coleman bt200 sketch 1 thColeman’s BT200s has become extremely popular. It is time the BT looked more like a motorcycle--in this case a flat track Harley XR750 race bike. The fiberglass body will be designed to fit only the BT frame.

To keep costs down it uses the stock seat and mounts. The Stage One kit is just the body in Coleman orange or white for your paint job. Stage Two will have a real gas tank made with anti-ethanol resin.

Yes, I will have tank graphics. No prices yet--it's still in the creation process. That weird big front fender is for ice racing so you don’t chew the legs off your friends. If you’d like to be put on the progress report list email me at phil@phillittleracing.com.

Progress as of Feb 6, 2023

Couldn’t get my ice bike running for Sunday so I placed myself in the shop to further the process on the BT200. You can’t see it here but I cut the body into parts to line up all the surfaces for a better end-time fit. What you can see here is how the tank now fits around the seat. You can get a better look at the lines I intend. I may thin the sides under the seat. They are 2” tall now. I’ll take about ½” off.

coleman bt200 13feb2023 1 coleman bt200 13feb2023 2

For kicks I’m going to do XR750-like graphics, but I’m going to offer Evel Knievel-like graphics, too. They will look like this but won’t have Evel’s name because his family jealously guards the copyright of his name with baseball bats. I’m sure a bunch of mini dads will freak over a 200 that looks evel.

evel graphics installed 1 evel graphics installed 2

Progress as of Jan 9, 2023

As a review for newer readers, this art is the goal of a race body for BTs and a front safety fender for ice racing BTs. I’ve been working on this body project for three months. The attempt here is to create a Harley XR750 body dedicated to the BT frame. It will use the BT seat to keep costs down.

Thus far, the foam and fiberglass substructure is complete and now I’m using piles of Bondo to arrive at the final shape. Shaping is not complete but it’s close.

bt 200 jan2023 2 bt 200 jan2023 3

If you are wondering why I have a dropped side section on the rear--that’s for attaching mini bike race number plates, like this:

bt 200 jan2023 1

If you’d like to be on the automatic update list just email me at phil@phillittleracing.com.

Progress as of December 2022

coleman bt200 dec22 1Tail and tank are now one part. Soon you will see it in more finished form and get a pretty good idea how it will look. Front ice fender has its first coat of what will be 10 pounds of Bondo.

Progress as of November 23, 2022

Now I am in the process of connecting the tank with the tail. Under the epoxy foam is a thin layer of glass.

coleman bt200 report nov22 20 coleman bt200 report nov22 21

After removing the excess foam. you can see the body immerging.

coleman bt200 report nov22 22 coleman bt200 report nov22 23

That black gunky stuff is an expensive coat of heavy, heavy primer that will prevent the fiberglass over coating eating the foam away. The next step you’ll see is Bondo time. Autobody filler will slapped on, then it’s time for sanding and shaping.

coleman bt200 report nov22 24

I’m hitting this project hard because I want to finish it before ice riding time. I hope I make it. I’ve got a whole bunch to do after this.

Thanks for watching. If you want to be on the progress mailing list, write me a note to phil@phillittleracing.com.

Progress as of early November, 2022

Got a fair amount done this past weekend (11/6/22). I’m working the tank because that will grind up most of the time. Tank floor is done as are XR750 shaped tank sides.

coleman bt200 nov2022 1

I filled the tank with epoxy foam. This will make shaping tank easy.

coleman bt200 nov2022 2

I carved the rough tank shape in foam.

coleman bt200 nov2022 3 coleman bt200 nov2022 4

When this is done it will crank up a lot of interest with BT owners. It will be a Harley race-looking mini very much like my previous effort but it will be scaled to the BT, not adapted like my old one.

Harley mini racer

Progress as of October 2022

This glob of fiberglass is the beginning of the front fender. It will look like the drawing and it is going to be very strong to take the hits and it is wide enough to clear ice screws. It will mounts to the fork.

coleman bt200 progress front fender 1

This is the very beginnings of a body. I’ve formed a box of cardboard behind the seat into which I will pour epoxy foam to shape the rear of the fender. If you look closely at the backbones you’ll see the rudimentary floor of the tank. The green tape and tin foil protects my 200 from looking like the floor under the front fender.

coleman bt200 progress body 1 coleman bt200 progress body 2

If you’d like to see the progress reports as this body takes shape email me at phil@phillittleracing.com.

SunF tires 1To run on the ice with your BT200 you may want to investigate aggressive tires like these from SunF. Make sure they have a rounded profile and are the right size for Coleman wheels. You can use ½” ice screws in the stock tires but I’m guessing you might get by with 1” studs in these tires. They were made for ATVs and SunF offers many styles.