I am working with the "what is it" section to track down a more precise ID for the bike, but it looks to be an old Sprite probably from the 1970s.
My girlfriend's grandfather acquired it in the garbage while out looking for steel. Instantly I had a picture in my head of a complete bike to give to my girlfriend's little brother. He uses this rinky dink electric bike that can't get out of its own way; I thought we could upgrade his wheels a bit.
One day I was at her grandpas house and he offered the frame to me, to see if I could do something with it. Since I used to love gokarts and minibikes, I was excited to get a mostly complete rolling frame.
I disassembled it completely and gave everything a good looking over. I am on a fairly limited budget, and not looking to make it "like original" so some things that are still okay will be left alone for now. I got some basic new bearings for the wheels and the fork and a new bolt for the fork. The wheels were clearly used but still solid and the tires hold air and have decent tread left on them.
I get quarterly paychecks from the local volunteer fire department (not a lot but kind of like a bonus every few months) so I ordered up this engine right away. Looks to me like it is a Honda clone being sold by Briggs... I could be wrong, but thats what it appears to be. That being said, it starts with the slightest of pulls and runs smooth. I broke it in with some cheapo oil, and changed it out to Mobil 1.
I have been getting parts from a variety of places and test fitting them to the frame. I got some new chain, and a new sprocket for the wheel, and a new clutch and clutch guard. I also have ready to go a new throttle cable, twist grip and dummy grip, and kill switch.
I also work in a body shop doing mechanical work. My boss is a tinkerer himself and is very generous about letting me use the shop for projects as long as I pay for supplies, which is no problem.
Sometime in the next few weeks, my girlfriend and I are going to head up to the shop and sand blast the frame off. We are going to do our best to do a good paint job; rust inhibitor/sealer, primer, color, and clear. Her brother's favorite color is blue, so we are going to mix all the bits of left over blue together and see what kind of blue we get. There are some dark blues and some metallic blues, so it should be a neat color.
I will post some more pictures as things change. All that is left is to paint it, put it back together, and get a new seat.
My girlfriend's grandfather acquired it in the garbage while out looking for steel. Instantly I had a picture in my head of a complete bike to give to my girlfriend's little brother. He uses this rinky dink electric bike that can't get out of its own way; I thought we could upgrade his wheels a bit.
One day I was at her grandpas house and he offered the frame to me, to see if I could do something with it. Since I used to love gokarts and minibikes, I was excited to get a mostly complete rolling frame.
I disassembled it completely and gave everything a good looking over. I am on a fairly limited budget, and not looking to make it "like original" so some things that are still okay will be left alone for now. I got some basic new bearings for the wheels and the fork and a new bolt for the fork. The wheels were clearly used but still solid and the tires hold air and have decent tread left on them.
I get quarterly paychecks from the local volunteer fire department (not a lot but kind of like a bonus every few months) so I ordered up this engine right away. Looks to me like it is a Honda clone being sold by Briggs... I could be wrong, but thats what it appears to be. That being said, it starts with the slightest of pulls and runs smooth. I broke it in with some cheapo oil, and changed it out to Mobil 1.
I have been getting parts from a variety of places and test fitting them to the frame. I got some new chain, and a new sprocket for the wheel, and a new clutch and clutch guard. I also have ready to go a new throttle cable, twist grip and dummy grip, and kill switch.
I also work in a body shop doing mechanical work. My boss is a tinkerer himself and is very generous about letting me use the shop for projects as long as I pay for supplies, which is no problem.
Sometime in the next few weeks, my girlfriend and I are going to head up to the shop and sand blast the frame off. We are going to do our best to do a good paint job; rust inhibitor/sealer, primer, color, and clear. Her brother's favorite color is blue, so we are going to mix all the bits of left over blue together and see what kind of blue we get. There are some dark blues and some metallic blues, so it should be a neat color.
I will post some more pictures as things change. All that is left is to paint it, put it back together, and get a new seat.
