Planet Minis

pookiebear

Guess you guys thought I was going to ask questions about what I should do for this or that but NOOOO. Just a little ride report here in IOWA.
So the Dept of Natural Resources here operates several parks that are free to ride if you have an up to date registration (about 16 bucks a year for the sticker) on your dirt bike. With this you can ride at any of those parks. Well since it flooded, only about 2 parks are still open. The closest being 90 some odd miles from me. So I get my bike loaded up (yes it is a mini but not what you guys are used to) and take off this morrning. After about 40 miles on the interstate I veer off down a 2 lane road for about 35 miles. In IOWA this is all an empty nothingness of a drive, nothing but corn fields. Then I get to the turn off to go to the park and have 15 miles of gravel to go to get to the actual park entrance (see pic from inside truck cab below). Unload the bike and look around and see lots of people riding around. This place is Called Bluff Creek OHV park. Youtube some videos of it. Pretty neat place where they used to mine for something. Now lots of trails and 3 dirt tracks.

One of the dirt tracks was where I was headed. The Kids/minis track (see other pic below). Since I can't ride worth a darn and I was on a mini, I stuck to the mini track and was getting passed by kids on ktm's and honda's of all sizes. (supposed to be 100cc or below. but there were some 225's and what not riding. Nice place if you are out that way since it was free. Oh and if you are out of state you can buy your sticker at walmart or any place that sells huntung licenses. If you live in Iowa you have to go to your county recorders office for the first time, then you can renew at any of the before mentioned places.

On to the bike, it is a 2000 kx65!! 2 stroke woooo. With a few mods for me to ride it since I weigh 210.

Handlebars: When I bought the bike (to be a motard eventually, my main motivation on getting the bike) It came with MSR handlebars. I put and extra clamp block under them with some longer bolts to raise them up another inch.

Rear shock: (the magic) a 2007 gsxr 750 sportbike shock ( a 2006 would have worked as well as they are the same) I think they changed in 08 and the pre 06's had a resevoir that was at a weird angle and it would have hit the seat. To mount it you have to use some washers to spread the links in the linkage out some as the bottom of the shock is a little wider. But the bolt hole is the same size. At the top the bolt hole is the right size as well but you just need to grind away some of the mount (if you look at it you will know where) and it bolted right in. Ebay had about 20 of the shocks for about $20-$30 bucks. and the washers to shim it around were about $2 from ACE, not bad. It worked awesome in the woops too.. as far as I knew since I didnt get thrown off. It had an adjustment on it, not sure if it is rebound or what but I didnt mess with it. Check picture of shock below. Just take the top bolt off (in the pic you can see it) and it is even the same height as the stock kx65 shock.

Front forks. Minibikesprings.com I told him about the motard intention and my weight and he sent springs I think they were $89 and they were .46's I think.
They worked well in the dirt and I had no complaints.

I put a washer in the exhaust port the choked it off some so the hit would not be as bad, without the washer it is like a light switch. ( I need to work on form before I need speed ). I had the washer lying around.

Staggs KlX110 tall seat $39. Bolted right on. No monkey butt, I was there for about 2.5 hours.

Since the shock was bigger, and had a resevoir mounted fixed to it I had to lose the airbox so no muddy riding this bad boy. I got a cone filter from UNI with the stainless mesh around it. that just fit between the carb and shock.

Bike also came with a set of green plastic too. KLX110 plastic works on it.

And thats it. not bad for all of $1200 Check the picture of it below. Thanks for reading.

SCAR8

Awesome! thats a sweet bike. If my next build is not another CRF 70 it's going to be a mini 2 stroker!

SUZUKIRM12594

I played around with photoshop and I came up with this design

pookiebear

stock disc brakes and 14/12 tires and rims. I have a set of 12 inch rims for motarding too with tires. Stones I think. First BERM i ever railed was today, got a little roost on it too. The kids and guys that were watchin were all laughing at me. H3ll I was laughing at me. Can't beat that. Some guy had a crf50 with tall bars there and another guy showed up with a klx110 but I did not see them riding them before I left.

Luckystar64

Man....!! I've been fighting this fight since I got into mini's in 2003. Why in the hell can't we run a 2 stroke? With the economy so damn ****ty, who can afford a full KLX110 build? We can grab up a $1200 KX65 or KTM65, drop in some springs, and do something with the rear shock-- and ride it! A 2000 dollar ride.

I've been bugging the pit bike race promoters to get a 2 stroke class going, and let Vets run two strokes. I'm going to keep at 'em, or buy a KX65 and bring it out to the track and see how it's received.

I'm totally with you bro-- I have 4 KLX110's and a new KLX140, but I'd love to run a 2 stroke! Keep bugging the crap out of the promoters in your area-- let's get it on! ---L*64

SUZUKIRM12594

I believe at the Lucky 7 race series I'm currently running here in CA, if you have 5 or more people , you can start a new calss and I remember reading something that one of the previous races had a 65 or 2 stroke class in it.

pookiebear

yep I called Joliet in Ill. no go on the 2 stroke to ride with the minis. Would have to run with the juniors on 85's, not gonna happen. It was fun to bash around on for sure though. Total in it is around 1200 not 2000. It is a 2000 model I got and the guy I bought it from had just done rings on the top end too. Now I just need a place in Iowa that is closer to Iowa city than Bluff creek, 90 miles is a long ways unless I can rig up a trailer for my dr650 motard. That would be funny.

SUZUKIRM12594

If you cant get it in a race then get a race for it. Ask a buncha guys who have 65s and ask them to pay like $30 per person to race. Then look into a private rental at your local track. If enough people pay to race, youll have enough to rent the track, then you can have it your way, just for smokers. Better yet, you could also invite 4stroke thumpers and have them pay $30 per person also. That way you'll be sure to have enough money to rent the track!! Just a suggestion.

pookiebear

That would be nice if I was even close to being good. Which I am not. I rarely ride dirt. But with the price of gas if a track was closer I would definately go all mini and dirt but keep the motard 650 for commuting duties. I have a motard dr350 too that I am thinking of selling.

SCAR8

So true. I should of done that instead of buying a POS china bike. There is a KTM 65 I've been keeping an eye on at the local shop. Should of got it instead

Luckystar64

I've asked and asked... It goes in one ear and out the other. It seems like nobody wants to have two strokes. I think the reason has to do with the fact that racing mini's has alot to do with the build. You can beat guys who are better riders than you are by dumping alot of $ into your bike.

A good rider who is broke, but can afford a KX65 will whoop all but the most high end bikes. Maybe even them too. I'm planning on a KTM65 or KX65 build when I get a chance to get around to it. Once I have the bike-- I'll press the issue about racing it, or I'll let a bunch of the other guys ride it-- then press the issue.

I already fooled around with a KX65 a couple years ago. The front is easy-- Minibike Springs will stiffen up the front, but IMO, the only option for the rear is a $500 -$700 Ohlins shock, or to send the stock shock out to a place like Lindemann Engineering to make it work for a grown man. I tried 4 Works Shocks, and I could never get one that worked out. That's how I came up with the figure of about $2000 for a bike that works.

Another benefit of a two stroke, is that you won't get smashed when you go to sell the bike. You can pull out the heavy suspension-- then simply sell the bike to be used by a kid again for about what you paid for it. Then you can sell the heavy suspension components seperately to somebody who wants them for their own project. Try and recoup your investment on a 110 build.... not gonna happen! Let's get some more opinions on this two stroke thing! --L*64

pookiebear

For someone bashing around on a track or backyard or trails the gsxr shock is awesome. Plus if it breaks I can buy 10 or more for what you pay for the aftermarket shocks. Thats a deal to me and I am a cheap arseholio. Now if I could just find a place that is close to iowa city IA to bash around on(since lakeview is flooded out and closed). I like the kx65 cause the klx plastics and seats all fit which makes replacement of those CHEAP cause all the china versions out there. I heard the KTM bikes are faster but I really don't care the only person I am racing for a long while is in my head.