Pre Resto photos of Chibi deluxe 1970 model

[RayK]

Bought on eBay for $600 AUD

[oldbikeguy]

Hi Ray,
This is Dale in Washington State, USA... I restore vintage (mostly Japanese) cycles for a hobby. Among them I have several Bridgestones & 2 Rockford Chibi's... One I just got last week for $50 USD. It's in pretty rough condition & is missing quite a few parts... I do have another Chibi that I bought about 4 years ago that's pretty rough as well. They are orange color like yours. I'm looking forward to restoring them before long.
In your experience with your Chibi, did you find very many engine parts that were the same as the 60cc Sport Bridgestone? I own one of those as well, & a Tora that's pretty incomplete, but did have a 60cc engine that has some good parts on it.
I have a couple of Chibi engine questions.. are the 60cc Chibi engine parts interchangeable with the 60 Sport 60cc parts?
You have a great "Down Under Day", Mate!
Dale
 

[RayK]

Hi Dale
The engine on the Chibi is essentially the same as the 60 Sport. The obvious differences being:
60 Sport : 4 speed rotary gearbox, different gear pedal and different kick starter. The Chibi is 3 speed and has a different style of carby to the 60 Sport. Here are a couple of post resto photos. I have some used parts for the Chibi if you are interested => just send me a personal message with your e-mail address.
Cheers
Ray

[stickman]

very very nice

stickman

[oldbikeguy]

Hi again, Ray...
Thanks for the great reply! I appreciate the info on the differences between the 60 Sport & the Chibi engines.. I have a Tora also & it appears to have the same engine as the Chibi.  I have the Chibi cylinder off ( the head was missing when I bought it) & the cylinder is all aluminum with a steel bore sleeve. I cleaned the surface rust from the bore with 0000 steel wool. It looks shiny & is free of defects. I think I'll try to find a minmum oversize piston & rings, perhaps from Richard Clark if he has those in stock. I am near a reputable machine shop that has done cyl. boring for a '73 Yamaha DT250 I had, so that part is not a problem... I didn't see an oil pump on the Chibi engine, so I assume the gas & oil were pre-mixed..

I'd better go for now, hope to hear more about Chibi's from you again sometime...

Dale     

[paul]

Ray, I dont know a lot about CHIBIs, but Dale mentions a Chibi with aluminum cylinder with a steel sleeve. I thought the Chibis had hard chrome bores?

[RayK]

Paul
I think you are correct.  The Chibi has an alloy cylinder with chrome bore. The 60 Sport has a steel/iron cylinder with a steel/iron bore.

Thanks for your input. Maybe others can confirm this.

Ray