Taco minibikes are back!

[sammyg2]

Bah, swing arms and suspension? Kids nowadays are to soft.

My older brothers got one like this when I was 5, I ended up inheriting it about 5 years later when they couldn't get it to start (I could).
Briggs 3 1/2 hp.


When I was 14, a neighbor and I decided it would be a good idea to install an early 60's honda superhawk 300cc engine that his dad had laying around in the mini-bike.

We cut the bike in half and welded some brackets and bolted the front half to the front of the engine and likewise the back end.
it had no clutch or brakes, so we push started it and then shifted up and down and shorted the coil and drug our feet to stop.
What could go wrong?
That thing nearly tipped over every time we gave it gas and the gear ratio was all wrong, we could hit nearly 50 mph in 2nd! It did not handle well at that speed.

Luckily we broke the frame so badly we couldn't repair it before the darned thing killed us.

[p911dad]

Me and my dad used a Rupp for a model (from photos), and had one fabricated from scratch. Rupps were common in the East, and Tacos were unknown to us. He worked for Occidental and a welder friend bent the tubes and welded up the frame and forks, etc. We got the moving parts, wheels, sprockets, halfshaft, etc from a cart shop in town. No brakes. Had a Briggs engine. We had a blast with that thing! I was 12 at the time. I later traded it on an AlaKart Slingshot cart we used to race ('til my brother burned the head with some methanol mixture he was experimenting with).

[Joe Bob]

We called the Doo Doo Bugs....the exhaust sounded like a long continuous fart....

[DARISC]

Too funny!

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by Jared at Pelican Parts

I had a Rupp too. No suspension and a piece of steel that pressed up against the rear wheel as a brake.

I learned to weld because of that bike. I had a habit of breaking the downtube of the frame driving it off curbs and such. Eventually, my dad got tired of doing it and showed me how.

I think it originally had a 2HP Husky motor we blew up, then I put a 5HP Briggs in it.
Anybody else ever rebuild one of those recoil spring pull starts? Chewed up a few fingers doing that..

Uh-oh-I'm getting old. I sure forgot about the scrub brake! Seems like we welded a lot on mine too.

[Normy]

I had one of those, it had a 3.5 hp Tecumseh engine, would do about 30 mph. I traded a barely-running AMF Roadmaster moped for it.

The minibike was fun as hell, but the twist throttle didn't work, so I had a string attached to the throttle that I would wrap around my right finger, and then I went tearing up and down the streets of my subdivision, it was a lot of fun. There was only one brake and it barely worked but I didn't care, I biffed on a regular basis! The moped could leave the subdivision and go down the main roads in my township, but only when it ran, which wasn't very often, so I guess the trade made sense.

N

[Targa Me]

When I was a kid I wanted one of these Taco's soooo bad I could taste it. ...Awww, but I never got one. Maybe this is my big chance. LOL

[Zeke]

Damn, if those prices on the Taco are real, I know what my next business is.

Mini Bike Kits :: Minibike Minibikes Bikes Azusa Old School Vintage Kit

[Gogar]

Tacos are cool, but if I was going to douche-around the neighborhood I'd rather do it on a Z-50 or a CT-70.

[audiman08]

Those are cool, but not for that kind of money...

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by Gogar

if I was going to douche-around the neighborhood I'd rather do it on a Z-50 or a CT-70.

+1..... In the 70's Honda minis ruled our neck of the woods. Those pull start lawnmower engine bikes were worthless for the kind of riding we did as kids.


These are my daughter's first bikes that I restored from basketcases.


And these are the bikes I grew up on in the 70's (not my actual bikes, but mine were identical)

1st


2nd


3rd

[71T Targa]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

3rd

Awesome, that brings back memories. The XR75 was my first bike. My mom wanted to get me a 10 speed, and my brother convinced her that a dirt bike would be better.

[cameron.arnott]

+2 - I spent hours on an XR 75 on my cousins farm as a kid!

[sc_rufctr]

I lusted after one of these when I was 11 or 12. Then puberty hit and my attention shifted to girls

I rode one a few times that was owned by a friend. That was a whole lot of fun.
He had an oval track setup next to the creek near his house.

Thanks for posting.