Skyteam Cobra 50
 

Hi everybody,

i already showed the first few pictures in the introduction section. Yesterday i finished some minor work on the bike. Removed the rear fender, taillight, indicators and the heavy subframe. Added LED-lights, a Lithium-Ion battery and a gas filter.
Just came home from a short ride near the rhine river:

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/6...9184209874.jpg

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5136/sn850305b.jpg

Those braided hoses are a nice touch. Just so I understand, that's a 50cc engine? If so, I'm shocked; I've never seen a vertical 50.

Also, love your avatar.

Yes, it has 50cc. It all started with the Honda XR 75 in 1973:
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9861/hondaxr75.jpg

The engine was downsized to 50cc for the Honda CB 50 in 1977:
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/7647/hondacb50.jpg

This 50cc engine was used in several Honda models, for example the XL 50:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4488/hondaxl50.jpg

Or the CY 50:
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1437/hondacy50.jpg

Or the Honda Ape:
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9721/hondaape50.jpg

My Skyteam Cobra copies the Ape:
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/8062/25939853.png

Another copy is the Zhenhua Ape:
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2416/zhenhuaape.JPG

Some say, the most beautiful 50cc-bike ever was the Honda Dream 50:
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4600/hondadream50.jpg

Copied as a Skyteam Ace 50:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/8...yteamace50.png

:hi:

You're showing me bikes I've never seen. Around here, the XR50 was/is horizontal. I knew about the XR75 being vertical, but that was the smallest I had come across.

I have seen the Dream before, but that had a twin exhaust. Nice bike.

Your Skyteam Cobra 50 is a great looking motorcycle! :) I like the tasteful modifications you have made to the bike. :tup: Thanks for telling us the history of the 50cc vertical engine!

You do mean this one? http://www.bikez.com/pictures/honda/...ermission..jpg
Nice little thing. I need two of them, one for every foot. :D

The vertical 50cc engines were/are quite common in europe. In the late 70s/early 80s it was somehow sophisticated for a 15 or 16 year old boy to have a 50cc fourstroke honda, while everybody else was riding twostroke bikes, mostly from german manufacturers like Kreidler, Zündapp, Hercules or the Austrian Puch. Topspeed was all that matters, because the fastest guy got all the girls. Most of the Honda riders were single. :hehe:

The Dream... very nice bike. Put a 500cc engine in and i'll buy one.

@Spud, thank you. Let's see how long it stays tasteful. ;) Next thing to do is getting the footpegs a little backwards and fit the shifting pedal and brake pedal. I'm not really into self-made major modifications like welding, so i have to find the right people to help me with this. This evening the bike goes to a small garage/workshop to get the valve clearance checked. I'll ask the guy for his ideas about the footpegs.

great looking bike indeed! how fast does it go?

since the 4 stroke sounds much better than the two stroke motors, one may still be able to hope for a girl, provided the muffler is modified. :hmm:

@zingshoen, with god's help and a little tailwind it goes about 32mph, this is 50kmh, the speedometer says 60kmh. Even a rider with less weight and air drag than me could smell on every flower on his way... :)
With just about 100mls done, the engine is not completely broken in. I don't want to ride it too hard now, but anyway, i don't think that the topspeed will increase a lot.

Another thing to care about is the damping of the front end. The brake works really well (22cm disc with double piston caliper) and causes the front end to dive deep while braking. I'll try 30mm preload bushings and a more viscous oil. The girls who chose the twostroke guys 30 years ago now prefer guys with a harder front end! :lmao:

That's exactly what I mean. Also, that platform is what our Chinese friends have bored 'n' stroked out to 150cc (and beyond). The 125cc pit bike version is quite common in NA.

There is a 250cc version (supposed) to come out in the US "at the end of summer."

http://avavelocityworks.com/what-is-ava/

Cool bike. And a step in the right direction. Looks like they used the skyteam-frame.

@tecnolli
Do the footpegs on the cobra fold up?

Yes, they do, and i like it like that. My plan is to get some folding motocross-footpegs without that thick ugly rubber welded to the small plates at the side of the frame, where the footpegs at the 125cc-model are attached.
An hour ago i got the bike back from adjusting the valve clearance. The guy said, it's not legal to shorten the brake pedal with welding, the footpegs will be no problem. I should look for a brake pedal from another bike that fits.
Or i will find a welder who doesn't know that he's welding a brake pedal... :hehe:

btw... how was Nürburgring?