中国袖珍自行车 | Chinese Pocket Bikes

Around the year 2004 the market for mini motos and quads simply exploded. Originally, mini bikes were nothing more than scaled down push bikes with small engines attached, most commonly a Briggs or a Stratton which only delivered up to 5BHP! These original bikes lacked a formal breaking system and totally lacked suspension. Early bikes were made and used by engineers in the pits of racetracks (that is why they were called pit bikes) and actually they only provided a way of quick transport.

Yet these old models were the blueprint of today’s design. It was the Japanese company Honda that laid the cornerstones for the mini bikes to come. The bike that started this revolution was the Honda Z50 Mini Trail (or also called ‘Monkey Bike’). This could be stored easily in a truck or trailer for easy transportation. Bike parts for it were easily attainable over the world and they also were fairly cheap.

Modern mini bikes don’t differ too much from the earlier designs, they only have longer wheelbases, suspension and taller handlebars, as well as improved breaking systems. They allow adults to ride easily and safely. Also their durability has increased.

Now we all know that bikers are constantly on the look-out to improve their lifestyle, and so they also love mini motos especially when they can tune them into super pocket bikes! When a pocket bike comes out of the box, it won’t go that fast. But a seasoned bike owner knows how to fine- tune his motor and can turn it into a real racing machine.

They gladly take the extra time to tune and groom their mini moto or quad to perfection, but most of them take it easy. Just compare it with going to the gym: on your first day you won’t bench-press 300lbs at once, you have to build up to that.

Same goes for a mini moto. You are going to turn a lot of pressure on the bike, so you have to take good care of it and slowly break it in. Otherwise you will spend more time in service stations than on the track!

The components that need looking at are:

- the engine. A normal mini-moto has a two-stroke engine, but you can replace this by a rep engine. That one has a funky kick-forward starter and a wet clutch. When you take such one to a ride, it is just mental. With its power it really moves, but be careful. Because of the steering play and the small size, a driver who is not careful might hurt himself.

- the fuel mixture. When you break in the bike, you need a rich fuel mixture, about 25:1 ratio. You use this for the first three to four tanks and then switch over to a leaner fuel of 50:1 – now it has a lot more power.
- the brakes. Very important is that you check them regularly.

- the clutch. The bike you buy will probably have a centrifugal clutch assembly. There is a lot you can do here, if you don’t mind opening up the clutch and upgrade the inner springs so that they are more suited to your weight and performance preferences.