I believe I have officially caught the "BUG" seems I am now seeking out these things and buying them. This was found and bought today by me. The seller said he used it for a pitt bike bike in the day of racing cars. He said 60's vintage? Sat for 20 years, clutch sticks, high speed forks and the seat looks not original? He cleaned out the gas tank and used starter fluid and gas in a dropper bottle to get it running for me, runs. Who made this and what are some thoughts here on putting foot pegs on it ? FWIW I paid $200- Good deal ? My collection is now 3 minis, 1 go-kart frame, 2 small quads, and wheels and about 5 misc. Briggs engines. Thanks in advance
Another what is this mini bike question (Newbie)
- Thread starter wheelman1960
- Start date
- Tags bike mini newbie question
Fox sold them originally and they were located in Janesville Wisconsin. Yes that is the wrong seat, Ogy will chime in for the final word but approximately from 66 or 67 through 69 looking at the area just below the seat that the reflector is on. Your foot pegs have been altered in that the front area which would support the peg has been cut off. As Tom said earlier you have the windshield mounts on the handle bars. These are fun bikes and with some work you could restore a great minibike.
Tom has shown you two correct Trailbugs. The one below is a Doodlebug. The only difference is the sprung front forks and the Trailbug used a jack shaft.. This Doodlebug also has a clutch guard which would be the correct guard for your bike.
Doc
Tom has shown you two correct Trailbugs. The one below is a Doodlebug. The only difference is the sprung front forks and the Trailbug used a jack shaft.. This Doodlebug also has a clutch guard which would be the correct guard for your bike.
Doc
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I wish you were a lot closer. I love these bikes and I could help. Yours is missing the jack shaft. You don't necessarily need it unless you are trying to make this 100% correct. PM Scottessey and see if he has foot pegs and guards left. The seat you should PM kbs8ball (could be ksb8ball, I get confused easy) for. He has the pattern. Other parts you can get from OldMiniBikes warehouse. A really good place to get your stuff.
Honestly I think you have the two hardest parts. The wheels and hubs. Your kickstand isn't correct but it looks like it will work just fine.
Feel free to ask questions here or PM me for info. I'll try and help you all I can.
Doc
Honestly I think you have the two hardest parts. The wheels and hubs. Your kickstand isn't correct but it looks like it will work just fine.
Feel free to ask questions here or PM me for info. I'll try and help you all I can.
Doc
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Cool ! I will be in touch, glad I just took a chance here. I will be trying to restore this to the best of my newbie ability. For now I guess I will get it washed and in running order. As I find the correct parts I will obtain them and see what I can do here. glad to here it is a 60's vintage bike. Probably a starter for me :thumbsup:
Start a project log and keep us up to date through that on the steps you do to restore it. That helps the next guy down the road. Also, use the search term "trailbug" and you will find some good info. Especially look at what Marlinmate and Scottessey did with theirs. We have a man here named Ogy and he will know every nut, bolt, metal specification, pretty much virtually everything about these machines.
Doc
Doc
Hello Wheelman, Just looking over your bike and thought I'd add a few comments. It indeed is a Fox Trail Bug. Your wheels rims with the triangular hubs are original. This bike used a 530x450x6 studded tire and the same size tube. The grips and levers are original. The two brackets on the handlebars were for a windshield or mirrors. However, because these bikes were geared for power and trail use it is doubtful that anyone ever mounted a windshield on one. Those brackets are there because Fox used these same handlebars on their Campus models and because those were made for highway use a windshield was an option. The seat definitely is not original. The third pic below shows what your original seat would have looked like. The kickstand is not original. The jackshaft is missing but the brackets for it are still intact. Sadly, someone did a chop job on the front of your motor mount. The brackets for the foot pegs have been sawed off. Probably had something to do with that high speed fork incident. Pics one and two below show what your original motor mount would have looked like. Not sure if your motor is original or not. Count the number of teeth on your rear sprocket. If you have 72 teeth then your bike would have had a 3hp Briggs motor. If it has 60 teeth then it would have had a 4hp Tecumseh. You can look for the numbers on the fan shroud of your motor. It will give you the make, mode, and code for the motor that's on there. The first two numbers of the code will tell you the year the motor was made. However, that isn't very reliable because over the years the motors and fan shrouds get replaced. Your bike was made sometime between early 1966 and late 1969. How do I know you ask? Because prior to 1966 the brake levers did not have a ball on the end. People would wreck their bikes and harpoon themselves on the brake levers. So starting in 1966 they put a ball on the end of the lever. I'm not sure it really did much good. Hope this info. gives you a little better idea of what you've got there. If you need more info. give me a shout. Ogy
Thanks Ogy for all the info. In a look at the bike compared to your great pictures of the foot peg mounting area of the motor mount, it seems I will be able to refab this detail back to near original specs. Seems to me the engine is way to large for the foot to rest on the right side peg if it was there now, he did say that he had foot pegs on the brackets pictured so I guess they replaced the engine at some time. In time I think I will put back a smaller engine more like what you mention in the above. Seat may happen also at a latter date. The previous owner told me today that mini moved pretty quick back in the day, Probably due to this biggie engine. I will post progress as I get going on this. :thumbsup:
Nice T-Bug, Wheelman! Here's a pic that may help you with the frame repair. I made this up for Owend a while back. His foot peg region was similar to yours and I figured it would come out cleaner if instead of patching it, he just swapped out the whole engine mount. He was expecting a patch in the mail and I surprised him with this, lol. :laugh: Holler if you need info. :thumbsup:
