Just found this thread and had to post a pic of my ARCO. It was my dads, and I had it as a kid also. Finally restored it a couple years ago. This time I powered it with a GX160 Honda so it’s an ornery little rascal...
WOW! super Cool. Love the red n white theme. Little whitewall tires are icing on the cake. Where’d you find them??? JT
Thanks...I made the whitewalls. I searched high and low and couldn’t find anything on the market so I taped them up and painted them.
Yikes if is that powerful I would hate to have these nutters pointed at my package when doing wheelies. Of course all our guys have never slid off the back of the seat right?
Damn, this place is baiting me...I came here for my jalopy and you guys have all this music and now minibikes...well, not NOW, you guys are 66 pages into it. I have a piece of property that's inside of a peninsula on a lake. I've been thinking about getting either a Trail 70 or a Trail 90. I remember the Trail 70 well, but it had a strange clutch-less transmission as I recall. Is my memory bad? Anyone have one? Are they reliable? Being from SoCal, all I remember was Tacos. I drooled for one, but my parents never would let me. I need something I can ride on the street, that's why I was thinking about the Trail 70. The mini 50 (???) was too small to register in Cali. The Trail 70 was the smallest that Honda made, and even the Trail 70 is not really a minibike, IMO. I'd love to build something myself but my neighbors are pretty constipated, they'd blow the whistle on me for riding it on the street. A friend had a Trail 70 when I was a kid, his parents were divorced and his Dad bought it for him for Xmas...his Mom hated it, he kept it in the living room of their apartment...my parents were divorced and I didn't get anything that nice, although once I got a surfboard from my Dad, I mostly got abuse from my Step Dad...
That is a Montgomery Ward T555. I had one just like it when I was a young lad. Wish I still had it! It was green primer, deer fur seat cover and an old tired B/S 5HP. Somehow it went like crazy on snowy roads with little tire tread. Same kind of tires as you have. -Thor
Barn fresh Rupp Roadster II that left the farm this morning. Been sitting 30 years. Engine turns over
Description of above photos. The first is the “Pocket Rocket” a mini mini bike I designed and engineered with the help of my good friend and machinist George Erhard. It is completely scratch build around a Picco .90 liquid cooled hydroplane engine . It’s a rotary valve two stroke that puts out 6 HP @ 22,000 RPM’s on a blend of alcohol and nitro fuel. The tuned crossover pipe was hand made by Jocko Johnson . 12 to 1 gear reduction thru a modified chainsaw clutch and jackshaft . Gilmer primary belt Top speed 18 MPH and yes I can ride it. The second b&W photo was my 1965 Bug Super Flea I had at age 15. Two more shots of the Pocket Rocket and the final is my ‘61 Go Kart Big Bear Scrambler. This is one of the oldest and still one of the best of the MINIBIKES . This one is under construction with a alcohol burning twin carb Mac 91. It Will have a vintage Airheart hydraulic disc brake and a kandy green over chrome paint job when finished like the Pocket Rocket. Enjoy Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nearly finished. Home built based on a Trutest (1970s New Zealand) Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The 4-10 is a mystery but the 3.50 means 3 1/2” wide tread and fits a 4” diameter wheel. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Wow ... I’m crazy and build and ride overpowered machines but this even scares me. That’s easily 50-60 two stroke HP! Instant Crash City Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is a pre ‘59-‘69 minibike era minibike maybe 40’s-‘50’s. Maybe it was manufactured to compete with the Doodlebug from the same time period. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Great info .. thanks. Technically is The original minibike and no doubt the inspiration of the first wave of modern minibikes ‘59-‘69 Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
^^^^^my great uncle welded the frames on those Doodle Bugs at the factory, Beam Manufacturing, Webster City, IA. He made a jig to put them together and it largely sped the process. I think they were only made for 2 years. My son and I did an 11.5 mile ride at the annual Doodle Bug reunion this year in WC.
My original paint Bonanza with evil clone motor. Got way to much time into that tank. Keep telling myself "I'm done" but keep fiddling. Have one of the finned aluminum Aussie clutch covers at the polisher getting the fins and perimeter buffed, a carb jet for it, and a fuel pump upgrade, then I'm done! Wait a minute those darn Aussie's make a finned valve cover for this motor too! Dang nab it! A swing arm Bonanza roller is hiding in my car trailer, Hodaka ?
Brought this 1971 Honda Mini Trail home two days ago, it's a true barn find. The farmer said it was used by his grandfather until 1975 then the children who lived on the farm used it to drive around on the fields. I guess that's why many of the parts on the bike are either bent or broken. Still a cool find and it was cheap. First I wanted to flip it but now my wife and children insist on a restoration. The colour is called "Candy Ruby Red" - sounds very custom.
picked this out of the landfill last summer put a 6 hp engine on it and almost had a wreck needs a wheel alignment
Mini bike Drags November 2nd Part of the Dragstrip Riot program $30 race all day Just announced Big Daddy Don Garlits will Be Grand Marshall, bringing his Swamp Rat
Disclaimer: NOT my sale but pretty cool US Air Force Cushman 53A Paratrooper Scooter Is For Sale – 100% Intact! Details: https://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/us-air-force-cushman-53a-paratrooper-scooter/
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