When did you get into mini bikes?

[Turbofiat124]

My wife sort of thinks I am nuts for riding mini bikes at the age of 45. But she says that's better than hanging out at strip clubs and bars! My 4 year old daughter encourages me to ride them when she rides her Kid Trax beetle around the yard. I guess she thinks I am playing with her. So it's a win-win deal for me and her.

I got into mini bikes in my mid 30s.

Reason being when I was a kid I wanted a mini-bike so bad I couldn't stand it. I rode friend's bikes when I had the chance. I did have a go kart but the chain kept coming off. Then when I was 12 in 1982, I wanted an Atari 2600. Dad wouldn't spend the $200 on a game system so my only option was to sell my go-kart. I wished I had kept the go-kart! But I still have the Atari.

Even though my family did not grow up poor, it was a combination of my father being cheap and my parents afraid I would get hurt riding it. Then when I became an adult, I said I'm getting a mini bike because I didn't have one as a child.

So just curious if any of you guys are like me who didn't have a mini bike as a kid and it's some sort of childhood regression or fantasy that was not fulfilled?

 

[Sixpac440]

Welcome to the fun!

For me it's just picking up where I left off as a kid ... nowadays the minis I ride are bigger (Hilltoppers and Healds) but its still a riot .. taking the granddaughter out Saturday and the wife even said she would like to go trail riding with me next year ...

Its cheaper than a Ferrari!

 

[ogygopsis]

Back in the 1950's Popular Mechanics or one of those magazines ran an article and plans on how to build your own minibike. I was hooked. Every morning I would ride my bicycle to school and on the way home I'd stop at the local machine shop and buy a few pieces of tubing and assorted metal; tuck it safely under my arm; and off I would go. My nights were spent out in the barn measuring, sawing, and getting all the pieces laid out. Then on the weekends I'd carry all those pieces (on my bicycle again) to the local welding shop and have him weld them up. One hundred trips later; or maybe more; I finally had a minibike. It only had a 2hp Briggs and could do a whopping 5mph; but it was a minibike and I made it all by myself. I was ten years old at the time. Six years later I bought a brand new Fox Campus minibike; licensed it for use on the road and rode the hell out of it for the next couple of years. My old man sold it (without telling me) while I was away at college. Fast forward to 2004. Fifty nine years old and decided to buy an old Fox Campus on ebay and restore it. One led to two, then three, and now I have fifteen of them. Ten are currently undergoing total "ground up" restorations and should be finished by the end of next year. I'm 69 now. Am I reliving my childhood? You bet! Am I having the time of my life? Absolutely! It's been more than a half of a century and I'm still hooked on minibikes. Thanks Popular Mechanics! Ogy

 

[ugmold]

In the 1960's minibikes were still relatively new, the first time I saw one I wanted one bad. My parents would not buy me one, and forbid me to have one, I had other ideas. At 13 I got working papers to wash pots at a Ritzy Restaurant and saved. A rich kid who had a Sears minibike, snapped a con-rod and had painted the bike green without removing anything, it looked bad indeed. I think I bought it for $15 and wheeled it home. My parents said nothing. My pal Malcolm who taught me about 4 cycle engines and I would go to the dump and pick up engines, sometimes we got mowers going and sold them to people dumping there rubbish. Got a nice white 2.5 BS for that Sears, painted it blue, new clutch. The rich kid got a new minibike and we met up at paved rode near an armory where we dragged raced. My 2.5 blew the doors off his new 4hp to the delight of my friends and I.
Later I got a KG, purple with the short sissy bar, put a 5hp on it, I remember I had to tilt the engine with washers so the plug would clear. After that I graduated to Motorcycles. My first a 1968 Triumph 250.

 

[Bonanza BC1300]

I saw a Bonanza BC-1300 in 1966 and I wanted one too. Saved my hard earned paper route dollars all year at $40.00 a month and bought one in 1967... I still have it.

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

Started with an old Stellar in '75. Then a Rupp and a few others. Brakes and throttle grips were sissy equipment. Used to jam a nickle in the clutch and push started most bikes. When i got my license I pretty much gave up on mini bikes up until about a year and a half ago when I bought one MTD for myself at 48 yrs old for Father's Day. It was "for the kids" i would tell people. Well a year and a half later in about 13 mini bikes im having a good time with this bunch.

 

[45t]

When I was about 12 I was in my friends Dads garage and saw a Dirty no seat mini sitting there with a lot of junk around it and I asked my friends Dad what it was and he said just an old mini bike and it probably doesn't even work. I asked what he was going to do with it and he said if you want it you can have it. I was surprised he would give it to me especially with my friend standing there (it could of been his to use if they put some effort into getting it working)? Any way I proudly pushed it home (a little over a mile on a country road), and started working on it. Checked oil, added gas, put air in the tires and cobbled together a seat. Pulled started it and to my surprise I had a running Pennys Duster Chopper. Sweet! I rode the crap out of it with no throttle control or kill switch. I just ran it wide open all the time and shut it off by using the little metal tab by the spark plug or choking it out on the carb. I got shocked so many times trying to shut that engine off. When I progressed up to a CanAm 125 Dirt Bike when I was 15, I did the same favor my friends dad did for me and gave the Duster to a little kid I knew. (continuing to pay it forward I guess). About 5 years ago my son bought his own mini bike (Cat R2501) off of C'list and I got the itch to get my Duster back. With little help on OldMiniBikes from other members, I got a Duster to restore and then became a Cat Mini Bike fan, and have had maybe a dozen or so in the last five years.

 

[capguncowboy]

Hey Turbo, welcome to the forums. I'm in Bluff City, about 20 minutes from Kingsport.

My story is similar to yours. I wanted one growing up. Dad was on board with it, but mom thought they were too dangerous. I stumbled into one a while back and have been hooked ever since.

 

[Turbofiat124]

Hey Turbo, welcome to the forums. I'm in Bluff City, about 20 minutes from Kingsport.

My story is similar to yours. I wanted one growing up. Dad was on board with it, but mom thought they were too dangerous. I stumbled into one a while back and have been hooked ever since.

Hey neighbor!

 

[buckeye]

I too, was not allowed to have a mini bike as a kid. For obvious resons. My folks knew I would hurt myself.:laugh:

My Aunt and Uncle raised my brother. Long story.
He got a Fox Thunderbolt for birthday or Christmas or something.
I hated him.:laugh:


He did something stupid and got the bike taken away and it sat in my Aunt and Uncles garage for 20 or more years.
I got it and took it to a small engine shop and they,got it running.

Mind you, I'm late 30's early 40's.
Rode it for awhile and quit running so it sat.

Just about 6 years ago we decided to quit hanging out in bars and drinking so I needed something to do.
I had and still have limited mechanical abilities but by golly, 6 years later, 2 build off competitions,and about 25 bikes later, here I am.
Love thus stuff.
And if it wasn't for this forum and the great friends I have made I would have quit.:doah:

Too much fun!! And welcome to the madness.

The original bike that started this. 1973 Fox Thunderbolt

 

[chrisr]

My dad did not think it was a good idea for me to get a motorcycle, mini bike and or go kart thinking I would probably hurt myself so I rode friends when I could, that was back in the 70s. I thank my dad now knowing I certainly would have hurt myself so he just saw it before I did .

I got back into go karts and mini bikes in 2004 with my kids and they never really showed any interest and in 2006 I got into motorcycles and have been having a great time with anything with two wheels.

Its nice to see others picking up the love of small engines at any age and in different chapters of their life. Thanks again for sharing and starting this thread.

 

[chipper]

Got my first mini , a Cat 250 in the mid 70's as a youngster , I saved up and paid $50 for it , had lots of motorcycles , 4 wheelers , etc all my life , fast forward almost 40 years and mini bike fever has been an inoperable disease ! I guess I got a dozen or so now ! And as Buckeye said this forum and the friends made are just awesome !

 

[ZR9B]

I wanted a mini bike in a bad way..I had money but Dad said no...I will kill myself...for my 12 birthday my brother bought me a go kart (with dads blessing)...the front tires were twice the size as the back and the throttle was off a lawnmower and hand operated ....one day when Dad was on his way home from work he saw me weaving in and out of parked cars and cutting across the front lawns...he said "sell it and by a mini bike so people can see you!!" so I did....I didnt pay much attention to the brands of the first 3 or 4, some I junk picked...then one day while doing my paper route on the mini ,I met a kid on his wards mini...his dad did the repair for wards so anything that was "Non repairable" he took home...so I had several wards bikes....as of now I have a rupp hustler ,ruttman spyder,CT70 CT90 RV90 and a GT100 ....I am 49 now.

 

[Gatecrasher]

Basically there are two main categories of people who are into minibikes.

1) People who were born before 1966 who grew-up during the golden age of minibikes. They either had them when they were kids or wanted one because all their friends had them. Now years later they are revisiting them. The same thing is true for a lot of things who's popularity peaked prior to the 1980s like muscle cars, pinball machines, etc.

2) People who were born post-1966 who grew-up after the golden age of minibikes. Some in this group had them as kids too but the era was over. Now though, people see how cool these little vehicles really were and want one.

I fall in the first group and had a few minis as a kid in the 1970s. Then didn't have any for 25 years until I saw one for sale and had to have it. Now I have a bunch of them. Classic cars and pinball machines too.

lol

 

[jeep2003]

I was riding gokarts and things since I was a boy in the early 90s. My brother and I mostly rode the one gokart until we were 15 or so then it broke for good and we got into cars for a while. I had a super bronc from my unkle which sorta worked but It wasnt until after high school I wanted a minibike so i built a chopper then a tiny mini. Then i found this site in 06 and it snowballed from there.

 

[creia]

1966 when I was 13 years old. I MADE my first minibike in the junior high school metal shop. (You other old-timers will remember the good old days when we had wood shop, metal shop, etc.) My dad donated an old (and tired) Briggs 2.5 HP off an old lawnmower we had for my engine. The engine was so old it had the wrap-around rope starter cup (before they came with recoil starts)
Michael

 

[OND]

Growing up as a kid living in rural Ky. (the sticks) It always seem that about this time every year we would get in the mail The Dream Book you older guys know... Sears and Roebucks Christmas edition catalog, with two pages of mini bikes and go karts. I told my Mom that it would be cool If Old Santa bought me one of those mini's or a two seated go kart. She always told me " You never know maybe he will bring you one this year" but that year never came.
Then while on summer break one year (late 60's) My neighbors son and his family came in from New Jersey, and and low and behold that brought with them a mini bike....It was the coolest thing I every seen ! So for about a month his sons and I became friends....we did what kids would do swim, hike, basketball and ride that mini. Knowing soon that they would be going home soon....they told me " Dad said we can't take the mini back home with us " would you like to have it . Well as any 8 or 9 year old kid would do...I said sure I'll take care of it for you guys till you come back next year. But they didn't come back that next year or the year after...seems like the mom and dad went through a divorce.
But I rode tha wheels off that lil mini for two summers....and as of this day I still don't know the make and model...but It did have a briggs engine and a scrub brake.

 

[buckeye]

1966 when I was 13 years old. I MADE my first minibike in the junior high school metal shop. (You other old-timers will remember the good old days when we had wood shop, metal shop, etc.) My dad donated an old (and tired) Briggs 2.5 HP off an old lawnmower we had for my engine. The engine was so old it had the wrap-around rope starter cup (before they came with recoil starts)
Michael

I wish I could go back to wood and metal shop.

 

[Gatecrasher]

So schools don't have shop class anymore?

I remember when I was in school the guys went to Shop Class and the girls took Home Economics. The year behind me they started making the two mandatory for both boys and girls.

 

[creia]

So schools don't have shop class anymore?

Sadly, they have been gone for DECADES here in Southern California...
Michael