so chasing after some ATV tires the other day, i spotted a minibike sitting outside the garage door of a PRISTINE yard. clearly an elderly couple's home as the house was well kept up and two classic chevrolets were under a carport (70's 4x4 square body and 80's monte carlo both mint)
i got my buddy to pull in the drive (even tho we were in a kia 4 dr already loaded with 6 large ATV tires) and ran up and knocked on the door. after a minute the old man came to the door and i told him i had spotted the bike and did he want to sell it...
"do you have five dollars?" i thought he was joking at first. 5 bucks? I would have easily handed him a 20 for it... what can one buy today for only five dollars? I only had a 20 but luckily he had change and was only interested in taking 5 dollars for it..
he walked around the house to help (watch) us load it up and tell us what he knew. I didnt know what it was looking from the road or when i asked to buy it but i knew it was vintage. when we came around the house to load it i noticed its condition... like many... missing a clutch with the rusted stuck chain still there. He told me his son had only ridden it a little before he tore up the clutch and parked it. had bought it for him NEW from sears.
the gas tank had been crushed and was full of water, fenders and clutch cover gone, but the engine turns freely and still has compression! tires pumped RIGHT up. I did notice the rear wheel bearings were going, and that led to some chewing up of the rear sprocket by a bolt in the swingarm... also looks like it took a tumble and was tweaked a little so ill have to straighten it a little.
I love it though, the chrome is great and its a full suspension bike with seperate tank which i love. havent found any replacements for the tank yet i actually cant find too many of these bikes even here on OldMiniBikes so i will just have to make do. the seat cover is ROUGH but i may just re-foam it and leave it as is... i can always re-cover it later
for the record, i dont think hot glue works to seal gas tanks...and does anyone know where to get this bendy exhaust pipe?
i got my buddy to pull in the drive (even tho we were in a kia 4 dr already loaded with 6 large ATV tires) and ran up and knocked on the door. after a minute the old man came to the door and i told him i had spotted the bike and did he want to sell it...
"do you have five dollars?" i thought he was joking at first. 5 bucks? I would have easily handed him a 20 for it... what can one buy today for only five dollars? I only had a 20 but luckily he had change and was only interested in taking 5 dollars for it..
he walked around the house to help (watch) us load it up and tell us what he knew. I didnt know what it was looking from the road or when i asked to buy it but i knew it was vintage. when we came around the house to load it i noticed its condition... like many... missing a clutch with the rusted stuck chain still there. He told me his son had only ridden it a little before he tore up the clutch and parked it. had bought it for him NEW from sears.
the gas tank had been crushed and was full of water, fenders and clutch cover gone, but the engine turns freely and still has compression! tires pumped RIGHT up. I did notice the rear wheel bearings were going, and that led to some chewing up of the rear sprocket by a bolt in the swingarm... also looks like it took a tumble and was tweaked a little so ill have to straighten it a little.
I love it though, the chrome is great and its a full suspension bike with seperate tank which i love. havent found any replacements for the tank yet i actually cant find too many of these bikes even here on OldMiniBikes so i will just have to make do. the seat cover is ROUGH but i may just re-foam it and leave it as is... i can always re-cover it later
for the record, i dont think hot glue works to seal gas tanks...and does anyone know where to get this bendy exhaust pipe?
