NEWB from Hawaii...

Hey everyone. I am a newcomer to the mini-bike scene, but am excited to start building and riding!

I recently got a hold of an old APC mini chopper (from what I can tell) for free from a family friend who used to work on small engines (he actually passed away a few years back). My brothers and I have also been given a few mopeds in the past (from the same friend) and have been into fixing those mopeds which are great to ride around our beach town here in Hawaii. We are still newbs in mechanics, but it's fun troubleshooting.

I thought it would be great to get into mini bikes as I love to build things (I'm a structural engineer by trade) and riding them would be just as fun! Hopefully in the future I will be able to build a custom bike or two from scratch.

It does look like I have some work to do as the mini-bike I have now is fairly rusted (obviously from the salt-air from the beach close by) and needs a new engine (missing parts and doesn't look worth trying to fix it at this point).

I plan on stripping the bike down to the frame to sand it and repaint it and then build back all the new components needed. I might also want to customize it a bit with a single back tire (instead of two), different fenders, handle bars, etc. Does anyone know of some good places to buy parts from (preferably with reasonable shipping to Hawaii!)? I don't even know where to begin with the size or type of engine, any electronics or other miscellaneous parts for that matter.

I'll try to post some pics of the bike as is for reference.

This looks like a great forum to be a part of and I look forward to hearing more from you all! Aloha!