| The Rat - SpyGuy's Redneck-Style Cagllari/Daytona
"The Rat" (a work in progress)
Background: Bike originally started off as a half-fairing 47cc Cagllari/Daytona. Purchased on craigslist.com for $80.00, previous owner had apparently used the bike as an offroad dirt bike. Front fairing was missing, seat and tank section was cracked in half behind tank and at end of seat - entire rear section missing. So begins the tale of my NF (no fairing) Cagllari, "The Rat"......
I decided when I bought this bike that I was not going to restore it to original condition. Instead, the plan was to play with it, see what fun a goofy things I could modify on the bike, yet still have a perfectly functional bike to ride. Below is a list of the modifications currently on this bike, with more to come. *** NOTE: this is NOT meant to be a serious race bike - this bike was built "redneck-style" for fun.**
SPECIFICATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS:
Gas Tank:
Hard-mounted to frame with brackets. Gas cap has been modified with a breather filter made from an in-tank gas filter. Gas tank was originally hard-mounted to frame using a hose clamp, which is visible in earlier pictures of the bike.
Seat:
Seat is glued down on piece of sheet metal, cut to fit shape of seat. Seat is supported by section of cut-down office keyboard track, and bolted to frame using the original holes. There is also a section of heavy-gauge wire mesh filling in the open area between the seat and the tank.
Air cleaner:
Air cleaner is an Altoids Chocolate-Covered Cinnamon Mints box. The box has been drilled multiple times to allow air flow, and a piece of window screen wrapped in pantyhose protects the carburetor venturi. Oh, and the red gasket in the picture is from a toilet tank. (A second air cleaner, not on the bike, is made from an electric socket junction box.)
Gas filter:
A cut-down Volkswagon gasoline filter makes sure that the carburetor stays clean.
Muffler/exhaust:
An empty DuPont paint spraycan was modified for the exhaust by cutting off the bottom of the can. Tinsnips were used to enlarge the opening on the top of the can to fit over the front ring of the stock muffler, while the bottom of the can was cut to accept the stock muffler end cap. It is held on by the original spring and cotter pin.
Footpegs:
Footpegs are Mongoose BMX stunt pegs mounted on tapped original studs. This was a previous owner modification.
MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES:
Dremel wrench killswitch cover: A spare wrench was bent and screwed down under the original-style killswitch, so I wouldn't accidentally bump it while riding.
Duct Tape on front brake cable: Oh yes ... it can't be a true ratbike without duct tape! For now, a strip of silver duct tape is holding the front brake cable to the fork leg. (I cheated - there's also a zip tie underneath it!)
72 Jet: Biggest jet I could run in the bike, since the new Altoids air cleaner was letting in a LOT of air. Am considering boring original jet out to 74 or even a 76.
Triple reed mod: One of the members of pocketbikeplanet.com (davation) came up with a simple yet VERY effective way of making a cheap reed mod for tha Cagllari/Daytona by layering two reeds together. The mod was created by leaving one reed completely stock, and cutting the other to resemble a Black Widow reed. They work just as well as a Black Widow setup, and costs about a third of the price.
Gearing: currently 7/68. Future change will be either 64th or 62th rear sprocket.
To be continued ....
| 
