used a Tecumseh HS50 with a torque convertor for lower end power and top end speed , the light coil will make it nice for night riding .

 

[bubba297]

Mopar, that would be great if it was about a 2-3 gallon size. That 5 gallon would be too big.

You can buy sheetmetal pretty cheap, and I have a nice big roll of solder. I like the rivet look on metal, I might try to fab up a rectangular box to fit the frame and rivet up the bottom and sides, then solder it together and build a hinged lid. I'll check on some sheetmetal tommorrow and maybe go from there. I should be able to build that in one day I would think. I am willing to try anything once lol. Thanks!!

 

[KustomKartKid]

if it's galvanized you need the the correct flux...i think we used something called Ruby flux or something like that...can also use Muriatic acid or even white vinegar to etch the metal....work outside all that stuff is nasty :censure: to breathe.......if you make it out of plain steel just send it out and get it powdercoated when your done...it will never rust then.:thumbsup:



.

 

[SAFETYpin]

Do the z50 wheel also use a 12mm axle?

I just picked up some ct70 wheels for my 525, I had originally purchased asuza 10in wheels and brakes but they're just garbage products. They don't spin true and the brake drums expand under braking, so not a lot of brake feel or stopping power for a fast bike.

On to plan B!

 

[bubba297]

Yes the Z50 wheels take a 12mm axle, but I used 6002 bearings in the rear that had a 15mm inner diameter. I cut down an ATC70 front wheel bolt and re-threaded it to have a larger rear setup that would fit the swingarm a lot better. Pretty much all of the old Hondas and even chinese pitbikes today have either a 12 or 15mm axle. Hope that helps, Bubba

 

[bubba297]

OK, I decided on the black/silver combo. It made things easier to paint and get together. I scored me a set of 10" Z50 wheels that are 4" wide, and I already had tires and tubes to fit. I spent about all last week trying to get it smoothed out a bit and everything primed and painted. So here is the beginning picture of assembly. Sorry for all the background stuff in the pic, I just took it the best way I could LOL. More to come as I get time ha ha.