Coleman Mini Trail Bike for Hunting?

highbeam said:
Have you considered a Honda trail 90 or CT 70? My grandfather and grandmother rode a single ct70 all l Er the woods of bc picking berries and hunting. They weigh a little over 100 lbs and can fold up and go in the trunk of your car. Parts are readily available and the bikes are incredibly durable.
There are a number of great Japanese bikes that are out there that will blow the pants off those mini bikes for durability and rideability even going back to 80s bikes.
This year, if I manage to register it, I'll be using my Honda fat cat 200. If I can't make it on that bike I should be bringing climbing gear.
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I've owned 6 CT70 mini bikes and still own 3 (in various states of disrepair). Every one of them weighs at least 140 lbs, and none of them fold up into the trunk of a car.

Having said that, they do work great as a hunting bike, in my experience. As long as you have a sled or cart waiting back at the truck that you can attach to the bike to drag out a deer. I shot and recovered 3 deer with one of my CT70s. And a strong guy can get one into a half-ton without a ramp, no prob. Pop the front wheel on the tailgate, grab the rear fender with a gloved hand, and lift the ########er in.

I've since moved on to a street legal dual sport motorcycle. If/when I tip a deer over, I whip home and get my truck - a 30-40 minute round trip. For trips away from my local spots, I put the bike in my truck and bring it with me. Uses a #### of a lot less fuel than my Ram for commuting to work, too.

20181004154546-25977524-me.jpg


From a previous season:
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I shot and recovered this, that day:
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my son has the 2.5hp minibike from TSC ... it doesn't have alot of power, but he certainly loves it a lot ( i've got a spare 5hp honda engine that'll soon be in there, when he gets bigger )
lots of these mini bikes in the states .. basically a lawmower engine on a small motor bike frame
i have a quad, but i'd like to get one aswell
 
There are supposed to be pics in my post above, but it seems something happened to my image hosting. Will fix it later...
 
I think it would be fine for what you want to do with it. It’s pretty easy to increase the power with cheap upgrades and engine parts are widely available. The only thing that I would be worried about would be the clutch, it probably wouldn’t hurt to find a better one and keep a spare and the tools to replace it on the bike.
Peavey Mart sells them also, I’m looking at getting one for my boy to ride around on, I think they would be a good beginner bike to learn the basics on.
 
buckhunter78 said:
I use a Baja mini bike which is pretty much the same thing as the Colman but has suspension in the front and a lot better seat.I use it to hunt an area only accessible by boat I can easily put the bike in the boat, I use a game cart that I welded a tab on and use a snowmobile trailer hitch set up on and use it as a trailer, my buddy has the Coleman ct200 he’s had some problems with it but once fixed it was good, his stock centrifugal clutch burnt out after 2 trips, carb was a little finicky and the ride was super rough due to know suspension. I put an aftermarket carb with a cold air intake and a bigger jet for the carb, put springs under the seat for a better ride and put a better centrifugal clutch in it,
I like the Baja a little better myself due to the front suspension and bigger seat, I bought mine used not running, put a princess auto 196cc engine in it, 17 tooth centrifugal clutch, aftermarket carb and cold air intake, different jackshaft sprocket size to gain torque, and removed the governor, also have a led headlight that powers off the flywheel, we both run about 4lbs of air in the tires makes it a lot better,

I weight 185 lbs plus gear and my bike rips up hills ( only after mods and removing the governor) I’ve also trailered out two blacktail bucks behind it and it did just fine except for one super tall hill I got off and walked it up, everything has its limits.....

In all I’d recommend it for places I used to have to walk now I can cover more ground a lot quicker to get their then timber cruise
Between me and my buddy they have helped us get three deer so far,
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Got photos of your setup?

If you are willing to modify to this extent, I see how it could be a reasonable solution.
 
A friend of mine used an 80 cc four wheeler. It was small enough that he could load it in the truck by himself,and he was in his 70s then.
 
try one and let me know how well it works. i've also been looking into a cheaper option for hunting & fishing. I can't afford to spend almost $10,00.00 on a four wheeler and most of them seem a lot bigger than I need or want. I found a few chinese made wheelers in the 150 - 250 cc range for 2000.00 to 2500.00 but not sure about the quality.
 
the ultimate 2 wheeled hunting machine is a Rokon..... i wouldn't waste my money on anything else with 2 wheels for hunting.
That said, I ride a grizzly 550 , 2012 model, the suspension and power steering are a very nice luxury for the rides to and from camp to the trails into the hunting spots.

if you are going to use a motorized machine to get yourself further into terrain your truck won't take you....... it is a fool's errand to buy a cheap machine.
Do yourself a favor and stick to your legs until you can afford a decent and reliable machine that won't leave you stranded kilometers from camp where you are dumping what remains of your fuel and oil to light your tires on fire to signal you need rescue :)
 
Hollow Point said:
try one and let me know how well it works. i've also been looking into a cheaper option for hunting & fishing. I can't afford to spend almost $10,00.00 on a four wheeler and most of them seem a lot bigger than I need or want. I found a few chinese made wheelers in the 150 - 250 cc range for 2000.00 to 2500.00 but not sure about the quality.
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Buy used. You can get a very decent used quad around here for $2500.
 
Hollow Point said:
try one and let me know how well it works. i've also been looking into a cheaper option for hunting & fishing. I can't afford to spend almost $10,00.00 on a four wheeler and most of them seem a lot bigger than I need or want. I found a few chinese made wheelers in the 150 - 250 cc range for 2000.00 to 2500.00 but not sure about the quality.
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You don't need to spend $10,000 on an ATV, there are lots of very good used ones out there for under $2500,00 as mentioned.
I'm just looking at a 2000, Yamaha 600 Grizzly, a freind of mine has owned it since new, and used it only one week a year for deer hunting, It will be no more then $2500.00 possibly with a trailer included. Don't let the age scare you, if its been well maintained , a 20 year old machine will still give you years of service.
 
look for deals on older honda 4trax atv's , the things are bombproof , parts easily sourced and they are smaller than most of todays atv's. Very nimble and reliable machines if maintained.
 
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