Anyone got a link to some mini bike plans for my nephew? Thanks Karl
- posted
14 years ago
Anyone got a link to some mini bike plans for my nephew? Thanks Karl
Think twice, most kids got hurt on them. I know I did.
Might be better to motorize a pedal bike. Gas and electric kits are available on ebay.
--Winston
instead of plans, work with your nephew - make it out of 2X4s, hinges old bike parts and a lawm mower engine - he will learn how things go together, what works and doesn't work, and it will be far less capable, hence less dangerous, than something fancy you make for him.
Found that one. He'll be building it with some help from his father. He wears a helmet on his bike so I'm sure he will on a minibike. All the adults except my sister have been riding motorcycles for years so we have some idea of the dangers.
I found these after I posted.
Thanks Karl
I have a term fairly screaming at me from the back of my head after looking at the links. CHAIN GUARDS!!!!!!!
Stealth Pilot
Think Go-Kart instead. Down low to the ground, a hell of a lot safer to go round corners at ridiculous rates of speed. Much harder to get hurt while driving, especially if you insist on his wearing a proper helmet and reasonable safety gear.
(I'd insist on a full Nomex driving suit, but they are not cheap.)
A Mini-Bike has the same hazards as a full size motorcycle. Lots of wonderful ways to get unstable or make a driving error (like too much front brake or otherwise let the front end wash out) and unload at speed - and then have the bike land on top of you...
A kart you stay with it and let it disintegrate around you to bleed off excess energy.
Much easier to flat-track and drift a kart rather than a bike.
You use the open chassis only on competitive race courses where there are no cars or hazards, only other karts. For anywhere else, get a chassis with a full roll cage.
Northern Tool has a complete chassis kit where you just add an engine. Another source is
If you or someone you know is near a large Army base with a selection of surplus stores, used Nomex flight suits can be found for $20 - $30.
Kevin Gallimore
Why Nomex when there's virtually no chance of a fire?
The only minibike I ever rode was very slow and rear-brake only. It had many fewer hazards compared to a motorcycle, and probably fewer than a bicycle -- due to the much lower speed and lower center of gravity.
Ummm.... you must be thinking of something other than a racing go-kart.
Ill bet it didnt have a McColloch chainsaw engine as the power source.
Gunner, who had the front end come apart at an estimated 60 miles an hour on such a minibike..and still has gravel imbedded in his hide...40 yrs later
"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"
Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno
I don't remember what the engine was (some sort of horizontal-shaft lawnmower engine), but I'd be surprised if it was capable of 20 MPH.
What ever gave you the priceless idea to run 60 on a mini bike?
Properly geared an governed mini bikes are a very safe toy, and run no faster than a bicycle running down hill.
Hell with chainsaw motors, you drop a CB750 in that scoot... >_<
And a determined kid will be bypassing the governor settings in three... two... one...
Still way too easy to get hurt on a mini-bike, harder but not impossible on a kart.
Even an "open" Indy Car provides a lot of protection versus a race bike, where your leathers and pads are all you've got.
-->--
Big balls, much smaller brains. Shrug..but it WAS fun as hell for the first couple days
Ive gone downhill on a bike at well over 50 mph......granted..it WAS a very long and steep hill...about 11 miles long actually.....
Gunner
'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.' Theodore Ro osevelt 1907
The qualifier is how badly do most kids get hurt on a mini bike. At a young age most kids feel invincible. Much better to have them realize reality on a mini bike than in a car. I saved the url's and expect to build one for my grandson if his dad says it is okay.
Dan
Dan
I came across the Racoon awhile back. I'd love to take it for a ride. It is a hydrostatic, 2 wheel drive motorcycle. See:
I would like to have a Rokon, but I'll never be able to swallow the price tag for one.
Let the Record show that Gunner Asch on or about Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:16:27 -0700 did write/type or cause to appear in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
You were a guy, and accidents happen to the "other guy". You take a roomful of young bucks, tell them there is a good chance that only one in three will come back, and each and every one will turn to the guy on their left and right and say "sorry about that, but I'll be sure to take care of your girlfriend when I get back." Testosterone - it's a man thing.
pyotr
- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!
80 percent of drivers believe that they are better than average at driving...
(...)
That is Very Cool!
--Winston
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