Planet Minis

yadihonda

Its been a long strange trip.... It all started one morning when I suggested to my son that we find some minibikes. I remember riding a cousin's 72' Z50, and because of the great memories, thought I would try my hand at finding one. Because I jumped on the first one I could find (bad move), I dove head first into the restoration process. Thank God for this site and all the great advice. While my humbly finished product is nothing compared to the bikes I see on this site, its been a great memory maker for my son and I.

The "Before" shots. "It looked great on Ebay....until I roadtripped four hours with my son and saw it up close". Did not run - was missing or needed just about everything.



Here are some "After" shots.




Sorry for the bad photos...my priorities were to get this thing running before summer was up. Things that I learned: ask questions, buy a clymers and read alot, use the internet.

Thanks for everyone's help (advice) with this.

mexicanyella

Wow, looks great, nice work!

Take that with a grain of salt though; I liked the "before" pictures quite a bit and wondered what you were so fired up about fixing.

So does it handle any better now than with the square-section studded industrial tires on it?

Could someone add "racing my son around the yard" or something like that to the choices in "my mood" ?

makotosun

Wow - that brings back the memories. My dad brought one of those home Same color and everthing!) for me after getting the repair estimate for the Monkee Wards POS that he had gotten me first. I rode the holy crap out of that bike on the family farm growing up! 11 years old, 1/2 mile gravel driveway and several hundred acres of farm and a Honda Mini Trail. I just wish my son had it so good.

You are building memories that are truly a priceless gift to your son.

grm

Congrats...Nice job, looks great!

yadihonda

The before pictures really don't tell the complete story. Every cable was frozen shot. Tires were shot - and rusted to the rims. Gas tank was rusted with pin holes. Rear hub was stripped at sprocket. Sprockets worn out - chain rusted. Carb was gummed up. Motor was useless except for newer points that someone thought was a fix. Handlebars were bent bad. Headlight and tailight were missing. I have no idea how the industrial tires would have handled...I didn't like the idea of not having a radius tread. I could see that causing some problems in dirt. My goal was to make something that could last another 15-20 years so that maybe a grandkid would get a chance to ride, but for now we just ride it like we stole it, knowing we can always repair again.

Thanks for your positive comments! I have a 1975, in much better shape, up next for some resto.

mexicanyella

[QUOTE=yadihonda;1440793]"My goal was to make something that could last another 15-20 years so that maybe a grandkid would get a chance to ride, but for now we just ride it like we stole it, knowing we can always repair again..."

Right forking on. Way to flip the disposable products generation the boid. I dig knowing my K2 was outgrown by two generations (kids, grandkids) before coming to me and I've managed to amuse myself on it and get lots of practical use out of it for about a generation's worth already. And I'll likely be able to show my grandkids how to ride on it someday. Seeing ads titled "getting out of minis, everything must go" or whatever puzzles me.

retrominis

looks good but re cover that seat