Now that's what I'm talkin about, what a great place to ride! I am glad Mrs Mac likes hers too...
I think leaving them alone tuning wise and lots of oil changes will make them last a real long time. Oh yeah, and non ethanol fuel. < Serious, that corn gas is ruining everything...
Off road mini bikes
Re: Off road mini bikes
... Just a Dude...
Re: Off road mini bikes
The only negatives about them is the seat is uncomfortable. I'm kind of a big, long legged guy and my knees and hips cramp up while riding them. If I could move the seat back a couple inches it would relieve the cramping.
Re: Off road mini bikes
I picked up ORV/trail stickers today and rode one of the MB200s from my property about 2 miles up the road to state land/state forest trails for the first time.
That section is probably 100 acres and pretty flat. Mostly sandy roads with some trails mixed in. I rode around 30 miles.
The good...
...it was fun riding. Been a long time since I rode trails, except on my property.
...these mini bikes are easy to ride. They are low and slow and the balloon tires float over the sand. Very stable.
The bad...
...They are kind of small for me. I'm a big guy and they are uncomfortable after awhile. My knees and hips kept cramping up. A larger seat a little farther back would help
...They are quite noisy. Not just exhaust noise. There is a lot of mechanical noise.
...They rattle and vibrate more than any motorcycle I've ever ridden.
...I lost the spring that holds the kickstand up. I had some paracord with me so I tied a loop to hold it up while riding.
...I was alone. My wife stayed home. Funner to ride with someone not to mention safer.
...the yearly tax on riding these things has gone up since the last time I bought ORV stickers. It's now $26.25 for the ORV sticker plus they added another $10 "trail" sticker you have to buy. So $72 total for two. Talk about sticker shock.
General stuff...
...I ordered mirrors for them. It's legal to ride them on the county road to get to the trails. However, it's kind of scary to be overtaken and passed by a car going twice as fast without seeing them coming. Not to mention keeping track of people riding behind you.
...tail/brake lights would be helpful, particularly when riding on the roadway. I'm exploring the options.
...need a way to carry tools, parts, FAK, supplies while riding. The back rack is pretty small. I had some fender/tank packs on my ATVs. I'll have to dig them out and see if they'll work.
edited to add...I found a couple fender packs from my old ATV and mounted one on each MB200, left side rear, kind of like saddle bags. I thought I had a tank pack but I couldn't find it. The fender packs now hold first aid supplies & tools. Have some drive belts on order and will be adding other parts as well. The packs are pretty flimsy so I don't expect them to last. In the mean time I'm looking into extending the rear rack and adding a storage box.
That section is probably 100 acres and pretty flat. Mostly sandy roads with some trails mixed in. I rode around 30 miles.
The good...
...it was fun riding. Been a long time since I rode trails, except on my property.
...these mini bikes are easy to ride. They are low and slow and the balloon tires float over the sand. Very stable.
The bad...
...They are kind of small for me. I'm a big guy and they are uncomfortable after awhile. My knees and hips kept cramping up. A larger seat a little farther back would help
...They are quite noisy. Not just exhaust noise. There is a lot of mechanical noise.
...They rattle and vibrate more than any motorcycle I've ever ridden.
...I lost the spring that holds the kickstand up. I had some paracord with me so I tied a loop to hold it up while riding.
...I was alone. My wife stayed home. Funner to ride with someone not to mention safer.
...the yearly tax on riding these things has gone up since the last time I bought ORV stickers. It's now $26.25 for the ORV sticker plus they added another $10 "trail" sticker you have to buy. So $72 total for two. Talk about sticker shock.
General stuff...
...I ordered mirrors for them. It's legal to ride them on the county road to get to the trails. However, it's kind of scary to be overtaken and passed by a car going twice as fast without seeing them coming. Not to mention keeping track of people riding behind you.
...tail/brake lights would be helpful, particularly when riding on the roadway. I'm exploring the options.
...need a way to carry tools, parts, FAK, supplies while riding. The back rack is pretty small. I had some fender/tank packs on my ATVs. I'll have to dig them out and see if they'll work.
edited to add...I found a couple fender packs from my old ATV and mounted one on each MB200, left side rear, kind of like saddle bags. I thought I had a tank pack but I couldn't find it. The fender packs now hold first aid supplies & tools. Have some drive belts on order and will be adding other parts as well. The packs are pretty flimsy so I don't expect them to last. In the mean time I'm looking into extending the rear rack and adding a storage box.
Re: Off road mini bikes
I am glad you are having fun with these.
If you could move the foot pegs forward a little and an add on seat cushion it would help some, sounds like you are a bigger kid than most of us... Looks like you could bolt steel plates to the front frame with forward holes to move the foot rests farther away. (Just tryin to come up with a cheaper solution) I did see a replacement seat for these on Ebay for about 80 bucks- don't know if it will fit the new ones. Also seen battery powered tail lights.
Straight 30 wt oil (not synthetic) for the engine helps with sound and chain wax for the chain helps with that sound. These are definitely not as well engineered as our old Honda trail bikes.
After your 30 mile ride, check over your bike and make sure all the bolts are tight as these things are put together by monkeys. Loose engine to frame bolts will cause excessive vibration and more noise. The proper chain tension should be about 1 inch play (up and down movement).
If you could move the foot pegs forward a little and an add on seat cushion it would help some, sounds like you are a bigger kid than most of us... Looks like you could bolt steel plates to the front frame with forward holes to move the foot rests farther away. (Just tryin to come up with a cheaper solution) I did see a replacement seat for these on Ebay for about 80 bucks- don't know if it will fit the new ones. Also seen battery powered tail lights.
Straight 30 wt oil (not synthetic) for the engine helps with sound and chain wax for the chain helps with that sound. These are definitely not as well engineered as our old Honda trail bikes.
After your 30 mile ride, check over your bike and make sure all the bolts are tight as these things are put together by monkeys. Loose engine to frame bolts will cause excessive vibration and more noise. The proper chain tension should be about 1 inch play (up and down movement).
... Just a Dude...
Re: Off road mini bikes
Good suggestions. I'm looking at putting the foot pegs lower. They are up about 3" from the bottom of the frame. 3" lower would help. Cutting and welding would be needed.Gnepig wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:15 am I am glad you are having fun with these.
If you could move the foot pegs forward a little and an add on seat cushion it would help some, sounds like you are a bigger kid than most of us... Looks like you could bolt steel plates to the front frame with forward holes to move the foot rests farther away. (Just tryin to come up with a cheaper solution) I did see a replacement seat for these on Ebay for about 80 bucks- don't know if it will fit the new ones. Also seen battery powered tail lights.
Straight 30 wt oil (not synthetic) for the engine helps with sound and chain wax for the chain helps with that sound. These are definitely not as well engineered as our old Honda trail bikes.
After your 30 mile ride, check over your bike and make sure all the bolts are tight as these things are put together by monkeys. Loose engine to frame bolts will cause excessive vibration and more noise. The proper chain tension should be about 1 inch play (up and down movement).
I've sourced some LED tail/brake lights and a switch from Amazon.
I did find an old seat pad off my old ATV I used. It helped but the seat needs to be farther back to be comfortable. That means moving the seat tabs back which means cutting and welding them in place father back.
I checked every nut and bolt on them before I rode them. I continue to check nuts and bolts before and after every ride.
I think both are set up okay. I just think they aren't as smooth as a real motorcycles. They run well however. I'm actually surprised how well they run. Lots of horror stories about them being broken right out of the box. I didn't have high expectations but they've exceeded them so far. Invariably something will break on them then well see.
And...it'll take me a while to get them set up the way I like them, seat, pegs, lights etc, but they are fun to ride in the meantime.
Re: Off road mini bikes
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... Just a Dude...
Re: Off road mini bikes
I love the look of that bike.Gnepig wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:21 amGot my new tires on and twist grip, did a tune up and she is ready to go. I did turn the screw out on the throttle stopper (just a little) and it made it a little faster now I am thinkin about a torque converter. Went on a little mini bike adventure after and was fun but the creek crossing was a little hard and I am thinkin about how some shocks in the back would be nice...
Yeah, rear shocks help. Your option might be to put springs on the seat. That might take some cutting and welding to add brackets but there are youtube videos out about how to do it.
Re: Off road mini bikes
Mini Bike Update...
I put mirrors on the MBs. Makes it safer to ride and helps me keep track of my wife riding behind me. She's still nervous about riding at 66 years old and never really rode a motorcycle before, but she goes a steady 10 mph (LOL).
I also bought LED tail lights for them. The lights will hook directly to the stator wire and will light up. They also have built in brake lights and turnsignals. I forgot to bring the extra wire to run it to the rear of bike but I got it to light up. I also noticed (for the first time) that the MBs have a brake switch on the brake lever. Theoretically, I should be able to hook the brake light wires to the switch and have brake lights. I would have to order a separate relay to have turn signals. I think tail lights and brake lights are more important than blinkers at this point.
An update of another kind....
I got my ATV back from the shop on Saturday. Only took 7 months and many thousands of dollars to rebuild the engine, clutch, wiring system, brakes. Basically the internals are all new. Took it for a ride when I got it back to the property and it promptly quit. Discovered that they didn't put the strap to secure the battery on and it slide back against exhaust pipe and heated up to the point where it quit. It didn't melt all the way through so after about an hour cooling off it worked and started back up.
It's a 2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO X2 which is a two person (2 up) machine. It has a rear seat that folds down into a box. The box has a fold down tail gate and the whole box folds back to dump. It also has a longer frame/chasis than a standard Sportsman 500 to make it more stable. The regular Sportsman 500 basically uses the same engine and most of the same parts. They still make the X2 but it now has a 570 cc engine. At one point after I bought mine they offered it with a 800 cc engine not sure if they still make those. I found the 500cc will go 40-50 mph with two people on it. That's fast enough for me.
It was very versatile and really handy around the property for hauling stuff and taking a passenger out. My wife and I had taken it all through the hills of KY and TN and the upper peninsula of Michigan as well as the trails near the new house.
I burned out the engine hauling a deer out of a swamp 8 years ago when a stump poked a hole in the oil pan. Unknowingly I ran it until it froze up. It only had about 840 miles on it when it quit. It's been sitting in the shed every since. The clutches corroded and froze up and mice got in and chewed up the wiring. I was originally able to unfreeze the piston and get it started briefly but the messed up wiring shorted out the computer/electronics. Only way to fix it was have it rebuilt. Still cost about half of what a new one cost.
Been running around the property and even took it up the road to the trails this weekend. I had forgotten how much fun it was. I'll post some pics if I can find some.
I put mirrors on the MBs. Makes it safer to ride and helps me keep track of my wife riding behind me. She's still nervous about riding at 66 years old and never really rode a motorcycle before, but she goes a steady 10 mph (LOL).
I also bought LED tail lights for them. The lights will hook directly to the stator wire and will light up. They also have built in brake lights and turnsignals. I forgot to bring the extra wire to run it to the rear of bike but I got it to light up. I also noticed (for the first time) that the MBs have a brake switch on the brake lever. Theoretically, I should be able to hook the brake light wires to the switch and have brake lights. I would have to order a separate relay to have turn signals. I think tail lights and brake lights are more important than blinkers at this point.
An update of another kind....
I got my ATV back from the shop on Saturday. Only took 7 months and many thousands of dollars to rebuild the engine, clutch, wiring system, brakes. Basically the internals are all new. Took it for a ride when I got it back to the property and it promptly quit. Discovered that they didn't put the strap to secure the battery on and it slide back against exhaust pipe and heated up to the point where it quit. It didn't melt all the way through so after about an hour cooling off it worked and started back up.
It's a 2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO X2 which is a two person (2 up) machine. It has a rear seat that folds down into a box. The box has a fold down tail gate and the whole box folds back to dump. It also has a longer frame/chasis than a standard Sportsman 500 to make it more stable. The regular Sportsman 500 basically uses the same engine and most of the same parts. They still make the X2 but it now has a 570 cc engine. At one point after I bought mine they offered it with a 800 cc engine not sure if they still make those. I found the 500cc will go 40-50 mph with two people on it. That's fast enough for me.
It was very versatile and really handy around the property for hauling stuff and taking a passenger out. My wife and I had taken it all through the hills of KY and TN and the upper peninsula of Michigan as well as the trails near the new house.
I burned out the engine hauling a deer out of a swamp 8 years ago when a stump poked a hole in the oil pan. Unknowingly I ran it until it froze up. It only had about 840 miles on it when it quit. It's been sitting in the shed every since. The clutches corroded and froze up and mice got in and chewed up the wiring. I was originally able to unfreeze the piston and get it started briefly but the messed up wiring shorted out the computer/electronics. Only way to fix it was have it rebuilt. Still cost about half of what a new one cost.
Been running around the property and even took it up the road to the trails this weekend. I had forgotten how much fun it was. I'll post some pics if I can find some.
Re: Off road mini bikes
Since the last time I've hooked up the tail/brake lights on both the MBs. It was pretty easy. Simply ran a pos & neg lead off the wires going to the headlight, then another pos lead to the brake handle and one from the brake handle to the brake light. The first one took me a couple hours to figure out. The second one took my all of 10 minutes to hookup.
I had already added mirrors which makes riding on the road, to/from the trails a little safer.
I had already added mirrors which makes riding on the road, to/from the trails a little safer.
Re: Off road mini bikes
Since I had one of the MBs home to hook up the lights I started going through my shed to come up with ways to store stuff on the bike. I found a waterproof document tube I used to have attached to my Suzuki DRZ400s dual sport bike. I kept tools and the owner's manual in it. I decided to see if I could find a place on the MB to put it. Finally settled on the handlebars. Attached with zip ties for now. I've already ridden with it full of tools and other stuff around the field behind the house.
Originally these tubes were used to store documents/manuals on construction equipment/tractors etc. I think they were $4 about 15 years ago. I bought a couple of them (have one mounted on my ATV as well). Just checked Amazon and they want $15-20 for them now. However I finally google the correct name "Manual Canister" and found them for $6 here. They were quite popular with the dual sport motorcycle crowd back in the day.
https://www.agrisupply.com/manual-canis ... /p/109319/
I also have a couple of small windshields that I had on my Honda Trail 90s for riding in cool weather. Only found one of the mounting brackets so far but their should be three more floating around somewhere.
BTW, accessories and modifications to motorcycle are called "Farkles". So the mud flaps and storage tube are Farkles. The mirrors and tail/brake lights aren't because that's what a MC should have anyway. Additional racks, bags, boxes, lights or any gizmos or gadgets would be considered a farkle.
Originally these tubes were used to store documents/manuals on construction equipment/tractors etc. I think they were $4 about 15 years ago. I bought a couple of them (have one mounted on my ATV as well). Just checked Amazon and they want $15-20 for them now. However I finally google the correct name "Manual Canister" and found them for $6 here. They were quite popular with the dual sport motorcycle crowd back in the day.
https://www.agrisupply.com/manual-canis ... /p/109319/
I also have a couple of small windshields that I had on my Honda Trail 90s for riding in cool weather. Only found one of the mounting brackets so far but their should be three more floating around somewhere.
BTW, accessories and modifications to motorcycle are called "Farkles". So the mud flaps and storage tube are Farkles. The mirrors and tail/brake lights aren't because that's what a MC should have anyway. Additional racks, bags, boxes, lights or any gizmos or gadgets would be considered a farkle.