Vintage Kraft R/C Motorcycle, Eleck Rider restored.

When I worked at Kraft RC systems, Phil Kraft gave me this bike to test, promote and have fun with. I took it to Hawaii when I was on vacation and showed all the hobby stores on Oahu how it ran. It likes those rounded speed bumps in parking lots, and we had lots of fun showing off the First Mass Produced RC motorcycle in history.
It was a challenge to make the steering work, as bikes steer different than car geometry. (Google "How Bicycles turn", to verify my comments"). The bike is fun and fast. When I took out a tooth on one of the primary gears in the transmission, I was left with no way to run it again. But my machinist friend, Dave Raubinger, who made all the parts for my Hyperfly Prototypes when I was working on that project for Kyosho, volunteered to make some gears for me on his mill. He did a fabulous job, as you can see.
The bike is difficult to run, as it must be balanced and takes a fine finger to keep it upright in turns. Here, the street is a bit narrow for the turn ratio it needs, but none the less this was a fun video to make. Thanks for watching and Subscribing.

Dave Herbert
Academy of Model Aeronautics # 8221
Contest Director
Leader Member
Scientific Division

[ignaciocalderon]

Amazing piece of machinery. My dad bought one around the release year, and eventually I got it handed down to me. I see the video, and Dave was using the skid guards... it actually leaned and turned better without them!! Thanks for bringing back the memories!!

[tonyireland]

Got about 40 of these in a range of conditions.The rarest version is based on a Suzuki Katana.Its called a citirider.Last time I looked it took me ages to find it mentioned on the internet.

[zvent]

That is freakin' awesome! My Uncle had one of those when I was a little kid and I always thought that it was the coolest thing I had ever seen! He was really good at driving it and also made similar crash bars on his that he had made out of coat hangers.

[nathanewing]

I had one of these back in the late 1970's and it was a lot of fun. I bought it from Tower Hobbies, I was around 13 at the time. I don't know if you got any of the chrome nerf bars that came with them, I think there was two or three different sets that would keep it up right kind of like training wheels, the could be changed as your skill level improved. Since Evel Knievel was so popular back then, one to many jumps killed mine, but it was fun while it lasted.

[demofilm]

what an absolute Gem . nice to see it restored and running.

[mikesrcgarage]

Props to you for one keeping it going two for not letting it sit on a shelf three for actually running it! Very Kool!

[aphexteknol]

Long time subscriber here, Dave has never ceased to amaze me with the things he dusts off from his collection. What I think makes his channel so interesting isn't the objects themselves so much as the wealth of easily understood knowledge he imparts along with the video. I'd also like to take a moment to thank you Dave, for your military service on this Veteran's Day. Semper Fidelis.

[popeyeman]

The front forks are setup wrong. The parts where the front wheel bolts to should face the rear, this way the wheel centerline of the front wheel is behind the forks themselves. That's why it turns so wide and wobbles so bad. If the bottoms were reversed the trail is then behind the fork pivot point. I own 3 of them.

[minfinger]

You know it's wonderful to see old RC toys get a new life.

[tahustvedt]

40 years old bike. It looks exactly like the Kyosho bike in my 1982 catalogue (you can find the catalogue online as a PDF). Did Kyosho take over from Kraft?

[skaterock]

omg thats so cool. even though its old it seems better than the newer cycles.
happy veterans day from an NJROTC cadet

[pofrani]

I just got one. Do I need the transmitter or can I use a different transmitter? Mine only came with the bike and manual

[GlennEnt]

so cool...i love it when u fix and mod the vintage stuff :-)

[doncarlo]

the more I watch your videos, the more I learn ... the steering system is smart, to say the least ... great stuff ... keep on the great job, and thanks !

[kevco]

That is a very cool little slice of history.

[scflyer]

Hey Dave- that one's in a lot better shape than I last saw mine! I got got mine from Ray K.- needed a little tlc and was a blast to run. I set mine up to run fast.
The last good run it had it hit a rock about an inch high, doing about 30mph and it just launched the poor thing! pretty well bent up on landing. That was about 25 years ago!

[kennethjanczak]

What a fine piece of mechanic.... Thanks for showing 😊

[beverke]

nice to see it up and running again, still fast and looks great.

[davidfxgts]

Dave you have the coolest videos always. I remember these from when I was a kid. Always wanted one. Thanks for sharing the video.

[jaygdav]

just when I thought this channel couldn't get any Awesome!