When I was about 13 I was on my 1968 Yamaha 80 Mini Trail I was riding up a steep hill, it was a little muddy so I goosed it my rear tire was spinning and when I finally got through the mud the rear tire hooked up and sent me flying into a tree, didn't hurt at all but I felt like a bit of a nerd when it happen. I was the only one around.
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i was riding, saw some flashy lights behind me, stopped, got drilled by the cops and did some funny tests (they made me stand on one foot, touch my nose, say the alphabet...), then i was handcuffed and thrown in the back of the cop car!
:laugh:
one year, $5,000 and a lot of stress later everything is hunky dory.
:laugh:
one year, $5,000 and a lot of stress later everything is hunky dory.
I was cleaning the carburetor and put it back together wrong (reversed the throttle slide 180*), so when I went to start it, the bike fired up at full throttle. Kill switch wasn't working, either (didn't know that before I started it!) , so imagine this: here I am, holding onto a bike screaming flat-out with one hand, trying to reach the carburetor and the choke to shut off the gas and choke the engine out with the other, all the while trying to keep my fingers and legs from being chewed up by the chain and wildly-spinning rear wheel. Oh, and did I mention that while all this is happening, the rear wheel is leaving great big black smudgy streaks all over my girlfriend's nice clean white concrete driveway? She was pissed ......
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Wayne,was it on the Lil Petro??:hammer: I can remember when I was about 14,I traded a friend a tape player for what turned out to be a well used Lil Indian 400.The Briggs engine was pretty beat,had a 2 inch long piece of plumming pipe for the exhaust.The block exhaust threads were quite beat and this engine had a tendency to shoot out a backfire with flame included free of charge. This engine also had a bad carb to tank gasket and would leak a little gas.One day while trying to start it in my parents garage,the bike backfired,at the same time,the piece of plumming pipe decided to fall off the engine.and of course,a nice size flame shot out,but this time,the engine wanted to get a little more involved,poof,:doah:the engine caught on fire,next,the seat,ouch!!,OH,we cant forget the gas can,the old metal kind with the flexable spout,a good foot long torch flame you might say!!.The next thing I know,my dad and brother had 2 hoses blasting this bike and gas can in the driveway with water for about what seemed like 20 minutes,the gas can took the longest to put out,luckily,it wasnt an empty can,or it probably would of exploded!! The next day,I had to sell the bike:sadcrying4::sadcrying4: a neigbhor down the street bought it for $10.00.sure miss that thing LOL
Well not a mini bike but I was in the 1973 Barstow to Vegas race spent a ton of money getting there and on race morning with about 10,000 people there and 3500 riders the lines to the row of out houses were unreal and we were out in the middle of the desert . well I put the need to go out of my mind.
Well the fire bomb went off and the race was on guys were flipping, crashing, and utter pandemonium was everywhere. Well my Tri-Sport trike was running just fine for 20 or so miles and we came to a big ,I mean real big hill of sand and because a rider got in my way I buried the rear wheels and killed the engine. Well I pulled my guts out but there was on spark to one plug and weak on the other plug. :censure::censure:
So here I was dead in the water and so I pulled the trike around and went down to the bottom of the hill. and when the final realization that my day was cooked the once forgotten need to go put me under some extreme pressure so to speak :sadcrying4:.
I telling you there was not a bush bigger than 18 inches high for miles around and so I just had to go now, right now and while I was uncovered there were still lots of stragglers riding buy and of all things a girl went riding buy on a Hodaka motorcycle. I could tell her day wasn't going much better than mine. Steve
Well the fire bomb went off and the race was on guys were flipping, crashing, and utter pandemonium was everywhere. Well my Tri-Sport trike was running just fine for 20 or so miles and we came to a big ,I mean real big hill of sand and because a rider got in my way I buried the rear wheels and killed the engine. Well I pulled my guts out but there was on spark to one plug and weak on the other plug. :censure::censure:
So here I was dead in the water and so I pulled the trike around and went down to the bottom of the hill. and when the final realization that my day was cooked the once forgotten need to go put me under some extreme pressure so to speak :sadcrying4:.
I telling you there was not a bush bigger than 18 inches high for miles around and so I just had to go now, right now and while I was uncovered there were still lots of stragglers riding buy and of all things a girl went riding buy on a Hodaka motorcycle. I could tell her day wasn't going much better than mine. Steve
Never had a mini when I was a kid...got my son an old beat up 3 wheeler about 9 years ago and a neighbor that managed Northern tools said he would fix'er up for us. Three weeks later had brand new Tec5.5hp w/ Tav on it! Wow!! We were excited...knowing nothing about governers,,,I thought it would be fun to get'er to go faster so loosened the nut, after 30 min. of throttle inspection thinking I had it figured out,on the governer just enough to let the throttle open up more...pulled the rip cord ...and off like a dirty shirt she went!!! Hit the house,flipped over,wheels spinning(21"x12" size),smoking like a banshee as the oil ran to the cylinder, now I realize( as I'm thinking I hope my wife doesn't come out and see this!) that the only kill switch is on the side of the motor next to the giant tires that are now spinning @ 40 + mph upside down.I crawl underneath the spinning mess as to not get tangled up with the rear tires and shut'er down...CHEATED DEATH AGAIN!!! Have since learned alot about the mechanics of mini motors and governers...LOL!!!:thumbsup:
So my buddy and I had our mini bikes going pretty good. Riding around testing them out and it seemed like they were working fine. We ride all around the town going under highway underpasses and riding 30+ miles. We go into another town and down a road that was a 35MPH street. Cruising down all of a sudden i see the red and blue lights. trying to egnore it i pin the bike. as im cruising down the road, my buddy behind me stoped, making the cop stop. i look back, LAUGH, hit a bump, and all of a sudden my chain falls off gets stuck in the rear tire and sproket skid and drop the bike about 1/4mile away from the cop and my buddy. Complete mess my buddy was laughing his ass off with the cop as they saw the whole thing. they ride up to check up on my condition and just laughed and told us how stupid that was. We had to call for a truck to get us off the side of the road. Luckly not getting a ticket because im sure he could of written us with something if he wanted to be a dick head. I would never forget that day.
Back in '62, I was 20 yrs. old and stationed in Mayport, Fla. My main mode of transportation was a new 'Gator Gad-a-Bout'. Had a frame about like my Fox Sprite, with a Briggs on it. The gas and brake were operated from a flat platform footrest. Tip it forward for throttle and back for band rake on the clutch. I ran all over Jax Beach for two years without ever getting stopped. Fill ups were $0.13. It was just big enough for me at 185 lbs. When my navy buddies would come over , we would double up on that thing. I would sit forward and straddle the yoke (scary to me now) and operate the front of the pedal for the gas, and they would sit in the back and operate the back of the pedal for the brake. I could go about 35 mph with just me on it but with both of us , it didn't slow down that much. It just took longer to get it up there. Never dumped it, never got hit, never blew a tire, never got a ticket, and never got hurt and no helmuts. Used to build ramps in the front yard and jump it at full throttle. Youth is a wonderful thing. No fear.
Too old to try anything like that now. dandy lion
Too old to try anything like that now. dandy lion
Not a mini but close....about 5 years ago friend of mine who is a Shriner was putting a new b&S on his little parade car. This was during the winter but it was a warm day so he had the garage door open. He lives in an older neighborhood with no curbs just shallow drainage ditches on each side of the street. He went to fire the motor up for the first time and the throttle was on full bore. The little driverless car shot straight across the yard at about 30MPH, hit the drainage ditch, went airborned across the street and right through the roof of the neighbors 6 month old Sebring convertable. Where it remained for quite some time doing burnouts on the leather seats....
my buddy just picked up his new bike so him and i went for a ride down the ditch. we got to a point where you have to ride through a very dark tunnel and his bike had lights,mine didnt so i made him take my bike through it for his frist time.when he came rippin out of the other side he didnt see the ditch slime as he started to brake. the bike came flyin out from under him sliding for about 30 or so feet. so after i ran to my bike to make sure it was ok first, i got to him and asked if he was ok. he said yes but my butthole hurts!! when he hit the ground only one cheek gripped as he slid.i laughed my ass off. one of the funniest things i have ever seen.