So I recently purchased a mini bike with the intent of making it look somewhat post-apocalyptic. Unbeknownst to me at the time of purchase the previous owner had done some "clever" modifications to the thing.
First on the list of weird ideas was ditching the normally fat tires and rims in place of dirt bike wheels. While this gives it a pretty cool look it does a few less awesome things as well.
First the guy couldn't be bothered to fabricate the proper axles for either the front or the rear so instead he takes what fits somewhat and chops off the threads, drills a hole and sticks a cotter pin through it. The wheel wobbles like a day drunk and is terrifying.
Secondly the guy did the same for the rear axle as well. No threaded bolt, just a hacked up bit of steel with a cotter pin through it. However he decided that since there wasn't a nut holding the thing together like normal that he'd better use a rod that is slightly too small to fit.
This jagaloon hammered a flippin rod through the wheel bearings and hub so that it would be snug. As you can imagine this creates a number of problems. Namely removing the rear wheel was an enormous chore and took me a good 10 minutes of hammering to get the bolt out. Luckily I didn't damage the hub or bearings.
Third in the list of difficulties is the fact that he used mismatched wheels from different bikes, so the axle sizes are weird and I have no clue what the hell is going on with it.
So my problem now becomes a scramble to find bolts or axles that will fit this thing.
I'm pretty sure the front is 10mm at around 190-200mm long, the rear seems like it's 12mm and around 200mm in length, which would make it similar if not identical to some Honda fasteners, but here's the problem: the bearings aren't a 12mm fit, so now I need to either find the proper sized bearings as well as an axle that will fit or I just find an axle to fit my bearings.
Oddly enough, I bartered to get this bike which is well in the spirit of Bartertown and through some bizarre twist of fate the previous owner hobbled together a post apocalyptic machine just for me on some weird way.
Crappy welds, awful fits, bad decisions, and deathtrap status aside I kind of love this thing.
Now I need to find axles for it that aren't hobbled together. Any idea where I'd start?
First on the list of weird ideas was ditching the normally fat tires and rims in place of dirt bike wheels. While this gives it a pretty cool look it does a few less awesome things as well.
First the guy couldn't be bothered to fabricate the proper axles for either the front or the rear so instead he takes what fits somewhat and chops off the threads, drills a hole and sticks a cotter pin through it. The wheel wobbles like a day drunk and is terrifying.
Secondly the guy did the same for the rear axle as well. No threaded bolt, just a hacked up bit of steel with a cotter pin through it. However he decided that since there wasn't a nut holding the thing together like normal that he'd better use a rod that is slightly too small to fit.
This jagaloon hammered a flippin rod through the wheel bearings and hub so that it would be snug. As you can imagine this creates a number of problems. Namely removing the rear wheel was an enormous chore and took me a good 10 minutes of hammering to get the bolt out. Luckily I didn't damage the hub or bearings.
Third in the list of difficulties is the fact that he used mismatched wheels from different bikes, so the axle sizes are weird and I have no clue what the hell is going on with it.
So my problem now becomes a scramble to find bolts or axles that will fit this thing.
I'm pretty sure the front is 10mm at around 190-200mm long, the rear seems like it's 12mm and around 200mm in length, which would make it similar if not identical to some Honda fasteners, but here's the problem: the bearings aren't a 12mm fit, so now I need to either find the proper sized bearings as well as an axle that will fit or I just find an axle to fit my bearings.
Oddly enough, I bartered to get this bike which is well in the spirit of Bartertown and through some bizarre twist of fate the previous owner hobbled together a post apocalyptic machine just for me on some weird way.
Crappy welds, awful fits, bad decisions, and deathtrap status aside I kind of love this thing.
Now I need to find axles for it that aren't hobbled together. Any idea where I'd start?