My $50 bike is painted, rebuilt, and running

I bought this as a project from a guy moving out of town. Tons of work. I gutted it and painted the frame plus the gas tank. All parts , paint , etc, I had at the house So its still a $50 bike.
Here is a list of repairs.
New custom made tensioner
repaired both chains in several places
Trued both wheels
greased all bearings
repaired rear motor mount
straightened motor mount studs
repaired and adjusted clutch
flipped over sprocket that was installed wrong
tube repaired and new rubber over spokes
1 new spoke
scrubbed white walls, engine , etc.
I'm sure there is more.
Here is the almost final product.

By double1trouble1 at 2012-08-07

By double1trouble1 at 2012-08-07

 

[bluegoatwoods]

A fine looking bike. Good job.

 

[double trouble]

This is my 5th bike. I have not paid over $130 and every one of them had good motors. The people who build them fail to realize that a certain amount of care is required. Chains , sprockets and tensioners fail most often. The engine mounting is almost always done poorly. I end up repairing multiple mistakes as well as failed parts. I keep them for a while and make a decent profit when I sell. To me , its the fun and challenge to fix what other people have given up on.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

You bet. I could enjoy doing that, for that matter. The only thing is that there just aren't many MBs around here.

Is the supply very good where you're at?

 

[double trouble]

There is enough bikes to keep me supplied. I am a craigslist dog. My dad just trash picked a mongoose full suspension bicycle from the neighbor next door. I took it home tonight and had it riding in half an hour. It needed a seat and post, tires filled and front derailleur adjusted. The seat I had here is a trek suspension seat. Fit perfect. It still needs the wheels trued a bit and some fine tuning. I probably can get $150 for it unless I keep it.
i just sold 2 bikes and here comes another.

 

[wheelbender6]

Dang! I like the splash of black paint on the dropouts.

 

[double trouble]

I like it too

When I bought it , the bike had half the forks and drops painted black. It looked a bit garish so i toned it down a lot.
In Michigan we have the dream cruise. Last night I had my wife on a solex 4600, my daughter on my trek motorized singletrack and i rode my solex 3800. It was our little dream cruise. We went about 7 miles total to a little downtown in Walled lake and home.
This weekend my son comes home so i think we'll get the 4 of us on the motored bikes. It really is fun to take the family on rides. Tonight my wife and I did 4 miles on the regular bikes. I have 2 trash picked mongoose full suspension bikes. Its amazing what people toss.
Wow , i just thought about it. I have 8 bikes, 5 with motors, and under $600 total invested. All run pretty well.