The Quickshift
- Cboystv likes both dirtbikes and doing crazy modified car and bike projects
- This time, they got a Daihatsu minitruck and stuck a big ol' Harley V-twin inside
- Hilarity ensues
It's now the last week of August and we have one question: Is there anything that someone hasn't swapped a Suzuki Hayabusa engine into at this point?
The list gets shorter all the time, but you know what isn't anywhere near as common? Sticking a Harley V-twin engine inside a tiny, unassuming Daihatsu Hijet mini pickup truck (or kei truck, if you're all JDM, all the time).
To be more specific, the little auction screenshot that the Cboystv guys flash up on the screen for a second in this video says it's a Daihatsu Hijet Climber, which would infer that it has a diff lock. It's not entirely clear whether that's actually what they convert here, or if that screenshot was just an auction for an entirely different Hijet. And we never get a good enough look at the controls to see if there's a switch (plus, they never mention it if there is).
Still, that's getting stuck in the weeds, when what we really need to get stuck into is where that engine sits. When they get the little truck (which already has a sweet Hot Wheels-esque blue paint job) back to the shop, the first order of business is taking the bed off to get to the engine, which sits just behind the cab under the bed.
Thankfully, the engine comes out pretty easily.
We then get a crash course in the fact that they converted the Harley engine to a chain drive instead of sticking with the original belt, simply because every previous build they've ever done that involved a belt didn't work out, and they've had much better luck with chain drive. So, chain drive conversion it is, but we don't get to see it.
Once the Harley engine is mounted behind the cab, they take it for a test rip to see if it's going to work. We don't get a whole lot of insight into the build process, but they assure viewers that they've learned a lot about sticking motorcycle engines into minitrucks after their previous Hayabusa-engined Honda Acty build. So I guess we just have to take their word for it?
Somewhere along the way, we learn that the entire purpose for this build is, in fact, rolling into Sturgis. The Cboys are into a bunch of stuff, not the least of which is dirtbikes, so it's not entirely their scene.
They roll up with not only the Harley-powered minitruck (which now has sweet flame decals and has been christened 'Minihog'), but also the Hayabusa-powered minitruck, a Street Glide, a Yamaha R6 dirtbike build, and a Sea-Doo street ski.
And then they realize they didn't come dressed for the occasion, so it's off to the tents at Sturgis to find some more appropriate clothing and really get into the spirit of the event.
Does hilarity ensue? Yes, and also there's a guest appearance by the Grind Hard boys, and they break the drive shaft on the monster chopper. My telling you that in no way does justice to actually seeing what (and how it) happens, though, so queue up this video and go have a watch right now.
