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verbal machete

verbal machete

Member
#1
#1
I found this little beauty tucked away in the back of a friend of a friends garage. I asked about the bike and the guy told me he was looking to get rid of it, so I offered $25 as is and loaded it up. I don't think he really knew what he had. To my knowledge, its a Bonanza mx-1510. Anyone who cares to dispute or confirm that claim, feel free. Anyway, after closer inspection, I noticed that it had an odd rear sprocket. To me, it resembles a circular saw blade... bizarre? I've personally never seen one like this so I figured I'd post it and maybe get some feedback from the community.
 
minibikin'

minibikin'

Sho-nuff
#2
#2
Cool find. The rear sprocket is junk. It's worn and thats what crowns the teeth like that. You can buy a reproduction at the OldMiniBikes. The front wheel isn't original. The brake assembly/sprocket look to be correct so I'm assuming the rear wheel is the correct one. Great rider for sure!
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
They made a version of that bike without the fiberglass tank called a 1310 as well. It used that seat and ceriani type forks. Yours has had some mods over the years so hard to tell what it originally was. there would have been a tab welded a few inches in front of the seat front if it had had the F/G tank on it, so if you done see grind marks or anything like that on the toprails it was problaby the 1310.

I'm really interested to see what exactly they did to that front wheel though :laugh:
 
verbal machete

verbal machete

Member
#7
#7
Thanks for the imput fellas, it's greatly appreciated. Didn't see a tab for a gas tank, so it may very we'll be a 1310.

markus said:
They made a version of that bike without the fiberglass tank called a 1310 as well. It used that seat and ceriani type forks. Yours has had some mods over the years so hard to tell what it originally was. there would have been a tab welded a few inches in front of the seat front if it had had the F/G tank on it, so if you done see grind marks or anything like that on the toprails it was problaby the 1310.

I'm really interested to see what exactly they did to that front wheel though :laugh:
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As for the front wheel, I'll give credit for ingenuity, but overall design is terrible. It's actually a split rim with one side broken out. A plate was cut to fit the inside of the rim and the original rim hub was screwed onto the plate. Definitely a mcguyver fix. I'll get some pics of the whole disaster up later tonight when I get off work.

Also, anyone know what size tires came stock? The rear is too fat and rubs the chain and I think we all agree the front wheel isn right.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
verbal machete said:
Thanks for the imput fellas, it's greatly appreciated. Didn't see a tab for a gas tank, so it may very we'll be a 1310.



As for the front wheel, I'll give credit for ingenuity, but overall design is terrible. It's actually a split rim with one side broken out. A plate was cut to fit the inside of the rim and the original rim hub was screwed onto the plate. Definitely a mcguyver fix. I'll get some pics of the whole disaster up later tonight when I get off work.

Also, anyone know what size tires came stock? The rear is too fat and rubs the chain and I think we all agree the front wheel isn right.
Click to expand...
the front is actually correct.....umm err parts of it anyway :laugh: I dont know if Bonanza coined the name "spinner" for them but Azusa made a copy of them that are close and they are reffered to as that

original Bonanza MX wheels:

Azusa wheels:

http://www.OldMiniBikes.com/images/P/AZ1175-STORE.jpg

your front tire looks like the orginal as well Carlisle 4.00x8

your back wheel is totally wrong for your bike. Is it a 12.50 or 14.5 size? might want to take a pic of that wheel, with that particular tire on there, it might be something sought after for another bike $$$
 
verbal machete

verbal machete

Member
#9
#9
Ok, so here's pics of the front wheel...


It looks like the rim broke and what you see is someone's half ass attemp to fix it. It may have been okay for someone else, but not for me, so it's getting shit canned.

Now, on to the rear wheel...


The rear wheel is in good shape, but the tire looks quite short and fat for the bike. As you can see in the picture, the chain rubs the tire. Should the rear be the same as the front for a propper fit, or is it I fact a different size?
 
minibikin'

minibikin'

Sho-nuff
#10
#10
Wow. I had that backwards lol. If. You PM IronHonkey on here, he may have a pair of spinners he can hook you up with...


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
verbal machete said:
Ok, so here's pics of the front wheel...


It looks like the rim broke and what you see is someone's half ass attemp to fix it. It may have been okay for someone else, but not for me, so it's getting shit canned.

Now, on to the rear wheel...


The rear wheel is in good shape, but the tire looks quite short and fat for the bike. As you can see in the picture, the chain rubs the tire. Should the rear be the same as the front for a propper fit, or is it I fact a different size?
Click to expand...

Man dont can the front wheel!!! thats a "hall of shame" item, one killer wallhanger if you ask me!!!

As stated in my previous reply the proper wheels for your frame/fork are as shown in that post. You could of course use whatever you wish but they set that up for 8" wheels so they will fit best. If you go with 6" wheels you will problaby want a 5.30x4.50 size tire for best all around fitment.

the good thing is the azusa's 8" are available, as well as the sprocket you need from OldMiniBikes. I dunno what tire selection they have for 8" but you can find chen shin 4.00x8 trials tread which is close to the original carlilse knobby in style and size, seen people drop down to 3.50 x 8 (Honda z50 tires) as well.

that rear wheel is a Manco wheel, that particular tire is very wide for most typical mini bikes, Taco used them on rear of one of their bikes and it was setup for it, nobody else that I know of used it so its kinda hard to fit hence the rubbing issues.
 
verbal machete

verbal machete

Member
#12
#12
Thanks for all your feedback Markus. I'll probably stick with the 8" wheels fir my final build along with sawtooth tires for a smoother road ride.

Still have quite a bit of work before I get to that point though. Someone had the brilliant idea to weld the jackshaft to the bearings, so that'll need replacing. Guess they couldn't afford $.20 snap rings. The chain is shot and the set screws are seized in the jackshaft sprockets. The lower fork tubes are so crudded up, the guy I bought it from had no idea that it had front suspension. The seat is also pretty much crap. It was covered in duct tape and when I finally got it all off, the seat literally fell apart. I'm thinking I should have only offered $10, not $25.

All in all, I think it'll be a good build, Maybe not a complete resto, but a worthy build none the less. I have a predator I've been building up over the last few months and this might be its temporary home until I build a frame for it. Anyway, thanks again for everyone's imput. Any other suggestion or comments, I'm all ears.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#13
#13
verbal machete said:
the seat literally fell apart. I'm thinking I should have only offered $10, not $25.

.
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well its worth about 10 times that in parts value how it sits so $25 was a good deal regardless of what you do with it, and I am guessing you saved it from soon ending up at the recycler :thumbsup:
 
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