She Minibike

SHE MINIBIKE

CYCLE WORLD IMPRESSION

It Lacks The Chrome And Polish Of Some, But Makes Up For This With A Soft Ride And Four Engine Options.

MINIBIKE RIDING microboppers have two primary prerequisites regarding machine choice. The suitable mini must,

above all, have good acceleration. Also, it’s gotta wheelie.

SHE, manufactured by Shaw-Hakes Engineering, scores well on both of these points; however, the finish is Spartan and the welding quality is only fair.

CYCLE WORLD'S test machine was the mid-price-range model, equipped with a responsive 73-cc Sachs five-speed, two-stroke Single. Bore and stroke is 46 by 44mm. Compression ratio is 9:1 and 7 blip is produced at 8000 rpm. A 50-cc Sachs version and two more powerful Hodaka models are also available.

Frame design is identical on all models, the main structural member being a 3-qt. tubular steel gas tank that doubles as the toptube. The swinging arm is mounted on tabs welded to two sets of parallel tubes. One set is welded to the center and one to the rear of the toptube/tank assembly. The swinging arm is cross-braced 4 in. behind its pivot point.

Of interest is the leading link front suspension. The ride is quite soft for a minibike. SHE. however, becomes quite unstable in the rough, well below top speed. This is a result of the short 38-in.

wheelbase and small diameter 4.00-8 Goodyear tires.

Both tires are identical, have a trials pattern tread design, and are of the “square” profile variety common to go-carts.

They provide plenty of flotation and work satisfactorily in loose dirt or soft sand. But. on hard surfaces, they are less than ideal. When the machine is leaned over for a turn, only the edge of the tread pattern and a portion of the sidewall remain in contact with the ground.

The high mounted front fender is held on by the upper shock mount bolts. If these bolts become loosened, the fender will pivot, but thankfully cannot contact the engine or front wheel.

Handlebars are easily detached. Each bar is inserted into the top of the leading link fork tubes and is held in position by a clamp. This feature enables the SHE mini to be carried in most car trunks. Weight is 1 1 3 lb. with a half tank of gas.

A wire mesh leg guard protects the rider from burns, but the quiet silencer sticks out too far in relation to the right foot peg. The foot pegs are strong, luit do not fold.

As mentioned earlier, attention to detail is lacking. Ranking first among the list of complaints is the front fork assembly, which appears out of alignment because the fork crowns are not in line with each other. Also, the return spring for the kickstand is mounted haphazardly and will not stay on.

All of the wiring emerging from the engine case is unnecessary on the SHE mini because lights are not supplied. These extra wires are simply cut off a few inches above the engine case and left dangling.

The aircleaner box is fitted with an ineffective nylon gauze filtering element. The box is connected to the Bing carburetor with a flexible rubber hose, and is divided into two parts for easy access to the element. The front half, containing the element, is pressed into the rear half, which is mounted securely to the toptube/tank assembly, but the two halves will not stay pressed together.

Finally, only one brake, a cableoperated rear unit engaged by squeezing the right handlebar lever, is fitted. It works well enough on level ground at moderate speeds, but will not stop the SHE mini on steep hills.

In spite of these shortcomings, the SHE mini is pleasant to ride. It is sturdy enough for adults, light enough for kids, and is capable of unreal wheelies. The retail price is S320.