![]() ![]() As I told others in the industry about my plans, they wanted to follow my progress. They both said it was cool, good luck and safe travels. I sent them a photo to show them my latest purchase and shared my vision of riding this to Florida. One collects the Rupp brand which was manufactured in his hometown of Mansfield, Ohio, and the other collects the Honda Mini Trail 50 as well. My bucket list dream is now unfolding before me.Ī couple of friends from Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) are also into collecting these older mini bikes. I’ll take it… slipped out of mouth before I even walked over to get on it. The only one that the dealer had in stock was the red which appeared to be the same color they had offered back in the ’60s and ’70s. They had the red, yellow and black model available. I went to visit a dealer who had one in stock. And most importantly it comes with a wider seat! I contemplated the questions, “Is this the same as my original vision? Would it be compromising my integrity by riding a new one as opposed to an original?” But (no pun intended) it has a bigger, softer seat. It is a little taller, has slightly more power, and is equipped with 12-volt lights including turn signals. To my surprise, Honda last year introduced a new retro version of the Mini Trail 50 called a Monkey. When I was looking for a Honda dealership that would work on a Mini Trail that was 50 years old, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy in itself. Keep in mind, I’m not the same weight and size I was at 9 years old. It should be around 1,100 miles and maybe 40 hours approximately of drive time to get there given that I can only go at maybe a pace of 30 mph. With a little planning, I can manage to travel all back roads and state highways. and do this trip! The weather now is great for travel between Indianapolis, Indiana and Venice, Florida, the business has allowed for extra time, so why not look and consider such an event? I decided to get it tuned up, carburetor rebuilt and a new battery, etc. But the more I thought about this bucket list dream of fifty years ago, I decided to get one the Honda’s out of the garage and go for it!. It would have been fun to make such a trip. Today, I still have over a dozen of these in the garage waiting to be restored for my grandchildren to enjoy as much as I had.Īfter speaking with my parents, I mentioned this reminiscence to my wife. However, the passion still had a place in my heart for these Honda Mini Trails. As youth gives way and you grow older, the mini bike passion fades away and the thoughts turn towards girls, cars, airplanes and eventually work in the tire industry. What a journey this would be if only I had a driver’s license. One of the comments that my mother recently brought up was that I use to say “when I grow up, I’m going to ride this to Florida.” Why Florida? From a young boy’s perspective, we would vacation each year in Florida, and it seemed like it was half a world away. Some of the other neighbor kids got mini bikes as well and we would go riding together. A lot of time and miles were put on it going around in circle, climbing hills and trails in our area. Many days and weekends after all the chores were complete, I would ride the mini trail around the back yard and nearby field. ![]() Needless to say, she was not happy having any motorized vehicle in her house but the straw that broke the camel’s back was when I slipped on a rug and hit her piano. My very first ride when my father brought it home for me was a ride inside the house from the kitchen, bedroom, family room and back into the kitchen before my mother threw me, the mini bike and my dad outside. The conversation took us back to when I was approximately 9 years old and had a mini bike. ![]() Not necessarily a pleasant thought since I’m rapidly approaching 60 years of age myself. During the conversation, we reflected back to when I was a child. 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING.Ī couple of weeks ago, I was speaking to my parents who are in their mid-eighties, retired from the tire industry and residing in Florida. ![]()
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