Smaller machinery. 2 wheels or less, 50cc or less.

[nomad]

We scored for a shed clearance last year, lots of interesting tat but for me the main bit was the remains of a retro Italian classic

50cc Italjet, model JC-5C "Junior Cross", monoshock kids bike ...


Size-wise it's best suited for 8-12 year olds (front wheel is 14", rear is 12"), it's more a midi-moto+ size than an mini-moto.

Good bits :
90% complete, engine seems to be mainly untouched, it's a classic ;D
good compression and spark

Not so good bits:
Frontend is a mismatch of bits from about 4 different bikes.
No oil in the motor, and as soon as you fill the gearbox it floods the piston so there's a big leak somewhere.
kickstart return spring is snapped.
everything is well used and looks it, frame and tank need repainting, wheels are scruffy, engine is covered in crud
rear shock is punctured so has no oil, also has no damping
brakes no cable to rear, frontend is mismatchd parts so won't bite, no levers on the bars
missing headgasket and some of the head-nuts, not a problem but makes me wonder what else is missing or bodged

Missing in action : - let me know if you have any bits I need
Petrol filler cap
engine sidecasing (engine will run without it but flywheel is exposed
rear chain
chainguard


Recently noticed we have a few of these cool little bikes on the forum
retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=othrmod&action=display&thread=98316

Clickly-link below shows a gallery of random Italjet pics

[nomad]

First things first, split the motor to see if the oil leak was dead seals or butchered crankcase joint *

My fault here - to split the crankcase you need a flywheel puller before you can start.
I didn't have one to fit so gave the engine to a local bke shop and asked them to get the pulley off in their spare time.
Months later and after many visits, they found the puller to fit and job done while I waited. 6 months waiting for a 2 minute job - is this a record

Not signs of damage to the crankcase so new seals ordered.
History is totally unknown so it's just a case of check everything.
Seals were part number 57326, pair needed


* artistic license here, actually the first things I did were drill and size the frontend so the wheel (10mm ?) and the forks (12mm) were both 12mm.
Then fitted a 12mm spindle, tightened it up, fitted a mini-moto rear shock (far too firm but better than undamped), then played around making brum-brum noises ;D

[nomad]

The engine came apart very nice, high-tensile bolts and over-engineered quality alloy castings.
A nice change from rusted and seized J bikes I normally work on

Called into the car club yesterday and ran the casings past the polishing machine, not posh but a big improvement.
Also washed with celly thinnners which helped a lot




Head and fins not done, mobile in the pic for scale - whole motor is tiny

[meltedcheese]

Great little bike! You should have it pieced together pretty quick by the looks of it Nomad, looking for a filler cap for mine at the moment so I shall keep you informed. As for the other parts I have been turning to Harglo-performance of recent, if your struggling finding anything PM me what and I will give you a hand looking no bother

[nomad]

Spent a couple of hours today and we have progress ;D

Clean and degrease everything, fit the new oil seals, and make a start ;D

Fit the crank (nothing else needed ) and joint the crankcase halves




All (yep - that's all of 'em ) of the moving parts, ready to be fitted


Output gear ...


Outside of the centifugal clutch...


Centrifugal clutch fitted and output shaft locked...


Bottom end done ;D


Still needs stator ignition refitted, then barrel & head.
Not difficult, just time and a new head gasket

[nomad]

Interesting tech-spec and engine internal pics of one of the other Minarelli motors
www.motocross50.it/tecnicap6/

[meltedcheese]

Coming along nicely! All the internals look well mint

[turbovan]

just a '70 Italjet minibike project JC for my lad were the best place for spares cheers

[dodgerover]

Try Harglo i think they have most of the remaining UK stocks

[turbovan]

Cheers will have a look.

[nomad]

Well, eventually managed to move house, change jobs, go on holiday, and do all the other little things that get in the way of finding spare time to play with the toys

Now have space, light, power, and lots of elbw room ;D

[nomad]

Found that we don't have a head gasket and all of the head nuts need replacing (there were 2 missing and the 2 that were here were the wroung thread :
Was very happy that putting some petrol in the carb and kicking it over just holding the head in place got some firing noises ;D ;D
Will be taking the head into the local bike shops this week to see if they have a moped hadgasket that will fit

Have also been looking on ebay again, found a pair of as-new tyres for £2 ;D
Shame the rear is 12" but I need 14"


It's slow progress - but it still counts ;D

[turbovan]

Just got my frame back from stoving .just starting to rebuild engine

[nomad]

It lives ;D ;D ;D

Finally found somewhere local with headnuts in stock (size is M7x1.0 / M7 "Fine"),
Fitted them, put some - stale - petrol in and got a few backfires but no running.
I put it aside and tried kicking it the next day - it fired up first time and sounds good ;D

Me happy? what makes you say that ;D

Next question :
Any idea how much it costs to get something this size couriered 300 miles in England (ballpark figures would be fine - are we talking £15 or £80 ??)
Hoping for a quick answer so I can get back to somone

[nomad]

A couple of quick updates...

I put everything together a while ago but ran out of time to sort it all out - took it to a mates workshop today and even with all our combined talent we still can't get it to run happily 
(how come a crowd of monkeys can type the works of Shakespear - but we can't fix a simple 2 stroke )

Also found a USA website that has a few adverts and with pics that might be useful reference
www.2bmoto.com/search/q/indian%20jc5

[nomad]

Calling anyone in the Brighton area

I've found a donor that has everything I need and is super-cheap but it's at Brighton and I'm at the opposite end of the country 

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/162008/wanted-pitbike-brighton-collect-store

Is anyone local who could pickup & store it, or collect and I'll see about Pony Express ?

Any help appreciated!

[tryer]

Hi, I bought my son a mini bike in 1979 and have recently got it back. It is called a mini arrow. It has a motori minarelli engine fitted. It is approx. 50cc automatic. Does anyone know where I may be able to source parts for this engine mainly a kickstart return spring. The bottom end of the engine looks identical to pics of an italjet on this site. I'm hoping to sort it for my grandson. I will take some pics and post later.

[nomad]

Aug 31, 2014 8:14:21 GMT tryer said:

Hi ... Does anyone know where I may be able to source parts for this engine mainly a kickstart return spring... I will take some pics and post later.

Hi, if you find anywhere with springs can you let me know - I also need one
Hope you get it sorted, ours was very popular when it was being used on the farm

[tryer]

Hi, Ive received the spring from Harglo Performance 01386 701162 at a cost of approx. £15 including postage and vat. I fitted the spring today and it fits and works as it should. Now I need to make something to replace the plastics. (will prob make something out of plywood).

[dodgerover]

Sept 3, 2014 22:20:16 GMT tryer said:

Hi, Ive received the spring from Harglo Performance 01386 701162 at a cost of approx. £15 including postage and vat. I fitted the spring today and it fits and works as it should. Now I need to make something to replace the plastics. (will prob make something out of plywood).

You could probably make plastics from one of the modern pit bikes fit with a bit of faffing, also try Steve Goode motorcycles down in Wales, he has alsorts of wierd and wonderful parts and may have some