My father and I picked this little Baja DB30 Minibike up at GI Joes when they were going out of business. They had them all the way down to $150 new! I couldn't build one for that so we purchased one to play with and bring with us to fly-in events ect. Right after purchase we took it up to Quincy to a Powered Parachute meet and found that the 2.8hp engine that it came with was far from adequate, you had to do a flinstone takeoff run in the grass just to get it going. After we returned home we decided we would fit up a larger engine....then it just sat for the past year.
On to 2010....The fly-in at Quincy is fast aproching again, plus we have another fly-in planned on a dry lake bed down in Central OR later this summer and we want the mini to play around with while we're there so it's time to get into gear.
A 6.5hp Honda GX200 engine was purchased from the net and the build was on.
And a couple with the GX200 mounted up.
This thing is a beast with the Honda on it! It will flat move! Installing the engine required a few small modifications.
First we had to cut new mounting slots into the engine mount plate to make everything like up correctly.
We replaced the clutch with a larger 3/4" shaft unit (We are going to upgrade to a torque converter next /users/1611/78/31/78/smiles/675814.gif ). We also replaced the cheap made in China chain with some good ol made in the USA #35 chain. Once the Engine was in place and the chain bolted up the chain guard hit the chain since the Honda was taller than the original setup. A quick spacer and a oval slot in the rear of the chain guard provided the extra clearance necessary.
We were going to fabricate a custom clutch cover then figured it would be easier to just make some stand off tabs and re-use the Baja plastic clutch guard. Looks more "factory" anyways.
The last thing to hook up was the throttle. The GX200 has a clamp built in to hold the cable but doesn't come with any way to attach the wire to the throttle lever. We ended up using a bolt with a hole drilled through the head, then drilled a hole in the top of the bolt, tack welded a smaller nut to the top and inserted a screw.....Instant Jam nut! The bolt head is free to pivot on the lever and works great, nice and smooth throttle. Added a stronger throttle return spring and we're off and running.
And whats this little device???
I have to have some way to haul my 3 year old son around at the fly-ins I gave him a ride in it around the house the other night and he loved it. Going to be a fun setup.
Can't wait to get the Torque Converter installed. It already accelerates like mad :biggrin:
Hodakaguy
On to 2010....The fly-in at Quincy is fast aproching again, plus we have another fly-in planned on a dry lake bed down in Central OR later this summer and we want the mini to play around with while we're there so it's time to get into gear.
A 6.5hp Honda GX200 engine was purchased from the net and the build was on.
And a couple with the GX200 mounted up.
This thing is a beast with the Honda on it! It will flat move! Installing the engine required a few small modifications.
First we had to cut new mounting slots into the engine mount plate to make everything like up correctly.
We replaced the clutch with a larger 3/4" shaft unit (We are going to upgrade to a torque converter next /users/1611/78/31/78/smiles/675814.gif ). We also replaced the cheap made in China chain with some good ol made in the USA #35 chain. Once the Engine was in place and the chain bolted up the chain guard hit the chain since the Honda was taller than the original setup. A quick spacer and a oval slot in the rear of the chain guard provided the extra clearance necessary.
We were going to fabricate a custom clutch cover then figured it would be easier to just make some stand off tabs and re-use the Baja plastic clutch guard. Looks more "factory" anyways.
The last thing to hook up was the throttle. The GX200 has a clamp built in to hold the cable but doesn't come with any way to attach the wire to the throttle lever. We ended up using a bolt with a hole drilled through the head, then drilled a hole in the top of the bolt, tack welded a smaller nut to the top and inserted a screw.....Instant Jam nut! The bolt head is free to pivot on the lever and works great, nice and smooth throttle. Added a stronger throttle return spring and we're off and running.
And whats this little device???
I have to have some way to haul my 3 year old son around at the fly-ins I gave him a ride in it around the house the other night and he loved it. Going to be a fun setup.
Can't wait to get the Torque Converter installed. It already accelerates like mad :biggrin:
Hodakaguy
