Tiddlerosis

Seeking Quality Scrambler Photos

2011-12-05T15:41:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of Tiddlerosis, the time has finally come for me to publish a book on the subject. It will actually be the Eleventh Anniversary by the time the book could possibly be published, but that is beside the point. I have been mulling over this concept virtually since the founding of the website, and I think the time has finally arrived. However, there is one hugely important variable that has been keeping the project on the back burner all this time: the availability of appropriate, high-quality photos. Many of the brands involved have literally been out of business for decades. At the very least, my (and our) interest is in machines that have been out of production for more than a quarter-century. To add insult to injury, some of us are aware that many of these same companies, although they may still be thriving and producing motorcycles, care very little for the preservation of their own past product histories.

A few weeks ago I had an idea that could possibly make it to production. I decided that what I need to do to satisfy my own lust for these ancient tiddlers, doing my part in the preservation of their historic accomplishments in the process, is to limit my book to my favorite, and one of the most popular, of these classic motorcycles, the Honda Scramblers. If I decide to proceed with this project, it will be a compilation of material on all the Honda Scramblers of 1962-1975. For purposes of satisfying my need to create smooth chronological material, I plan to open the book with the C110 and S65. Of course I know they are not true Scramblers in the CL sense, but the 1960 introduction of the 50cc C110 precedes the 1962 intro of the CL-72 and the 1969 intro of the CL-70. This plan will allow me to outline a smoother transition from early to late and small to large instead of starting in the middle as the actual machine releases did. Many of us as kids began our fascination with upswept exhaust pipes with the C110 and I want to document that nostalgic element of history.

I recently contacted an old college buddy of mine who is now retired, but he worked for American Honda in the motorcycle mechanics division for many years. He relayed the sad story to me of how he personally participated in the destruction of large quantities of printed material on the classic machines that fascinate us both. He also assured me that if there are any digital copies of these materials still around, that Honda would not tell anybody, much less cooperate with an archivist writer interested in re-publishing this material. Although I sent an official, printed request to American Honda several weeks ago, I am not holding my breath for a reply. Back as early as the late '60's and early '70's, I had always heard that Honda, nor any of the others among the Big Four, gave a Snuff-or-Not about preserving the history of machines the companies no longer produced. I would love to have Honda's cooperation on this project, but if I can't, there is an alternative.

This book must contain the required photos or it loses most of its appeal. One of the reasons I want to do it now is that the Kindle Fire has recently been released. This means that for the first time, color photos can be enjoyed in an e-book format by a significant number of readers. The print version will probably have to remain in B&W purely due to cost considerations, but anyone who wants to view the book on a Kindle Fire or any PC with the free Kindle software installed can buy the color version. The release of a B&W Kindle version and a color print version will be considered, at least, anyway, as will other e-book versions. When I released my most recent book that included photos, Ker-Splash 2: The High Performance Powerboat Book, in 2010, only the B&N Nook Color and the Kindle for PC were available. so that book, with 135 B&W photos is available only in B&W for the Kindle. The Honda Scrambler book I would like to compose would be very similar to Ker-Splash 2 in format and design. Limiting the Tiddlerosis book only to the Honda Scramblers will probably bring the size and price of the B&W print version down a bit from that of Ker-Splash 2.

The big question now is, Can I Acquire the photos I need? You can help. If you have one of these machines, or even photos of an example you used to own, and you would like to see your bike in a book, send your best shots to me. You must clearly own the copyright of the photo and give me permission to publish it. I shall, of course, give you full credit for any photo used in the book, and when appropriate, even add comments about you or your particular machine. Now take a deep breath because here comes the hard part. I spent literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hours sorting, selecting, and modifying the 135 photos in Ker-Splash 2. The photos need to be of high quality, high resolution, and bright, colorful, focused, and clear. The photo of the CL-200 shown above is a good example. I cropped and changed the digital file size before posting it here. The glare is a little bright on the Honda emblem on the gas tank, but otherwise this is a nicely appropriate shot. The great majority of what I would like to publish are straight-on side shots displaying the upswept exhaust pipe side of the bike. The less background clutter the better, although you can see the owner of this 1974 beauty carefully posed it with the classic signs. The list of models to be included are the: C110, Sport 65, CL-70, CL-90, CL-100, CL-125 (both single and twin), CL-160, CL-175, CL-200, CL-72, CL-77, CL-350, and CL-450. As much as possible, I want the book to reflect an American Honda perspective. I am not saying that no photos of European, Canadian, or Asian models will be accepted, but I would like to avoid that road as much as possible. The Scramblers were essentially an American phenomenon and I want to reflect that perspective in the book.

If I receive enough response to go ahead with the project, I shall. If not, I am afraid it will sadly die. Although I have plenty of material and ideas for the text of the book, I have difficulty envisioning it without photos of the classic machines I am discussing. The tone of the book will include lots of nostalgia, model identifications and descriptions, and of course, as many appropriate photos as I can acquire. You can contact me directly at ice9 at nctv dot com or by posting a comment on this post. Thank you for your support. Now who's interested in showing off his classic Honda Scrambler?

Questions, Questions, Questions

2011-11-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

The closeup photo shown is the same machine as this one, in case you want to see a wider shot. This is a fully restored 1963 Honda CL-72. As we all know, the CL-72 was extremely similar to its bigger brother, the CL-77. In recent days I have had time to work on some of the details of my Scrambler and Super Sport Charts. The main issue I would like to hammer down to the final truth concerns the production details of the CL-72, although my research has led me to change a number of details on other scramblers and the Hawks, too. I ask that all of my interested readers go over to the charts and carefully notice the changes I have made. Be sure to read the notes below the charts, too. You can comment on this post or the chart posts if you have information to add or you are at least relatively certain there is a correction that I should make.

The Honda ID Guide and other sources are fairly clear about most of the issues. Honda introduced the Hawk to America in early 1961 and the Super Hawk followed two months later. It is very clear that the original CL-72 Scrambler was exactly as described in the ID Guide, but the pictures and text I have in my collection of contemporary print sources show some wild and crazy variations in later model years. I have the brochures for 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1968. I do not have them for the years '65 through '67, and that is the origin of my problem. Since these were ordinary, best-selling machines, there were minimal road tests or ads printed back in the day, particularly for the middle production years. The Hawk continued alongside the Super Hawk, but the CL-77 replaced the CL-72. The questions I have concern the transition between these two models.

(1) Did the CL-72 cease production in 1965 as soon as the CL-77 was released?

(2) Did all of the CL-72 production have aluminum alloy fenders? Should these be clearly distinguishable in B&W photos as being shinier than the silver paint on the gas tank, yet duller than chrome?

(3) Did all of the CL-72 production have 7-inch SLS front brakes, and I assume, painted steel lower fork legs?

(4) Were any CL-72's built with the bolt-on single muffler attached?

(5) Did all CL-72's have slotted chain guards?

(6) Were any CL-72's sold in late '65 or early '66 and titled as 1966 models?

(7) Did all the early CL-77's of 1965 have silver-painted steel fenders, painted steel lower front fork legs, and 7-inch SLS brakes? Did these latter two items extend into the 1966 model year?

(8) Did all of the CL-77 models have the slotted chain guard? According to the Honda ID Guide, the earliest models, at least, did have it.

(9) During exactly what time period were the CL-77 mufflers welded to the upper pipe and slipped onto the lower one?

(10) Were any CL-77's built with the original paint scheme and chrome fenders?

Rex Como Deluxe

2011-11-07T12:33:00.001-08:00

This is one of those rare tiddlers for which I happened to have requested a brochure from the U.S. distributor back in one of those few years in which it was imported. Not only have I never seen a Como Deluxe, but I have never seen any Rex model, including its sportier brother, the KL-35. The photo is a scan of the small, B&W, 8.5 x 5.5-inch brochure.

The Rex brand in general, and the top two models in particular, are interesting in their unusual design. These were referred to as Economy Motorcycles in the brochure. They were built in Munich, West Germany, and the importer was located in Salt Lake City, of all places, not exactly an East Coast checkpoint! Of course my brochure may have come from the western distributor and there was actually a P.O.E. for Rex on the Eastern Seaboard, but my brochure calls the SLC office the U.S. and Canadian distributor. Rex offered five 50cc models, and nothing larger, as far as I know. Note, however, that this Rex is not to be confused with several other makers of larger motorcycles under the same brand name, but different companies. A Motorbike Kit for $99.95 was the entry-level machine. It is not clear from the brochure if the bicycle was included in the price. The one pictured looks like a standard, three-speed, English touring type of the day. Next up was the Piccolo Moped for $199 that made the Allstate Moped look like a roguish escapee from The Wild One. In other words, it, too, was little more than a glorified bicycle. The Monaco Moped was a close facsimile to the Allstate Moped. The top of the line was the KL-35 for $349 with its twin carbs and twin exhausts on a single-cylinder 50. That's why it deserved the Tiddlerosis treatment long before the Como!

Let's talk Como, shall we? The KL-35 screamed out 4.4 horsepower with its silly dual accoutrements on a single cylinder two-stroke, but the Como makes do with 3.6. With its 155-pound curb weight, I wouldn't challenge any Honda Sport 50's to a drag race, and you may want to avoid a girl driving a Cub, too. The three-speed hand shift is not exactly sporting, either, but you can lift your nose in the air when you tell them your Como has an Earles front suspension design, just like you-know-who. The white paint job also sports hand pinstriping just like the famous snotbrand, too. The handlebars and frame are pressed steel on the Como, just like on a Honda Cub, and the chain is fully enclosed, but you can see the tank is up front. It is puzzling why this one holds only 1.5 gallons when the one on the KL-35 holds 2.9. That space between the tank and seat seem totally unnecessary. The engines on the KL-35 and Como are fan-cooled. Both models were obviously trying to offer German quality and detail in a smaller machine. $309 for the Como in 1962 pushed its price above even the Honda Sport 50. Is it any wonder that this is a very rare tiddler?

See also: Rex KL-35

Suzuki Savage

2011-11-05T09:29:00.001-07:00

The Suzuki Savage was a dual-purpose machine of a different nature from the previously discussed Allstate Cheyenne. Although the Savage was a much later and better designed dirt bike, it was far from the best of its day. Whereas the Cheyenne was far too spindly and weak to be effective in the dirt, the Savage was a deluxe porker of the opposite persuasion.

When Yamaha set the trail riding world on fire with the introduction of its DT-1 in 1968, all the competing brands scrambled to copy it. Suzuki joined the trail revolution with the Savage in 1969. The brochure shown here is the 1970 model in red. The Savage came in two colors, red and green, and only the tank was painted either color. The TS-250 would continue in the Suzi lineup for over a decade, but the Savage name was applied only to the early models. Suzuki sought to chase the high-sales models of Honda and Yamaha with additional features, flashy styling and finishes, and more than acceptable prices. The Savage was no exception to this marketing ploy, showing off polished engine cases, chrome fenders, and turn signals. The enduro model had 23 horsepower, but a kit was a available to up that to 31 hp. Residing in a muddy area in those heady days, I always liked the really high front fender and wished a lot more brands would raise the front fenders on all their enduro models. The 3:25 x 19 front tire gives the bike a chunky look.

A Savage of this vintage has always been relatively rare. I have seen only a few in my lifetime. Yamaha pretty much owned the two-stroke market in enduro-type machines in those days. Of course Honda sold a zillion of its early, heavy, and slow, but very quiet and very reliable, Motosports and XL singles. However, the wide array of enduro models designed and sold by Kawasaki and Suzuki produced only moderate fires out the showroom doors. Many motocrossers from Suzuki became exceedingly popular in wild spurts of dirt-throwing competition, but the Kaws were rarely able to meet the Suzis head to head on the track or the showroom floor. The word on the trail was that the trim and agile Yamaha Enduros generally left the heavier Kaws and Suzis in their dust. Kawasaki was destined to be more successful with its high performance street bikes. Suzuki would put a lot of effort into the development of their TM, and later RM, motocrossers, eleminating trail-hugging weight and improving suspensions. Just looking at a photo of one of these early Savage models takes me back to an era of trail riding innocence. The Savage will always be overlooked in the motorcycle history books, sandwiched between the exquisitely designed Yamaha Enduros that unleashed the explosion and the ponderous, but likable, Honda Motosports.

See also: Suzuki Sport 80
Allstate Cheyenne
Yamaha DT-1
Honda Motosport
Suzuki TS-250 Model History

Allstate Cheyenne

2011-10-26T12:21:00.001-07:00

Back about 2005 I needed to clear some stuff out of my garage prior to a move so my wife and I staged a garage sale. Probably the best deal I offered to the browsers was my 1960 Allstate Sport 60. I had purchased this machine back about 1967-68 from a dealer for $60. At the time I bought it, the little bike was running, but it severely needed a complete tuneup, polishing, and a lot of TLC. I removed the headlight because I thought it was ugly and fastened the speedo, wrapped in foam rubber, to the bare fork assembly with a homemade bracket. Although the machine only had about 3000 miles on it, the seat cover had already been replaced with a dark brown one that always looked just a bit funky. The front fender had a dent in it and mounted too close to the tire to suit me, so I removed it and sold it to a friend to mount on another machine. Like the rest of that rolling technological anachronism, I could never understand why the rear fender was high enough to navigate a swamp without clogging, yet the low-mounted front would lock up at the mere sight of mud. The red paint was a little faded, but otherwise my Sport 60 looked clean enough. Oh yeah, one last slab of funk was a Honda 50 (C100/102) exhaust pipe welded onto the mid-rise header pipe. Who knows why the original pipe had already been discarded so callously, but we all know these little Sears Rowbutt bikes got little respect back in those days! Some teenage punk (me) ran the little beastie without oil in the clutch a few decades ago and trashed it. Instead of fixing it, I just parked it in one garage after another until some lucky soul stuffed it into the back of his station wagon for the princely sum of only $10!

I owned a C-100 in the mid-sixties, but I always lusted after a better trail bike. One of the leading contenders was the Allstate Cheyenne. I was fully aware of its Sport 60 heritage, but the black paint and knobby tires looked immeasurably better than the red Sport 60 with its sky-high rear fender over the skinniest rear tire with street tread this side of a Schwinn. I studied the Cheyenne in the Sears catalog and I even have a brochure of it, as pictured here. When Sears began unloading the last of their Cheyennes from the Sears Auto Centers for a measly $199.95, I went bananas for one, but that didn't make me a chimp with a dirt bike. Since I usually carried about 85 cents around in my pocket at the time, even that pitiful sum was beyond my budget. All I could do was to periodically visit the Sears Auto Center and stare longingly at what I would one day discover was a lousy trail bike!

I am not sure exactly which Allstate model years included the Sport 60 or the Cheyenne, but an approximation would be maybe 1959 or '60 through 1964 for the Sport 60 and 1965-67 for the Cheyenne. If anyone has any more accurate information, let me know and I shall update these years. According to the brochures I have, the Sport 60 was offered in black at one time, too, but I have never seen one. The Cheyenne may have been geared lower because its top speed is listed as only 37 mph, whereas the Sport 60 was claimed to scream up to 47! Interestingly, the machines are listed at almost the same weight of 140 and 141, with the Sport as the heavier! To my eyes, the spindly Sport 60 has always looked lighter. The biggest difference between the two models are the tires and wheels. The Sport 60 used the Moped's 2.25 x 23's and the Cheyenne had much more appropriate 2.50 x 19-inch knobbies. Both models were powered by 4.5 mice desperately peddling in the engine room protected by a skid plate. The archaic leather strap that held down the gas tank of both models was a nice touch. Hand-painted gold pin striping on the black fenders of the Cheyenne (and some Sport 60's) added a delicate European flair and unlike many much more modern Japanese tiddlers of the day, at least these bikes had proper front and rear suspension components. Enough of the faint praise, let's hit the dirt!

Since I have not actually ridden a Cheyenne, I shall have to extrapolate the experience from my Sport 60. The first thing you noticed was that unless you had the legs of a giraffe (as I do), the 31-inch seat height was a bit much. Of course later motocrossers would be built for giraffes, too, but at least those were competent, exciting machines. These two clowns were worse than tiddlers; they were piddlers. You could adjust the footpeg height and position in a 360-degree arc. I'm not sure exactly who would want to do this, but you could, nonetheless. The crossbrace handlars were a bit too high and way too narrow. The seat on the Cheyenne was a little sportier in style than that of the Sport 60, but they both were way too narrow, with too much leg reach down to the adjustable footpegs. Don't ask me why the Cheyenne received a road-racing style seat design to go with its crossbrace bars and knobby tires, but like many of its other features, this is precisely why a Cheyenne is interesting today. You might call it The Edsel Factor. The skinny tires, tall seat, and narrow bars made you feel like Miss Priss on her girl's bicycle, but worst of all, with a couple of well-toned legs, she could probably outrun you on her Schwinn! The three-speed footshift was on the left like the Japanese machines and the clutch was very light. The shift throw was so long that the engineers probably thought the rider needed to tailor that footpeg position to perfection to avoid injured ankles! Once you got balanced upon the tall, skinny machine, your next job was to try to keep those mice peddling at their maximum levels just to keep up with the Honda 50 accompanying you on your pleasure cruise through the dirt and mean streets of small town America. Since I owned a Honda 50 at the same time, I can tell you which one was always ahead, and it didn't come from Sears & Rowbutt!

See Also: Allstate History
Allstate Compact
Allstate Moped
Allstate Scrambler
Allstate SR 125

1961-63 Yamaha 125 YA-5

2011-07-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Boy, has this post been a long time coming! I have been researching this rare classic for months. Here is the story. I became a Yamaha fan as soon as I learned of the brand. The problem I have is that I cannot be certain when that occurred, but I think it was in early 1962. I remember going down to the local Yamaha shop and drooling over the YDS-2 and Ascot Scrambler. I am not sure if I have even seen a YA-5, ever. As you may know, the tiddler I have held onto since about 1973 is a '71 AT-1CMX, but I am not certain if I have seen a Yamaha 125 earlier than the Santa Barbara introduced in '64. What I have is a number of brochure sheets of the early 125's and the one shown here is the first one I acquired. I have always assumed that this is a 1962 model, but it could be a '61, and maybe even a '63. I know for certain that Yamaha built this model in those three years only, but the brochures I have are quite confusing. None lists a model year, but I have attempted to match the style and design of the brochures with those of other Yamaha models of the period. Let's just assume that the YA-5 pictured is a 1962 brochure.

What makes this model so important is that the very first Yamaha motorcycle was the YA-1 released in 1955. Derived from the DKW 125 as part of World War II reparations, the YA-1 looked quite a bit different from its direct descendant pictured here. The YA-1 had a triangular tube frame similar to the early American Harley tiddlers of the same period, also derived from the DKW. The YA-1 featured simple spring suspension on the front and plunger shocks on the rear. Yamaha also distinguished its model from the DKW and the Harleys with a four-speed transmission. Like the Harleys, the footshift and the kickstarter were on the left. This pattern would continue until the YA-6 Santa Barbara was introduced in 1964. The YA-1 also featured long, skinny fenders, a bulbous headlamp nacelle, a teardrop tank, a solo, tractor-style seat, a painted luggage rack, and a conventional carburetor. In other words, the first Yamaha appeared similar to the H-D Hummer and Allstate 125 of the same period. The YA-1 continued into 1956 in either black or maroon (like several Allstate models).

Yamaha broke out of the copycat styling mode in 1957 with the YA-2 looking like some weird Japanese perception of what an ultra-modern motorcycle should look like. The YA-2 had a pressed steel frame and a swoopy-odd gas tank shape that was curved into a slightly upside down U-shape along its bottom edge. The tires and fenders were now much fatter and the chrome handlebars were as flat as those of pressed steel on some early Hondas. The luggage rack and seat took on a more modern shape, and a fully enclosed chain guard and turn signals were added. The YA-2 continued through 1958 and became the YA-3 for 1959-60. The only change I have been able to ascertain from the few photos available is that the YA-3 received a passenger grab bar behind the solo seat and in front of the luggage rack. Maybe it was there to aid putting the bike on the centerstand? Maybe a pillion attached to the rack was optional? I also have a photo of a YA-3 with a conventional dual seat and a high-mounted front fender! Figure that one out. After extensive research, I have never found any evidence of the existence of a YA-4. If anyone knows otherwise, please make a comment about it.

This brings us to the vaunted YA-5. The main reason so much of this information is questionable and difficult to find is that this time period is precisely when the company was establishing a national beachhead in the U.S. I understand that Yamaha entered its first American race on Catalina Island in 1959 before setting up its first dealer network in California. This is about the time the first Honda dealers were set up in California and Yamaha was at least a few months, maybe longer, behind this time schedule. I am sure of my first memory of a Yamaha dealership in Columbus MS, where I saw the YDS-2 and Ascot, dating that year as 1962. What I am not certain about is where, or when, I got the Yamaha brochure pictured here. I think I ordered it from the Yamaha U.S. distributor in California, but I probably did not have an address to do that before I bought my first copy of Cycle World in August 1962. What we know is that you could buy a Yamaha from a dealership in obscure little Columbus MS by 1962. My YG-1 was one of the first Rotary Jet 80's to arrive at that same dealership about a year later. What we don't know is exactly when the first Yamaha dealerships were set up in California, and then in big cities outside the state. I found at least one source that stated a few YA-3's were imported here, but I am not sure I have ever seen a YA-5, much less a YA-3! To be safe, left's say the YA-5 was one of the first Yamahas brought to the U.S., along with the lowly 50cc MF-1, and possibly a few 250cc YD-2 road models and the beginnings of the 250 Sports, the YDS-1. I can speak from experience when I say that small Mississippi dealer sold YD-3's and MF-1's, but I do not think the YDS-1, YD-2, or YA-3 ever reached national U.S. distribution.

The YA-5 captures that magical time in tiddler history when the Japanese invasion was exciting and new. Electric starters were all the rage, and the new YA-5 had one, although as I have said many times before, my cat can kickstart most any two-stroke tiddler. Notice the tiny turn signals the YA-5 had. Remember that the popular early Hondas with which we are all familiar did not have them. That is because the early tiddlers from 1960-63 had small turn signal lamps that the U.S. authorities said were too small and too close together. During the boom years of 64-67, none of those Hondas had them. The company just deleted them from their export versions, but one of the big changes of the 1968 period brought the turn signals back to Hondas, though this time they were larger, brighter, and mounted on stalks that spread them further apart. The '64 Santa Barbara would not have turn signals, but these earlier YA-5's still had the small ones. One distinguishing feature of all the YA-5's is the unusual seat shape, with the front section being much deeper than the passenger section. Note that the YA-5 pictured has low bars, but later ones had high bars similar to those of the Santa Barbara. I have one brochure showing high bars with low bars as an option. I believe some of the early YDS-2's and Super Hawks were offered with both, too. Was this a choice with all YA-5's? I don't know. Unlike its predecessors, the YA-5 had a rotary valve, but the kickstarter was still distinctively mounted on the left. The pictured model shows off its red seat on a black bike, but most of the photos I have seen show a more conventional red bike with a black seat and western bars. The tank shape is now stylish and conventional, and the trademark Yamaha tall, as opposed to long, headlamp nacelle with the speedo in the raised portion has been established. Notice the tiny taillamp, the distinctive, early-60's tiny windscreen, and the lack of emblems on the tank panels. This last detail is one of the elements that have been driving me crazy for months. All the other YA-5 photos I have show either a round tuning fork emblem or a YAMAHA badge on the tank. I do not know why this one appears to feature a blank chrome panel.

Model year 1964 would introduce the much more common, at least in the U.S., Santa Barbara model with high bars, the new Yamalube oil injection system, and finally, a kickstarter on the right side of the machine for any of my cats needing a little exercise. Of course the YA-6 still had an electric starter, too. It has always been about the marketing, y'all. I may never have seen a YA-5, but I have always known in my gut that it was a key model in Yamaha history.

See also: YG-1 Rotary Jet 80
My First Motorcycle
Yamaha YDS-2
Yamaha DT-1
Photos of the YA-1
Several photos of a YA-5 currently for sale

Honda Super 90

2011-06-22T08:02:00.001-07:00

The Honda Super 90, or S-90 if you prefer, should ring the Tiddlerosis nostalgia bell for many of you. I dare say that this model might be second only to the Honda 50 lineup in its ability to jerk tears of adolescent joy from more of you than any other machine covered on this site.

As I have covered elsewhere here at Tiddlerosis, the Honda 50 set America's youth afire with the step-through, quickly followed by the Super Sport 50, and the trail model soon grew into the ubiquitous Trail 90. The company's development of its 90cc class was not quite so quick or as smooth. Yamaha for once caught Honda with its pants down when it released the YG-1 Rotary Jet 80 in early 1963. Yamaha's two-stroke copycat 50cc step-through models never gained much sales success against the phenomenal Honda 50, but the release of the first big success in the new 80-90cc slot boosted Yamaha onto the American landscape. The YG-1 was only 73cc, but the little squirt combined a bigger bike feel with genuine acceleration spunk! Compared to its main competition on the sales floor at the time, the Honda Sport 50, the YG-1 offered larger handgrips, a softer seat, and a telescopic front fork. With its rotary valve and weighing hardly more than a Sport 50, the Yamaha 80 was a blast to ride.

Honda released its first model in this new size class in September '63, but the new C200 Honda 90 with its big fenders, OHV engine, and leading-link front suspension was something of a snooze. Its solid red, black, or white paint job was bland compared to the numerous solids or combinations with silver fenders offered on the much flashier YG-1, and of course the YG-1 was not called Rotary Jet for nothing. Even with 14cc less displacement, the YG-1 could run and hide from the heavier C200. Strangely enough, the step-through CM91 would not be released until 1966 and the sporty CL-90 would not appear until '67. Honda had to do something to stop this embarrassment by Yamaha!

Honda released the Super 90, or Sport 90 as it was sometimes called, in October 1964 to immediate sales success. Better late than never, the S-90 debuted with an OHC engine and telescopic front suspension to complement its much sportier styling. The distinctively pointy tank would remain the Super 90's trademark through its final model year of 1969. The only significant differences between the beginning and end of S-90 production would pertain to the finish. The '64-67 models were offered in the standard red, black, white, or blue, all with silver fenders. In keeping with the larger models in the Honda lineup, the '68-'69 S-90's were produced with chrome fenders and the new candy paint colors of red and blue. By that time, the proliferation of competing models within the S-90's displacement and price range had expanded exponentially. My guess is that far fewer S-90's were sold with the later trim, considering the many choices any young American punk enjoyed at that time, including the CL-90 and several Yamaha, Suzuki, Bridgestone, Kawasaki, and even Hodaka models.

In case you forgot, the YG-1 could still leave the Super 90 behind in a sprint up to about 50 mph, but the S-90 could reach 60-65, while the YG-1 ran out of steam at about 53-55. This meant the YG-1 was still the acceleration champ, and this model dominated racing during the period, but the long-term sales champ was undoubtedly the Super 90. There is probably only one 80-90cc classic tiddler that has outsold it, the ubiquitous.... Slim tanks for the memories!

The Difference Between a Honda and a Harley-Davidson

2011-05-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

I am going to post something a little different here for my Tiddlerosis fans. If you have wandered outside this site into some of my other sites, you may be aware that I have written six books, but Tiddlerosis is not one of them. There is only one reason for this, but I am afraid it is a very daunting one: locating and acquiring permission to reprint the many official company photos of our many favorite tiddlers. When you become aware of how little the Japanese companies have cared about the preservation and promotion of their past products, as well as the demise of many of those companies, you can see what I mean by daunting. Believe me when I say that if I can find a way around this without approaching a project that will require a million hours of work just to sell a few copies of a book to a very small, specific market, I shall begin the project in a heartbeat. Until or unless that happens, if you want to read more of my style of writing and subject matter, you will have to choose one or more of my present books.

My book released early this year, Paradigm Shift, is somewhat about the rise of the Sarah Palin Phenomenon, as expected, but it is also about a lot more than that. I began writing this book more than twenty years ago, and its main focus both then and now was and is the economic devastation of America's middle class over the past forty years. Sarah Palin's big hurrah at the Rolling Thunder event yesterday reminded me of something that my Tiddlerosis readers might enjoy. One of my favorite, and one of the longest, articles in the book is entitled The Difference Between a Honda and a Harley-Davidson, from the Highways to Oblivion chapter about cars. I used that story in the book to describe several issues. The first was how the Japanese product invasion of America began. The second was how the American companies tended to take the easy way out by spending their efforts on marketing instead of technical development. The third was the development of the trail riding boom, followed by the watercraft boom. The fourth was a description of the manner in which H-D has positioned itself as the brand of right-wing doctors, lawyers, and dentists, replacing a previous association with left-wing outlaw gangs.

Reprinted here are the first three pages of this article. I hope that maybe one of you will be curious enough about the subject matter, or be impressed enough with my writing style, to want to read the whole book. You can get it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble online in print, Kindle, or Nook variations. I know most of you will enjoy this little excerpt, at the least!

The Difference Between a Honda and a Harley-Davidson

After World War II many American companies received the right to use the patents held by the defeated German corporations. One of these was the 125cc two-stroke motorcycle design created by DKW of Germany. BSA of England released their copycat version of the DKW 125 as the BSA Bantam, and in 1948, Harley-Davidson introduced their 125cc S-model. This was a very basic machine that was very cost-effective to produce. It had a three-horsepower, single-cylinder, piston-port, two-stroke engine powering a simple triangular frame on a 50-inch wheelbase. The S-model had no rear suspension and a very primitive, rubber-band-type front suspension. The wheels were 19” and the seat was of a spring-supported, bicycle type for one person. There was a battery for ignition and lights and a three-speed foot shift transmission. The 170-pound machine had a top speed of about 55 mph. The S-model was built by Harley-Davidson from 1948 until 1953 when the engine was enlarged to 165cc, which continued through the 1959 model year. From 1955-59 the 165cc was accompanied by the budget-model 125cc Hummer. These models had very little development or variation throughout all the model years between 1948 and 1959. They remained simple, straightforward machines with their technology firmly rooted back in World War II. There was very little competition in the small motorcycle market to force Harley-Davidson to significantly improve the bikes, so the company spent as little money on development as they could. They updated the colors annually, the horsepower was gradually increased, and a telescopic front suspension was introduced in 1951. Only a minimal amount of chrome plating was used and many models even had painted handlebars and wheel rims. The most interesting thing you can say about these little Harleys is that, like the $20,000 H-D behemoths of today, they had lots of style and charisma.

That was all about to change. Honda Motor Company brought its first motorcycles to the U.S. in late 1959. As soon as they did, it was all over but the crying, but nobody seemed to notice it yet. That is, no one except the Honda dealers with their businesses growing in leaps and bounds within months of the introduction of the first Honda motorcycles in America. Of course every kid whose parents bought him a Honda 50 Cub for half the price of a H-D 165 or a Honda Benly Touring for about the same price as a Harley 165 knew instantly what was up. You know something is up, but you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Davidson? Most new motorcycle buyers in 1960 met the nicest people on a Honda C-102 Cub 50. It had a three-speed foot shift like the H-D, but without a clutch to deal with when starting off. It had an electric starter. The C-102 had a kickstarter, too, but that electric starter was the big news of the day. It had a four-stroke, OHV engine, so you did not have to mix the gas with oil before pumping it into the tiny tank underneath the seat. The tank was only .8 gallon because the little tiddler got ridiculously high gas mileage. For only $300 you could hit that little starter button and putt-putt your way out the dealer’s door to a 45-mph top speed. The quiet putt-putt-putt sound from the Honda 50’s muffler was a lot more pleasant than the raspy, uneven pulse of the Harley-Davidson two-stroke. Not only did this put a smile on your face, but it brought one to the face of Aunt Matilda, too. You know the one. That old biddy who never liked motorcycles, never liked ‘em at all. She knew a nice boy when she saw one, and he never rode a Harley- Davidson!

Harley updated the 125cc and 165cc models into one single 165cc model named the Super 10 in 1960. Optioned up to about $500-600 with chromed Buckhorn handlebars, dual Buddyseat, crash bars, and leather saddlebags, the Super 10 was a real looker. Its large-diameter handgrips and 18-inch wheels made a teenager feel like he was riding a real motorcycle, and don’t forget those added elements of style and charisma. Less than 2500 Super 10’s were sold by Harley-Davidson in 1960. Surely there were two reasons for this sales limitation. The lesser reason was the Honda C110 Super Sports 50 and the greater reason was the Honda Benly Touring 150. Honda imported their more exotic 125’s into the U.S. in very small numbers in 1960, but these rare, collectible models were designed for the racy, enthusiast crowd. The model Honda would shove out the doors of dealerships in unprecedented numbers would be the more mundane 150 Benly Touring. This was before Yamaha expanded the tiddler market with its 80cc YG-1 in 1963 and Honda cross-examined with its Super 90 in ’64. In 1960 Honda sold their 50cc models for $270-$320 out the door and the 150 for $500-550. You can see where this story is going already, but a detailed description of the Honda 50 line is significant here, too.

The Honda 50 was introduced into the U.S. as three models. A fourth, the C105T 55cc Trail model, introduced in 1962, would of course start a revolution of its own, but that’s a later story. The basic Honda 50 was the C-100 with its step-through frame, cream leg shields, automatic clutch, and kick starter that sold for about $270. The C-102 was exactly the same as the C-100, but with the addition of an electric starter and a $30 price increase. The C110 Super Sports had the same 17-inch wheels, suspension, and OHV engine as its girly little sisters, but otherwise it was all boy. The gas tank was much larger and up front where it belonged. The handlebars were chrome and the transmission was a three-speed with a manual clutch, upped to four speeds in 1963. The engine had a higher-compression head, which added about half a horsepower. With the added power, the clutch, and the additional gear, the Super Sports was somewhat faster than the Cub 50, and its traditional motorcycle styling in a pint-sized package made it a lot more appealing to the budding motorcycle punk of the teenage persuasion. Since my cat could kick start any of the Honda 50’s, no self-respecting teenage boy gave a rat’s ass that the Super Sports had no electric starter. In fact, he probably considered that a plus. Both the C-102 and the C110 cost almost exactly $300 out the door. All the Honda 50 models had twin hydraulic shocks on the rear and leading-link front suspension, so they had a technological leg up on the Super 10 right off the bat. When you add a four-speed transmission and a standard dual seat for half the price, you begin to see the relevance of the Super Sports Cub to the slow sales of the H-D Super 10. It should also be obvious what Aunt Matilda thought of all this. She told her sister, the future motorcycle punk’s mom, exactly how she should buy the kid a Honda 50 instead of that nasty old Harley-Davidson. You know what the kid did next. He said to his mom that if all he could have was that sissy Honda Cub, could he please have the Super Sports instead? It cost the same anyway, so you can imagine how many moms gave in to Junior’s last request.

If Junior was light enough, the Super Sports Cub could hit 50 mph. The same lightweight might coax 60 mph out of a Super 10, but at twice the price. The only thing other than 10 mph the kid had to give up for his $300 change was the styling charisma of the Super 10. In exchange he got a machine that sounded better, did not need oil mixed with its fuel, sailed by the gas station, had a genuine four-speed, and was as reliable as a barn door. Did I mention that you could not kill a Honda 50 unless you threw it at a truck? For example, I personally bought a 1966 C-100 Cub in 1965 from a dealership for the horrible price of $120. I rode that tiddler like a trail bike, crawling and duck-walking up steep, muddy hills while carrying a passenger. We did this a zillion times over the three years that I owned it. The Honda 50 used a small-diameter spark plug. I did not own a spark plug wrench of that size when I had the Honda 50, so I simply never even removed the spark plug to look at it. All I did was pump gas into that tiny little tank, get one of my trail-riding buddies, saddle up and head for the hills. When I traded it in for a new Kawasaki 90 Bushmaster that would climb those hills without the duck-walking operation, the dealer gave me $125 for it. Need I say more about the reliability of a Honda 50? Why did I buy a step-through in the first place, instead of a Super Sports? There was no Aunt Matilda in my story, but by the time I bought the Honda 50 I had already hit a bunch of stuff with my ’63 Yamaha 80, which my parents had taken away from me years earlier. It had taken all the pleading I could muster, as well as a promise to ride the new machine only off-road, for my parents to give in to the C-100. The look of the Super Sports would have brought back too many memories.

The only detail that was left to bug me or any other future motorcycle punk was the small diameter of the Honda handgrips. The throttle handgrip of a Harley-Davidson was of a diameter larger than the handlebars, and it was not spring-loaded. The throttle grip on a Honda was spring-loaded and much smaller, adding to the impression of a smaller machine. Even the 150 Benly Touring had these smaller handgrips, but the machine was a 242-pound, 16.5 hp, SOHC (single overhead cam to you neophytes) four-stroke twin with 16-inch wheels and low-angel-wing handlebars that were almost as high and stylish as the Buckhorns on the Super 10. The claimed top speed of the Benly was 84, but we all found out quickly enough that that was the dropped-out-of-an-airplane speed. The real top speed was about 70-75 mph, but that was still at least 10 mph more than the Super 10 could muster. Even with its little handgrips, the Benly felt and sounded like a real motorcycle. With its high-revving, twin-cylinder, twin-exhaust, four-stroke engine, the Benly sounded a lot better than the Super 10. When you can push the electric starter button and move a four-speed foot shift through the gears to reach that real highway cruising speed, you wonder what sort of Neanderthal Motorcycle Punk would pay the same price for a Super 10? Even Aunt Matilda approved of its quiet purr, dual seat with a hold-on strap and rear foot-pegs, and its modern Sixties Jetsons styling.

The Super 10 had none of these attributes. A little over 1500 is the most Harley dealers could shove out the door in 1961. The last remaining 165cc Super 10 engines were used up in the Ranger trail model in ’62, and the street-only 175cc Pacer was introduced with a trail companion, the 175cc Scat, in 1963. Remember that trail-riding craze also started by Honda? After building less than 6000 Pacers and Scats through 1965, H-D tried one to sell one last American-built tiddler in 1966, the Bobcat trail model. These 1150 Bobcats became Harley’s tiddler swansong, at least as far as U.S.-built models went. Harley-Davidson tried to stem the Honda tide by purchasing the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aermacchi and putting their label on the firm’s 50-350cc lineup, but this did not stop the Honda onslaught. While Harley-Davidson was dealing in production numbers in the thousands, the Honda 50 surpassed the million mark.

Kawasaki 175 Trail

2011-03-11T13:12:00.001-08:00

This is one of my oldest Kawasaki brochures. It is from either 1965 or '66. I cannot remember the exact year, but it is certainly one or the other. Note the three holes punched in the top, something that must easily score among the top ten stoopidest things I have ever done in my life! The Omega was advertised in Cycle World in 1964 and the Samurai was introduced in '67. I have brochures of several Kaws from whichever year this is, and all have Superlube and the same general style, both the brochures and the motorcycles. Click on the photo to see a much larger version of Page 1 of the brochure, and I shall try to describe all the pertinent specifications from Page 2. Two other models from the same year were the 650cc BSA copycat and a 100cc street single. The strangest quirk is that this is the only one of the three models with an electric starter!

You can easily see the pressed steel frame that was used only on some of the earliest Kawasakis, and the Superlube decal on the side cover. This may or may not have been the first year for that feature. Note the solo seat, luggage rack, high chrome front fender, and bulky gas tank that were indigenous to some pre-1967 Kawasakis. The rotary-valve two-stroke had a claimed 18 hp and a top speed of 77 mph using its smaller sprocket. As with many small trail models of the day, the 175 Trail came with two rear sprockets installed. The company claimed that a rider could switch sprockets in just three minutes using the tool kit included with the bike. Notice how the skid plate is attached to the engine in front, and the chrome downtube goes directly from the frame at the gas tank mount to the front of the engine just behind the skid plate. Is this some sort of brush bar, or did the engine require a little extra bracing or vibration dampening? The claimed weight is 273 pounds and the eighteen-inch tires are called Knobby, but they look more like the very common Trials Universals mounted as standard equipment on many trail bikes in the '60's and '70's. The transmission was a four-speed rotary type. To you youngsters, that means 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, etc. I cannot tell you if that is going down or going up. I seem to remember at least one Japanese tiddler from the period that shifted all down and at least one that shifted all up, but I cannot remember which applies to the 175 Trail. If someone else can enlighten me, I shall modify this statement.

My first guess is that this is a 1966 model. The question of the model year more or less defines how long there was between the Omega and the first shipment of official Kawasakis to the U.S. The company improved its U.S. model line in a big hurry after that year. The 120cc C2-TR that would appear soon thereafter with a stylishly slimmer tank and what would become the Kaw trademark, among the early Japanese brands, double downtube frame, weighed 85 pounds less than the 175 Trail. I am sure that dropping the silly electric starter shed a few pounds, too. The stylish and quick Samurai would arrive in '67, quickly followed by the even faster Avenger, and then the legendary Blue Streak aka Mach III in 1969.

See also: G3-TR Bushmaster
Omega Sports Special 125
1972 Kawasaki 350 S2

Zanella

2011-03-04T15:27:00.001-08:00

I have been putting off this post for a long time, but I finally gave up on learning much more about this rare brand of tiddler than I already had surmised from this 1964 Cycle World ad. I have at least one additional ad from CW, and certain information from that one will be included here. This particular ad shows all three of the Zanella models clearly, and that is the main reason for this selection. You can click on the graphic to enlarge the pictures, but you still may not be able to clearly read the text. You can see a photo of a red model here (more on this later).

Zanella is not an Italian brand, as I immediately assumed when I first heard of the company. Zanellas were (are?) built in Argentina under license from what were originally Italian designs. According to Wikipedia, the company was founded in 1948 and is still producing small bikes. However, as with most of the non-Japanese brands displayed on this site, I doubt that Zanellas were imported into the U.S. outside of a few years at most during the mid-Sixties. The three models included a 50cc step-through, a 100cc sport model, and a 125cc offered in both sport and touring styles. All three were simple piston-port two-strokes, and as far as I can ascertain, all Zanellas were red. The shifters were on the right and the kickstarters on the left. Unusual among the numerous tiddler brands of the '60's, Zanellas were imported into Miami, and the quoted prices were F.O.B. Miami, although as you can see in this ad, there was a California distributor, too.

The 50cc Bambina is the snoozer of the bunch. For its type, style, and price of $190, you can easily see that its leading competitor in this country was probably the Allstate Moped. With its three-speed transmission and kickstarter, I would have chosen this 36-mph wombat over the Allstate any day. I expect most of you are allergic to pedals, too. Interestingly, this model is referred to as the Bambina in this February ad, but in another one from August, it is called the Bambino. Maybe they figured out that although it was styled like a girl's bike, it would be mostly boys buying it.

The 100cc Super Sport was a giant step above the Bambina, and its price of $330 almost doubled. It is unclear whether or not the two larger Zanellas had four-speed transmissions or not, but I bet they did. Zanella offered the touring model, called Turismo by the company, with a four-gallon gas tank and covered components, which seemed to include rear shock covers and side covers. The top speed was listed as 56 mph, and the copywriters bragged about the low compression ratios for longevity reasons. A strangely distinctive styling component of the 100cc model is the upward curve of the crossbrace handlebars.

The 125cc Super Sport is also available with the touring styling, but according to the later ad in August, the 100cc SS was dropped, leaving it as a Turismo only, while still offering the 125 in either guise. With a claimed top speed of 63 mph, the 125 Super Sport retailed for $360 plus destination and setup charges. For some reason, the 100 has the stupid-looking handlebars with either tank, but the 125 has standard. somewhat low, touring bars. You can see in the linked color photo that the smoothly curved rear frame rail paralleling the rear fender makes a nice styling cue to complement the little chrome crown on the headlamp and the painted white tank panels. My favorite styling mark of the Zanella Super Sports, though, is the smaller gas tank that seems to be curved inward on its top side!

Tohatsu Newbirdy 90

2011-01-13T08:50:00.001-08:00

I don't know a stinking thing about this motorsickle! A fan of Tiddlerosis sent me this brochure photo and I thought it was worth posting. The styling of this tiddler is unusual, to say the least. I might call it misguided ugliness! It looks very little like any other Tohatsu I have seen, and particularly different from the more common Runpet Sport. Notice that even Tohatsu cannot decide what to call this little squirt of early Japanese production: it says Newbirdy at the top and New Birdy at the bottom. I assume they meant to make up a new compound word.

There are many styling miscues on this machine that catch and repulse my eyes. Let's begin with that horridly oversized and angular side cover. Take it off, please! The solo seat hanging your butt out into space at the posterior end just looks stupid, as does that big piece of trim on the front fender. I have never seen a luggage rack mounted in that manner, and from the other side, I bet that massive, squarish chain enclosure was probably supposed to match the massive side cover; however, two wrongs don't make a right. I think the frame is pressed steel, but it is difficult to tell from this dark photo. Note how far forward the rear shocks are mounted. Both fenders look as if they are headed for the nearest mud bog, but I doubt that trail riders would appreciate the leading link front suspension. I can easily see why the much sportier Runpets sold better. The New Birdy featured an electric starter and an automatic transmission! I guess they figured some people were just too stupid or lazy to shift a Honda 50 with its automatic clutch.

A hat tip to Skungheeney for his contribution to Tiddlerosis.
See also: Tohatsu Runpet Sport

Suzuki 125 Stinger

2010-11-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

Welcome, readers from the Suzi GS website! I just discovered that a number of you are fans of Tiddlerosis, although most of the GS models are too large to be featured here. Please allow me to present a few details about this site. I hope you will continue to tell your friends about it.

I got in on the ground floor of The Sixties Tiddler Revolution. I had friends with many Honda, Yamaha, Cushman, Vespa, and other brands from 1960 onward. I learned to ride on a 1960 H-D Super 10, my first scooter was a 1957 Allstate Cruisaire and my first real motorcycle was a Yamaha YG-1. I lived in Mississippi until the mid-'70's, so all my experiences and dealer availabilities came from that region. This meant that my exposure to Suzis was limited in the early days. I always had considerably more direct contact with the other Big Three.

I began collecting brochures in 1962, and I often feature photos from my collection here. This is one such photo. You can see where many years ago I punched holes in the top to put my collection in a notebook. Boy, have I ever regretted doing that! The only thing worse I did was to actually scribble prices on some of them. Aaaarrgggghhh! Many readers have sent me more photos, and I occasionally post these at Tiddlerosis. The big problem is getting large, sharp, bright, perfect photos of the rare models. Quite often a particular model might be showcased just because that is the one of which I have a high quality photo. Any photos readers wish to send are always welcome!

Posting to Tiddlerosis is something that I do sporadically. I write books and have several other blogs, too, so my time tends to get spread quite thinly. Right now I am working on a large volume about politics and economics that I hope to get out early next year, so you may see very few new posts here over the next few months. NIAFS is my main blog, so you can keep up with whatever I am doing over there. If any of you are also interested in classic sports cars or recreational boats, you may want to check out some of my books. In case any of you are wondering, the only reason I have never published a Tiddlerosis book is the difficulty of obtaining quality classic photos and the permission to use them. Maybe someday I'll find a way....

The Suzuki Stinger was one of the company's flashier, and more unusual, models. I picked this model to feature here more or less at random. I know very little about the Stinger, and I am not even sure that I have ever seen one on the street. The one at the dealership where I picked up this brochure may be the only one I have actually seen, but I simply cannot remember for sure. I can tell you that I obtained this particular brochure from a dealership, one of the first Suzuki dealerships to which I had access at the time. All of my earlier Suzi brochures were ordered by mail directly from the U. S. distributor. The Stinger was a very impressive machine, compared to its competition, and I have always been surprised at how rare it has always been. The styling is nearly perfect, with its separate instruments, upswept pipes, crossbrace bars, simple, triangular frame, long, racy tank, trim headlamp and fenders, and boatloads of chrome! The claimed top speed of 75 mph was somewhat high for a 125; I wonder if it would really do that with a full-sized American on board? There were several Suzukis back then that caught my eye, and the Stinger was certainly one of them.

See also: Suzuki Sport 80
Suzuki Colt/Maverick
Suzuki X-6 Hustler
Lee's 125 Stinger Restoration

The Emotions of Styling

2010-10-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

Dave McNeal, one of the Tiddlerosis readers and a collector of pristine motorcycles of many brands, sizes, and types, sent me about fifty photos of some of his collection a while back, and this classic black Metralla is one of them. I have covered this machine in an earlier post, but this photo inspired me to discuss a topic dear to my Tiddlerosis heart, motorcycle styling, and the Metralla offers an interesting approach to this subject.

Let me begin by saying that I have a thing for skinny, as opposed to fat, motorcycles. Of course I find machines such as the H-D Cowglide and Fat Boy quite interesting style-wise, but I would never seriously lust after one. Longtime readers of Tiddlerosis already know that I am obsessed with Honda Scramblers, certain Yamahas, the Ducati Diana, the Kaw H-1 Mach III, and of course, the Bultaco Metralla. In the latter case, I am not interested in just any Metralla, but only the model as pictured here, in black only. I like the exact same look in red, but not nearly as well as the black one. I think this is mostly because the model has a red tank with the same black frame, headlamp, and fork covers as the black model, so the black one appears a little more pure to me in its styling, even though I usually prefer a red motorcycle over the black version of the same model.

Here is the unusual part about the Bultaco Metralla: taken individually, I do not much care for a single component of this machine! I do not like that white area, for a European license number I presume, on the front fender. I don't like the rear support on the front fender not being matched by one in the front. I don't like that big, long blob of a headlamp shape. I prefer rubber gaiters over solid black front fork covers. I do not care for that flip-open gas cap, the lack of chrome on the machine, or the air filter that looks like an ashtray. I hate the fact that the shifter is on the right and the kickstarter is on the left. I am not crazy about the look of Akront rims and the shape of the exhaust pipe is boring. If I think of anything else to fuss about, I shall let you know.

After the skinny concept, the next thing I look for in styling is how well a machine appeals to the eye in its overall look, and finally, I give large points to a machine that operates upon the KISS Principle, and the Metralla gets five stars in all three of these criteria. I may not think much of the styling of the individual components of the Metralla, but I love the total effect! There is not an unnecessary pound on this bike. It has little chrome because chrome parts are heavy. Every component is as simple and light as it can be. If the Metralla was a car, it most certainly would be a Lotus, a brand that rightfully prides itself on the ultimate development and utilization of lightness and simplicity to produce high performance from its delicate machines. I am sure that I shall never like the Metralla's right-side shifter or its magneto lighting and ignition, but I love the way its looks and function combine to make it one of my favorite tiddlers of all time!

See also: Bultaco Metralla

Yamaha YG-1 Rotary Jet 80

2010-08-31T07:06:00.000-07:00

The original Yamaha 80 holds a very special place in my heart. It was my first real motorcycle, after a '57 Allstate Cruisaire. My Rotary Jet was a very early 1963 model, before the invention of oil injection. You can read a brief introduction to that bike at the beginning of Tiddlerosis. The machine pictured here is a 1964 model. You can see an old B&W photo of my machine on the other post. My bike was exactly the same color as this one, fire engine red and silver. There were many issues that were new to the Yamaha 80, and one of them was a selection of many colors, either in solids or with silver trim. One of the first-year brochures displayed a rich, deep purple with silver, and I have seen blue with silver, solid red, and I believe I vaguely remember seeing a white with silver and a yellow with silver. As you see from the other photo, I added red and white vinyl saddlebags to my bike, and for reasons of which I am unsure at this time, mine had turn signals, but this one does not. I have seen versions of the 80 both with and without.

There were few competing 80-100cc Japanese tiddlers when the Rotary Jet was introduced in early '63, but several would appear over the next couple of years. The two biggest sellers, the plain putt-putt Honda 90 was launched six months after the Rotary Jet, and the Super 90, a legendary equal to the Rotary Jet, blasted onto the tarmac a year later. The Suzuki Trojan 80 was the only sporty street model in this class challenging the Rotary Jet until the Super 90. Yamaha really set a precedent with the introduction of the 80, quickly adding a trail model that would dominate the class in off-road racing for several years.

The Rotary Jet was a quick little sucker. Although the claimed top speed was 60 mph, the most a little shrimp like me could ever coax out of it was 53 mph, but it would get there in a hurry! Its big claim to fame was the new rotary valve engine. Look at the photo: the carburetor is hidden away down in the crankcase; that canister above it is the air filter. You could remove the baffle in the exhaust pipe to try to intimidate the competition a bit, but you would not go any faster.

Yamaha did a hell of a job upstaging the big volume seller of the day, the Honda 50 Sport, at a price of only about $50 more. Let's run through the specs. As mentioned earlier, the color choices were more advanced and the metallic silver fenders and headlamp nacelle were metal instead of plastic. Both machines had four-speed footshifts, but the Yamaha was a rocker type. The Yamaha had real telescopic forks instead of the dinky leading link type on the Honda. The seat was of a softer foam and the handgrips were larger. The whole motorcycle had more of a big bike feel to it. As I said, mine had turn signals, but none of the Hondas did at that time. Both machines were kickstart and included rear footpegs, but the ones on the Yamaha folded up. The Yamaha's exhaust pipe was a clean, rounded, megaphone type, without an ugly seam like that on the Honda. The key was one of those strange little thingies with a fat plastic head that fit into the left side panel. The pressed steel frame was a smooth Y-shaped monocoque design. The enclosed chainguard, fender flaps, and chrome-paneled gas tank were similar features found on both models.

Although the Honda Super 90 eventually outsold the Rotary Jet, this is clearly the model that really launched Yamaha from American showrooms. The company's earlier models were certainly racy enough, easily blowing key Honda competitors in the weeds, but these never really sold in large numbers in the U. S. Any pre-'63 Yamaha has always been a pretty rare beastie in this country, unlike the very common Dreams and Honda 50's. It did not hurt Yamaha's fortunes a bit to become the company that invented oil injection only about two years later, either!

Honda Benly Touring 150 / CA-160

2010-08-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Benly Touring 150 was introduced to American Honda dealers in September 1959, only one month after Honda had entered our market with the legendary Honda 50. The Benly Touring was a high-volume, low-priced refrigerator of a motorcycle. If ever a motorcycle deserved to be called an appliance, the Benly is a shining example. This is one boring classic motorcycle. It is also deserving of a very special place in tiddler history as the machine that brought modern motorcycling to an eager herd of buyers ready for back to school excitement. Has there ever been a better reason to be excited about going back to high school or college in the fall than on a brand new Honda?

Of course the Honda 50 changed everything on two wheels in America. Without it there may never have been a sandcast 750 or a naked Gold Wing, much less the highly evolved two-wheeled cars that most motorcyclists ride today. You may have forgotten this, but the 80-100cc single-cylinder tiddlers that would become so ubiquitous everywhere from every brand were still a few years away at the beginning of The Sixties. Due basically to its OHC twin-cylinder, four-stroke engine, the Benly Touring became an instant success with the step up to a real motorcycle crowd in the early Sixties. The 150 was the lowest level machine that might not scare you on a road more traveled than a country lane. This trait, combined with its modern styling, refrigerator reliability, and its low price of about $500-550 depending on the dealer, put the Benly 150 in the motorcycle history books.

The 150 had a claimed 16.5 horsepower for a top speed of 84 mph with a tiny Japanese rider going down a very steep hill! The specs may have been fudged a bit, but the Benly was light years ahead of the American and European competition at the time of its introduction. The 165-175cc, ten-horsepower H-D Super Ten, Pacer, and Scat had classic motorcycle styling along with classic piston-port two-stroke singles that drank manually mixed fuel and sputtered their unpleasant drivel out the exhaust. Harley-Davidson had not yet even discovered real suspension systems for their tiddlers, and anything interesting such as nice paint colors, a decent amount of chrome, and buckhorn handlebars were optional at extra cost! They could do an honest 60 mph. So? Most Benlys could easily top 70-75 mph. The Triumph Road Sports Tiger Cub certainly had styling and charisma out its unreliable English wazoo, but its price was lofty and its dealers and servicing were few and far between. Did I mention how often it needed that servicing? What about the BSA tiddlers? They were about as exciting as a ratty old Ford Pinto. What else was available? Allstates, Cushman Eagles, Mustangs, and Vespas were the most common. The only thing resembling a real motorcycle among this bunch was the Allstate 250 Twingle, and its styling and performance was as inviting as a vacation to Austria in the winter. Of course Yamaha and Suzuki would very soon be challenging Honda's market share with zippy, sporty two-strokes in the 125-250cc size class, but the Benly Touring was the machine with the big head start in the race off the sales floor.

Out of the thousands of CA-95 150 and CA-160 models built, there were very few variations. All models were available in the ubiquitous red, black, white, and blue, and as with most of the early Hondas, the production numbers probably followed these four colors in descending order. The Benly Touring introduced Honda's modern, pressed-steel frame styling with square-shaped fenders and lines to the youth of America. The enclosed chain guard, twin seat with passenger strap, folding rear footpegs, squarely styled tank, sixteen-inch wheels, and low angelwing handlebars were a new look to American eyes. Everybody loved the quiet, but pleasant exhaust sound, electric starter, battery lighting, and decently comfortable suspension. Even a SOHC engine with a four-speed transmission was considered exotic at that time., and with its horizontally split engine cases, it didn't even leak!

The model pictured is a 1967 CA-160. That model was produced from '66 through '69. I used this one simply because it is the best photo I have from this series. The original CA-95 was built with blackwall tires, slightly smaller knee pads on the tank, a 154cc engine, a smaller taillight, and a few other, very minor identifying elements. The mufflers were crudely welded with a seam left showing down the center of the top edge, and their sides were somewhat flat. In 1963 Honda changed the standard tires to wide whitewalls, altered the shapes of the tank pads slightly, enlarged the taillight for better visibility, and changed the mufflers to a more pleasantly rounded shape. The 161cc, twin-carb CB-160 had already been introduced in late '64, so the Benly engine was changed to this displacement in 1966. The most distinguishing trait in 1966 became the narrower whitewall tires, the new model was renamed CA-160 and the Benly name was lost in the ozone forever.

See also: The Honda Dream Chart

Ducati 250 Scrambler

2010-07-09T19:14:00.001-07:00

The Ducati 250 Scrambler was tested in my very first issue of Cycle World, August, 1962. I considered scanning the small B&W photo from the test into this post, but I chose this photo instead because it is larger and in color. I do not know exactly what model year the one pictured is, but I would guess about '65 or '66. The 250 lost a little emphasis in the U. S. market when the company introduced its 350 and 450 Desmo models in the mid-Sixties.

There are many similarities and a few differences between the model pictured and the '62 model in the road test. The tank is slimmer and sleeker on the later model. The seat has a chrome strip at the base on each side instead of a row of rivets. The front shocks changed to rubber gaiters from body-colored covers and the rear fender extends a little further at the rear underneath a larger tail lamp. A small, slim muffler has been added to the exhaust, although thankfully not adding any length to the short, sporty, downswept pipe, and the tires are more of a road tread than the Trials Universals on the 1962 model. The main styling element that seems to have made a step backwards is the elongated headlamp on the later model. The '62 has a pleasantly abbreviated model. All of these changes except the headlamp shape would have been typical styling and functionality updates a manufacturer might have made during the early '60's time period.

The 250 Scrambler was an interesting machine from many angles. The simple tube frame had a large backbone and a single downtube enclosing the engine, with thinner tubes comprising the rear subframe. The engine was a SOHC, gear-driven design producing thirty horsepower. Standard gearing offered a top speed of 82 mph, a zero to sixty time of 11.5 seconds, with the quarter in 17.3. A full selection of alternate sprockets was also offered, allowing a top speed up to 100 mph or much shorter gearing for cow-trailing with quicker acceleration. There was no speedometer fitted, but a tach was optional. The price for this little Duck in '62 was $669 and it weighed 277 pounds. Compare these figures to the high-volume Honda CL-72 introduced that same year in a similar price range. The CL-72 was a SOHC twin producing 25 horsepower with twin carbs. Its performance was almost identical to that of the Ducati with standard gearing. The obvious differences were that the Honda was much more of a street machine with instruments, battery, full passenger accommodations, and a claimed weight of 315 pounds. What's not to like in a bike that was essentially an off-road Diana?

See also: Ducati Diana

Bultaco Lobito

2010-06-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Lobito was the smallest Bul imported into the USA in the company's heyday of the late '60's. Sold here from '66-'70, the 100cc, two-stroke single was placed into a tubular frame that emphasized a sporty, off-road look for a tiddler. The 1966 model pictured here was typical of the breed. The fenders were trim, mounted unusually low in the front combined with extra high in the rear. The little Bultaco had Ceriani-type front suspension two years before Yamaha made the look commonplace with its DT-1. Notice how the end of the exhaust pipe is high, but the tank is large and bulbous and the handlebars are somewhat low and without a cross brace. The '67 model sold for $449 (plus setup and taxes) and it had an 18-inch rear wheel and (I think) a 19-incher on the front. The Lobito was not exactly marketed as an off-road machine, but the brand was already more famous for its off-road motorcycles than its road bikes by the time the Lobito was released, so a bit of dual purpose styling shines through. The official nomenclature used by Bultaco was Street/Trail. The 1969 model received a five-speed transmission and the price increased to $595 in 1970.

You can see from the photo that the Lobito has the typical right-side shifter, simple ashcan shaped air filter, and long, black headlamp of larger Bultacos of the period. It should come as no surprise that this smallest Bul is as light, simple, and efficient as the brand's larger models. The 180-pound Lobito produced ten horsepower from its slightly undersquare engine. There is not a turn signal, an electric starter, battery, or extra pound in sight!

Allstate Moped

2010-05-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

Back in my childhood days of The Fifties, I would grab up every new Sears & Roebuck catalog that arrived in my family's mailbox moments after the postman drove away. Of course this was the era in which the Sears catalog was every young man's visual access to bras and panties, so of course I had to peruse those first, even if they were in stunning black and white. As soon as I left the B's and the P's in the index, the M's offered my next fantasy, the Allstate motorcycle pages. I am not sure how many years the Allstate Moped was produced by Puch and sold by Sears, but it could have been as wide an era as 1954-69. Moped production covered at least the '55-'65 period, and probably a wider span than this. For a boy living out in the sticks, in my case, the town of North Carrollton, Mississippi, where McQueen went to appear in the movie The Reivers, the Allstate motorcycle catalog pages were the only contact with motorized two-wheelers available in those innocent years before Honda woke us all up and set the world on fire.

The moped pictured here is the 1960 model. Not only did I have a good quality shot of this year on hand, but this is sort of the pivotal year, the first full year of Honda importation into the U. S. For approximately a $100 more, the Honda 50 would provide a young man with a 4.5 horsepower four-stroke engine, a real foot shift, battery-powered lighting, and a dual seat. This was a moped, a slick derivative of a motorized bicycle, but the Honda 50 was a real motorcycle! The introduction of the Honda 50 would herald the swansong of the previous king of the entry-level, motorized two-wheelers for ambitious little boys.

For all the kids who wanted to stop the uphill pedaling before they passed out in the heat, the Allstate Moped was a twinkle in our eyes. How many lawns would we have to mow to pay for it? How could we convince our parents to let us have it? Exactly how much would shipping be to Bumfuzzle, Alabama, and could you please translate that amount into lawns?

See also: Allstate Compact
Allstate SR 125
Allstate Scrambler
Allstate History by Troyce Walls

Rhapsody in Blue

2010-05-03T18:41:00.001-07:00

Continuing with my obsession with the Honda CL-160, I want to feature this restored blue CL-160D owned by Dennis Nuernberger of Illinois. This is, of course, a black CB with a CL kit added by a dealer. You will note several key components of this machine. The luggage rack was a dealer-installed accessory. I had one identical to this one installed on my 1970 CL-350K2. The little black mudflap from the CB model is present, as are the color-matched (black) front and rear shock covers. I always prefer to post photos of the left side of any Honda CL to show off the pipes, but this happened to be the largest of the shots sent to me by Dennis, so I chose it instead of a smaller one showing the pipes, which on this machine are bone stock. As they always say about female fun parts, see one, seen 'em all, so you haven't missed anything from this angle. I pointed out the black rear shock covers because they are clearly visible from this angle. Just so you know, as I do from other poses of this beauty, the front fender is pure CB, there is no skid plate, and an electric starter is provided if you are too lazy to kick it.

This is the first blue kitted CB with a CL kit that I have ever seen, although I have always known they existed. As a Tiddlerosis fan who worked for a Honda dealership in the '60's pointed out long ago, the CL Kits were installed on CB's in many color combinations. These included a blue tank on a white frame, silver tank on a white frame, red tank on a white frame, and the same tank colors on a black frame. One of the things that has always confused me is that in the 1968 Honda brochure picturing a kitted CB, the bike shown has a red tank on a red frame, and the two shades of red do not exactly match! This stupid photo has been confusing me for decades! What dealer would do that? Keep in mind that Honda was changing to candy colors in 1968 and the tank was a candy red, whereas the CB frame and other components were in the old red/blue/black/white non-candy paint types.

Here is my true confession. My first real, official date was with Patty Hepner, the older sister of a very old friend of mine, a male bonding relationship that goes back to high school. Her brother would later even be the guy who introduced me to my first really long term relationship in college that would span nearly two years. Patty at the time was a shy, brainy type with long, straight, dark hair and large, bewitching eyes. Even my mom always knew that I was ga-ga over Paula Tardy from the First-Fifth Grads, and Paula had long, straight dark hair and big brown eyes, and she probably graduated Valedictorian from high school long after I lost contact with her. The point of this story is that I am still a sucker for big brains, long, dark straight hair, and big brown eyes. Pam Dawber and Jan Smithers still make me rise to attention, OK?

My first Honda brochure happened to be a little black and white thing from Al's Cycle Shop in Memphis. Yes, Gladys, the same shop where Elvis bought his Hondas. This 1962 brochure was the first year of the CL-72, and the first time I saw that machine, it was just like seeing Paula Tardy, Patty Hepner, Pam Dawber, or Jan Smithers for the first time. I am a sucker for skinny motorcycles with crossbrace bars and upswept pipes on the same side, just as I am a sucker for smart women with long, straight, dark hair and big brown eyes. Gloria Steinem, put on those big aviator glasses and I'll denounce the male sex just to get laid!

As I have also described in earlier posts, I have been a big fan of trail riding since the beginning of my motorcycle experience. The first really exciting, fast trail ride I experienced was on the back of a very special CL-160 in 1969. One of my pals and fellow Psychology Majors in college who was a lot more mechanically inclined than I was rebuilt old Hondas for a hobby/income, and he was particularly fond of the CL-160. When I first met him, he was riding the trails, believe it or not, on a Super Hawk with tall, ape-hanger bars, of all things! (This guy had a real knack for high speed riding. He would later graduate from what we now call Top Gun school and fly fighter jets for the U.S.A.F.) My favorite of all the old Hondas he rebuilt was a red, kitted CB-160. This bike had a red frame with silver tank and side covers. the most common, and probably the most attractive, CL-kitted combination of the era. He had replaced the klunky single muffler with a pair of big chrome megaphones, re-jetted the carbs respectively, and removed the electric starter. Did this howler outdo the sound of the original CL-72 with the baffles removed? No, but it was the second-best sound I have ever heard from a twin. Did it go like stink, even off-road? Absolutely. When I got him down to as low as $250 for this screamer and still did not buy it from him turn out to be the motorcycle mistake of my personal lifetime? Absolutely. Are you still reading about this obsession forty years later? Absolutely.

1973 Hodaka Combat Wombat

2010-04-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

You might call Hodaka the Mazda of the Japanese motorcycle companies, a little niche-market giant killer. After the demise of Yamaguchi in 1963, Hodaka rose from its charred tiddler ashes in '64 with its single model, the Ace 90. Unlike the Big Four, Hodaka concentrated all its energy into the small recreational dirt bike market. That first Ace 90 came only in one color, red, with what would become a Hodaka signature, an all-chrome tank. Changes to the Ace in succeeding years would be as carefully controlled as those to the legendary Beetle, and its advertising scheme would follow a similar pattern. The company was somewhat ahead of its time with its soft, long-travel suspension systems for off-road motorcycles. All Hodakas except the Ace used Ceriani-style front fork legs with uncovered rear springs. Models prior to the 100B had painted front spring covers or rubber gaiters. Hodaka owns the best model names in tiddler history: Road Toad, Dirt Squirt, Thunderdog, and Super Rat.

Let's examine the perspective of the motorcycle market during the Hodaka's approximate lifetime of 1964-79. Some people credit Hodaka with launching the off-road motorcycle boom, but I'm not one of them. Was the brand a booster rocket for a trend already begun, yes, but certainly not the pioneer of the genre. I took my own first off-road excursions in 1960, so you could say that I was there. Those first trips to the dirt were on a Harley-Davidson Super 10, and the trail models of that same machine, the Scat and Ranger, would be released in 1962. Honda and Yamaha were both producing several trail tiddlers prior to the release of the Ace 90. Hodaka's big distinctive difference was that the Ace 90 was never just a trail version of a street-only model, and many design features were incorporated from the beginning, such as the double downtube frame, long-travel suspension, upswept exhaust, and high, skinny fenders. In the early Hodaka days of 1964-67, the company did have a nice jump on the market while most of the competitors were still utilizing pressed steel frames and stiff suspension. The engines were pretty much comparable to those produced by Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki. Since this was prior to the launch of the Elsinores, all the Hondas were four-strokes at this time. The main differences among the bevy of two-strokes were the choices of regular or rotary shifters, automatic or manual clutches, and single or dual rear-sprocket arrangements.

We all know that Yamaha took charge of the party with the release of its DT-1 in 1968, and I think this is most likely what finished off Hodaka. All the new Yamaha Enduro and Motocross models had the same off-road attributes as the Hodakas with the piano-builder powerhouse operation behind them. Of course the whole trail riding fad was beginning to wane, too, but all Yamaha had to do was to go in the opposite direction and start building big four-stroke twins such as the XS-1. Hodaka never had that level of corporate diversity to back them up. The tiddler that I have now owned for more than 35 years has obviously always been my favorite, the AT-1 Motocross. This little bike had already been produced in very large numbers and even starred in a movie by the time mine was built in '71. The mood struck me a few days ago and I dragged out my copy of Little Fauss and Big Halsey and watched it for the umpteenth time, and it's still good!

This brings us to the subject of this post. Hodaka released its first 125, the Wombat, in 1972 and followed up with the motocross version in '73. This model was lovingly named the Combat Wombat, and it was a direct competitor in every way to the Yamaha motocrossers. Although Hodaka's first competition machine had been the 100cc Super Rat, the company really released the hounds with the Combat Wombat into the highly competitive 125cc racing class and marketplace. The technological design changes for small motocrossers were developing furiously. Yamaha released its second generation AT-2 in '72 and the first Elsinore blasted onto the market in 1973. The original 250 Elsinore was joined by its 125cc little brother in '74. The Combat Wombat ran against the Yamahas in 1973, but its souped up Super Combat successor was surrounded by Yamahas and the new 125 Minisnore on starting lines all across America in 1974. This was a very competitive market in which Hodaka was trying to survive!

See also: Hodakability
Hodaka at Wikipedia
The Hodaka Experience
Ode to Hodaka

1964 Omega Sports Special 125

2010-04-18T11:49:00.001-07:00

This is the second part of the August '64 Cycle World ad by Ken Kay Distributing, the west coast importer of Suzuki. As with the previous post, the photo of the machine advertised has been cropped and blown up for your detailed examination. The actual ad was a two-page spread with a small photo and a few facts about the machine printed in very large text. All the facts noted in the ad are repeated below.

Ken Kay claimed this was the lowest priced 125cc with electric starter sold in the USA in 1964 at $435. The specifications included a rotary four-speed foot shift on the left side, turn signals, sealed beam headlight, and an electric gear position indicator. You can see from the photo that a luggage rack and whitewall tires were also included. The front fender was chrome and the rear was molded from the pressed steel frame. Note the unusual chrome downtube bolted to the front of the engine case.

The big story is that, as far as I know, this was actually the first Kawasaki imported into the U. S.! The Kawasaki moniker was not used on this machine. It was as if the company was testing the market. I have in my files a photo of a 1964 Kawasaki 125 imported into Canada. Of course I have no proof that that stated year is correct, but that machine is almost identical to this one. The tires are blackwall, there is no mudguard on the rear fender, the trim on the engine case and sidecovers are different, and the rubber knee pad is different, but otherwise it is the same. A photo of a 1966 Kawasaki 125 shows the same machine yet again, except the suspension styling has been updated with rubber gaiters in the front and exposed chrome springs in the rear. Brochures of other Kawasaki models in 1966 show machines with Superlube oil injection, so I assume that the 1966 125 has it, too, but this Omega does not. The other Japanese brands had obviously had time to copy Yamaha's Autolube for the release of their 1966 models.

See also: Kawasaki G3-TR Bushmaster
1972 Kawasaki 350 Triple

1964 Trojan Magnum Super Sport

2010-04-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

Consider this the mystery machine of the day. A two-page B&W ad paid for by Ken Kay Distributing Company of North Hollywood CA appeared in the August 1964 issue of Cycle World. Ken Kay had been the western distributor of Suzukis since 1962, but this particular ad seemed to have been unique unto itself. This unusual machine, seemingly named after a legendary condom, shared the spread with the earliest Kawasaki imported into the USA, the Omega. The 125cc Omega did not carry the Kawasaki badge, and it was the predecessor to the 1966 Kawasaki F1 model. (The Omega will be covered in a later post.)

I scanned in the whole advertisement at full size, dividing it into two pages, and then cropped out the photo of the machine, allowing the most detailed viewing here. The following statements are quoted directly from the ad, as I have never found another speck of information on the Trojan. The brand name is not even listed at Sheldon's EMU site, which offers quite extensive coverage of European machines. The ad states that the Trojan was the lowest priced 175cc sold in the U. S. in '64 at $465; it produced 15 horsepower with a four-speed foot shift; and it weighed 175 pounds featuring its sport tank and fenders and magneto ignition. However, that looks to me like a small battery strapped to the frame just behind the air cleaner. Maybe it used the battery only to power the lights. The claimed top speed was 70 mph.

Here is what I can ascertain outside the ad copy. I assume this is an Italian machine just because of all the obvious styling and design cues, but I do not have a clue what company actually built it. Was there a short-lived Trojan company? This little bike has an awfully long name. Did they tack on the Super Sport to distract the snickering little boys to whom all the Sixties tiddlers were marketed? Was there a regular Magnum with a larger tank and fenders? The main reason I don't have a clue who built it are the presence of the straightforward, vertical, two-stroke cylinder and the large single downtube frame. The cylinder and air filter container look very Spanish, like those of a Metralla, but the frame design looks Italian. Could it be Austrian? Notice that the gearshift is on the right and the kickstarter on the left, in typical European fashion. The tank and seat look very typically Italian to me. The strangest component seems to be that black bar in front of the downtube. Is that a tire pump, or maybe some sort of steering damper? I think that is a screw-down knob for a conventional steering damper just behind the handlebar mount. There were many more Italian builders of tiddlers back in those days than we saw commonly imported into the U. S. Maybe this is one of those. Anybody have any comments or ideas?

Whizzer Motorbike

2010-04-15T12:57:00.001-07:00

Produced from 1948 through 1965, the Whizzer was a true motorbike competing with the Simplex, among others. The Whizzer phenomenon was just a little before my time. I am not even sure if I have ever seen one, recently or during those production years. I clearly remember its Simplex competitor, but that may have been because the Simplex was built not that far from me in New Orleans. The Whizzer company began producing its engine kit for bicycles in 1939 before actually building and selling complete motorbikes. Whizzer introduced the Pacemaker model in '48 and the Sportsman model a little later, followed by the Special, the WZ Series, and the Ambassador. However, the original engine kits were sold in far higher numbers than were the complete bikes, leaving a wide array of function and styling issues unique to the choice of the pedal-powered machine employed. Many of these were originally built by Schwinn, J. C. Higgins, and Cleveland Welding.

Whizzer motorbikes were resurrected in 1997 with a new operation in Carrollton TX. Current models include the $1795 NE-R Classic and the $1995 Ambassador. Both models are powered by a 138cc four-stroke. The base engine produces two horsepower and the Ambassador has an upgraded 3.25-hp version. The Ambassador also features an electric starter, larger seat and ape-hanger bars. Earlier models you might encounter on the used market include the 24-inch Blue Sportsman, the 24-inch Black Knight, and Pacemaker II built in both 24 and 26-inch versions. Most Whizzers of both the original and replica types utilized 26-inch wheels. The latest NE-R weighs 115 pounds and the Ambassador weighs 151 pounds. Both models are belt-driven with mechanical disc brakes and modern suspension systems.

The photo selected above is of an unrestored, original-type Whizzer. I do not know the model or the year. Although I have a dozen photos of newer, shinier Whizzers in my collection, I think this example best captures the nostalgia for the era.

Wikipedia states that competition from other motorbike brands caused the demise of the original Whizzer. If they mean the Simplex and others, that statement would be hard to swallow. If they are calling the 140-pound, 4.5-hp Honda 50 a motorbike, the truth has been revealed!

See also: Whizzer at Wikipedia
A History of the Whizzer Motorbike
The Resurrected Whizzer Brand

The Honda Obsession

2010-04-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

Honda first entered the U. S. market and the consciousness of its citizens in the summer of 1959. As I have pontificated lovingly and repeatedly, I used to drool over the Allstate models in the Sears & Roebuck catalog in the ‘50’s, but it was not until my best friend got a Harley-Davidson Super 10 and my favorite cousin got a Honda Benly Touring 150 in 1960 that my personal in-the-saddle experiences began. My first Honda brochure came from Al’s Cycle Shop in Memphis, the same dealership that sold Elvis his Hondas, in 1962. That small B&W brochure had certain recently discontinued models covered by a big X made by a ballpoint pen. These models included the C77 305 with pressed steel handlebars and the CB92 and CB92R, the highly collectible 125cc sport models.

Many patterns can be discerned from a study of the early Hondas. First of all, Honda cared very little for the model year tradition. That is one of the main reasons I have created the charts of these early models, to try to put them into a sort of American perspective. The next thing you might notice is that all the models prior to 1967 were painted in the same four colors. Some models were never offered in white or blue, but practically all were offered in black and most in red. The transition between the traditional paint of 1959 through 1966 occurred in ’67. By 1968 all the models had made the change to candy colors and the variations would explode in number from that point forward. The next component you might notice is that most of the instruments were in the headlight nacelles until ’68, too, and with the exception of a few CL’s, all front and rear springs utilized body-colored covers. Gas tanks were either silver or body-colored with chrome sides. Frames could be either pressed steel or tubular, but the CL-72 was one of the few with a front downtube; i.e., a cradle frame. Seats were hard, suspensions were stiff, and engine vibration was always there to tingle. Until the humpback 450 of 1966, the most exotic engine specs consisted of SOHC twins with twin carburetors.

The new Honda 350’s of ’68 changed everything, or more accurately, the company set in motion product design changes that would soon permeate the entire lineup. Honda stylists had obviously been asking themselves exactly why Americans wanted to buy leaky, antiquey Triumph Bonnevilles? Style, Marvin, style! Do you see the similarity between a 1970 CL-350K2 and a Triumph Trophy? The slender, painted gas tank, the chrome fenders, and upswept pipes with bullet-shaped mufflers should provide a few clues! The new candy paint jobs displayed elegant depth. The suspensions were softened a bit and the engine vibes were brought under a little better control with rubber mounts. Most of all, the horizontally split engine cases kept the oil off the garage floor, the SOHC twin-carb engines revved up a storm, and the electrics were never named after George Lucas!

Honda lost the magic after 1970, when most models seemed to reach their pinnacle of styling and performance. Many of the traditional CA/CB/CL bloodlines would continue into the mid-Seventies, but the spirit was dying. Although the S600 Convertible had been brought to California in 1965, followed by the small coupe/sedan I call The Honda Roller Skate a few years later, the company obviously got serious about car production beginning with the introduction of the Civic in 1972. It is probably not a coincidence that the first homely styling attached itself to many Honda motorcycles that same year. Most of the ’73-’75 models were more attractive, smoother, slower, and more expensive. The emphasis had already shifted to cars and large four-cylinder motorcycles years earlier. Who wants a tiddler when Mach III’s, IV’s, Z-1’s and 750 Fours were flooding the U. S. market? The last great tiddler would be the legendary 400 Four with its gorgeous, swoopy, four-into-one exhaust system. It seemed even as if Honda couldn’t wait to ruin this beauty with western bars in ’77! It was all over but the crying. Simple, reliable, visceral machines like this red 1968 CB-160 were gone forever. The tears for the glorious, excitingly affordable tiddlers have dampened the tire tracks of our memories.

See also: The Honda Dream Chart
The Honda Super Sport Chart
The Honda Scrambler Chart
The Honda Motosport Chart

1972 Kawasaki S2

2010-02-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

This may be the fastest tiddler of all time, at least in a straight line. Here is a brief history to refresh your memory of the good old days of two-stroke screamers with drum front brakes. Kawasaki was late to the party in the USA in the mid-'60's, but the company did not waste much time trying to lasso the ultimate high performance crown and keep it away from its competitors. Honda built wonderfully reliable, but heavy, four-strokes, Suzuki built models with a lot of style and flash for the money, and Yamaha built the best handlers. This left Kaw in control of the whole corral of straight-line acceleration kings.

The performance image began with the 250 Samurai and 350 Avenger twins, accelerated like a banshee with the H-1/Blue Streak/Mach III in '69, and blew everybody in the weeds with its H-2 in 1972, before double-overhead-camming Honda into the pavement with its Z-1 the following year. The first Mach III's were supposed to have been called Blue Streaks, but I think the name was changed to the more aggressive moniker for the U. S. market at the last minute. We all know how the white-with-blue-stripes model morphed into the unusual metallic charcoal color before becoming red with white stripes. The last Mach III of the original specifications was sold in '71 in blue with laser stripes on the tank and side covers.

Nineteen-seventy-two brought a number of changes to the Kaw corral. The big news, of course, was the 750 H-2 with its blisteringly blue speed. The company began to monkey with the H-1, giving it a yucky orange color and a choice of CDI and drum front brake or points and a new disc front stopper, either offered at the same price. Kawasaki introduced the new little brother S2 that same year. Except for the overly complex, heavy, and pokey (for a Kaw Triple) S1 250, the 350 S2 is and was probably the most ignored of all the legendary Triples. The S2 was built only a couple of years before being updated and replaced with the smoother (and more boring) KH400, which surprisingly stayed in the line for several years and sold quite well.

I have always been a fan of the Kaw Triples, and I owned a '71 H-1 for nearly twenty years. This friend of mine who I was associated with in the early Seventies could tell you some good stories about the 1972 S2. This guy was a hobby racer and employed as a mechanic at a Honda/Kawasaki dealership back in '72. He bought the first S2 as soon as it hit the dealership, and he claimed it was actually faster than the H-1, which I always doubted just a bit. He was particularly impressed with the ridiculous degree of wheelie-bility the S2 had. I suspect that was due to its 52-inch wheelbase in relation to the H-1's 55. He did not own that S2 for very long. He tended to crash it repeatedly in a very short space of time. In case you are wondering why I never met him on a drag strip, either officially or unofficially, it was because I did not purchase my H-1 until several years later as a used model. I was still in love with my CL-350 at the time, but that's another story. Anyway, my buddy eventually gave up the straight-line speed demon for the better handling qualities of a Yamaha RD-350. He went on to race Yamaha 350's in endurance competition for many years after that. The very last time I saw him was when he came to Texas to uphold his title as the #1 national 350-class endurance racer.

See also: 1964 Omega Sports Special 125

DKW RT 125

2009-12-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Although the focus of Tiddlerosis is on models ranging from 1955 through 1975, the little DKW 125 of the Thirties deserves special mention. Dampf Kraft Wagen was founded in Germany in 1916 and began building small, two-stroke motorcycles in the '20's. DKW was the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer in the '30's. After several mergers with Audi, Auto Union, and Benz, DKW joined VW in '64 and the brand name was finally phased out at the end of 1966.

Why do we at Tiddlerosis give a Super Rat's ass about this ancient tiddler? The design of the DKW 125cc two-stroke engine became a significant part of war reparations paid to Allied countries after WWII. All the U. S.-built Harley two-strokes, from the first 1948 Hummer to the last 1966 Bobcat owe their heritage to the DKW RT 125. Would there ever have been a line of Yamaha motorcycles without the RT 125? We shall never know if the inspiration could have come from elsewhere anyway, but we do know that the DKW 125 was the direct predecessor of the first Yamaha, just as with the H-D tiddlers. Although never sold in high numbers in America, the BSA Bantam was yet another model founded upon the DKW tiddler. Yes, I know that Japan was not exactly in on the reparations deal, but Yamaha's 125cc YA-1 was a direct copy of the DKW design.

With their large wheels, triangulated, hard-tail frames, teardrop gas tanks, low handlebars, and sprung, solo saddles, there is no mistaking the similarities of the models by DKW, BSA, Yamaha, and Harley-Davidson described here. There was even a Russian version, the name of which I cannot even pronounce, and MZ continued production of the design later than the other brands. I cannot be sure of the model year of the black RT 125 pictured above. It has been designated as a 1950 model by one source and a 1952-58 model by another. If someone knows the correct year, you can add a comment and I shall update the post. You might accurately call the DKW RT 125 the true founding father of Tiddlerosis!

See Also: The H-D Hummer Chart
The DKW EMU Gallery
Yamaha YA-1 at Wikipedia
BSA Bantam at Wikipedia
DKW RT 125 at Wikipedia

Honda Sport 50

2009-09-21T12:41:00.001-07:00

I have to pay homage to the little tiddler that I have wished for the most often, and ridden a number of times, but never owned. This is the later version of the Super Sport Cub that I clobbered with my Rotary Jet 80 at wide-open throttle, right in the chain guard, wearing nothing more than a pudding-bowl helmet, a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers without socks! Slap that horrific image right out of your head! Yes, it hurt, but we both were released from the emergency room within a few hours. There were miraculously no broken bones, but we used up the hospital's entire monthly allotment of Mercurochrome and bandages. Hiyo, Silver! Let's go back to those innocent days of yesteryear!

The first motorcycle I rode was a 1960 Harley-Davidson Super 10 and the second was a Benly Touring 150. The third was the very same red and cream, three-speed Super Sport 50 that I clobbered with my Yamaha 80. I lived to ride a few other Sport 50's in the mid-Sixties, too. What impressed me from the moment I saw that first Super Sport was that this was, indeed, a tiny motorcycle! There was nothing scooter about it. You swung your leg over the seat like a man should and you made sure it was in neutral and then kick-started the little jewel, just as if it was a H-D Sportster that your cat could kickstart! The handgrips were of small diameter, a quality that did not say Sportster like the big fat ones on the Super 10 did. The engine was tiny, quiet, and felt a lot stronger than the one with only one-half horsepower less than that of the step-through Cub. There was no substitute for cubic inches, but if you couldn't have those, Japanese technology, four gears, and a clutch went a long way toward making you feel like a real man. Just don't look too closely at the pressed steel frame and leading link front suspension. I remember like it was yesterday when my dad somewhat mysteriously asked me if I liked the little Honda or the little Yamaha better. My immediate reply had a lot to do with a steel front fender, a cubic inch, telescopic forks, and larger hand grips!

You can examine the detailed differences between the Sport 50's in the Scrambler Chart. The model was introduced in 1960 with a cream tank and side panels, low handlebars, a 3/4-length seat, and a three-speed transmission, albeit with a manual clutch, unlike its more numerous brothers. Through the years the model was available, the three-speeds increased to four, the seat got a little longer, the tank received body-color paint and chrome side panels, the side panels became body-colored, and the handlebars got a little higher. The strangest anachronism was in the name: the later, four-speed models were call Sport, but the earlier, three-speed models were called Super Sport! One little tidbit you may not have surmised is that the only (regular motorcycle) Honda model aside from this one with an OHV engine was the short-lived Honda 90 (CA-200) of 1963-66, making the Super Sport and Sport 50 by far the longest running, highest production model, non-OHC Honda motorcycle ever!

This is exactly what has made me daydream about having one of these little beasties in my garage, or even in my living room, for decades. Although I have displayed a version in black, a very common color for this model, I personally prefer the other three colors a little more. Although these were produced in black, red, white, and blue up until 1968, the final year, when only red and black were built, red and black were far more common than blue or white. I think the reason I like the lighter colors is that they offer contrast to the standard black parts, showing off the fact that this is a tiny motorcycle. I like the look of the black tires, hand grips, and seat contrasting with the painted motorcycle parts. I want to say I am riding the real thing, baby! The Lone Ranger knew to approach Silver from the left side. Swing your leg over that saddle like a real man. We don't need no stinking electric starters! You aren't coordinated enough to start rolling smoothly with a clutch and manual transmission? What are you, a wuss?

See Also: My First Motorcycle
The Honda Scrambler Chart

Suzuki X-6 Hustler

2009-08-25T15:15:00.001-07:00

When I recently set up a poll question asking what your favorite classic 250 is, the Suzi X-6 came in second. My old favorite, the CL-72, came in first by one vote, but that model has already been covered extensively at Tiddlerosis. I was quite surprised that the H-D Sprint received no votes, but I featured it anyway, since it was a distinctive model in its day, although some might say that it was distinctive in an unfortunately negative manner. It was certainly no CL-72, or Diana, or Metralla!

I have a number of photos on hand of the X-6, but I chose this one to display because the blue sky coloring is so perfect. Although I have larger photos of other Hustlers, some are of the scrambler version and some show non-stock parts. As far as I can tell, this example is just as they rolled off the showroom floor. The model was officially sold in the U. S. as the X-6 Hustler in '66-68. This one is a 1967. The Hustler name came from the U. S. publicity department. The model was called Super Six in European markets. The Hustler name continued in the U. S. on later Suzuki 250 twins at least through 1970, and maybe later. The model was called a GT 250 in '73, but I am not sure about 1971-2.

Suzuki marketed a 250cc two-stroke twin in the U. S. from virtually the beginning of the brand's entrance into America. The 1963-65 models were relatively klunky with pressed-steel frames, full-coverage fenders, enclosed shocks, four-speed transmissions, premix fuel systems, 21 hp, 17-inch wheels, and the trademark flat-bottomed headlamp housing. The sporty, five-speed YDS-2's and '3's were giving them a hard time.

Suzuki made their first indelible mark on the American psyche with the introduction of the world's first six-speed motorcycle. The X-6 featured a double-downtube frame, 29 horsepower, chrome fenders, uncovered springs, oil injection, and a 14-second quarter-mile. The chrome fenders were changed to silver with a single stripe down the center that matched the gas tank color in 1967, as the photo above shows.

There are a number of styling details of which I am not sure at this time, mostly because I have never been that much of a Suzi fan, so I don't have as many Sixties brochures as I do of some of the other Japanese brands. I am sure that the first year (1966) had chrome fenders, as did the later '69-'70 versions, but I am unsure of the 1968. My best guess is that it had the silver fenders. Even the 1964 T-10 sports model had a slim, chrome front fender, but I don't have any photos to verify if there was a smooth styling transition between this model and the '66 X-6. The later Hustlers of 1969 and '70 produced 32 horsepower, yet the brochure quotes only a 15.3 1/4-mile. I think all the Hustlers had 18-inch wheels, but the T-10 had 17's. The changes to the scramblers were held to a minimum with cross-brace bars and upswept pipes, one on each side.

The X-6 brought real pizzaz to the Suzuki name. The machines were flashy, stylish, and fast, and the battle with Yamaha for 250 two-stroke domination had only just begun. Generally speaking, Yamaha usually won on the racetrack, if not the showroom. With 20/20 hindsight, my best guess is that the earliest Yamahas were more common than the early Suzis, then the X-6 brought some serious sales to Suzuki for a few years, only to be eclipsed again by the legendary RD-350. I also bet that the early X-6's are more desirable to collectors than the '69-'70 models. The Morro Green and Mesa Orange shades of the later models offset whatever styling gains they had made with separate instruments and chrome fenders. Most of the tiddlers have always looked best in bright, primary colors, even with single instrument nacelles, chrome-sided gas tanks, and silver fenders. Some of the juiciest nostalgia seems to have rubbed off of many or our favorite tiddlers as they entered the styling trends of the Seventies. I think this is particularly true of the Suzuki X-6 Hustler. It's time was fading fast.

See Also: The X-6 Wikipedia Page
A Detailed Story About the X-6
A Report on the Super Six from the UK

Allstate SR 125

2009-08-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to inspiration from a tiddler fan named PJ, a Sears Technician who has commented as delta69 on the Allstate Compact page, I have rounded up a decent photo of the very rare SR 125. As PJ has stated, the SR 125 was sold in 1968-69 from the Sears catalog and stores. I don't think I have ever seen one of these except in the catalog. I may have seen an SR 125 in a Sears store back when they were being sold, but if so, I do not recall it. I certainly have never seen one on the street! As I remember it, this model was sold in only one color combination, red and silver, as in the photo. PJ says the model had 17" wheels, which appears to be true from this example. The 125cc single used a chrome bore and a distinctive radial head. You can see from the styling, particularly the gas tank, that this was a contemporary of the later Puch 250 Twingle. I do not recall exactly how this marketing plan fit in with the Gilera 106 and 124. According to the last catalog photo found in the Allstate Gallery, the 106 was sold alongside the SR 125, at least for a time. My best guess is that the Gilera 124 was not. The photo in the gallery is listed as 1967, when PJ says the model was a '68-'69-only. I cannot vouch for the 1967 date, as that statement came from elsewhere.

PJ has also mentioned that the Compact came in white in its last year of production. I have no doubt that this is true: I think I remember seeing at least one somewhere; however, I do not have a photo of a white Compact to back up this apparent fact. PJ mentioned a white Vespa model, too, and if you look at the Allstate Gallery, you will see a white Vespa paired with a red one. Thanks again to PJ for the new info!

I have been working on a new 2010 edition of my 2002 powerboat book, so Tiddlerosis has been ignored recently. I hope I can post more often soon.

See also: The Allstate Page
Allstate Scrambler
Allstate Compact (with PJ's original comments)

Harley-Davidson Sprint H

2009-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

I have had an approach/avoidance conflict with the Sprint H since 1963, my favorite model year of this lovable/cantankerous beast. We all know the storyline. H-D was having its V-twin lunch eaten by a horde of little Japanese minisquirts, and the company just had to do something about the onslaught. They thought that Americans had respect for Italian motorcycles, and the troubled Aermacchi factory was for sale, so they bought it and began to put their logo on the gas tanks of a bunch of 50-350cc models imported throughout The Sixties.

My feelings toward the Sprint are no better or worse than they are toward most '60's Italian bikes. I simply do not care for OHV thumpers, hard, narrow seats, right side shifters and left side kickstarters, or machines that feel compelled to make just starting up a fussing, cussing affair to remember. The '63 H-D brochure showing the Sprint H climbing a hill is one of my fondest marketing memories. I love the off-road styling with its exposed rear springs, rubber gaiters, high, abbreviated fenders, and high exhaust pipe, but you can still take that buckboard seat and shove it. I would guess that the 1963, and to a slightly lesser degree, the '64, Sprint H is my favorite classic Italian tiddler after the Ducati Diana.

The 1961 Sprint C was brought in much as the Italians had originally designed it, with a large tank and fenders, seventeen-inch wheels, eighteen horsepower, and a somewhat crouched riding position. Did I mention that the Sprint had a one-up, three down shift pattern exquisitely designed to be an accident ready to happen? The sportier, off-road oriented H became the companion to the basic C in 1962. The first H can be distinguished by its eighteen-inch wheels, high exhaust, white tank panels, chrome covered rear shocks, and low front fender. The '63 model had a red tank with a wide white stripe, exposed chrome rear springs, and a high-clearance front fender. The white tank panels returned in '64, and this was the last dirt-oriented 250cc Sprint H. The photo above is a 1965 model H, and you can see the chrome covers on the upper rear springs and the new low pipe and front fender. Other photos I have show an exhaust pipe more like that of the earlier H's, with a bullet-shaped muffler bulging from a smaller diameter pipe. I am not sure if the exhaust on the bike in the photo is original or not. I would not be surprised either way: the company could have changed it back then or the owner of this machine may not have been able to locate an original 1965 pipe for restoration.

Although the Sprint continued in the Harley-Davidson lineup for several more years, the party was quietening down rapidly as the CL160 showed the Sprint H its tailpipe for a much lower price. Even my extensive collection of H-D books offers little confirmation of the model year details as the Sprint continued into the later '60's. Harley added the SS model and the option of a black paint job, but even a shorter-stroke engine design was not enough to launch the Sprint rapidly off the showroom floor. Depending on which version you believe, the Sprint grew to 350cc in either the 1969 or '70 model year. Just imagine the ease with which the CL-350, SL-350, DT-1, and RT-1 would run and hide from a 350 Sprint while its rider was still back at the ranch trying to start it!

See Also: Harley-Davidson Scat

Aprilia RS 50

2009-06-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Aprilia RS 50 is the raciest 50cc bike ever offered to the public for legal street use in the USA. The Fluo Red example you see here is a current 2009 model. As with most of the prior year models, the '09 also comes in black. The RS 50 has been offered in a variety of colors and graphics patterns over the years, most of some combination of black, red, white, and silver in flashy patterns. No technical component of the RS 50 has been left in the past. Although the wheels are still seventeen inches, just like those on the original Honda 50, the tire compound and tread have been strongly influenced by the racetrack and the brakes are discs. The engine is a 50cc liquid-cooled two-stroke making six horsepower through a six-speed transmission. The top speed claimed is between 50 mph and 70 mph, and I'm sure that is a function of gearing and rider weight. Two nonracetrack-inspired items are the oil injection and electric starter, but the aluminum, perimeter box frame, full fairing, fat gas tank, thin seat pads, upside down fork and monoshock all scream racer!

Of course the price for this exotic little hotrod minisquirt is a lot bigger than its displacement, and that's the leading reason the little Italian is rare on American streets. I have never seen a new RS 50 listed at less than $3595, the official 2004 base price, making it somewhat higher than the cost of a Kawasaki Ninja 250!

See Also: The Aprilia RS 50 Page
The RS 50 Wikipedia Page

Chopper Cub

2009-06-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the final photo and iteration of the Chopper Cub. Although this is the only photo of this final development I have, at least it shows all the changes. The pressed-steel handlebars were removed, along with the plastic headlight nacelle and speedometer housing. The chrome handlebars you see here are probably the later, higher version from the Sport 50. The handgrips are those soft, fat type made in Italy. Although the headlight was left in abstentia, the speedo was left secured in place with its bracket. Only the plastic housing surrounding it was removed. The remaining changes were that the front fender was removed and the same nice uncle who fabricated the exhaust system built a black leather (not vinyl) pad for the sissy bar.

At the end of 1969, or maybe it was the beginning of 1970, I had acquired enough cash to move upmarket. I know this sounds positively insane now, and yes, it does make me wish I had bought a garage full of crated tiddlers in the '60's. I would like nothing more now than to have a fresh new Sport 50, a YG-1, a Scrambler 90, a blue '69 G3, and a Suzuki Maverick sitting in my garage waiting patiently for me to sigh contemplatively and wipe my drool off the gas tanks before I left. I returned the sweet little '66 C-100 to its original stock condition and traded it at the Kawasaki dealership for a new '69 G3-TR. I had paid $120 when the Cub was a year old at the local Honda dealership. The Kaw dealer allowed me $150 in trade-in value. I had never removed the spark plug.

See Also: Close View Cub, Metalflake Cub, Night Cub, Lake Cub, & Mud Cub

Close View Cub

2009-06-15T08:45:00.001-07:00

No further modifications have been made to the Chopper Cub from the Metalflake Cub post, but this photo taken on the same day at the same location offers a closer view. The only reason I am showing both photos is that, although this photo is much closer, the previous one provides a better look at the unusual split exhaust pipe. I wish I had taken a close shot of the pipe because its design was actually quite elegant with three spindly, chrome plated support pieces holding it in place. Unfortunately, these few Instamatic Ektachrome shots are all I have of the Chopper Cub. The final photo will be posted in the next day or two, and you will realize what a shame it is that I did not shoot more pictures of it! The final incarnation of the Chopper Cub displayed several more changes, and I have only one decent slide of that variation!

See Also: Metalflake Cub, Night Cub, Lake Cub, and Mud Cub

Metalflake Cub

2009-06-14T13:14:00.001-07:00

Judging from the leaves on the ground, I would say this photo of the Chopper Cub was taken in the autumn of 1968. Here you can get a good view of the sissy bar and Playboy license plate. If you squint you will notice the fancy split exhaust pipe has been fabricated and attached, and the white metalflake seat cover is clearly visible.

See Also: Night Cub
Lake Cub & Mud Cub

Night Cub

2009-06-13T05:56:00.000-07:00

Over the next several days, I plan to post photos of the Chopper Cub as it evolved from a Trail 50 to something only a teenage boy could envision throughout 1968-69. Each successive photo will be accompanied by decreasing amounts of caption or text. The intent is simply to show the evolution of a very strange Cub.

After I got bored with the Trail 50 concept, I took the Cub in a new direction. As a fan of Peter Fonda from The Wild Angels of 1966, with a little homage to his next movie, The Trip, I staged this little tiddler nightmare. Call it one of my artsy-fartsy days, in memory of Guido, The Killer Pimp, in Risky Business. I brought the front fender and leg shields back out of storage, but I left the straight exhaust pipe attached. I believe I even left the lower gearing intact, but I cannot remember for sure. You know what they say about The Sixties: if you can remember them, you probably were never there!

I don't remember where I got the sissy bar, but I believe it was the banana seat support from a Schwinn Stingray or a similar copycat model. I installed it with a short-travel spring action so that a passenger could feel a bit of back and forth movement. Among the props featured in this staged Instamatic slide photo are a Playboy license plate, a plastic, glow-in-the-dark skeleton model, and a red Jade East Buddha-style container. A copy of LSD: The Problem-Solving Psychedelic (actually a very informative book I read back in about 1966 before The War on Drugs twisted any mention of the subject distinctly into an abnormally plastic-fantastic shape) rests against the leg shield. My ubiquitous pudding-bowl helmet hangs from one of the mirrors which have also been reinstalled, but are barely visible in this photo. More traditional, daytime shots of the Chopper Cub are on the way....

See Also: Lake Cub & Mud Cub

Lake Cub

2009-06-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

In this second installment of the story of my legendary chameleon C-100, I want to show you a better photo of it and provide a few more details. This photo was taken at Pickwick Lake a little earlier the same day as the Mud Cub picture. I had previously turned my box-stock '66 Cub into essentially a Trail 50. One detail I mistakenly described in the Mud Cub story was the exhaust system. Until I took a closer look at this picture, I had forgotten that I had utilized a primitive, single, short, straight pipe in the Cub's Trail 50 incarnation. The fancy split pipe was not added until a little later. Here you can clearly see the straight pipe exhaust and rear knobby. Note the classic pudding-bowl helmet resting on the seat! In upcoming installments you will see the Mud Cub frog as it is transformed into the Chopper Cub prince!

See Also: Mud Cub

Mud Cub

2009-06-08T14:13:00.001-07:00

I have been waiting a long time to show off this photo of my legendary 1966 C-100. I finally found the time to begin using my slide scanner to put some of my Instamatic slides from The Sixties into my computer, and this is the first one I want to show off. The reason I refer to this tiddler as legendary is that it was quite a remarkable little machine that went through several iterations in the two-and-a-half years that I owned it. As I am sure I have mentioned before, my parents were adamant in refusing to let me have another motorcycle, no matter how small, after I hit several things with my 1963 YG-1. After nearly three years of pedaling, I finally convinced my parents to let me buy a minibike for off-road riding only. I found this little jewel at my local Honda dealer instead, and my parents consented, as long as I stayed off the public streets where I could find more things to hit with it.

The machine was a '66 Cub in black with white leg shields and side covers. The seat, as you can see here, was black with a white perimeter. There were no turn signals, even though the empty lens were attached to the handlebars, and it was the kickstart-only model. The first thing I did was to remove the leg shields and change the countershaft sprocket to a twelve-tooth model. The rear tire was changed to a full knobby and the front fender and exhaust pipe were removed. You cannot see it in this photo, but a very enterprising uncle of mine custom fabricated a straight, twin, balogna-sliced exhaust system that looked cool and decreased weight, but still did not make much racket. I shall post photos showing this feature at some later date. Like I said, the bike went through several iterations, and that's what makes it interesting.

The same talented uncle built me a bumper rack for the car, and I hauled the little tiddler all over the place. One of my favorite trail riding locations was at Pickwick Lake, right on the border of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. My aunt, the sister of the aforementioned Tim the Toolman, had a lake house at Pickwick and we used to haul the little tiddler up there on the bumper rack for a bit of outdoor fun. All boys like to play in the mud and the edge of a receding lake provides plenty of mud! After putting my camera away, I just got a good grip on the handlebars and dragged the little beastie sideways out of the muck. A neaby stick came in handy to scrape the mud from underneath the rear fender, and away we went!

The photo above was probably not taken in the summer, when boating adventures were available. I generally did this trail riding at Pickwick in the off season. Another fun thing I used to do with the C-100 was to take it in the boat to Hugh White State Park at Grenada Lake. Back then at least, there was no boat ramp in HWSP. You had to launch the boat over at the main public ramp near the dam, and then drive it over to the small beach area in HWSP. As I mentioned, we would lift the Cub up into the boat and tie it down securely, and then head for the lake. Upon arrival at the boat ramp, we would launch the boat with the bike still tied down in it, and drive the boat across the lake to the HWSP campground area. Upon arrival, we would lift the C-100 out of the boat, and onto the beach. Always with a fascinated crowd of envious onlookers, I would kickstart the C-100 and proceed up the very steep hillside path to the campground! Sometimes there would even be applause.

See Also: Lake Cub

1968 Yamaha DT-1

2009-05-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

I was twelve in 1960 when my best friend got a Harley-Davidson Super 10, and before the year was out, he had introduced me ever so briefly to what would later become known as trail riding. We rode down to the levee next to the Yazoo River in Greenwood MS, where the kids had created a small maze of trails they named The Bicycle Chute. It was a simple little area down near the river where the trees grew tall and thick enough to create challenging trails for bicycles and small motorcycles. The Chute itself got its name from a group of little up-and-down, roller coaster hills and jumps that the kids rode, surrounded by dense forest. This obviously was a pioneering event not only for motorized tiddlers, but what would later be developed and called BMX and Mountain Bikes. Yes, George, I said 1960, and I have generally been ahead of my time in most of my endeavors.

I loved trail riding right from the beginning. Boys in Mississippi have always been of the outdoorsy type. After all, it's not exactly an area famous for its big cities. Not only was it fun to explore the countryside, but you could learn new riding skills and enjoy new challenges in an environment that was safer than the street in front of your own house. My off-road riding was as limited as my street time for the next three years, until I got a Yamaha Rotary Jet 80 in the summer of '63. In 1967 I bought a Honda CA-100, removed the leg shields and front fender, changed the rear tire to a full knobby, the handlebars to a low-rise chrome set, and lowered the gearing, and off through the mud and trees I went, albeit slowly.

I put all the standard equipment back on the little Honda 50 and traded it in on a Kawasaki G3-TR at the end of '69, getting $5 more in trade on the little step-through than I had paid for it! The little Kaw was the first bike I had that was actually designed for trail riding, so it was naturally a huge improvement. I had this habit of befriending young men a couple of years older than me who had better toys, and in 1969, my best riding buddy was a true-blue Honda fan. Are you ready for the funny part? I met him out on the trails where he was riding a Super Hawk, with tall, apehanger bars, no less! I soon got to know him as a particularly strong fan of the CL-160, of which he owned several immediately after the Super Hawk. No trail riding memory will ever replace the one when he showed me what a CL-160 could really do. He took a CL-160 of the type that had been shipped to the dealer as a CB, removed the electric starter, changed the gearing and carburetor jets, and replaced the ugly, stifling muffler with a pair of upswept megaphones that howled like a banshee! Man, was that one mean trail-riding machine!

At about the same time that I bought the G3-TR, he bought one of the early SL-350's with the heavy, single-downtube frame and the fat front tire. Together we made a huge system of trails in a wooded area just off campus at Mississippi State University. He made the big whomping, climbing dips that he so loved with the enormous torque of his 350-pound beast, and I made the little cheater trails that went around them. Together, it was a delight to riders of everything from tiddlers to Honda 350's for many years to come. I actually owned the G3-TR for only nine months before I traded it for a new CL-350 K2, which believe it or not, I wound up riding through our little trail maze far more times than I had the G3. He didn't keep the SL-350 that long, either, before he discovered the machine that was really the hot ticket for our little maze of tight turns, dips, and hills full of trees and mud: a 1971 AT-1CMX with lowered gearing, high front fender, and a 21-inch front wheel. A little later mine would have the lowered gearing, a high, plastic Preston Petty front fender, and a Skyway silencer that made it just quiet enough to stop the splitting of my own ears. They were both red. They were both 1971 125cc Yamaha motocrossers slightly modified for tight, muddy trail riding. Mine is still in my garage. It still runs and looks just like it did thirty-five years ago. That's how much I like the Yamaha DT-1 and what it did for the sport of trail riding.

There were many American and European trail models long before the DT-1 reached America in early '68. Greeves, Bultaco, BSA, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Allstate, and many others built scrambler models in the late '50's and early '60's. They ranged from the seriously off-road competitive models of Bultaco and Greeves to the much less serious H-D Scat, Sprint H, and Ranger. Cushman made the putt-putt Trailster. Rokon stole a couple of tires from a Massey-Ferguson (or John Deere, if you prefer your fantasies green) and created the Trail-Breaker. Honda and Yamaha brought their tiddliest little Trail 50's to the USA in the very early Sixties. Trail riding in America was a rapidly growing hobby.

After Honda shook up the motorcyle world with the underwater-howl of its CL-72 in 1962, most of the Japanese brands jumped onto the Scrambler bandwagon as fast as their upswept pipes and crossbrace handlebars could carry them. Although I personally rode the trails with the CL-72's greatly improved descendant, the CL-350 K2, it was of course a compromise (some would say compromised) street machine. This is why the company had to develop the Enduro models. Of course Yamaha forced Honda to do this with the extreme success of its own Enduro line. The DT-1 launched itself right off the showroom floor onto the trails of 1968 better than any machine ever had. What about the Bultacos? You mean those finicky, expensive, not so durable things for which spare parts were hard to come by? What about the BSA's and Triumphs? Did they not look and sound wonderful? Yes, they did, between the electrical outages, starting difficulties, and drips on the floor.

The DT-l was released in Japan in 1967. The first one I actually encountered had been brought back to MSU by an ex-serviceman stationed you-know-where. Of course I knew exactly what it was the first time I saw it because Cycle World had been my favorite reading material since 1962. Yamaha extended its Enduro lineup in '69 with the 125cc AT-1. As most of you know, the company chose to do something weird: the AT-1 featured an electric starter to try to interest girls and other foo-foo riders in the new trail riding hobby. The original DT-1 was officially sold only as the Enduro. An optional, aftermarket GYT Kit turned the Enduro into a motocrosser. I am not sure in exactly which model year it happened, but by 1971, the AT-1CMX like my friend and I bought was a separate model. The C stands for third year or third generation. The '69 was simply called the AT-1; the '70 was the AT-1B; and the '71 was the AT-1C. The 1972 models began the first major changes which brought the AT-2 designation instead of an AT-1DMX. The machine I have is the last year of the original design. That's part of why I'm so attached to it.

As the years progressed after the 1968 DT-l, Yamaha expanded the line into other displacements. The RT-1 was the 360cc model; the CT-1 was the 175cc model; and the HT-1 was the 90cc model. I have never personally ridden an HT-1, but I have ridden the other two. Surprisingly, I have never ridden any of the 250cc models, either! One has never seemed to come my way. I really liked the torque of the RT-1, and I might have bought one if friends had not talked me out of it. They always said that starting the beast could be a real pain in the leg or shin, and with lowered gearing and well developed riding skills, the 125cc-250cc models were more satisfying. Since I never rode an RT-l except briefly, I am going to assume that my friends were right. Obviously if the little 125 sweetheart had not been so lovable, I would never have kept it all these years.

See Also: Honda Scramblers
Kawasaki G3-TR Bushmaster
Harley-Davidson Scat & Pacer

1968-70 Suzuki AS-50

2009-05-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm just a sucker for exquisitely designed and styled little tiddlers. In the 50cc class, there are three standout models that I rate somewhat above the rest. Now don't get me wrong: the Honda Sport Cub and several of the little Yamahas are some of my favorites among the more garden variety tiddlers, but I'm talking special machines here. You could include the 1990 two-stroke Honda NS-50 in this group, too, but I won't simply because the turquoise and pink on white colors with too much black engine and exhaust just didn't make it in my styling department. I never did like punk rock very much, either, for many of the same reasons: long, natural hair on Leon Russell and Mark Farner, fine, but pink and green spiked hair, no thank you. You can spot my age bracket now, but you already knew that if you have read very much of the material here at Tiddlerosis. Although technically speaking the NS-50 belongs in this elite group, but I'm sending him back home to change his clothes first if he wants to join my elitist club!

The point of this story is that among the common tiddlers, the later Honda Sport 50 with the higher bars is the most successfully styled 50cc tiddler, with several others following closely in its 2.25 x 17 tire tracks. The NS-50 is a very sporty Honda tiddler, but the company had nearly thirty years to design it. The most exotic, and expensive, of all the 50cc Hondas, the Dream 50, has already been featured in another post at Tiddlerosis. The most exotic, and expensive, currently produced 50cc tiddler, the Aprilia RS 50, will be featured in an upcoming post.

The Suzuki AS-50 was an underappreciated tiddler produced, I think, in 1968-70. The little Suzi's claim to fame was that it was such a highly sporting machine for its day, with all the correct styling cues and lots of flashy chrome. Unlike the Aprilia, it had neither a full-race fairing or high-tech suspension, and the price was quite ordinary for the day. You spell that ridiculously cheap compared to 2009, for either an RS 50 or an AS-50! Although not as exotic or special as the Dream 50 produced decades later, the AS-50 was sort of a properly dressed NS-50 that was twenty years ahead of its time. Yes, you could say that certain Bridgestones, Yamahas, and even the Yamaguchi SPB offered much the same package, but the styling and technical details of the AS-50 conspired to create racy tiddler perfection for the street.

I am not absolutely certain of the three years produced, but looking at the brochures I have, '68 to '70 appears to be correct. The 1968 model was referred to as the AS-50 Colt. The frame, swing arm, and side covers on this model were red, the rear exhaust support was chrome, and there were no turn signals. The Colt name was not mentioned in the '69 brochure, the exhaust support was red, and the model now had turn signals. The name was changed to Maverick in 1970 and the color was blue, but the color pattern was changed. The '68-69 AS-50 had a silver tank and seat tail with a body-colored frame. The 1970 Maverick had a body-colored (blue) tank on a silver frame. The other blue parts were the seat tail, side covers, headlight shell, and upper fork covers. The swing arm was black and the exhaust support was changed back to chrome. It's a toss-up which year is the most perfect. I like the silver tank and body-colored frame of the earlier models, but since I am a sucker for blue, anyway, I give them all an A+ in styling.

The AS-50 offered technical proficiency to back up its sporty looks. The engine was a rotary valve two-stroke producing 4.9 hp through a five-speed transmission. The brochure claimed a top speed of 65 with a tiny Japanese teenager driving off a cliff, but 55 was more like the truth for normal people and terrain. Since the most I could ever coax out of my '63 Yamaha Rotary Jet 80 was 53 mph, 55 was quite respectable for a 50cc machine. There was no tach, but at least the speedo was a separate unit outside the headlight nacelle. The skinny chrome fenders, chain guard, and expansion-chamber type exhaust added to the tiny machine's racy flavor. Of course all the Japanese two-strokes had oil injection by '68, and the AS-50 was no exception. The long, skinny gas tank had a stylishly angular shape, but the racing-type seat was a bit controversial, although its visual appeal was outstanding. The AS-50 was a solo affair with no rear pegs present at the party!

See Also: The AS-50 at Suzuki Cycles

Bridgestone GTR & GTO

2009-05-05T17:36:00.001-07:00

I know there are a lot of Bridgestone fans out there who would like to see more about their favorite brand here at Tiddlerosis. The research on this topic has taken longer than usual because it seems to be difficult to find information you would think would be more available, if for no reason other than that the company has remained in business all these years producing tires. There seems to be a lot of disagreement among the fans as to the exact details of the marque's history.

For example, everyone agrees that this pair of two-stroke, rotary valve 350's were the last hurrah of the company, but I cannot be absolutely sure what years they were built. The best consensus seems to be that the GTR was introduced to America in late 1967 and the GTO arrived in 1970. Most sources agree that '71 was the last year for both models, yet I cannot help but wonder if many stragglers were not sold as holdovers in 1972 or even '73 by U. S. dealers. The GTO is far and away less common than the purely road-going GTR, but I have not found a source that provides any actual production figures.

There were a lot of distinguishing features of these rare beauties. They had twin-rotary-valve engines producing either 37 or 40 horsepower, depending on which source you believe. The six-speed transmissions were ahead of their time. The foot shifter and rear brake pedal were interchangeable so that either Nippon or Limey riders could be happy. The six-speed was a rotary shift, a style that has come under fire for its obvious downside of shifting inadvertently from sixth to first gear! Magazines of the time thought the chrome cylinder liners were innovative and long-lasting, but they questioned the appropriateness of a design that could never be rebored. The front and rear wheels were nineteen-inch, making for good handling with a tall seat height. The seat itself sported a non-slip suede-like top surface ala Bultaco Metralla. (The Kawasaki Mach III desperately needed one of these, and soon after my '71 model sent me sliding to the back of the bus a few times, I recovered the seat with corduroy!)

The styling of the GTO and GTR was quite elegant. Of course I preferred the GTO since I am an addicted street scrambler maniac, even though something about the GTO's crossbrace handlebar bend looks just a little bit too tall. I like the usual upswept pipes and abbreviated front fender, though. I could do without the left-side kickstarter and the chrome upper and lower rear shock covers on both models, but the slim tank and seat add a bit of elegance. The GTO had a skid plate to distinguish its off-road capability, but I have not been able to ascertain if any part of the gearing was lower than that of the GTR. Again, sources do not agree: I have read top speed quotes of both 95 and 105 from books and magazines, nevermind whatever the official brochure said. All sources agreed that the quarter-mile was in the upper 13's or lower 14's, though, quite enough to embarrass a few British 650's, especially the slower single-carb models.

If you ask me to define exactly how I feel about the Bridgestone GTR and GTO, I shall have to remind you how analagous that would be to asking me my opinion of a certain rock band or two in 1973. You see, I think 1973 was the absolute, ultimate epitome of rock music. There was so much omigawd good stuff coming out of Britain, West Germany, and other European outposts in '73 that it was difficult to adequately pay heed to it all. This is how it was at the end of The Sixties for motorsickles, too. The GTR was launched amid the last of the Super Hawks and CL-77's and the first of the CB/CL-350's. The latter would set the motorcycle world afire with sales in the '68-'71 period, right when the GTR and GTO were just trying to get noticed. Yamaha was a storm of raging Big Bears and Catalinas working their way up to the BSA death knell they called the XS-1. Suzuki was developing classy, stylish, reliable twins and triples. Kawasaki was redefining performance with Avengers and enough triple-Machs to stomp any upstart brand into the ground! I think Can's Future Days is still today one of the greatest albums ever recorded, but have you heard it? It competed with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Quadrophenia, Aerosmith, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Tubular Bells, Brain Salad Surgery, and Dark (F***ing) Side of the Moon that year, for heaven's sake! In my humble opinion, the Bridgestone 350 GTR/GTO faced a similar uphill battle just to get noticed, and as with Can's magnum opus, the world is the worse for it

See Also: A Detailed GTR History
GTR Photos & Ads
A 1970 (not '67) GTO Article
Gary's Bridgestone Motorcycles
The Bridgestone Tiddlerosis Page

BSA 441 Shooting Star & Victor

2009-04-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

You might think of BSA as the Austin-Healey of the motorcycle world, a legendary brand that for whatever reason, never properly brought itself into The Sixties, and therefore signed its own death warrant. Much has already been written on this subject by far more detailed researchers than I can count, so I shall just hit the high points of the story as they apply to Tiddlerosis. The engineering of both A-H's sports cars and the motorcycles built by Birmingham Small Arms was a product of an earlier time. The Austin-Healey 3000 was phased out after 1967 due to the more stringent safety and emission requirements placed on cars beginning in the '68 model year. Although the Austin-Healey Sprite would continue into production through 1971, I believe the last ones imported into the U. S. were 1970 models. British Leyland controlled MG and Austin-Healey at the time, and the Healey name would be phased out, although it would make one last appearance as the short-lived Jensen-Healey. The whole story was roughly parallel to that of BSA and Triumph. The two brands would become more and more alike under the same corporate ownership as the model years continued. The only fluke in this story is that, although BSA had originally bought Triumph, the BSA brand was never as popular in the U. S. as Triumph.

This story could be told from several different viewpoints, but I have chosen the last hurrah of the BSA tiddlers in the U. S. as the focal point for this Tiddlerosis version. The official, original BSA tiddler was the 175cc two-stroke Bantam, built from 1958 to 1969, and based on the even earlier 125cc and 150cc, low-production models. The Bantam was sold alongside the heavier, more expensive 250cc and 350cc four-stroke singles during the same general time period. The claim to fame of the final Victor and Shooting Star models is that these were exceptionally big sellers for BSA in the U. S. The 441cc Victor was marketed as BSA's final enduro model in the trail-crazed USA market. The BSA brand would not survive to be included in the final Triumph attack on the American tiddler market with its Trail Blazer in 1972. The smaller 250cc Starfire was somewhat less successful, although it looked almost exactly like the Shooting Star, and it, too, would disappear after 1970. Americans seemed to generally favor the Triumph styling cues of the Trophy 250, as they did with most of the larger models competing with BSA equivalents.

There are two more sides to this story and they are both true, although they may seem to be diametrically opposed. I clearly remember drooling over a 441 Victor, alongside a Yamaha Big Bear, in the Columbus, MS, K-mart; not in the parking lot, on a pedestal in the showroom. I was in awe of its clean styling, compact design, and relative light weight. The Big Bear looked positively bulky in comparison. I loved the idea of that big, thirty-horsepower engine in such a small chassis, unhampered by something as sissified as an electric starter. But we all know there is a downside to all this fawning over styling, don't we? A long-stroke, 441cc single would shake a python's grip loose from a rat. It took the powerful kick of a kangaroo to start that beast, too, and that was when it was in a good mood! I'll take that Big Bear instead, thank you, and so did everybody else. Go back to making guns, you limey bloke, and don't let the stiff kickstarter hit you on the way out!

The Shooting Star pictured here is the best photo I could find of the catankerous, but lovely, beast. When you click the link below to the Wiki page, you will find the same beautiful photo and the same homage to its lovely styling and U. S. sales success. When you click the link to the 441 Victor page, you will get what I think is a very accurate, but entertaining, version of the opposite viewpoint from one who has actually owned, and kickstarted, one of these things. In the back of our adolescent minds, we all knew it was true, even back then. The Big Bear actually did not have an electric starter, but with its two-stroke twin and Japanese (read modern and effective) electrics, it didn't need one.

See Also: The Shooting Star Wikipedia Page
The EMU BSA Photo Galleries
The Real Story from a Real Owner

Honda Dream Chart

2009-04-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: This is the first chart that I have had to create from scratch since moving Tiddlerosis to the Blogger server. The previously posted charts were copied and pasted directly from the old site. I have been fighting with the Word chart format for weeks with this post. I finally decided to just post it this way. I hope the data is clear enough in this format. The system will not allow me to space out the information as well as I would like, so you have to read it carefully to avoid confusion. Maybe I'll figure out a way to post a proper chart at some time in the future. Thank you.

All models had single carburetors. All except the 50cc and 90cc models and the very rare 1959 CE71 Dream Sport 250 had 16” wheels. The smaller models had 17” and the rare beastie had 18” wheels. All models had leading-link front suspension, except the 175’s, which had telescopic forks. All the machines in this chart except the step-through 50’s, 70’s, and ‘90’s had four-speed transmissions. Red seats may have been available on many blue 125cc, 150cc, 250cc, and 305cc models in the 1959-62 period. Red seats may have been available on red models and blue seats on blue models during the same period. The C77 305 may have had white seats available with some colors, too.

It seems that white became a Honda color choice sometime in 1960. Although many models have been offered in blue and/or white, Scarlet Red and Black were the most common Honda colors by far from 1959-67. A transition to candy colors of more varied shades began with the 1968 models, but this was happening as the base model Dream series was being phased out, so these models continued with the standard black-red-blue-white choices to the end of production.

Model Years Colors Details

50cc Singles

C100 50 1959 - 1962 Red – Black – White - Blue Cub & Super Cub emblems - Tiny taillight

C102 50 1960 - 1962 Red – Black – White - Blue Cub & Super Cub emblems - Tiny taillight – electric starter

CA100 50 1962 - 1970 Red – Black – White - Blue Honda 50 emblems - Larger taillight - new emblems

CA102 50 1962 - 1969 Red – Black – White - Blue Honda 50 emblems - Larger taillight - electric starter

All Honda 50 step-through models had OHV engines, 17” wheels, and three-speed transmissions with rocking foot shifter and automatic clutch. Blue models had blue seats and light blue leg shields and side covers. All others had white seats, leg shields, and side covers.

70cc – 90cc Singles

C70M 1970 – 1971 Bright Red – Pine Green – Aquarius Blue 72cc OHC Kick & electric start

C70 K1 1972 – 1973 Strato Blue – Poppy Yellow Solo seat & luggage rack - Kick & electric start

CM91 90 1966 – 1969 Red – White - Black White shields & side covers 89cc OHC - 3-sp – kick starter

CA200 90 1963 – 1966 Red – White - Black 87cc OHV 4-speed – kick starter only

The CA200 Honda 90 had traditional styling and an OHV engine with a four-speed transmission and manual clutch. All the step-through models had OHC engines, three-speed rocking shifters and automatic clutches. The leg shields on these models were white. The side covers were body colored on the 70’s and white on the 90’s. All models had pressed steel frames and 17” wheels.

125cc – 150cc – 160cc – 175cc Twins

C92 Benly 125 1959 Red – Blue – Black Low, pressed steel bars - Turn signals

CA92 Benly 125 1959 Red – Blue - Black Chrome handlebars - No turn signals (Note: the red CA92 pictured above with turn signals is a European or Asian model.)

CA 95 Benly Touring 150 1959 – 1963 Black – Red – Blue – White Blackwall tires – flat mufflers - Small knee pads & taillight

CA 95 Benly Touring 150 1963 – 1966 Black – Red – Blue - White Wide WSW – round mufflers - Larger knee pads & taillight

CA 160 Touring 1966 –1969 Black – Red – Blue – White 161cc OHC - Thin white sidewalls

CA175 Touring (CD 175) 1968 – 1969 Candy Red – Candy Blue – Black Inclined cylinders - Pressed steel frame – 6V

CA175 Touring K3
(CD 175K3) 1969 – 1970 Candy Red – Candy Blue – Black Vertical cylinders 6V - Single downtube, tubular frame

All models had OHC engines, single carburetors, electric starters and four-speed transmissions. All models had leading-link front suspension, except the 175’s, which had telescopic forks. The CS92 Benly 125 is not listed because it was not officially available in the U. S. There was no blue offered on the 1968 Touring 160.

250cc Twins

C71 Dream 250 1959 – 1960 Black – Red – Blue - White Pressed steel handlebars - Dry sump

CA71 Dream Touring 250 1959 – 1960 Black – Red – Blue – White Chrome handlebars - Dry Sump

CE71 Dream Sport 250 1959 – 1960 Black – Maroon Silver tank – Dry sump - Downswept pipes

C72 Dream Touring 250 1961 Red – Black – Blue – White Pressed steel handlebars - Wet sump

CA72 Dream Touring 250 1960 – 1966 Red – Black – Blue – White Larger, CA77 tank in 1963 - Wet sump – wide WSW

All Dream Sport models had upswept exhaust pipes, one on each side, except the CE71 250 that had downswept pipes. The CE 71 also had either a white seat or a black seat with white piping. All models had pressed steel frames, 16” wheels, leading-link front suspension, SOHC engines, and four-speed transmissions. All engines are wet sump except for the 1959 and early 1960 250’s and 300’s. All dry-sump engines may or may not have had rotary (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4) gearshifts.

305cc Twins

C76 Dream Touring 300 1959 – 1960 Red – Black – Blue – White Pressed steel – dry sump - No rubber tank pads

CA76 Dream Touring 300 1959 – 1960 Red – Black – Blue – White Low angelwing handlebars - Dry sump

CS76 Dream Sport 300 1960 Black – Red – White – Blue Pressed steel – Dry sump - Black tank pads – upswept pipes

CSA76 Dream Sport 300 1960 Black – Red – White – Blue Angel wing bars – Dry sump Black tank pads – Upswept pipes

CS77 Dream Sport 305 1960 – 1963 Black – Red – White – Blue Wet sump – Wide WSW Pressed steel – Upswept pipes

CSA77 Dream Sport 305 1960 – 1963 Black – Red – White – Blue Wet sump – Wide WSW - Angel wing bars – Upswept pipes

C77 Dream Touring 305 1961 – 1964 Black – Red – White – Blue Pressed steel – Wet Sump - Wide WSW tires

CA77 Dream Touring 305 1960 – 1969 Black – Red – White – Blue New tank shape & thin WSW - Changes in mid-1963

All 300’s and 305’s are the same 305cc. All models had pressed steel frames, 16” wheels, leading-link front suspension, SOHC engines, and four-speed transmissions. All engines are wet sump except for the 1959 and early 1960 250’s and 300’s. All engines are wet sump except for the 1959 and early 1960 250’s and 300’s. All models referred to as 300’s are dry sump and all referred to as 305’s are wet sump. All engines are wet sump except for the 1959 and early 1960 250’s and 300’s. All dry-sump engines may or may not have had rotary (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4) gearshifts.

The Cheap Chinese Scooter Phenomenon

2009-03-29T16:20:00.001-07:00

The Cheap Chinese Scooter Phenomenon

This is an article I published at Blogger News Network 8/14/08. Over 14,000 people have read it. Some of the links in the original article, especially those referring back to a Tiddlerosis page, have been broken since I moved the location of the whole Tiddlerosis site in late 2008. Here is an updated version of the article with all the links corrected.

The recent proliferation of $4 gasoline has brought renewed interest in economical two-wheeled transportation, particularly the latest styles of motor scooters from Japan and China. The Internet and the manufacturing boom in China are playing key roles in this new market, offering a wide variety of machines in the $1000-1700 price bracket.

Small motorcycles and scooters have fascinated me since the 1950’s. You can visit my Tiddlerosis website to see more than you will ever want to know about the explosion of small Japanese motorcycles in The Sixties. I followed the evolution of the Cushman Eagle, the Whizzer, the Simplex (built in New Orleans), and the Mustang (yes, Maybelle, there was a line of small motorcycles built in the U.S. under the Mustang brand name in the ’50’s and early ’60’s). Many Americans ordered their small two-wheelers from the Sears & Roebuck catalog back then. Although these models were all marketed under the Allstate or Sears brands, most motorcyclists from the era know these were manufactured by Cushman, Puch, Vespa, and Gilera. Scooter fans of the time generally rode Vespas and Lambrettas, both built in Italy. Even my cat Powduh Puff knows that once we met the nicest people on a Honda at the end of 1959, everything about the motorcycle world changed forever.

You can still buy a Vespa motor scooter that will cost you as much as a Honda Rebel, go a lot slower and provide less driving entertainment, as well as less safety. Would you prefer to hit a pothole with a twelve-inch front wheel or an eighteen-inch one? Would you rather have the bulk of your transportation’s weight distribution directly underneath you or hanging out back with your caboose? Yes, Maybelle, that $329 Allstate Cruisaire from Sears is now pretty much the same as that $3500 Vespa 125 from the snooty-environmentalist scooter dealership next to the Starbuck’s down on the campus drag. You can still meet the nicest people on a Honda. Now it’s a $3000, 250cc Rebel twin instead of a $300, 50cc Cub with 4.5 horsepower and the cutest little legshields you’ve ever seen.

There is another alternative, folks, and its source is a company called Lifan, and it has a lot more in common with Honda than just an Asian heritage with five letters in the name. If you saw Ted Koppel’s four-part story on China recently, you learned about Lifan. The company builds several small engines, one of which has been used in so many different scooters and go-karts from China that you will swear it’s the second coming of the Honda 50, which in a bizarre way, it is. One of the Lifan designs is a direct copy of the legendary, small Honda single. The Chinese version is 110cc and you can find it powering vehicles all over the Internet. The second common Lifan design is a 150cc single that is even more common than the 110cc model. The plot thickens immeasurably when you discover that not only do the Chinese copy everyone else, but they copy their own Chinese competitors’ designs like crazy! There are countless affordable scooters built in China and sold on the American Internet. I hope to untangle some of the confusion and educate you exactly as to what sort of gas-sipping transportation is available to any American with a credit card and an online connection right now. Although Lifan is the market leader in more ways than one, there are numerous other brands.

Before we get to the actual models available, you need to understand a few basic marketing concepts. When Honda first approached its future dealers in 1959, it shocked the handlebars off them with the future sales figures the company was proposing and predicting. Spreading eastward from the ubiquitous loading docks of L.A., Honda developed an enormous dealer network. Yamaha and Suzuki were left standing on the docks saying, “Me too, me too.” Lifan and the other Chinese brands seem to have little interest in developing dealer networks. The World Wide Web is the leading Lifan dealership. This means little customer service, of course, and I’m sure many of you will immediately think anyone who buys a cheap Chinese scooter online gets what he deserves. There is more than a grain of truth to this concept, of course. The more experienced you are with motorcycles and marketing, the more likely you are to have a good experience with this manner of doing business. Then there’s that $3000+ Italian scooter. The Vespa is only the most legendary. The Aprilia Scarabeo is one gorgeous hunk of scooter with brilliant engineering and a Ducati price! Kymco is a Taiwanese brand that sells through both established dealers and online, and even their prices will choke a small moped. There is no doubt at all that the online marketing is a key element in the price competitiveness of Lifan and other Chinese brands.

Although there may seem to be literally hundreds of different brands, models, and model names of Chinese scooters, they actually boil down to only about six different types. The lowest and slowest are the 50cc models. In previous years, most of these used two-stroke engines; now they are mostly four-stroke. At the opposite end of the price and power scale are the 250cc models. These mostly compete with the Honda Rebel in price and the ability to drive legally on freeways; whereas the 50cc models might need to be duck-walked up a steep hill. In between these two extremes lie the most commonly usable scooters for transportation, the 150’s using either the Lifan engine or a direct copy of it. I have seen horsepower ratings ranging from 7 to 9.8 hp for these models, and some websites even claim that many of these are actually 125cc engines masquerading as 150’s. Whatever the case, these scooters are plenty strong enough to climb hills, carry two people, and scramble out of the way of marauding Honda Cubs. For the sake of simplicity here, I am lumping all 50’s and 250’s into one group each, but I am separating out the 150’s into four types. The reason for this is that you can imagine that most of the 50cc models are just slower, cheaper versions of many of the same 125/150cc versions, and most of the 250cc types are outfitted to look like giant turtles with huge seats, windshields, and storage capacity bordering on excessive. For many practical reasons, only the 150’s come in a large variety of styling types, although the usages of all types are more determined by their engine displacements than by their styling cues.

Before I proceed any further, I want to insert a disclaimer. Although I have been having a kitten for one of these 150cc jewels for years, I don’t want to give up any more garage space or one of my classic Japanese motorcycles, either. Take this story however you want. Not only have I never ridden one of these Chinese scooters, I haven’t been on any scooter since I replaced my 1957 Allstate Cruisaire with a 1963 Yamaha Rotary Jet 80! If you want to throw out this whole story with the saltshaker, I ask only that you visit Tiddlerosis before making what might be a rash decision. I do know a few things about pooter-scooters.

Beginning right smack in the middle, we have the 150cc Chinese scooter with modern styling. It is distinguished by its 13″ wheels, sleek and stylish lines and graphics, speedometer/tachometer/fuel gauge instrument panel, up-front glove box, under-seat helmet storage, and a luggage rack of some sort that may or may not include a matching storage box in the price. If not, the matching box is usually an option. Some of the more deluxe models have a rear disc brake, but most have a drum brake in the rear with a disc only in the front. At a price of $1200-$1400 to your driveway, this is the ringleader of the pack for your cost-effective transportation needs. If you study the websites closely, you will see that there is a virtual multitude of these critters scattered all over the net. Although they are sold with many different brand and model names, and enough color and graphics choices to boggle the mind of an Internet neophyte, they are all basically the same scooter with the exact same engine.

The second type of 150cc scooter is styled to look pretty much like a 1957 Cruisaire, but its features and attributes are much the same as the model with more modern styling. For about the same price as the modern variant, this model usually trades the tach and storage capacities for the retro styling, and its wheels are usually 12″ in diameter. Most of these have drum rear brakes, although there could be a few models with discs in the rear.

The third variety of the 150cc models is a fully adult sized and equipped model with a gigantic seat and a windshield. As you may have already guessed, this is one of those models commonly sold as a 250cc version, too, for a $1000 (more or less) premium added to the price of the 150cc variant. Of course you get the privilege of buzzing down I-95 with the eighteen-wheelers for that price premium. I’m sure having one of those monsters buffet your big windshield as it passes is a barrel of monkeys. The 150cc, all-but-the-freeway legal models lack the 13″ wheels, tachometer, and wild graphics of the sportier 150cc variant described above, but otherwise are the steal of the bunch for two-wheeled transportation comfort. I can only guess that their 12″ wheels and drum rear brakes are the results of strict cost-cutting. These models are generally priced only about $200 more than the sporty, 13″-wheeled versions with exactly the same 150cc engine. Not only does Powduh Puff know which version is obviously faster, he also knows which type is more comfortable. You whips out your credit card and you makes your choice.

The last scooter type is the one that makes my Tiddlerosis heart go pitty-pat, pitty-pat. It is a somewhat skinnier model with 16″ wheels, legshields that are not as wide as a circus fat lady, and that sweet little 110cc copycat engine. The only catch is that the online retailers charge as much for this one as they do for the big cruiser described above. I guess they know the beauty of selling a Honda clone. This design is currently far less available than all the other scooter types described in this article, but access to it is slowly increasing. The bigger wheels are the key. You don’t have to fear potholes with quite the same level of trepidation and the overall handling is better balanced. These models usually include a tachometer, but the design of the whole instrument cluster is a bit less perfect than that of either the large cruiser or the modern sporty type. The graphics packages and color choices leave a little to be desired, too. Blatantly inspired by the Honda Cub, the Aprilia Scarabeo, and the Kymco People, with the first extinct and the latter two overpriced, this little sweetheart is somewhat irresistible. I hope this model proliferates and improves in the future.

I should give an honorable mention to yet another variant that tries to split the difference between the sporty type and the cruiser type. This model is usually referred to as having European styling. It has a windshield a little smaller than that of the standard cruiser and the 13″ wheels of the sportster. The seat is between the sizes of these two types, and it usually has more downward slope toward the front edge. I am not a fan of this type simply because the windshield and instrument panel do not turn with the handlebars. To a decades-old fan of the sort of two-wheelers that would not embarrass Peter Fonda or Steve McQueen, this effect is quite disconcerting to me. The eerie feeling of sliding off the front end of the seat and not being sure exactly which way my front wheel is pointing gives me the cooties. If this design happens to start your motor, you will find it somewhat less common, like the Honda 50 clone, and priced about the same as that model, as well as the even larger cruiser. Other than the disconcerting elements, the reason I give this model only an honorable mention is that if I wanted a sporty model, I would go completely in that direction, but if I wanted a cruiser, I would go in the opposite direction. This European type seems to be a somewhat silly compromise, being neither the fastest nor the most practical.

You may have noticed that I have not included any actual, specific model names or brands in this article. Nor have I included any plugs for the horde of online retailers of cheap Chinese scooters. Like the Chinese operations in other fields of marketing, the brand names, rules, and reputations seem to change daily with their underwear. There is no substitute for thoughtful research before you decide to make a purchase. I do want to mention Northern Tool, a respected American catalog company that carries at least a few of these low-priced scooters. The main operation and warehouse of Lifan is located in Dallas, TX. A typical competitor of Lifan is Tank, and the crazy part is that I cannot even tell you if Tank is in any way related to Lifan or not. Such is the mysterious world of cheap Chinese scooters. The Kymco USA site will show you their whole lineup, if you don’t mind whipping your credit card a little harder. Feast your eyes on the Aprilia Scarabeo, made in the same country that produces Ferraris. Rabbit Scooters displays many of the models discussed in this article, but I cannot speak for their reputation. I could list many more dealers similar to Rabbit, with nearly identical models, similar prices, and unknown reputations, but this article is long enough already. Go out there and save some gas!

Floyd M. Orr is the author of six books available at Amazon and the proprietor of Tiddlerosis, a site dedicated to the history of the many brands of small motorcycles and scooters sold in the U.S. in The Sixties.

Cushman

2009-03-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have been pondering the development of my first post about Cushman for some time. I have collected a number of photos, but I am somewhat unsure how to identify certain models or model years. Here is the link to a timeline of Cushman history. You can see from this data that the company had been established long before beginning production of scooters in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1936. The first postwar models were the Pacemaker and Road King in 1946, and the first model badged as an Allstate and sold by Sears Roebuck appeared two years later. The Road King with its large, deluxe, styled body panels looked sort of like an early, economy version of the Harley-Davidson Topper.

The legendary Eagle, easily the company's trademark model, was released in 1950 with a Husky cast-iron engine. Outboard Marine Corporation bought Cushman in 1957 and continued to develop the Eagle. The Super Eagle, introduced in 1959, featured body panels that covered the scooter's rear section. The Silver Eagle became the top-dog Cushman with a 9 hp aluminum engine designed by OMC in 1961. I don't know what year the black one pictured here is, but my guess is that it is a Silver Eagle from the early Sixties. Note the silver right-side engine cover and kickstarter. This model also has the Super Eagle rear panel. Is this a Silver Super Eagle? Maybe a Cushman fan out there in Tiddlerosisland can enlighten me.

Cushman became the official U. S. distributor for Vespa at the beginning of '61, and the 1963 brochure I have includes three Vespa models, the Silver Eagle, the still very primitive Highlander, and the Trailster, a little yellow beastie with the old 8 hp Husky engine and a tractor-tread rear tire. You might look at the Trailster as a very primitive ancestor of the Honda Ruckus. That's certainly what it looks like! There is no mention of the Super Eagle with its smooth bodywork or the standard Eagle with the cast-iron engine, so I assume they had been discontinued from the line by '63; however, I have never been able to definitively ascertain if the Super Eagle bodywork continued as an option or not. Final Cushman Eagle and all other scooter production had ceased by 1966. The company was soon sold off from OMC and continued to build golf carts and variations of its Truckster for police departments until earlier in this decade.

Here is a broad outline of the Cushmans and their rightful place in Tiddlerosis. Like Mustang and Simplex, Cushman was an American brand that sold its primitive, but pervasive, machines to high school kids in the Fifties and Sixties. At least where I was in Mississippi during this period, Cushmans were far more prevalent than these other two pioneers. The Sears connection of the Vespas and Highlander added to the brand's availability, but the Eagles were by far the most common of the American-built Cushman models. The Eagles I have seen and ridden were mostly from the 1955-64 range, and most of these were of the manual start, cast-iron 8 hp variety. As we all know, Honda owned the whole market by 1965, so the last years of the Eagles were always a bit rare. My personal aquaintance with Cushman/Vespa was probably quite typical.

I got my first motorized transportation in the early spring of '63, a 1957 Allstate Cruisaire. In the summer of that same year, my dad bought an old Cushman Highlander from I don't remember who or where. It may have even been an Allstate version. The funny part of the story is that I had that primitive toad only one day! I rode it around the back yard once to discover how truly minimalized transport felt compared to my zippy three-speed Vespa. The big surprise to me was that Dad had already planned to trade in both scooters for a new Yamaha YG-1, which thrilled me silly, so by July I was no longer a scooter owner. Zippy-de-doo-dah! The Highlander was little more than two little wheels, a crude, painted handebar, and a big vibrator with an automatic clutch. My last memorable encounter with a Cushman would be when my Rotary Jet 80 blew a fancy Super Eagle into the weeds in a drag race. No, I cannot recall if it was a 9 hp Silver Eagle or not, but I believe it had the Super's sheet metal panels and it was probably about a '62 or '63 model.

Let's flash back a year or two so I can describe my first drive of a Cushman Eagle. Two neighbor boys, one a year older than me and one a year younger, owned at least two Eagles. Due to the ages of all of us at the time, I think I am about to describe the earlier Eagle owned by the older boy, the only one who would have been old enough for a license in 1961 or '62. I wanted a motorcyle or scooter so badly at that time that I could chew an old rubber tire, so one afternoon the owner and our respective parents let me drive that Eagle in a circle around their back yard. Of course I left a white track hours later. Although I had ridden several machines, including this one, as a passenger and had learned to drive a Harley-Davidson Super 10, this was my first solo effort on a Cushman.

The first thing anyone notices about a Cushman is that it has little wheels like a scooter, but tubular handlebars and a top-mounted tank like a motorcycle. The next thing you notice is the left-hand gearshift knob beside the gas tank and sprouting up from the engine, like certain ancient Harleys of the big hog variety. The two-speed gearshift is accompanied by an equally unexpected foot clutch. Back then the only thing that had an electric starter was a Honda, but even the kickstarter on an Eagle was unique to the brand. There was a pedal sticking out of the front of the engine. The pedal lay flat on the floorboard most of the time, until you reached down and lifted it up into its cocked position. Standing beside the machine, on the right side, you then held the scooter upright off its left-side stand, stood up on the pedal with your right foot, and threw all your weight down onto the pedal. If the Eagle didn't chirp on the first try, you then reached down and lifted up the ratcheted kick pedal and started over. Once the big four-stroke single pop-pop-popped into life, you swung your leg over from the wrong side of the beast, sat down and mashed in the heavy clutch with your left foot. The rear brake pedal was on the right, facing back at you up off the floorboard, sort of like that on a car, and the front brake was controlled by a lever on the left handlebar. Push the gearshift into first gear (I think it was forward) and ease out the clutch. Once you are going a decent speed, push in the long-travel clutch and pull the gear lever all the way back, through neutral in the middle, and you are cruising for a brusing from any Yamaha 80 or Super 90 that you haplessly may encounter!

See Also: Jim's Cushman Scooter Site
The Cushman Wikipedia Page

Honda CL-160 Details

2009-03-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

Please indulge me while I beat this poor old Scrambler 160 dead horse one more time. Once and for all, I think I have a good grip on this model's illustrious, but mysterious, production history.

I always enjoy communicating with fellow enthusiasts of the Honda Scramblers. Allow me to add more details concerning this subject matter. First of all, I assume that you have carefully searched through Tiddlerosis and seen everything that is here, particularly the Scrambler Chart, the story of the CL-160 colors, the overall history of the Scramblers, the blue '63 CL-72, and the very clear photo of a late model CL-77. Since I have been unsuccessful so far in locating any photos of the elusive machines I seek, I cannot prove what I am about to tell you about the CL-160. The referenced photos and information will help you to extrapolate the information you seek. At this point in time, I cannot offer a better way.

Here is what I think actually happened in America in 1962-68. The CL-72 was introduced as a model created especially for the American market in 1962, and it was an immediate success here. These models were sold in red, black, and blue (in that order of production numbers). The blue ones are extremely rare. The CL-77 picked up production in higher numbers with the same colors in about the same production ratios. The CB-160 was introduced as the little brother of the CB-77 in 1965. It was produced in black, red, white, and blue (probably in that order). Although I have an early-release brochure showing the CB-160 with the CB-125, the 125 was never imported here. The CL-160 was released in 1966 in black only. Beginning in late '67, Honda had been selling CL-160's like hotcakes, leaving the CB's holding down the showroom floors, so they ceased production of the CL and had the dealers convert whatever CB's they wished to CL's with the CL kits.

When you examine the models closely, you will see specific components. Of course the CB had an electric starter and the CL had a skid plate. The CL had black rubber gaiters covering the front springs and the CB had painted plastic covers. The CL was geared slightly lower, but I am not certain if one or both sprockets were different, and if only one, which one. The front fender was obviously much longer than the one on the CL. The tank, bars, and pipes are the three items everyone's eyes notice, so this makes even my memories of forty years ago a little hazy! I think I remember the earliest kitted CL's as looking exactly like the true CL's in every way except for the electric starter / skid plate swap. Now as a much more mature adult, I am not so sure the dealers ever disassembled the front forks to change to the rubber gaiters. Did they change to a shorter CL front fender? This certainly seems more likely than the fork cover change, so I think there is a good chance that the front fenders were changed. Did these kitted CL's come in white, blue, red, and black? Absolutely. Was white the rarest color, with blue close behind? Yes. Did they continue to build a lot of black ones that looked very much like the true originals? Yes, but I actually remember seeing more red ones, both on the showroom floor and on the street. Remember, I said that the original CL-72 and CL-77 numbers were higher in red than black. I also think the CB numbers for all three displacements were higher for black than red. Every one of all these models used what I call body colored frames. In other words, what we call a black or red CB or CL had a black or red frame. This also included the chain guard, rear shock covers, headlight shell, and upper fork tubes. Some models had silver lower fork legs, no matter what the frame color. The lower fork legs were either body color or silver, depending on the model and year. The front spring covers were either body colored plastic on the CB's or black rubber gaiters on the true CL's.

Now comes the hard part. In '67 and '68, Honda was in the process of phasing out the 160, the 305, and the old way of styling their machines. As we all know, by 1970, Hondas had an all-new look that coordinated the 175, 350, and 450, and even the smaller models to a somewhat lesser extent. This new look included painted tanks on all models, chrome rear springs and upper shock covers, chrome fenders, and matching candy paint colors on the tanks, side covers, and miscellaneous other items. All frames were now black, with no exceptions but the silver ones on the SL's. I think the 160/175 sizes were never as big sellers in the U. S. as the 305/350 sizes. This encouraged the company to phase in the smaller category more gradually as it sold out of the older components. The generation break between the older and newer larger models seemed to be more consistent and abrupt.

The sole exception to this is the last version of the CL-77, and I think the photo I have shown of this bike is key to understanding some of the styling issues. This machine was built in small numbers in the short space of time when the company had switched to chrome fenders, black frames, and candy paint on everything, but the CL-350 was not yet fully up to production speed. This machine came in the same styling of the last of the CL-160D's: candy painted tanks and matching side covers with black frames. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice a different seat and a few other details that also distinguish it stylistically from its earlier, more common CL-77's.

Let's finally cut to the chase. I cannot swear in court that I have ever actually seen a CL-160, either in the metal or in a photo, of this mysterious type. I may or may not have seen a CL-160 as it is pictured in the 1968 brochure and the ID Guide with CB front fender and side covers in silver and tank, headlamp shell, ears, and front spring covers in red. The frame and chain guard on this bike are also red, and I don't ever recall seeing any Honda frame in any candy color. The brochure does not claim this to be a candy color, but the ID Guide does. I finally got one of these much-heralded ID Guides this past Christmas, and my biggest complaint by far is that it leaves out a lot of model year detail changes in its descriptions. If I did not know for a swear-in-court fact that several of these detailed changes have been left out of the Honda Sport & Super Sport 50 category, then I would not be so certain that similar details have been omitted from the CL-160 description.

Did Honda paint a few CL-160 gas tanks in the old red color and have their dealers install them on CB-160's in the same old colors, as both the brochure and the ID Guide show? Yes. Were any of these in candy colors? No. Were any of them blue? No. Did Honda build a few very late CL-160's made with Candy Blue or Candy Orange tanks and side covers on black frames? Probably; however, I have personally never seen one, but one of my corresponding Tiddlerosis fans swears that he used to work in a Honda shop where these candy colored models were sold. The obvious inconsistency is that if no CB-160's were ever built with candy colored frames, how could they possibly convert them to CL-160's in as stated candy colors? The secret word is black. The stated color of the bikes has always been the color of the frame, up until the time of these last CL-160's with candy tanks and side covers. All of these had to have been built from black CB's. The ones with silver tanks have always hidden in the forest of the earlier CL's, but the orange and blue ones were all actually black CB's! Although I have been informed by a fellow enthusiast that dealers did convert a few white CB’s with the new candy tanks, I doubt that any red or blue CB’s were converted in this manner without suffering a serious barf attack as a result of the color clash!

When you are trying rebuild your machines, I suggest that you examine the following components: the serial number to determine the production sequence, the frame and chain guard color, the front spring covers, and the side covers. I personally don't think any were built with candy colors and silver side covers. I don't think there were ever any candy frames or chain guards, either. How could there be? There were never any Candy Blue or Candy Orange CB-160's!

Pictured here is a combination of the 1968 brochure photos of the CB-160, CL-160, and CL-175. Note that the red tank on the CL-160D looks just a bit off-color, but I would not make too much of this. I am quite sure I have seen CL-160's painted just like this one. Note, however, that the Candy Orange of the CL-175 is an altogether different shade, and the side covers match the tank. Since the candy colors are not listed in this brochure for the CL-160, I assume this is an early '68 brochure. Although not pictured here, according to the ID Guide, the obvious conclusion is that the CL-160 was apparently sold in CL-175 colors for a brief period in late 1968. This refers to the tank and side covers being in silver, Candy Blue, or Candy Orange, with everything else in black. Other than the colors, all 175's had chrome fenders, five-speed transmissions, and turn signals, and no 160's had these things. The CL 100 name refers to the resolution of the photo. I also scanned a 300, which of course is a huge file, to view the picture blown up, but you can see the details quite clearly enough in this smaller version.

In case you were not aware of this, I founded Tiddlerosis in about 2001 with a Windows 98 computer using W98 software. Last year the time had finally come for me to revamp the site into the new style blog that you see now. Most of the old material has already been rearranged onto the new site, but I still have plans to add a lot more. Over the coming months, I hope to add more about the CB and Dream Hondas, as well as a lot more about the various other Japanese brands. You can see that I have spent most of my energy so far getting at least one page about each brand posted so I can elaborate on each brand's models later as seems appropriate. Tiddlerosis is a work in progress that keeps developing. Honda will always probably have the most space because that's the brand most people want to know about, and the CL's will always be overly represented because they are my personal favorites.

See Also: Honda Scrambler Chart
A Sixties Icon from Honda
Honda Scramblers with a link to the Scrambler Photo Gallery
The CL-160D Color Mystery

Mustang

2009-03-14T04:03:00.001-07:00

When the Simplex company totally changed the design of the machines it built in New Orleans in 1960, they were obviously adopting a style of small motorcycle created by Mustang in Glendale, California, in 1945. The original Mustang was designed as a compact, cost-effective alternative to the limited selection of small bikes available immediately after World War II. Simplex was building tall, skinny motorbikes, Cushman was building scooters, and the Hummer was still several years away.

The original Mustang design employed a 125cc British Villiers two-stroke, but this was replaced in 1947 with a 320cc, single-cylinder, side-valve engine in a triangular, hardtail frame with twelve-inch wheels. All Mustangs used a British-built gearbox and the footshift was on the right side. A sprung, solo seat and painted handlebars were standard. There was very little chrome on any Mustang. The entry level Mustang was the 9.5 horsepower Pony with disc wheels, three-speed transmission, and a rear brake only. The Bronco model added another horsepower, wire wheels and a front brake, and the Stallion added a four-speed and a little more deluxe trim to a 12.5-horsepower engine. All of these solo hardtails changed very little up through the cease of production in 1963. The company also built a three-wheeled utility model and a trail model with a tractor-tread rear tire design!

The 1964 Thoroughbred pictured here was the top of the Mustang line. All Mustang production halted in 1963, but the inventory was continued until sold out in 1965, not coincidentally the same year the You Meet the Nicest People company first sold more motorcycles than all other brands combined! The Thoroughbred had an all-new frame featuring a dual seat and conventional rear shocks. The engine and transmission were the same as on the Stallion. The model shown has the optional passenger footpegs, chrome crash bars, and leather saddlebags.

Mustang represents one of those last gasps from an American brand in the tiddler market. The Cushman Eagle would be gone in another couple of years. So would the H-D Hummer and all its direct descendants. The Mustang may have been primitive and clunky, but at least it is intersting in retrospect for its American entrepreneurship.

See Also: The Mustang Club

Simplex

2009-03-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Simplex brand was founded by a Harley-Davidson dealer in Baton Rouge, LA, in the early '30's. Paul Treen released the first model of what he called the Simplex Servi-cycle from his advanced new factory in New Orleans in 1935. Produced from that year up through 1960, the Servi-cycle was a primitive, but cost effective beast with spindly wheels and a low-horsepower, four-cycle engine. When I think of the term motorbike, I think of the Simplex. Of course this may be only because I knew a pair of identical twins who owned a pair of identical, used Simplex Automatics in about 1963. They rode these to high school only for about a year or less before trading up to a matched pair of Honda C-102's. When you trade up to a Honda 50 step-through, maybe now you will see the appropriateness of the term motorbike!

The 1935 model used a direct belt drive with no additional starting mechanism other than your duck-walking feet! There wasn't even a clutch mechanism to take the rolling beast out of gear until 1941, and the automatic drive used on the '58 pictured here was not available until 1953! The H models of 1945-47 finally had a foot brake and right twistgrip throttle. Suspension was practically nonexistent on all the Servi-cycles: a hardtail rear and a primitive spring suspension at the front. I chose this particular photo to display of a 1958 Senior Sportsman 150cc because this example has the rare Buckhorn bars made famous by H-D and it is close to the final development of the model series.

The Servi-cycle was replaced by an entirely different machine in 1960, the final year of production. The Compact series was much closer to the Mustang brand than anything else. Riding on fat, six-or-twelve-inch wheels, the new Sportsman series was composed of two separate chassis. The Sportsman Compact was more of an overgrown minibike than a real motorcycle, and the Sportsman Senior Series was the direct Mustang competitor. Both models had less than zero in common with the Servi-cycle other than the brand name and factory. Production of the Sportsman Compact began in 1960 with a 175cc, 4.9 horsepower engine built by Continental. With its solo seat and six-inch wheels, it didn't intimidate anyone riding anything larger than a Doodle-bug or a Big Wheel.

After several iterations built for a minimal level of trail riding, Simplex released the much bigger and better Sportsman Senior in 1965. The Senior had a longer wheelbase, twelve-inch wheels that were much less of a bad joke, and a traditional, real suspension system at both ends. A kick starter and front brake were even offered at extra cost, and the Continental seven-horsepower engine at least made the Simplex a viable Mustang competitor. The final development of 1965 was the top-dog V model with a 200cc, 11 hp, Villiers engine hooked to a four-speed transmission. With its magneto lighting, dual seat, and Buckhorn bars, it almost looked like a real motorcycle. Unfortunately, the company would turn south and head down the drain before 1965 had even ended. We all know why. Remember that trade up comment?

See Also: Bill Erickson's Servi-cycle Site
Pat Williams' Simplex Servi-cycle Site

Montesa

2009-03-07T15:47:00.001-08:00

Montesa was the oldest of the four big Spanish motorcycle manufacturers that sent machines to the U. S. during the tiddler invasion of the '60's. Only four years after Montesa was founded in 1944, an economic downturn in Spain caused the racing division to sprout off to form Bultaco as Montesa continued selling production bikes. Practically all Montesas were 125cc, 175cc, or 250cc two-strokes. Although a few smaller models were built, I am not sure if any were ever exported to this country. Practically all the Montesas were 125's until the introduction of the Impala 175 in 1962.

The Impala pictured here is typical of the breed, an Impala 175 Sport. I do not know the model year. All Impalas were 175's in '62-'64, and the 250 was produced from 1965 through '69. Although the 175 continued all the way through 1971, I bet that most of the Impalas sent to the U. S. were 250's. With obvious similarities to the Bultaco Metralla and Mercurio, its obvious rivals both in the showroom and on the track, the Impala is distinguished visually by its elongated red and white tank, black covers over the front and rear suspension springs, and distinctive sliver cover behind the air cleaner. Like the Buls, the Imapala is the company's sole, consistent, pure-street model offered among a cadre of offroaders. The design of all Montesas is very simple and straightforward, leaving the weight and complication to the Japanese. Nothing to see here, folks: no oil injection, electric starters, turn signals, or heavy batteries.

The Impala did not make the Montesa brand famous. That honor probably goes to the Cota trials, Cappra motocross, and King Scorpion enduro models. I only featured the Impala here in the spirit of Tiddlerosis. We all know that rare street models, especially sporting types such as the Impala, are usually the ones lusted after by collectors and lovingly restored by enthusiasts. I would expect that most Cappras and Scorpions have long ago met their grimy, muddy ends leaned up against a pole in a cold garage somewhere. After all, that scenario describes my lovable little '71 Yamaha AT-1 MX the first time I saw it, and although it now lives in a warmer garage, you might still find a bit of dirt on its original paint job. The Cota Trials line has probably made the biggest impression on Americans, particularly those who have seen the exquisite cop chase scene in the 1974 James Caan movie, Freebie & The Bean. Who can forget Caan riding a Cota 247 over the top of a string of parked cars or waltzing on one wheel through a city park in San Francisco? It was clear that Caan (or a stunt double) nearly lost it that time he came down a little sideways on the front wheel! Remember that?

See Also: Model List by Year
Production Volume by Model
The Montesa Wikipedia Page
The EMU Montesa Gallery

Lambretta

2009-03-05T06:25:00.001-08:00

Lambretta made a fearless attempt at becoming the premiere Italian scooter brand in the '50's and '60's. These scooters built in Milan were longer and sleeker than their more common, chubbier cousins wearing the Vespa and Allstate nameplates. Unlike other scooters, the Lambrettas used steel body panels attached to tubular frames. All models were piston-port two strokes of 50-200cc, and most of those imported here were either 125cc or 175cc. The Innocenti company built Lambrettas from 1947 to 1972, but most of the imported U. S. volume arrived in the early Sixties.

The photo shown here is of the cover of the 1963 brochure. During the Fifties and early Sixties, Jayne Mansfield was sort of the number two blonde bombshell celebrity in America. Following in the footsteps of Marilyn, she was featured in Playboy and a number of movies, but she also was the poster girl for Lambretta scooters. You could see her posing sexily on a Lambretta in numerous magazine ads and shop posters. You will find a few of these in the links below, but this scan from my personal collection is my favorite of the bunch. Like Marilyn, Jayne's life came to a premature, tragic end. She was killed instantly in a car accident between Biloxi, MS, and New Orleans in 1967, with daughter Mariska Hargitay (of Law & Order SVU) and two sons in the rear seat. The three adults in the front never left the Electra 225 alive, but all three kids in the rear did.

Vespas began production with their monocoque bodies a year prior to the Lambrettas, setting the scooter marketing stage for all time. Although Vespa has always had the production volume and name recognition, the Lambrettas appealed to buyers who wanted something a little less common. Most Lambrettas can be identified by their sleek, angular styling, and many had distinctive two-tone paint jobs, usually red and white, blue and white, or yellow and white. All had handshifts and manual clutches on the left handlebar with three or four forward gears, just like the Vespas. I have not been able to verify if any models after 1963 had oil injection, as did practically all street model Japanese tiddlers at the time. Since Lambrettas were rapidly shrinking in number in the U. S. as the '60's progressed, I suspect that oil injection was never developed for the models imported. How could any scooter compete with the zillions of successful tiddlers from The Big Four? I suspect that Vespa's contract with Sears did wonders for their sales success in this country. When I wax nostalgic for the Lambrettas of the Sixties, I am reminded of the Aprilias of today. The Lambretta 175 TV was sort of the Scarabeo of the '60's, the top dog of style and class.

The Lambretta page at Wikipedia
Lambretta photo gallery at EMU
Lambretta Works for modern enthusiasts
Lambretta Images Archive
The Cheap Chinese Scooter Phenomenon

Jawa / CZ

2009-02-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

This article on the rare Czechoslovakian tiddler brand has been delayed because I have misplaced my Jawa brochure from the early Sixties. I had planned to do a few scans from it, but I shall post this familiar ad and link to more pictures instead. The Jawa CZ Club of Britain has more photos and information on this brand that is so rare in the U. S. than I could ever hope to round up without them. I chose this particular ad photo because I remember it well from U. S. magazines. Many similar ones were printed during those heady days of the early tiddler invasion.

Jawa began producing motorcycles in 1929 and they still continue production in the Czech Republic today; however, I think they were imported here only during the '60's boom market. The Wikipedia page provides a brief overview of the brand. Jawa and CZ merged in 1948 and the CZ brand continued in Europe until it was bought by Cagiva, who unsuccessfully marketed CZ until its final demise in 1997.

Although the first Jawa was a 500cc four-stroke, most of the models sent to the U. S. were 175cc, 250cc, and 350cc two-strokes. You may remember that the Jawas were generally marketed here as high-quality machines with pedestrian looks and performance. There is an unmistakable similarity to a few of the Allstates of the era. Jawas were even sold through Sears in Canada for a time! CZ had already built a name for itself in off-road competition in Europe, so the CZ name was mostly applied to the motocross line in the U. S. The distinctive exception to this was the Jawa 500cc Speedway model. Probably the most memorable street model was the Jawa Californian, a last ditch effort to sell a 250cc twin in the land of the free, the brave, and The Big Four. With its trim fenders and low, but upswept pipes (think Norton Commando), the Californian was an heroic effort, but by this time the need for speed was rampant and the competition horrendous.

See Also: A Brief History of the Brand

First Bike Poll Results

2009-02-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

I want to thank all the Tiddlerosis fans who responded to the poll asking the brand of your first motorcycle or scooter. The results, as expected, were heavily skewed toward Honda, with Bridgestone and Other receiving no votes. I could have taken this opportunity to display a photo of any one of several appropriate machines. My own first scooter was a 1957 Allstate Cruisaire. The first bike I rode on, and later learned to drive on, was a 1960 H-D Super 10. My first real motorcycle was a 1963 Yamaha Rotary Jet 80. Any of these would have made an appropriate accompaniment to this post, but I selected this very rare Honda tiddler instead. This is a 1968 CM-91 step-thru Honda 90 with the dealer installed Sport Kit. I personally owned a black '66 C-100 that I modified in a similar manner, but this one pictured was actually sold by Honda as one of four styling choices. All four Sport Kit designs included higher, chrome handlebars and a different seat and tank combo. I believe all the seat options were black and all the tanks were white, and I'm pretty sure that all the tanks were fiberglass. I cannot recall the exact years the Sport Kit option was offered on Cub 50's and 90's, but I think it was 1967-8, and it could have been 1968 only.

Yamaha YDS-2

2009-01-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

This is another very special story that is close to my nostalgic heart. I have spent a considerable amount of time in recent weeks trying to better develop the information I have on this illustrious tiddler. I have been working on a comprehensive chart for all the Sixties Yamahas, and the 1962 YDS-2 is the central figure driving my fantasies. Aside from the official brochures, this is the only decent photo of a '62 YDS-2 that I have. Photos of the later YDS-3 are far more common due to the simple growth in the production and importation numbers. There was, of course, a YDS-1, the first 250cc sport model. I have been unable to ascertain if the YDS-1 was ever officially imported into the U. S. or not, but I am certain the YDS-2 was, since it was the first bike I saw on the floor of the local Yamaha dealer back in '62. Did I actually see one in 1961? That, too, is possible since I cannot accurately remember if the first time I went to that shop was in '61 or '62, but it clearly was not in 1960 or '63.

Back in the good old days, we used to have these dirty, dingy little motorcycle shops lit by bare light bulbs and inevitably owned or managed by local, low-budget racers just trying to fund their expensive hobbies. These were places that I am sure Tim the Toolman loved and boys like me, not yet quite old enough to drive, loved to visit. My mom used to actually drive me over there. Yeah, I know that's embarrassing to admit, but the shop was twenty miles from my home. What did you expect me to do, ride my bicycle? Honda had just recently established a beachhead and Yamaha was the next Japanese brand I discovered. I would graduate from my Allstate Cruisaire in a year or two with one of the first YG-1's to arrive at this dealership in the spring of '63.

This shop had not only a YDS-2, but an Ascot Scrambler and a TD-1! They probably all left the dealership with my drool on them! Although I was a dirt rider from the beginning, when all you have for wheels is a three-speed bicycle built in Japan or a '57 Cruisaire, the YDS-2 with its five-speed transmission and blistering acceleration that would leave a Super Hawk in its blue smoke was a real dream machine. Soon thereafter my next door neighbor got a YD-3, but there was an unmistakable excitement quotient missing from its blue, full-coverage fenders, electric starter, and four-speed transmission. There was a homely little baby-blue MF-1 in town, too, that all the Honda Cub riders looked upon with disdain. I met another local racer who probably went up against an Ascot Scrambler or two. His machine was a Hawk with wide bars, knobby tires, a C110 tank, and wonderfully loud exhausts. I am reminded of a quote from Robert Redford in Little Fauss & Big Halsey when he tells Michael Pollard that sickles is a dangerous toy: the Hawk racer would forfeit his life on that machine in competition a few years later.

As far as I know, the leading difference between the YDS-1 and the YDS-2 is that the former had only a four-speed transmission. The main improvement in the YDS-3 was, of course, Autolube. I'm sure there were many additional, detail differences, but these were the big two. Facts are hard to come by on these rare models today. I think the YDS-1 was sold in 1959 and '60, but not necessarily in this country, although I assume that at least a few '60 and '61 models were imported. The YDS-2 could have premiered in 1961, but I am not absolutely certain of that. My1962 brochure clearly states new model. The YDS-3 Catalina received oil injection in '64, along with all the Yamahas except the racers. The Big Bear Scrambler was added to the line in 1965 and the YDS-5 Catalina Electra was added to the line in '67. This model added electric starting and I think the 5 refers to the introduction of a new five-port engine that had one or two additional horsepower. There does not seem to have ever been a YDS-4. The standard road series YD-1-2-3 ended in 1964 or '65. I don't have documentation to verify which year. New, sleeker styling and a general evolution of the breed arrived in '69 or '70 with the YDS-6.

In my mind, I divide Yamahas at the 1968 model year, much as I do Hondas. The introduction of the Honda 350's brought styling borrowed from Triumph, with painted black frames and slender, painted gas tanks, as well as new model nomenclature. Hondas became CB/CL 350, 450, 175, etc., with K1, K2, etc., added to denote year and detail changes. Yamaha introduced the DT-1 in 1968 and the whole Enduro/MX series exploded into DT-1-2-3, AT-1-2-3, etc., with B-C-D suffixes to denote model year detail changes. By 1970 the company even began building four-strokes! Don't for a minute think Yamaha didn't already know how: the engine in the legendary Toyota 2000 GT was designed by Yamaha. James Bond's girlfriend drove one in You Only Live Twice. The YDS-2's excitement had a lot of competition by 1968 from the Suzuki X-6, the Kawasaki Samurai, and even from upmarket with the Bridgestone GTR. Those mean, ugly old CL-77's and Super Hawks continued to dominate the YDS-2 in the showroom sweepstakes, even while they were being coated in two-stroke smoke from the few YDS models that roared out the doors of dealerships. Ah, those were the days.

Jewel of the Orient

2009-01-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

This little jewel is probably the ultimate tiddler. The model shown here is a 1997 Honda Dream 50. Click the photo to enlarge it, but be sure to secure your drool napkin under your chin first. I often think about this rare little beauty and feel like a bloomin' idiot for not buying one of these rarities when it was available, even at the ridiculous $5495 price! If I had coughed up twice the sticker price of my '83 Nighthawk 550 for a machine that practically has to scream up to 10,000 rpm before it really begins to get out of its own way, it would have been identical to this one. If I were to pay my money, it would have to be red and silver and it would have to have lights and a speedo and tach, just like this one. Many were sold in solid red or black and silver, and most, if not all, were sold without lights. I am not even sure if this particular model with lights and a speedo was ever sold in the U. S., but I have collected numerous photos of Dream 50's. Some look like this one and some look like pure racers. They all are as attractive as Brigitte Bardot in 1962, which is when the original racer of which this is a replica, was built.

Note the resemblance to the CB-160 racer shown in the previous post. I have a fever dream that has two flavors. One looks just like the CB-160 racer or this '97 Dream 50, and the other looks like a red and silver CL-72 or a blue CL-350 K2 or K3 or a CL-90. Uh-oh, I'm having an orgasm all over myself. Anyone out there got a towel?

As with the post about the mystery of the red/blue/white/black CL-160 kitted CB-160's of 1967, I welcome any input from Tiddlerosis readers out there in TiddlerLand who may have more information or photos for me. The photos I have of the Dream 50 are mostly of this (and similar) 1997 models and black and silver 2004 models. I also have at least one photo of a solid red one. I used to have links to certain Honda pages concerning the Dream 50 in my old computer, but a crash caused me to lose access to some of those. I would love to know more details about this delicate little jewel of a Honda tiddler. Yes, I know it has a DOHC 50cc single cylinder engine, six-speed gearbox, and other such technical stuff. I know it was built in small numbers as a tribute to the CR110 of 1962. What I want to know is why do I have photos from 1997 and 2004, but nothing in between? Why is this model not even listed in my official 1959-2000 American Honda Guide? Were they all imported through the grey market? Was the model pictured actually imported with lighting equipment and a speedometer?

My Favorite Motorsickle Mystery

2009-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Some of you regular Tiddlerosis readers may have already figured out by now that I have always been a sucker for two particular types of Honda tiddlers: specific CL models and rare blue versions of certain models. In a few cases these two parameters overlap, such as in the CL-90, but for the most part, they remain separate. Although red is not my favorite color, when you combine bright red with a sufficient amount of silver or chrome trim, I get pretty overheated for those little sweethearts, too. You won't find me driving a red car. I even prefer Corvettes and Ferraris in some other color, but motorcycles, that's a horse of a different color.

Take this gorgeous 1966 race-kitted CB-160, for example. I drool just looking at this machine that currently resides as my wallpaper. I wish I could hear the scream of those flat-black megaphones at full song! I am using this photo in this story because I don't have a photo of the machine I am about to mention, and I cannot even find one on the internet. If anyone out there has a photo of one of these, please comment to let me know! I referred to this CB-160 racer as kitted because the mystery machine is another kitted 160, the earliest CL-160's built by dealers on CB-160's from what were referred to as CL kits. I understand that these were offered in the same four colors as the CB of the time: red, blue, black, and white, although I don't think I have ever seen a blue or white one. I am certain that I saw a number of red and black ones in my local dealership in 1967, and possibly 1968. Yes, we all know the CL-160 was continued as the CL-160D with black frames and body-colored gas tanks, but that's not the beastie I'm interested in. I want to see one in red, blue, or white.

I know these were built and sold in 1967 because that was a special transition time for me. I had already crashed the daylights out of my '63 red and silver YG-1, leading my parents to wisely take it away from me and replace it with a pool table in our basement. If you're a fan of That '70's Show, you know what I'm talking about! Add a pool table and subtract the weed and you have my parents' basement in 1965-67. After a few years of pool hall maturity, I had finally talked my parents into letting me buy a mini-bike in the summer of '67. Yeah, I know all the hip kids were in San Francisco with the big sickles and the weed in 1967, but I was in Mississippi hoping just to swing my leg over something without pedals. I managed to upgrade my parents to a sweet little '66 C-100 Cub if I promised to ride it mostly off-road. In case you don't believe that, I do have photos, but you'll just have to wait a while to see them. I found that innocent little black Cub at the Honda shop while drooling over the CL-160's. Even though I knew the real CL-160's didn't have no stinking electric foo-foo starters, I was still drawn like a hippie to Woodstock by the red and silver beauties that looked just like Scramblers when they were actually Super Sports in Scrambler suits. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had actually seen a blue one on the showroom floor. If I could have rustled up $630, I could have just let my parents throw me out of the house, keeping the pool table for themselves. I guess it all was a moot point because $630 was a lot of loot for a college kid in Mississippi in the Sixties.

As soon as I saw the original Honda Scrambler, the CL-72, in my 1962 Honda brochure, I knew I was hooked. As if the beautiful red and silver paint combination wasn't enough, this thing created the best howl of any twin-cylinder engine in all of motorized history! If you have never heard one with its baffles removed, as most were back in those good old days, you've missed a true aural treat. A couple of years after I calmed my parents down, I rode a CL-77 and a CL-160 and these have always reserved a special place in my motorhead brain. A close friend of mine even had a red CL-160 with a pair of open, upswept megaphones that screamed like a banshee and was a treat to ride! The bike I eventually sold is the one I most wish I hadn't, the blue 1970 CL-350 I drove to San Francisco from Mississippi twice.

Here is my plea reprise. If any of you guys has a photo of a silver and blue, red, or white 1967 CL-160, I would certainly like to add it to the Tiddlerosis website for others to see. I have photos of the real CL-160 and the CL-160D, but not the little beauty that was sandwiched in time between these two. If you study this series of machines carefully, you will see that the progression ran as follows: 1965 - CB; 1966 - black (skidplate) CL; 1967 - real CL continues and CL kits begin; 1968 - CL kits end and are replaced by the CL-160D. Production of the CL-160D was phased into the CL-175 that looked almost identical, but it had chrome fenders, a five-speed gearbox, and turn signals.

Honda CL-160
Honda Scrambler Chart

Allstate History

2009-01-02T04:11:00.000-08:00

Troyce Walls is a classic Allstate enthusiast in Florida who seems to know more about these Austro-Italian pooter-scooters than anyone I have met in person or found online. Many of the photos in the Allstate gallery came from Troyce or his website. The 1961 Allstate 175 catalog scan at left is only one of many of these. Due to a computer crash I experienced, I have lost all contact information for Troyce, as well as his website, so I am copying his detailed historical article here verbatim. As I do with much of the info I post on Tiddlerosis, Troyce doesn't claim to know everything there is to know about his motorized subject matter, but he most certainly has a good grip on the Sears Allstate story.

Allstate History by Troyce Walls

The motorized two-wheelers sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co. (hereafter: Sears) during the fifties and sixties in the US were actually produced by three major manufacturers. These were Cushman of the US, Piaggio (Vespa) of Italy, and Daimler-Steyer-Puch of Austria. All these Sears units were essentially rebadged versions of the parent manufacturer’s wares. The motorcycle in this test is from Daimler-Steyer-Puch, and was sold by Sears as the Allstate 250. This motorcycle was first offered by Sears round about the mid-fifties for the princely sum of almost $500, and complimented a previously offered 175cc Standard and Deluxe version, and a rudimentary 125cc fan-cooled twist grip shift 3-speed fan-cooled single. All four were sold in addition to the Allstate/Cushman and Allstate Cruisaire/Vespa line. A Puch Moped was added to the catalog a couple of years after the introduction of the 250. Apparently the 250cc was never offered in a “Standard” version (the equivalent of a Sears “Better” as opposed to “Best”) in the manner of the 175cc, and was always sold with chrome wheels, generator electrics, and other deluxe features. The “Standard” 175 sometimes had body color wheels and always a magneto system. The earlier 250 was painted “Rich” or “Lustrous Maroon,” according to the catalog description. The most abundant models found today were produced later and were finished in a shiny deep black. The 175 was “Rich Medium Blue” for the standard and “Lustrous Maroon” for the Deluxe. By the end of the run, the 175 had been dropped from the catalog and the 250 had lost a bit of charm with the introduction of the “Italian” models that used CEV switchgear and lights, with the body color black or red with silver painted tank and headlight case. The tank on these models had lost the chrome panels and romantic teardrop shape in favor of a blocky more modern racer-style.

As an aside, the fact that so many of the bikes keep appearing out of barns and fields can mostly be attributed to the very attractive “$50 down and $42 a month” purchase alternatives and home delivery advertised in the Sears catalogues. You could order one and within a couple of weeks the truck would arrive at your door with your cycle in a crate whether you were in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest Plains, The Florida Keys, Manhattan or Maine. Some Assembly Required.

A twin carb scrambler version of the 250 was sold for a couple of years alongside the toaster-tank models. This bike used a tube frame, lightweight off-road fenders, dual ignition system, and a high mounted exhaust running up either side. The catalog praise for this model was really very convincing in that, “Professional riders tell us that the Allstate scrambler handles so well that it seems to correct for the errors in the rider’s judgment.” Now that’s what I need, because I make my share of judgment errors. The statement was accompanied by a drawing of a very silly looking and grinning fellow wearing goggles and a soup bowl helmet. This model was listed for a whopping $700. That’s a lot of early sixties groceries. However, although I have never actually seen one of these models for sale, I would imagine that the acquisition of one today could set a body back a whole lot of mid-nineties groceries. Certainly, this enthusiast finds the machine highly desirable.

Both the 175 and the 250 had the unique two-piston/common combustion chamber engine design. This configuration is often referred to as the “Twingle,” although I’ve seen that designation applied to other types of engines. That’s what I call them for now, at least until a better and more accurate handle comes along. According to my meager historical resources this layout was used by at least one other manufacturer also of European origin, DKW, in their gran-prix racer in the 1930s. Interestingly, the DKW folks also experimented with a third dummy cylinder lying horizontally forward at 90º (similar to a Ducati L-twin forward cylinder) to the twin cylinders that was used as a crankcase supercharger. It has been written that the exhaust racket from this machine could be heard up to 3 miles from the track. So never let it be said that my stodgy old Allstates have no heritage. Besides that, as a 11 to 12 year old youngster I used to fall asleep with the Sears catalog open on my face to the motorcycle pages and that’s enough heritage for me. What a wonderful, mystical beast was that huge black 250.

Quickly here, I will remember my, what do the naturalists call it? Imprinting? from an Allstate 250, as it happened back in the halcyon 60s. Most of us had some sort of small bike, mine happened (another story) to be an Allstate/Puch MoPed, but most of the guys had the bulletproof little Hondas singles or small displacement twins. One day that summer one of the older fellows that hung around the gym and played basketball with us had unearthed this big black greasy thing that no one but me could identify. I knew it from the pages of the Sears catalog, and the showroom way over in Huntsville. Somehow I talked this guy into letting me ride his machine while he took my place on the court for a quick game. We agreed that I would be back in ten or fifteen minutes which sounded like plenty of time, as if I wouldn’t have agreed to any amount. Forty-five minutes later he tracked me down at the local gas station, and found me attempting to gas up both cavities in the fuel tank as I, realizing how late I would be, knew I would have to be very apologetic as well as offer some compensation when I finally returned. When he had finished hollerin’ at me and had finally decided, with a lot of fast talking on my part, not to beat my ass, I was able to walk back to the gym thinking of how great it had been. So much power, so big, so mean, and so stinky, smelly, and neat. And even now, although I can remember having trouble then with shifting into second, I wondered why the folks who knew of them seemed to speak disparagingly of the Sears motorcycles. Later of course, as being cool with a succession of Hondas, Triumphs, etc., came to mean much more than objectivity and open-mindedness, I began to use the Allstates and their ilk as an object of derision as well. Smoky East-European dinosaurs, they became.

The advantages of the subject engine design in the days before widespread use of the rotary valve in two-strokes lay basically in the enhanced ability to time the fuel air charge and in better combustion chamber scavenging. Disadvantages are increased weight and complexity, of course. In the Puch/Sears engine one cylinder is situated directly behind the other; the front contained the exhaust ports and the rear the intake ports. The carburetor is mounted oddly on the left side of the front cylinder and is oriented rearward on the early bikes, directly to port side outboard on later models. The pistons arrive at TDC a couple of degrees apart in order to provide the aforementioned advantageous charge/scavenge timing. The engine is tuned in the Puch/Sears version to be very tractable at low RPM and to be reliable as the bike was built for post-WW2 Southern Europe. The idea was to give the automobile and income starved populace affordable transport that would be effective in the Alpine geography. The fact that Sears decided to import and sell this bike in the US had no bearing on its initial design and arrangement of parts.

That’s a very brief history as I know it, and I realize that there will be hecklers and detail mongers pointing out discrepancies, but I believe I got it fairly close. At least close enough to proceed with my evaluation of this beautiful old machine with my, admittedly baby-boomer out of focus, but present day jaundiced eye and posterior.

The unit used for this road test is model 810.94180 and was sold by Sears in the late fifties to early-mid sixties. Color for the particular model tested was “Lustrous Maroon” when new. Tank panels, wheels, shocks, and various other trim pieces were chromium plated and were mixed in with scattered polished alloy pieces. . A sprung solo seat was supplied with this model, with a similar one offered for pillion as an option. Windshields, saddlebags, etc., were also available.

Starting a properly kept Allstate 250 from cold is relatively simple if one is accustomed to a variety of vintage bikes. Here’s how I would tell the reader to do it. Do not get on the bike first. Turn on the fuel supply at the petcock, tickle the carb with the plunger on top of the float bowl until fuel leaks down the side, and turn the simple but effective choke disk so that the carb intake is closed off. Push the BMW-style (Hella, I think) plunger type Ignition key down into position in the top of the headlight. If the red generator and green neutral lights come on you’re ready to kick. If they don’t they’re probably not working, but in that case it’s still a good idea to check manually that you’re in neutral. Now, if you got on the bike to do all this in the beginning it’s best now, in my experience, to get off again and put it on the centerstand because the kick lever is on the left. Upon hearing me complain about this arrangement once in the infield at Daytona an old Allstate aficionado asked me, “Why would ye want to git on the damn thang if it ain’t runnin’?” Two healthy strokes on the kick lever with the throttle just slightly open is usually all it takes to get the relaxed two-stroke burbling away. If it doesn’t crank this easily something is amiss. Once running, immediately open the choke windows a bit to preclude fouling. It’s possible to hop on now and ride away, but a few seconds in reach down and open the choke windows completely. This last step requires the operator to look down at the choke disk since there is no positive indication of rotational position that can be felt. Or you could stand there beside the bike until it warms a bit before riding away, I suppose, if you aren’t anxious to sample the subtle joys of riding this wonderful, torquey old machine.

First is one down with the left side shift lever (unlike the classics from that foggy island off the French coast). Engagement into first and pulling away using the clutch lever on the left bar is a smooth operation, but shifting into second on all the examples of this bike that I’ve ridden isn’t. First is an extremely low ratio (probably for starting with passenger aboard with the bike pointed up an Alpine incline) and optimum power/torque rpms are reached quickly. Second is up on the other side of neutral and engagement can require two distinct shifts to clear neutral. Second ratio is quite a bit higher than first. Maybe others can do it better than me, but I’ve never been able to get the set of gears that make up the second ratio to meet agreeably. If I shift from first at low revs where things aren’t spinning so quickly the engagement to second is better but the ratio is so high that the engine bogs. If I allow the revs and forward motion build to a proper velocity before shifting there’s a lot of unhappy gnashing of (gear and my own dental) teeth. But after that the power, what there is of it, and torque build smoothly and shifts into third and fourth are much more gratifying. I’ve found that even moderately high engine speeds do nothing to increase acceleration and that short shifting between the upper three ratios is not only more agreeable, but more effective. The practical, utilitarian design of the engine really comes through here.

Very few two-strokes of this capacity that I’ve ridden pull so well from low in the rev range. The Suzuki TS250, a seventies vintage one-lung two-stroke enduro I used recently, pulled fairly well from down low but had a definite “On the pipe” area up the rpm range. I know for a fact that the Yamaha Big Bear Scrambler (YDS3-C) that I drag out of its cave occasionally truly demands that a lot of noise and rpms be present to move on down the road. But then the YDS would kick the do-do out of the Allstate in a sprint. Amusing to note here that the stump pulling Puch engine is in a street bike, and that the peaky oriental unit is in a alleged scrambler. But then we all know about early Japanese so-called scramblers. The point is, the Allstate pulls well from down low, and excessive engine speed is a waste of time and motor.

Through the corners the pressed steel frame performs adequately. Things start touching down fairly early, even for yours truly, a fellow not known specifically for his curve slicing skills. Little ‘bar effort is required to change direction, and the old Puch is willing to do so even after taking a set through a ‘rounder. Never having had the delectation of using one of these machines with fresh suspension damping, it’s difficult to say how much that would help. The dampers are rebuildable, but the parts are scarce and I’m never sure that I’ve done it as well as our Austrian buddies did originally. With the large mufflers and silencers intact, and good main bearings, the machine is acceptably quiet, even to today’s more socially critical ear. The aforementioned Yam Big Bear is much noisier.

Seating position for my portly 6’ 2” and 235 lbs. is a bit cramped, but not too bad. The pegs are bit forward for me in relation to the European bend ‘bars. But that’s OK because the sprung solo saddle is so close to the front of the machine that that’s where I have to be anyway. Me and the Allstate look pretty ridiculous together, sort of like John Wayne on a burro, only in this case the Allstate is prettier than me. Note, however, that the ergonomics start to feel very natural as time and miles pass. Later versions of the bike with the dual saddle, and eventually - with the “Italian” versions - a western handlebar height and bend, allow for more freedom of butt placement but don’t look or feel nearly as cool and continental.

Stopping the Allstate is covered more than adequately by the large drums front and rear. Probably another symptom of the Alpine heritage. If it’s possible to go quickly and enthusiastically enough to cause fade in a well tended example I’ve never done it, but then I’ve never actually used one of these bikes in anger. By and large, the brakes are up to their intended task.

Maintenance on one of these old classics is fairly straightforward if parts can be found. More on that later. The points/condenser ignition, oil bath primary chain and clutch, and enclosed rear drive chain will provide years of service if looked after with a conscience. The 250 utilitizes an oil pump in the engine case to provide a throttle related oil/gasoline mix. The fuel tank incorporates a +/- quart sized oil tank in the left side, ergo the two caps on the tank. The oil pump should be kept operational, as opposed to disengaging it and using pre-mix, since the oil is also injected into the main bearings by the pump. The primary weak point in the otherwise very robust unit has to do with the engine top end. According to my sources, the front pistons seem to burn up within five to eight thousand miles. It is unusual to see a machine with more miles than that still retaining enough compression to run properly. This probably usually has some to do with overly casual maintenance. However, the exhaust piston is separate from the cooling incoming charge and is located directly behind the frame downtube and out of laminar air flow; not really optimal design. Occasionally, one will come across an engine that just seems plain noisy, i.e., not piston slap or rod knock or whatever, and that overall noise is symptomatic of a main bearing having become rough and worn. Altogether though, the motor and frame are very strongly built.

Parts availability is quite limited, although MotorWest (see acknowledgments) seems able to eventually supply critical items, either from stock or upon request. DomiRacer/Accessory Mart of Cincinnati OH (513/871.1678) also have a quantity of parts as they bought the remainder left in the States from Sears in the early 80s. Cosmetic and accessory items, as with all vintage bikes, are the most difficult, i.e., chrome and other shiny bits, tool kits, tail lights, tire pumps, pillion seats, and so forth. Additionally, it’s always a good rule with classic bikes (Definition dependent upon reader’s viewpoint) to purchase more than one example at a time if possible as a parts source. Some seals and bearings can be purchased through specialized retail outlets.

Overall, the shift from first to second not withstanding, riding the Allstate/Puch 250 motorcycle can be a Zen-like event. It’s completely obliging and easy to get along with, as long as one doesn’t require a blistering pace that day (that’s where the Zen comes in). As a similar life-lesson, I’ve found that in my small city when I go out shopping for building materials or hardware or whatever, I might as well set myself to the slow and rambling pace of my town, otherwise I end up just being pissed off and it all takes the same amount of time anyway. Over the past several years, since my return to the motorcycling fold after a fifteen-year hiatus, I’ve come from thinking the Allstate ugly and silly, to viewing the visual and visceral elements of this motorcycle as ones of beauty, with form and function blended into a suprisingly beckoning whole. There’s literally more character than a dozen of other certain cycles could ever muster. Maybe even a hundred of them. Realizing that there are those of us, myself included, who find this same magic on our Harleys, IN our Gold Wing Interstates, or aboard our long-legged Beemer Boxers, I have to say that very few machines fall to my eye and heart as easily as the Twingle. But that’s me, all others must judge for themselves, give one a try.

Acknowledgments, wherein I must pay debts to some kind and helpful folks:

First and foremost, to Mr. Tom Bell of Florida near Orlando (407/295.8417) who is an Allstate Guru. He has examples of most models of the 250s and has been messing with them and the 175s, Sabres, Compacts, and 125s, along with other East European two-strokes, for years. He’s willing to answer questions from anywhere about any of these bikes.

To Matthew Quirk, of MotoWest in Brown Deer, Wisconsin (414/354.4154) who has lots of parts and access to even more, and knowledge of what fits what.

The photographs are of a beautifully restored Allstate previously owned and restored by Mr. Stuart Echols of Florida. This is not the bike I rode for the test, but does closely represent how it would have looked when new.

Editor's Note: I am not sure which machine photos he is referring to here, but I am sure it is represented by at least one photo in the gallery.

The Allstate Photo Gallery
Allstate Compact
Allstate Scrambler

Allstate Scrambler (ISDT)

2009-01-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

The photo at right is of the rarest Allstate tiddler, the 250 Scrambler. This model was imported by Sears in very small numbers in the very early '60's. I don't even know the exact years. I lost my catalog photos of this model decades ago, but I have one ad from my very first issue of Cycle Magazine of August '63. That ad indicates that Sears was clearout their last Scramblers for $488. The original price was $699, as you can see from the 1959 catalog page in the photo gallery. The Scrambler may have been called the ISDT by Puch, and it was equipped for that sort of competition, what we now call an enduro, a motocrosser with lights for night racing through the boonies. It was a souped up Twingle with twin carbs, upswept pipes, high, chrome fenders, a 2.7-gallon teardrop tank, and crossbrace bars. I cannot remember what sort of gearing it had. The 1959 model was offered with lights, extra sprockets, and even a sprocket puller! The 1963 closeout special ad does not mention the extra sprockets, but the lighting kit (battery not included) was a $25 option.

The Tiddlerosis photo gallery of Allstate models imported by Sears can be found here. Please note that there are currently no titles or captions identifying the models in the gallery. This gallery was enough of a monster to create; I'll add the identifying remarks later. This is a photo array of some of the better photos from my collection. Some of the photos are from the catalogs, some are from actual Sears Allstate brochures, and the rest are owners' machines, a few of which being particularly nice restored machines. Most were found on a website by Troyce Walls of Titusville, Florida. His website has more useful information on Allstates than I have found anywhere! I hope he enjoys Tiddlerosis as I much as I have enjoyed the experience of discovering his site. I have copied a detailed explantation and description of all the Sears models and their histories from his site, and I plan to post that document at Tiddlerosis soon. Due to a computer crash a while back, I am sorry that I cannot provide a link to Troyce's site, or even verify that it is still available.

Sears began selling motorcycles and scooters in the '50's and continued into the latter '60's. The earlier models were built by Cushman, but the Eagle was never sold as an Allstate, Vespa (the basic 125 model only), and Steyr-Daimler-Puch. I believe the later machines sold by the catalog company were badged as Sears models instead of as Allstates. Probably many more were sold directly from the mall stores and less from the mail-order catalog business during the later years. The Cushman models were deleted from the lineup early on, and the Vespa followed suit a few years later. Cushman and Vespa were linked as companies back then, so it is no surprise that Sears sold these two brands as Allstates. In the latter years, after the Cushmans and Vespas were gone, Sears began importing a pair of Italian Gileras, the 106SS and 124. You can spot these a mile away if you have a general idea what all Italian motorcycles looked like back then. The much homelier Puchs received updated styling about the same time, along with a few model changes in the lineup. This made for two basic series of Sears machines that we could call "early" and "late". You can easily spot the differences between the two groups in the photos.

Some of these photos are scans of actual brochures distributed by Sears, Roebuck, & Company. The exact model years of some models are uncertain; however, the earlier photos are from the early Sixties when all the Allstate models were built by Puch of Austria or Vespa of Italy. During the Fifties, Sears also sold some of the Cushman models built in the U.S. These were shown in the Sears catalogs of the Fifties, prior to the time these particular brochures were printed. The Cushman sales may have literally stopped with the production of the U.S.-built Cushman models. Cushman was associated with the Italian firm that built Vespas at the same time, so it is reasonable that Sears simply contracted to sell some of their product. As far as I know, Sears never sold any Vespa models except the 125cc scooter, and the company may never have sold Cushman Eagles, either. I simply cannot remember that detail. Sears did market the Cushman Highlander, the company's basic, cheaper scooter. I suspect that Sears never sold the larger Vespas for the same reason. The later photos are obviously from the mid-Sixties when Sears was still importing the Puch models, but you can see some of the obvious styling updates of these. At this same time, Sears added a few Italian Gilera models to the Allstate lineup. I am uncertain if the Allstate label was used on these, or if the Sears name was applied, but for simplicity here, I am calling all of them Allstates.

The Sears Allstate Photo Gallery
Allstate Compact

Rex KL-35

2008-12-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

Rex is one of the rarest, strangest of the tiddler brands. The German company built five 50cc models in the late '50's and early '60's. There were several other European brands named Rex, but this one may be the most obscure. These 50cc tiddlers were built in Munich and distributed out of Salt Lake City. How's that for strange? If I had not seen this ad for the top-of-the-line KL-35 in the August '62 issue of Cycle World, I might never have discovered this unusual tiddler. I sent off for a full-line, 1962 brochure when I saw this ad, and I'll put those scans on Tiddlerosis when I get time. I am posting this ad photo first because it proudly displays some of the KL-35's features.

Let's begin at the bottom of the Rex lineup and work our way up to the king beastie shown here. The cheapest Rex was called simply the Motorbike Kit. Shown in the brochure was an English-style touring bicycle with a gas tank attached to the top frame bar and an engine nestled in the V of the frame, just above the pedals. I don't know if this machine retained its original three-speed handshift or not. Next up the scale was the Piccolo Moped, which was sort of a heavy-duty bicycle frame with the engine mounted in front of the pedals. The middle of the line was the Monaco Moped, a machine roughly equivalent to the much more common Allstate Moped.

Next up was a model called the Como Deluxe. This was one of those tiddlers that you don't know quite what to call it. I have photos of 1959 and 1961 models with pedals, but the '62 version in the brochure had a conventional set of footpegs and kickstarter. The photos of the early ones are blue and the '62 is white. The Como was shaped like a motorcycle, but there was a shallow step-through area behind the conventional gas tank. The tire diameter was larger than that of the Allstate Compact, but less than that of the Honda Cub. The Como was like a primitive, German version of the cycle/scooter hybrids that would come much later. The engine was fan-cooled and the left side kickstarter tilted forward like that on a Super Hawk.The three-speed handshift was on pressed-steel handlebars in front of a conventional dual seat. The Como was basically a toned-down version of the KL-35 in a semi-scooter suit.

The KL-35 offered numerous weight-adding features. Its fan-cooled 50cc engine pumped 4.4 horsepower through dual carbs and twin upswept exhausts. Yes, you read it right. Look at the picture again. This was a little more power than the 3.6 hp of the Como, but it still drove through a three-speed handshift. Rex touted the Earls (sic) front fork for the bike's comfortable ride and the electrics were via magneto. The 21" wheels gave it a distinctly motorcycle look, but its pressed-steel frame, fully enclosed chain, and narrow handlebars brought the sissy look back. In its favor, there was the classic German pinstriping on the fenders, and I'm sure any fourteen-year-old could be impressed by its dual input and output! Hey, that's the ticket. I happened to have been fourteen in 1962!

See also: Rex Como Dexlue

NSU Max & Maxi

2008-12-23T06:44:00.001-08:00

Techno-motorheads, listen up! NSU tiddlers were imported into the U. S. in very small numbers from the postwar era until the Japanese took over the market in the early '60's. On the surface, you may be saying, So? These machines were so stinking interesting from an historical, mechanical standpoint that I hope I can remember all the technological points I want to mention in this brief synopsis!

NSU first built the 100cc Fox in 1949, followed by the 250cc Max in '53. Over the next few years, these would be joined in the lineup by the 175cc Maxi, a 300cc, a moped, and the Prima scooter. The ones you are most likely to have encountered are the Max and Maxi, and maybe the Fox and Prima. We're going to concentrate on the Max and Maxi in our techie discussion here, but many of the same details also apply to the other models.

NSU sent these machines to the U. S. up through 1963, at least. I don't know if there were any '64's imported or not, but the 1963 brochure I have is definitely from the last year of the Max. According to Sheldon's EMU, Maxis were built through 1964, and they far outnumbered the quantity of Max 250's throughout most production years. Were more Maxis brought to the U. S. than Maxes? I don't know. I highly recommend the EMU site for far more detailed information about all NSU models. Wikipedia covers the car line in more detail. The brand is merely on the fringe of the subject of Tiddlerosis. One of the most fascinating things about NSU is that the company produced the first rotary-engined car with the Wankel Spider in 1964. Mass production of that technology would later make Mazda a household name. NSU continued to innovate and produce cars, becoming a part of Audi in 1969.

The photo is of a 1963 Maxi 175. I have numerous high-quality of photos of the Maxi, Max, and Fox, but I chose the Maxi to show off its strangely shaped pressed-steel handlebars. You can find photos of the other models at European Motorcycle Universe. According to EMU, NSU built 31,471 Maxis from 1957 to 1964 and 15,473 SuperMaxes from 1956 to 1963. The production figures quite obviously appear as if the Japanese were pushing NSU into the dustbin of tiddler history in the early Sixties: only 851 250's were built in 1962 and '63 combined. Although there were more than 13,000 Maxis built in '63-'64, I strongly suspect that these stayed home in Europe. Until I carefully examined Sheldon's numbers, I would have guessed that the Super Max was the biggest seller in the USA, and it may very well have been. Note that the model actually imported was the 18-hp Super Max. The last year of the regular, 17-hp Max was 1956.

What's all the brouhaha about technology? I have already mentioned the pressed-steel handlebars of the Maxi, similar to the ones on the early Honda Dreams sent to the U. S. in very small numbers. The engine is an OHC single with a patented system of rods called ULTRAMAX operating the cam. Ducati Desmo, anyone? The engine is a wet-sump type. The front suspension is leading-link type. Look at how the headlamp is attached! The standard seat was a solo model attached at the front. A passenger seat, perched high above the driver's saddle, or luggage rack was optional on some models, and some had conventional dual seats, similar to the Allstate Twingles. The frame is pressed steel and the chain is fully enclosed. All models had the distinctive little metal tool boxes stradding the rear wheel like tiny saddlebags. Notice the swoopy fenders and delicate pinstriping. The four-speed footshift was on the left, and so was the kickstarter. The exhaust pipe is on the left on the Super Max and on the right on the Maxi. You can see many styling and design parallels with the Puch two-stroke 250 and 175. The more expensive and exotic NSU's will always be rare collectibles. How different would things have been if Sears Roebuck had chosen to market the OHC version instead?

Honda Motosport Chart

2008-12-22T09:19:00.001-08:00

Honda invented the street scrambler concept with its 1962 CL-72, a street motorcycle with dirt-bike styling and a little better off-road capability than the purely street models of the day. Trail riding in America was a slowly growing sport until Yamaha put everybody and his hound dog on knobby tires with its 250cc DT-1 in 1968. Honda's first response to the ring-ding onslaught was the Motosport SL series, a line of bikes that were too heavy to really stomp the Yamahas into the dirt, but they certainly had long-lasting, sweet-sounding engines and the legendary Honda bullet-proof reliability. The brochure shown here is of the heaviest of the Motosport bunch, the SL-350 introduced in late 1969 with a heavy frame and electric starter. The breed would begin to improve its dirtability with the K1 model of 1971. Compare this photo with the Blue '71 K1 on the other Motosport page. Here is a basic chart of the SL models.

SL-70

Year	Color Choices	Tank	Frame	Speeds	Speedometer
1971 - K0	Light Ruby Red - Aquarius Blue - Summer Yellow	White Stripe	Silver	Four	Optional
1972 - K0	Light Ruby Red - Aquarius Blue - Summer Yellow	White Stripe	Silver	Four	Optional
1973 - K1	Fire Red - Candy Riviera Blue - Candy Yellow	Yellow Panel	Silver	Four	Standard

All SL-70's had black exhausts with chrome shields, double-downtube frames, and body-colored fenders.

SL-90

Year	Color Choices	Tank	Frame	Exhaust	Fenders	Speeds
1969	Candy Ruby Red - Candy Blue	Silver Stripe	Silver	Chrome	Body Color	Four

All SL-90's had upswept exhausts, 19" front wheels, kickstarters, and horizontal cylinders. Note: Some SL-90's may have had black frames, as shown in the '69 Honda brochure. According to my own personal recollection, I rode a friend's SL-90 in 1969, and it had a black frame. The first silver-framed SL I remember encountering was another friend's SL-350 of several months later. The SL-90 was the first SL model released, and it is the only one showing a black frame in the brochure. Since we are discussing my memory of more than thirty-five years ago, it is quite possible that I am just plain wrong on this issue.

SL-100

Year	Color Choices	Tank	Frame	Exhaust	Handlebars
1970 - K0	Ruby Red - Sapphire Blue - Emerald Green	White Stripe	Silver	High-rise	No Crossbrace
1971 - K1	Ruby Red - Emerald Green - Mars Orange	White Stripe	Silver	Low-rise	No Crossbrace
1972 - K2	Candy Ruby Red - Tortoise Green Metallic	Yellow Panel	Silver	Low-rise	Crossbrace
1973 - K3	Fire Red - Candy Riviera Blue	White Decal	Black	Low-rise	Crossbrace

All SL-100's had flat-black exhausts with chrome shields, kickstarters, and body-colored, steel fenders.

SL-125

Year	Color Choices	Tank	Frame	Side Covers
1971 - K0	Strato Blue Metallic - Poppy Yellow Metallic - Candy Emerald Green	Black Stripe	Silver	Body Color
1972 - K1	Special Silver Metallic	Red Stripe	Black	Body Color
1973 - K2	Special Silver Metallic	Red Stripe	Black	Matte Black

All SL-125's had tachometers, kickstarters, painted steel fenders, and flat-black exhaust pipes with chrome shields.

SL-175

Year	Color Choices	Tank	Exhaust	Exhaust Shield
1970 - K0	Candy Ruby Red - Candy Sapphire Blue - Candy Topaz Orange	White Stripe	Black	Chrome
1971 - K1	Light Ruby Red - Candy Sapphire Blue - Poppy Yellow Metallic	White Stripe	Black	Chrome
1972 - K1	Light Ruby Red - Candy Sapphire Blue - Poppy Yellow Metallic	White Stripe	Black	Chrome

All SL-175's had two-into-one exhausts, silver frames, body-color fenders, kickstarters, and Ceriani-style front forks.

SL-350

Year	Color Choices	Frame	Tank	Starter	Front Wheel
1969 - K0	Ruby Red - Sapphire Blue - Candy Gold	single downtube	White Stripe	Electric	19"
1970 - K0	Ruby Red - Sapphire Blue - Candy Gold	single downtube	White Stripe	Electric	19"
1970 - K1	Ruby Red - Sapphire Blue - Topaz Orange	double downtube	White Stripe	Kickstarter	19"
1971- K1	Ruby Red - Sapphire Blue - Topaz Orange	double downtube	White Stripe	Kickstarter	19"
1972 - K2	Marina Blue Metallic - Candy Panther Gold	double downtube	Yellow Trim	Kickstarter	21"
1973 - K2	Marina Blue Metallic - Candy Panther Gold	double downtube	Yellow Trim	Kickstarter	21"

All SL-350's had candy paint, silver frames, flat-black exhausts, Ceriani-style front forks, and exposed rear springs.

The Motosport page at Tiddlerosis

BMW R-27

2008-12-21T09:37:00.001-08:00

The legendary German snot brand BMW built a single tiddler model consistently from prior to World War II until 1967. The company sold the R-23 250cc single prior to WWII, but Germany was forbidden from manufacturing motorcycles immediately thereafter. The ban was lifted a few years later and BMW released its R-24 model in 1948. The hardtail R-24 was replaced by the R-25 with plunger-type rear suspension in 1950. The 1956 R-26 brought a real swingarm rear suspension, the Earles-type front fork, a foot shift, and a fully enclosed driveshaft.

The 1963 brochure pictured here is an example taken from the center of the production life of BMW's last traditional, shaft-drive single. The R-27 was introduced in 1960 and continued through the 1966 model year. Changes from the R-26 were minimal. Its eighteen horsepower numbered three more than the previous model, but it was still offered only in black and white and rode all over. You may recognize that clever phrase from the magazine advertising of the '60's. The black paintjobs with white pinstriping were by far the more common, so the rare few painted in white with black pinstriping are highly sought collectibles. Remember that snot I mentioned? The R-27 at $849 + TTL was considered the Cadillac, uh, Beamer of the tiddlers of The Sixties. Although any Hawk or YDS-2 could blow it into the weeds, there's no price like a BMW price.

Harley-Davidson Hummer Chart

2008-12-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Harley-Davidson built a series of small two-stroke singles in their U.S. factory from 1948 to 1966. These models were marketed in three displacements under various model names. We are using the name Hummer here to loosely define the entire model group. All of these were piston-port two-strokes with three-speed, left-side foot shifts. The kick-starters were on the left side and were not foldable. Most of the mufflers were black with chrome header pipes, but chrome mufflers were an option on many models. The wheel rims and handlebars were also painted black on some models, with chrome components offered as options. The handgrips were larger in diameter than the handlebars and the throttles did not have return springs, making them feel quite different to the hand than those on small Japanese machines.

125cc S-model Single

Year	Colors	Production	Suspension	Tank	Muffler
1948	A1 - B - R	10,117	girder	solid color	fishtail
1949	A	7291	girder	solid color	fishtail
1950	A1 - B - B1 - R - Y	4708	girder		fishtail
1951	B2 - B3 - G - R1 - Y	5101	Tele-Glide	solid color	round
1952	B2 - B4 - G1 - R1	4576	Tele-Glide		round

The original S-model had 1.7-3 hp, battery ignition and lighting, a 50-inch wheelbase, 19-inchwheels, a top speed of about 55 mph, weighed about 170 pounds, and had a 3-speed foot shift. The bore and stroke were 2.06" x 2.28".

165cc ST-model Single

Year	Colors	Production	Tank	Wheels
1953	B5 - G2 - G3 - R2	4225		3.25 x 19-inch
1954	A - B5 - G2 - I - R2 - Y1	2835	solid color	3.25 x 19-inch
1955	A - B6 - G4 - R - R2 - Y1	2263		3.25 x 19-inch
1956	B6 - R2 - X - Y2	2219		3.50 x 18-inch
1957	B7 - F - R2 - W	2401		3.50 x 18-inch
1958	A - B7 - C - R3	2445	large 165 logo	3.50 x 18-inch
1959	B7 - R3 - R4 - T	2311		3.50 x 18-inch

All of the 165cc ST's had Tele-Glide front suspension, no rear suspension, color-coordinated upper fork cover plates, 5.5 horsepower, a bore and stroke of 2.37" x 2.28", and battery ignition and lighting.

Hummer 125cc

Year	Colors	Production	Tank	Wheels	Front Brake
1955	A - B6 - G4 - R2 - Y1 - Z	1040		19-inch	None
1956	B6 - R2	1384		18-inch	None
1957	B7 - F - R2 - W	1350		18-inch	Drum
1958	A - B7 - C - R3	1677	Large 125 logo	18-inch	Drum
1959	B7 - R3 - R4 - T	1285	Large white logo	18-inch	Drum

The 125cc was brought back into the lineup as a 3.5-hp economy model in 1955. The economizing was clearly visible in the black handlebars and wheel rims, you-squeeze-it bulb horn, and the deletion of the battery ignition and lighting. The weight had crept up to 178 pounds. This is the only model that was officially named Hummer. Note: The change from
19" to 18" wheels in 1956 may not be correct for this model.

Super 10 165cc

Year	Colors	Production	Tank	Wheels
1960	B8 - G5 - R2 - R4	2488	Single stripe thru white	3.50 x 18-inch
1961	B7 - B8 - G5 - R4 - W	1527	Large white lower panel	3.50 x 16-inch

The Super 10 had a 9-hp version of the B (Hummer) engine. A version restricted to 5 hp was also offered. This transition model between the Hummer and Pacer was offered with options such as buckhorn handlebars and buddy seats in white or gray. All Super 10's had magneto ignition instead of a battery.

Ranger 165cc

Year	Colors	Production	Tank	Wheels
1962	B7 - P - R4 - R5	app. 200	White top panel	3.50 x 18-inch

The Ranger was produced until the factory ran out of 165cc engines. The Ranger was basically a stripped Scat without lights or a front fender. The gearing was very low for off-road work, and the same gearing was offered as an option on the Scat. The production total of the Pacer, Ranger, and Scat for 1962 was 1983. Only about 200 of these were Rangers. *

Pacer 175cc

Year	Colors	Production	Suspension	Tank
1962	B7 - P - R4 - R5	* see note above	rigid	White top panel
1963	A - R4 - R5 - T	1740 (inc. Scat)	spring	Birch White lower panel
1964	A - R6	2760 (inc. Scat)	spring	Large white side panel
1965	A - B9 - R7	1250 (inc. Scat)	spring	White lower panel with stripe

The Pacer and Scat both had 10 horsepower, a bore and stroke of 2.37" x 2.41", a 52-inch wheelbase, 16-inch wheels and a 1.9 gallon tank painted in the same colors and patterns for each year. The listed weight of the Pacer was 205 pounds.

Scat 175cc

Year	Colors	Tank	Suspension	Wheels
1962	B7 - P - R4 - R5	White top panel	rigid	18-inch
1963	A - R4 - R5 - T	Birch White lower panel	spring	18-inch
1964	A - R6	Large white side panel	spring	18-inch
1965	A - B9 - R7	White lower panel with stripe	spring	18-inch

The listed weight of the Scat was 220 pounds. All Scats had high-mounted fenders and semi-knobby tires. The most interesting component of the Pacer and Scat of 1963 was the new rear suspension spring mounted underneath the engine, predating the Softtail by about twenty years!

Bobcat 175cc

Year	Colors	Production	Exhaust	Wheels
1966	R7 - S - U	1150	Chrome	18-inch

The main distinction of the Bobcat was its one-piece, fiberglass tank cover, seat base, and rear fender, much like the one that would later appear on the original Super Glide. The standard muffler was painted black, but I believe nearly all Bobcats were sold with the optional chrome muffler.

Solely for the purpose of easily fitting all of the color names into this chart, each color has been assigned a letter designation. These are as follows:

A - Black A1 - Brilliant BlackB - Azure Blue B1 - Riviera Blue B2 - Rio Blue B3 - Metallic Blue B4 - Marine Blue Metallic B5 - Glacier Blue B6 - Atomic Blue B7 - Skyline Blue
B8 - Hi-Fi Blue B9 - Pacific Blue C - Tropical Coral F - High Fire G - Metallic Green G1 - Tropical Green G2 - Forest Green G3 - Glamour Green G4 - Hollywood Green G5 - Hi-Fi Green I - Daytona Ivory P - Hi-Fi Purple R - Flight Red R1 - Persian Red
R2 - Pepper Red R3 - Calypso Red R4 - Hi-Fi Red R5 - Tango Red R6- Fiesta Red R7 - Holiday Red S - Sparkling Burgundy T - Hi-Fi Turquoise U - Indigo Metallic W - Birch White X - Tangerine Y - Sportsman Yellow Y1 - Anniversary Yellow
Y2 - Champion Yellow Z - Aztec Brown

Hodakability

2008-12-19T09:45:00.001-08:00

The dirt riding boom across the U. S. was just getting wound up to launch when Yamaguchi went up in two-stroke smoke in 1963. Although I had been personally clued in to the joys of off-road riding practically from the time of my first ride on any motorcycle in 1960, the earliest Japanese imports of the day were not yet on that wavelength. The Yamaha Omaha Trail of 1962, followed by the ubiquitous Honda Trail opened up the pathway for a cyclist to get dirty in a manner that did not involve bugs in the teeth or leaky British machinery. Pacific Basin Trading Company (PABATCO) was a small firm operating out of a small town in the hills of Oregon that happened to be the U. S. importer of Yamaguchis. When the Japanese company gave up on motorcycle production, the enterprising folks at PABATCO decided to design their own small, dual-purpose chassis and power it with the Japanese company's engine.

The first Hodaka was the 1964 Ace 90. Due to the quality of the photos I have on hand, the model pictured is a 1968 Ace 100. Like the original Model T, it came in only one color, and like the Volkswagen Beetle, it was designed from the ground up to be a single, long-running model with constant engineering tweaks and updates. Even the Hodaka ads were similar to those memorable ones made in the '60's for the Beetle. Hodakability is probably the brand's most famous ad concept. The Hodaka brand began with the Ace 90, progressed to the Ace 100, and then the 100-B. The B model I rode once was absolutely the most comfortable off-road machine I have ever ridden. Just as a comparison to my '71 Yamaha AT-1CMX, the sloped seat on my bike makes me slide a little too close to the tank, and the seat is not particularly soft. The one on the Hodaka shared the perfection of its riding position, and the Hodaka was one of the first Japanese off-road machines to have wonderfully squishy, long-travel suspension. Why, then, don't I have an Ace 100? Comfort isn't everything.

Hodaka expanded their line a bit as the years passed, but the later iterations were somewhat rare then, as well as now. First there was the 100cc Super Rat motocrosser, then the Wombat 125cc, the Combat Wombat 125cc motocrosser, and finally, the 250cc Thunderdog. The company gets an obvious A in cute names for cute motorcycles. In my estimation, there were probably less built of each of these succeeding models. There are still a number of Hodaka enthusiasts around. Click the links below to visit some of them.

Hodaka Heaven
Hodaka World
1973 Combat Wombat