Coleman café build (that's the plan at least )

waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#1
#1
I picked up a 197? Coleman? Mini the other day for 75$ from Craigslist. It's relatively complete, minus the Sachs engine:glare:. Oh well, I have my extended crank NOS 3hp Tecumseh. The plan with this bike is to do a cafe or trail/road bike. Still too early to tell. I think I'm going with a red frame, white engine and fenders. The tank... Is awful. I'm going to strip the paint and attempt to polish it. If anyone knows of any polishers in SE Wisconsin, let me know. I'm pretty excited to do this, as it is my second bike, but my first restoration. I bought my roper almost right, but took much work. Wis me luck!
 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#2
#2
Today, I got the front end mechanically restored. I re greased the front springs and de greased the front brakes and hubs. I also paint stripped the front forks tonight. For chrome, I can't afford re plating, if there is minor pitting and rust, I use barkeepers friend and water and scrub like mad. The chrome is rider quality, and that's good enough for me. Tomorrow, I'll tackle the rear end of the bike. I'm going to have to make my custom aluminum motor mount for this bike. Glad I have access to a sandblast cabinet and a machine shop. Lots of work in the future, but it's gonna be a nice bike.:scooter:
 
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waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#5
#5
I'm going to need some advice... The wheels I have are a 10 inch rim with a 16 inch outer diameter. I'm going to order a clutch. I have a 30 tooth rear sprocket. I'm probably going to get the 12. But I'm not entirely sure. I want a bit of torque, but don't want to change the rear sprocket. I'm also running a 3hp tecumseh two stroke.:shrug:
 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#7
#7
Made some progress today. Got the bike stripped down, wheels refurbished and fork prepped for paint. The real question is what color scheme should I go with? Red and white with a polished tank or red and black? Not sure, but some input would be great.:thumbsup:
 
Fat Boy

Fat Boy

New Member
#8
#8
[/QUOTE]


I have never seen a motor mount on any of the Colemans or Attex's that looks like that , I wonder what they had for a motor in that frame ??
 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#9
#9
Fat Boy said:
Click to expand...

I have never seen a motor mount on any of the Colemans or Attex's that looks like that , I wonder what they had for a motor in that frame ??[/QUOTE]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm glad someone chimed in about that. i looked really close at the welds ant the seem to be factory, or someone is really good at wire welding. i plan on making my tecumseh use those mounts and make a custom aluminum mount. i may use those "jackshaft?" bearing mound=ts for a easy change gear cluster.
 
SimpleTom

SimpleTom

#10
#10
Hey Ryan, When you came over to buy that bike and mentioned that I should check out OldMiniBikes to I.D. the other bike I was selling you didn't say you were a member. I would have showed you my whole heard of bikes. :laugh:

I'm glad the Coleman went to someone who will actually do something with it. I never noticed how the engine mounts don't make sense. The guy I got it from never mentioned anything about what engine it had.

By the way, my other bike is a Montgomery Wards/CESTAD bike, not a Trail Horse. :wink:

Tom
 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#11
#11
Well, I guess it's a small world! I've seen your posts around here, I just in person, didn't think you were too much of a mini bike dude. Real bummer I didn't get to see your collection, but I looked at your photos, looks like some pretty slick rides:thumbsup:. The bike is coming along great and I've dedcided on a black frame, flat black components, burghandy fenders, and a brushed tank with a burghandy accent strep along the bottom. I haven't made sense of the motor mounte either, but I have designed a mount and I should be able to use both of the mounts for my Tec. Still not sure if ittl has enough power, it's rated at 3... But still, nice to see that the previous owner is following my build:laugh:
 
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waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#12
#12
Here's the first run of my nos tecumseh. I had to take it all apart after sitting since 1974 with the factory shipping oil that turned to sludge. This video was shot when it was about 40 degrees farenhiet and the timing was not properly set, so it runs a little rough. But it is smooth now:thumbsup:

 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#13
#13
Quick update, with high school finals.... Ok, I've got the bike mocked up!:clap: now, I have to do the boring and tedious frame sanding and paint stripping...:hammer:. I found a set of 1980's mountain bike bars at a local shop for 10$. As for the seat, I like it with out a seat, but it kinda would hurt on long rides, so I'm going to use a heave 1 inch foam and use the buttons that mounted the stock seat and buy a piece of houndstooth fabric and make a thin seat.:thumbsup: with the low bars, it's actually a nice riding position, and god handling ( down a hill without brakes haha)

 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#16
#16
Thanks guys! the build is still trucking along smoothly. Oooooh, that would be a nice seat... Seat is still in the works for now, I'm more concentrating on the mechanical aspects now. The front and rear ends are fully painted cleared and rebuilt. I have a half day of school tomorrow, so I'm going to try ad get the frame sanding finished. I wish I could have ordered the cafe bars from OldMiniBikes warehouse. They are out of stock and the price was right on these. Maybe some other time.. Any suggestions on a clutch sprocket size? I have a 16 I'm od wheel and a 30 tooth sprocket, want top speed, but a fair bit of torque.:eek:ut:
 
waffledude376

waffledude376

Member
#20
#20
Tha is buck, but I already got a nos mountain bike set from a bike shop for $10. And Mr.Pat, the Coleman mini bikes came with a 30 tooth from the factory.. I don't know what to do. I'm only in high school, money is tight right now.
 
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