Revising My Entire Project

A new guy from SoCal here! I've been playing with dirt bikes, mini bikes, go karts, and all sorts of machinery for several decades now, and thought an MB would be an interesting new project. Before I embarked on this quest, I read everything I could here and at "that other" board. Then I ordered a generic 66cc HT motor from a vendor who, luckily for me, apparently has no regard for either EPA or CARB.

I dutifully filled out my REG 230 and in just about 2 weeks got my plate back. Yippee!!





Actually I think it was more like 13 days from the time I mailed it. I used "Diamondback" as the make and the frame serial for the VIN, and that worked just fine. I also sent a Postal Money Order instead of a personal check. Maybe that had something to do with the quick turn around.

And then I hit a snag.

I guess I really should have dragged my old Diamondback DB Traverse out of the back yard where it has languished for the past several years and taken a good look at it before filling out the DMV paperwork. It was rough. Not nearly as nice as I remembered when it was "retired" out back. Let's see, tire and tubes are gone, cables are bad, the chain is rusty, the seat is rotted, etc. Even the plastic levers on the thumb shifters were showing signs of deterioration. And, of course, the paint was toast.

So I started tearing it apart and painting the frame, and things were going well until I started adding up the cost of all the replacement parts. It was well over $100, and when I was done I'd still have 10+ year old steel rigid frame bike with low-level Shimano hardware. And that's assuming I can get the original derailleurs working. If I have to replace those I am really hosed!! I think this calls for a trip to Walmart.

Actually, I should say Walmart.com. I found this Roadmaster Sequence for $119 on the web site, but not in the stores. But they'll deliver it to my nearest store for free, or FedEx it directly to my house for a mere $5 more, saving me from having to deal with "Walmart people."

So this is going to be the basis of my first MB build, not the old Diamondback. It'll be cheaper, lighter, and have suspension! Which considering the size of my tail end will be a welcome relief. Plus it'll look much cooler, which is important.

So I guess I need to fill out another REG 230. Oh, well, I'm still getting off cheaper than fixing up the Diamondback.

AustinStreets said:

I'm curious how that roadmaster sequence build turned out? I just ordered the same bike, I was kinda worried about if it will fit right. Got any pics?

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It's still kind of in progress, having gone through a few different versions. Right now the motor is out and all taken apart, so sorry, no pics today. But here's a couple of tips that may make things easier -

There was no way I could fit the motor in the frame where the carb would clear the upright frame tube, so I had to use an offset intake. I got mine from JN Motors. This makes the carb stick out to the right of the frame tube.

The reason for the changes right now is due to the twist shifters - I tried to use a Shimano thumb shifter and the twist grip throttle that came with the kit. But the gears don't line up with the shifter's detents and never worked right, so now I'm trying an All-in-One I found on eBay. The double brake solves my clutch lever dilemma, and the thumb throttle lets me reinstall the original twist shifter on the right. I know many people just move the twist-half of the shifter inboard on the handlebar and use the twist throttle, but I didn't like that setup. I'm hoping the All-in-One will be more compact and sano.

It looks like everything is going to clear just fine. The only problem I had with it is the brake light switch is junk. Unfortunately in California my MB needs a brake light, so I'm replacing it with a better one using these instructions from Instructables.

And finally, the gas tank. Since the three cables run along the top of the frame tube you can't just bolt the gas tank down. I got some extra tank brackets for $3 from Dax and used the extra set on top of the frame tube to space the tank up enough to clear the cables. You'll need a couple of 5mm nuts between the top mount and tank, and some 5mm threaded standoffs and 5mm screws to extend the now-too-short studs on the bottom of the tank. In fact for the standoffs I think the parts I used were old PC motherboard mounting standoffs I had laying around. Unfortunately that's all apart right now so I can't take pics. Of course you could always use a Hawaiian Punch can gas tank behind the seat and avoid this altogether.

All in all it's been an interesting project that is still in the works. The problems I ran into were a pain to sort out, but after I finally figured things out the solutions were fairly cheap to fix and didn't take any major fabrication. Once it's back together I'll try and post some pics.