1970 Tony Pony minibike.....Chrysler engine from factory

mopar head · May 23, 2023

I wanted a mini bike or a go cart so bad when I was a kid in the late 60`s.
My Dad told me if I got good grades he would buy me one. I did and he didn`t.
Should have known, he was drinking when he said that.

Fast forward when about 13, I bought a bare Rupp frame at a yard sale I think.
I went to work with my Dad that summer long enough to save for a motor @ $2 a day.
I bought a new Tecumseh 4 hp engine, $80 bux I believe, and a new 4 shoe clutch and a chain.
I rode that bike as far as it would go with enough fuel to get me back. Man I was free, FREE I tell ya

Darter6 · May 23, 2023

I remember a Comet Clutch was a wopping $13 !!
Yeah, Had to save for that too.
Man have times changed. $13 don't even buy lunch....

Outasite · May 26, 2023

Bought six Chrysler Snow Runners (same engine as mini bike ) for $125 each in crate. 1970 dollars.tracks lasted about a week.engines couldn’t be killed.

wheelsport · May 27, 2023

The engine shown is definitely not a Westbend. It's a Mac 10. My Go Kart mini bike ran a Westbend 10. I was among the first Karters in the Tacoma/Seattle area when the craze hit the Northwest. I rode a Bug with a hopped-up Clinton A90 2 1/2 Hp. When the Clinton blew, I bought a Percival Kart with a Power Products AH58 that competed with the Mac 10s. When I wanted to go faster, I bolted on another AH58. The reason tonysrt's World Karting manual doesn't mention Macs is by the 1990s Macs were obsolete. Yamaha 100's were the in motor by the 1970s. In the early '80s, I bought out an old Karter's stash of Mac 90's and a Margay kart for $100. My son set a track record at the Tacoma track with that old kart running the antique Mac 90 in the Jr. class. All the other local kids thought it was a new engine on the scene.

Dale Davies · May 27, 2023

tonysrt said:
I have a World Karting manual from 1990 and no mention of Mc's or West bends. I know Mc was making chain saws later on but must have dropped out of the kart business. It seems like Briggs was the 4 cycle king and 2 cycles were mostly foreign engines, Komet, Parilli, Yamaha and others. And of course everything went hi tech with water cooling, gear boxes and computers. My pockets weren't that deep to get into the racing aspect of Karting. I did race my Bug with the Mc 101 and it was competitive till somebody ran me over. Time to look for a new hobby. By the way my 21/2 hp Clinton was only $25 on electronics row which was called that one time but was actually Canal St. in NYC, were you could buy almost anything electrical or mechanical including tools at good prices. Fake rolexes were always on sale there too.

Prior to 1990 and more like the 1960's and early 1970's, many karts were equiped with McCoulough chain saw engines. Just replace the chain drive for a sprocket for a regular chain.

eekvonzipper · May 27, 2023

Here's My DoodleBug... It has a Two-Speed JackShaft in it now, it takes off on the Rear Wheel and Tops-Out at 48mph w/ a massaged 5.5hp Honda Clone on it.

tonysrt · May 28, 2023

When I got into the racing aspect of carting with Mc 101, I had to buy a 12volt starter to fire up the Mc. Anyone that had one remembers the compression made them a bear to start. The starter was a car starter with a pulley on it and on a wheeled stand, it worked great but also needed a car battery to run it. By the way thanks for the X Dale on my post and then you quote it.

MMissile · May 28, 2023

Outasite said:
Bought six Chrysler Snow Runners (same engine as mini bike ) for $125 each in crate. 1970 dollars.tracks lasted about a week.engines couldn’t be killed.

Those engines were also used to power illuminated highway construction signs. I believe it was Chrysler-Marine. We had a butt-load of sno-runners in the 80-90's. They were a blast, for such a goofy vehicle. When Chrysler was going broke, they gave them to employees, instead of bonuses. They were everywhere around Detroit...in garages. Lots of NOS ones. The ones with the single-hole muffler, were quicker than the salt shaker looking mufflers.