Did you have a mini bike or a motorcycle as a kid? If so, do you still have it? This 1975 Rupp Roadster II is listed on eBay with bids of $1,200 and a full four days left on the no-reserve auction! These bikes in restored condition can easily go for two or three times that amount so this is one to watch if you’re a mini bike lover. This Rupp is located in Watertown, Connecticut and if you’re adventurous and have a GPS set for all back roads, you could theoretically, maybe drive it home.. Hey, I may have tried it a few decades ago.
My first bike was a Yamaha YL-1 Twin Jet, a 100cc twin street bike that my dad got for my brother and myself to learn to ride on. I still have it 40+ years later. A Rupp like this Roadster II may look more like a motorcycle, but it’s a mini bike with a pull-start engine. The Roadster II was big, though, at least compared to other mini bikes.
Rupp Industries started small, no pun intended, making go karts in the basement of Mickey Rupp. Mini bike production began in 1962 after the success of his Dart Karts and snowmobile production began in 1964. They are really well known for their fantastic snowmobiles. Unfortunately, with weather playing such a pivotal role for a machine that relies on moving across snow, a couple of years of lackluster snowfall forced Mickey Rupp to sell the company in 1973. Despite making some of the finest snowmobiles and mini bikes of all time, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1978. A sad end to such a great company.
The Rupp Roadster II was a step up from a small mini bike (isn’t that redundant?) with its 12-inch spoke rims and bigger size. This particular Roadster II is from the last batch, as 1975 would be the last production year for these models. You can see that the paint is faded but the seller says that it’s ready to go and it works great. These bikes have a torque-converter to “make 4 horses feel like 40”, according to the company. I don’t know about that, but they do have more power than a person might think. Rupps were known for quality and innovation, it’s hard to believe that the company only lasted less than two decades.
The engines in these mini bikes were provided by Tecumseh from 1968 until their final year. A 4 hp engine with a pull start may not seem like a serious ride but they were simple to start, run, and maintain and they still are. This “engine starts on first pull and runs strong. It doesn’t leak or smoke.” What was your first mini bike or motorcycle? Do you still have it?
Grand paw gave me one of the first Honda Mini Trails for my 11 th. birthday. Im sure it was an early model because of certain details I still remember. Toggle switch ignition,welded in gas filler neck, no lights are indicative of early production according to information I’ve read.Motorized transportation was a big step up for a farm kid and his brothers and sister.The miles that thing endured were amazing. One day we decided no school bus for me and my next older brother.Three quarters of a mile across the wheat field, jump on the rail road right of way and one and half more brought us right on the school grounds. Talk about being big men on campus as we parked it in the bike rack.Dad wasn’t too mad as we never touched a county road. When we all got old enough to drive cars, G paw repossessed the bike and gave it to a cousin.Never seen it again but still have the owners manual.
In my early teens, my 1st motorcycle was a Honda step thru 50. Yep, it was red. A real good friend of mine had the 1st Rupp Roadster. https://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/130769-500-0.jpg?rev=2
It had a 5 hp Tecumseh and a 2 speed trans, with 2 centrifugal clutches ( I think) He wired the governor open and that thing really flew. He had to oil the secondary clutch, because it would pull a wheelie when it shifted. He dusted my Honda 50, up until about 35 mph, when the Rupp ran out of steam, and the Honda was good for about another 5-7 mph ( downhill)
This bike was the next step up from a mini-bike and was bigger and more of a real motorcycle. These were the 1st bikes we really got hurt on, but it was all in good fun. To see one like this is rare. We killed these things. Great find.
Home made Briggs & Stratton 3 hp mini-bike was my first motor bike. Rippin’ little thing, almost killed me several times. Got it when I was 6 years old. No suspension so was always cracking the frame. By the time I was 12 it was one big welded blob.
I also received an old Briggs & Stratton solid frame mini bike when I was 8. Two stroke with a centrifical clutch. We moved to the big city when I was 12 so I had no place to ride it anymore. It sat in the (small ) backyard for years, I assume it went to the garbage dump long after I left home.
Mine was a purple Gemini 80. At 12 years old, the purple color, and folding handlebars didn’t matter,” I had a motorcycle!! It was way too fast for the suspension. I remember severely bruising my tailbone crossing a ditch at low speed. It was much faster than my friends Honda 90.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GEMINI:
Gemini SST 50/80 cc and Maverick mini bikes were produced in Taiwan and imported into the U.S. from late 1969 to 1972.
The motor was a licensed design of the Yamaha 50 & 80 cc rotary engine classes. In order to comply with the Yamaha licensing
legal agreement, modifications were made in the SST engine design to make many parts exclusive to Gemini or Maverick dealers.
Unfortunately, legal issues still arose, and production of these mini bikes was halted in late 1972. Still, with all legal issues aside,
the Gemini SST and Maverick are one of the fastest little mini bikes ever produced.
The 50 cc is easily capable of doing 35 mph with 4.5 H.P./8000 rpm, and the 80 cc can hit 41 mph with 6.8 H.P./7000 rpm.
My dad , a mechanical engineer with his own machine shop, saw a mini bike with a torque converter like the Rupp’s when I was about 10. Not to be outdone, he designed one that worked the same way (pulley halves came together to change the gear ratio) but was manual instead of automatic. I could start in low and stay there if I wanted, the commercial ones would quickly change ratio until you were flying. He built a heavy duty frame and put a brand new 8HP B & S engine on it, along with a single spring front suspension and wheels and tires from a Piper Cub. . I was the envy of the neighborhood.
I was 6 years old and my uncle, who raced motocross then, decided it was time to get me on a bike. Much to my parents’ annoyance, he got me a late-’70s Suzuki JR50 (this was 1995) and I was hooked immediately. Rode motocross from then on up through my late teens. Now I have a sportbike which I ride quite a bit, but I miss the dirt. That little old Suzuki made me a lifer for sure.
I had one of these with a Del Orto carb and a kick start. With the new carb it was much faster. The kick start was this big alloy assembly that was pretty cool but clunky. I graduated from this to a green Gemini 80 like shown above and it was my first experience with a clutch and gears.
Doug, it sounds like you may have had the holy grail of Rupp mini bikes: the Black Widow! They came with a Dell’Orto carb and had a little higher performance than the Roadster II had.
I cut my teeth on lil Suzuki trail bikes!
I remember riding trails til dusk many nights !
I ride cruiser bikes now 😎
My addiction started with the gateway Honda QA-50,then Z-50,CT-70,MT125. I now own a CBX and CR250m. Thanks Honda!
Plain old run of the mill 5hp Briggs powered mini bike for me, then a 100cc Yamaha twin.
I had a used Honda 50. Neighbor had the next bigger one (75?, 90?). We beat on the them doing timed laps in the hilly empty fields adjacent to our subdivision. Fun stuff. Amazing we didn’t get hurt more often or more severely.
I am jealous and envy all the stories about cycles as a youth , but even more about the sensible loving family that accompanies them . I have recovered as an adult with a flh , etc
My brother, 5 years my elder, got a Kawasaki 75 Mite from mom and dad on his 13th birthday….having learned from their mistake, dirt bike ownership was not an option for me.
My Dad bought me a new Rupp in 1969. Had same wire wheels was black with white motor and instead of a headlight it had a number plate on the front and a smaller number plate on each side. I had a blast with that thing. State Police were a pain though every time they saw me they’d chase me but I always lost them in the woods.
My first bike was a commercial mini bike from the back of a PM magazine at 12.
Generic with little front and no rear suspension. Unforgettable #35 chain lol
It had an old Clinton that I seized from over heating in the sand pits. Upon removal of the rope pull assembly, with a monstrous breaker bar, I broke the engine free (surprised!) and decided to run it again. Dang! It ran better after the seizure.!
I advanced to my buddy’s well used and always needing repairs, 74 Can Am 125 and then his Dad’s 175 around ’79.
The 70’s: Good, greasy, oily times. :)
My first bike was a Yellow Rupp Banchi minibike with a 5hp Tecumseh engine…..very fast ,but Tecumseh seemed to be a hard starting engine. Any Rupp minibike has some worth,regardless of condition. These Rupps are high dollar collectors in some circles.
My very first bike was a Honda 55 Sport. It went through the mill and kept on going. From there I pretty much left the Japanese bikes and went to a BSA 500 single and then a Norton 750 Ranger with a Harley 45 Servi-car thrown in for kicks. I had the odd rice-burner in the interim but British and American dominated what I rode. I remember seeing some Rupp bikes like this one but they never really took off like the Honda mini-trail. Too bad; I thought the Rupp’s were OK….
My first Mini Bike bought with my paper route money was a Fox – not a big name amoung my peers – but they offered a DISK brake….like the riding lawn mowers. you can see it there….was able to cut under all the guys with that little brake set up. Next on to a Bonanza 5hp….but the neighbor kid had – the FASTEST mini bike of all the mini-bike’s – the Bonanza with the Hodaka Ace 100 engine – he just had a hard time with the chains staying on. Funny – the damn pickers passed on one Bonanza Ace 100 in one of the earlier shows….laugh really hard when the guy asked for a $100 and Mike shook his head and said no…!
On to a 1968 Yamaha 60 …..
I assume that’s you on the bike. You look like my brother Lawrence (Larry)!
I had a homebuilt minibike that I got for my birthday years ago. It came from our neighbour who built it and rode it at their cottage. I used it for a few years, then bought a used Suzuki DS 125, which took some abuse, then sold it as a pile of pieces for $50.00. The Suzuki was replaced by a new Honda 185s three wheeler, which took even more abuse, which translates to more fun.
3 Rupps and a Honda.
Oh the youth of the 70s. A scene like this could be seen from Md. to Calif. Me I grew up in Md.[Bowie] had the Rupp Enduro w/12 inch wire wheels. Rode the wheels off of it, so when I had the chance I bought another one from E bay for my 59th b-day.Still have it and still ride it.
Thanks all for all the great stories of our youth. I don’t know if you can have that kind of fun today. I’m sure many look at those pictures and are aghast at the lack of safety equipment. We didn’t even think of helmets, you learned to roll when you went down, straighten out the bars and foot pegs and keep going. Truth be known, we took worse spills on our bicycles. It wasn’t until the addiction took us to larger, faster bikes, did helmets become standard. I think our parents got us these things, because if they could hear us, they knew everything was ok. Here’s my Honda 50, I’m driving, natch.
My first bike was a 78 yz80 I don’t think my old man ,nor I had any idea how quick those were. Lots of bumps and bruises but tons of fun!
me Circa 1974. Kawasaki 90 MC1-90cc, restoring one now
I got 3 different trail 70, still getting the third one running.
Had a Rupp this same color growing up in the late 60’s, early 70’s. Great bike, almost indestructible.
Mine was a Fox with 12″ wheels and suspension just like this Rupp. Four horse Tecumseh was tough to start but ran well. Added a big cast aluminum kick start from Montgomery Wards that was pretty cool but gave big leg bruises while riding. Also bought a Kawasaki Coyote with no engine and dropped in a 3 horse Briggs for my friends to ride. Eventually sold both for a total of $130 and moved up the a 125cc Kawasaki F6.
The poor kid’s like me own Cat minbike’s from JC Penny. Every kid wanted one.
my Kawasaki 90 today (at least one like it)