The 5-Speed Minibike
As of now, all that I can really tell you is that the new 5 speed minibike is well underway. The thing that has really held me up on this project is the fact that I could not find a loose assembly clutch for a 1" shaft. My solution is to trim down the shaft of the engine to a 5/8 size, and have a keyway cut into it. The shaft is at the machine shop right now. As for the frame, I am almost finished. It still needs to be powdercoated, and some of the bugs need to be worked out, but all in all this bike will be exactly like the 4-speed minibike but with an extra 100ccs, and an extra gear that will push me over the 70mph range, while keeping adequate acceleration. I think that you will like the way that I am holding my input gear on the transmission. It is very hard to put threads into a solid hardened shaft. We heated the shaft up the torch, to about 600 degrees and slowly and carefully made threads. I was very pleased with myself after the threads were done because the machine shop would not do it. They said that it was too hard to thread! fools! I like doing things like that! When we run into a mechanical obsticle that seems too hard to overcome, We find a way. That is what has kept the minibikes going. They keep getting bigger and faster. Anyway I am happy to report that the 5-speed minibike is under way.
We had a regular old frame built from a push scooter, and the supreme torque tore the frame apart, so we decided to weld our own frame up
Minibikes are a lot of work, but the finished product is ususlly worth it.
getting the correct neck angle was tough
This bike is nearly complete. You will see completed pictures soon. Click here to go back.