Kustom Kart Shop

[KustomKartKid]

This thread has been a work in progress since I joined the site 2 years ago. It's been a "labor of love" of sorts……a journey back to a time when life was so much simpler. Seemed I never could find the time to put it all together, but with the holidays comes nostalgia…and I felt motivated to finish it up today.

Be warned….it may be boring to those not interested in hearing about my childhood experience…..you may be excused .

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When I joined the site and people saw my user name they must have said “Look at this joker…joins a mini-bike forum and calls himself "KustomKart"..but to the scrawny kid with the unkempt hair growing up in Elizabeth, NJ, the name “Kustom Kart” meant mini-bikes !

Got my first mini bike in 1972…backyard special that soon enough needed parts. Open up the phone book and flip through the yellow pages..(remember them?)….the closest shop listed for parts and supplies is this place called Kustom Kart in Union, NJ. It’s like 5 miles from my house and I have no idea how to get there so I wait for my father to get home that night and start pestering him to take me. He’s not happy but after dinner we pile into the wagon and head over there.
After what seemed like an eternity we turned the corner from Stuyvesant Avenue onto Morris Avenue and there it was....Kustom Kart Shop…the mecca of Mini-Bikes, Go-Karts, …. and all things fun!!

I had never seen anything like it or even dreamed such a place could have existed!! You might see a stray mini-bike or a go-kart parked in some sporting goods store or maybe in front of the local hardware store….but this was an entire building filled with cool stuff.......

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[KustomKartKid]

Behold the wonder of my youth….Kustom Kart Shop, Union NJ…...it was Disneyland and the World’s Fair all rolled into one .....

Ruttman Grasshopper in the right side window.....a couple of Margay New Breed Sidewinders in that cool old trailer in front. The back trailer holds a BONANZA Dune Buggy !

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Kustom Kart was actually a converted gas station. The two front bays had been turned into “ showrooms” . The original office to the right served as the parts store. There was a large double-wide back bay, acccessed from the side street, that ran the entire length of the building. Originally a body shop it was converted to the “Service Area”.

It was even more spectacular at night with the lighted storefront windows filled with every imaginable engine powered fun machine on the planet...mini bikes, go-karts, dune buggys, snow mobiles……a dizzying array of colorfully painted frames, gleaming chrome engines, and tuck and roll seats.
And then there was the sign….…that giant flashing neon sign that beckoned the curious to come closer… “KUSTOM” …”KART SHOP”………….. “KUSTOM”…. “KART SHOP”…… “KUSTOM”…. “KART SHOP”…..

I don’t think my father had shifted the car into park yet and I was out with my face pressed up against the window. Eyes wide with my mouth agape, I scanned the contents of the store as the glow of flashing neon washed down on me…it was simply unbelievable !

My father lagged behind…for some unimaginable reason he didn’t share my sense of excitement and anticipation….I was already in the door and “shopping” by the time he caught up. There was so much cool stuff lining the walls you didn’t know what to look at first….and now that you were inside you got the awesome smells too….the high octane fuel and the castor oil…the wide rubber slicks….the freshly stitched Naugahyde upholstery…it was sensory overload!!


The “Parts Area” that greeted you upon entering the front door….

Just noticed the Hegar Kik-Start ^^ in this glass case....

Nice Ruttman Grasshopper in the far window.....old "pull-lever" candy machine on the right.

4 different McCulloch engines on the shelf...RUPP turbine wheel..Bonanza tank.

"Short on Cash??...try the "Lay-A-Way" plan.


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[KustomKartKid]

After a few minutes this guy appeared from the back room…. Richie Ludwig……long hair with those big “mutton chop” sideburns (well this was the 70’s !…..I don’t remember what he said….I was still in a trance…. he and my dad started talking while I made my way into the first bay “Showroom”.

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Richie Ludwig…just as I remember him….circa 1970’s.

2 Photos courtesy Karting Digest


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[KustomKartKid]

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of machinery that was packed inside of this 2-Bay station…not only were there mini bikes and karts lined up from wall to wall…… but they were hanging from the walls and the ceiling!!

Maybe it was because I already had a mini-bike …but I remember being mesmerized by the go karts on the wall…these weren’t some kiddie car go-kart like at the boardwalk…these were sinister,low slung, fire breathing racing machines the likes of which I had never seen….I didn’t even know what the hell I was looking at... but I loved it all !

Showroom#1

Broncco's, Cheeftahs, Bonanzas and Fox's...just a few of the many bikes on the showroom floor....

 

[KustomKartKid]

Showroom#2 and Service Bay

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[KustomKartKid]

Back Bay and Service Area

I see some killer bikes when you zoom in on this bottom photo....old AZUSA kart starter cart too. Check out all the new tires on the shelf.

Rupps, Ruttmans...couple of sweet Bonanza MX bikes, still with the tags on them.

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[KustomKartKid]

As I surveyed the inventory I think secretly I was praying that my father was in the next room negotiating a price on a new mini bike or maybe even a racing kart for me….Richie was giving it his best sales pitch but I could see my father’s eyes were glazing over with disinterest…… the fantasy would come crashing down a few seconds later when I heard that dreaded sound….my father jingling his car keys in his pocket…..that always meant he’d had enough….. it was time to go.


I don’t think my father ever took me there again…..but there were many times after that, that I rode my bicycle or even walked there to get a master link, throttle cable, clutch etc….but mostly just to look around and dream. To his credit Richie Ludwig never “talked down” to kids like me or got annoyed with questions…he knew that someday that same kid might talk his mother or father into buying or perhaps would return someday when he had his own money. Eventually I reached driving age…got interested in cars and a girl…and I drifted away.

Some years later I drove by and looked over......and it was gone.


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[KustomKartKid]

Today:

The Kustom Kart building still stands but in structure only…….the spirit has long gone. It’s now a Chinese dry cleaners. The neighborhood has changed dramatically. I doubt that anyone living in the area now even remembers the old shop. On the left you can still see the roof of the old Union Theater in the backround...

The old “back-bay” service area as seen from the side street, Bonnel Court. You can see how big the back bay was. Thousands of mini bikes passed through that door......



There is still a neon sign hanging in the window……

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[KustomKartKid]

Fast forward 40 years!!!....

My son gets the idea he might like to race go karts…. So one weekend we head down to the (Englishtown Raceway Park) track. We’re total newbs….we don’t know anything or anybody…. so we’re just kind of walking around taking it all in. At the end of this row I see this old faded yellow box van that says “Kustom Kart, Union NJ” …I said it can’t be…..I wander over and sure enough it’s the same guy Rich Ludwig….only without the “mutton-chop" sideburns .

There was some other folks talking with him…buying parts (he still is a master pitch man)…so I waited my turn. Now he’s been in the hobby/sport for 50 years…raced and won all over the country..even built fixtures and manufactured his own karts…so he’s like a legend at the track.

I introduce myself and my son….told him the same story…how I remember him from the time I was 12 years old. He’s not gonna remember every runny nose kid that hung around his store….but he smiles politely and says “oh yeah?”..

I'm thinking hard now and I say "Yeah, I was only a kid at the time but I still remember the parts store in the front office....and then you walked into the room on the left and the bikes were lined up .....and the karts hung from the walls in the back room…kind of on an angle”.

Now I’ve got his attention…he says “Yeah!!.. those were custom made shelves I built to show off the karts”….then I said "the other thing that sticks in my mind is the flashing neon sign….I still remember how it flashed back and forth."

Well that stopped him in his tracks….I’m sure a lot of people talk to him about “the good old days”…..but I guess nobody ever mentioned the old sign and how it worked.. I started going on and on about how that shop helped spur my interest in all things motorized…how it influenced the career path my life would take….how I still have dreams about that place.

He seemed genuinely flattered by my fond remembrances and we sat on the tailgate of the old box van and reminisced about growing up in that era.....and sadly how it all has changed. Each weekend at the track after that, we would see each other and talk about other things that we had remembered since the last time. I guess he couldn't remember my name so he would jokingly refer to me as "The Kustom Kart Kid".

On one such occasion while talking about the old store he said “I still have that sign you know……”

“What sign ?” …….

“The old Kustom Kart neon sign…the one from the front window that you mentioned….”

“You’re kidding” ...

He went on to tell me exactly when he had it made, who made it, and how much it cost….$400... “that was a lotta money back then! ” he declared….

“Boy I’d love to see that thing one more time” I said…… he said “I’ll have to have you over the house someday”.

Having got to know him again, one thing I noted about him was how he guarded his privacy. His business card has his phone number but no address. When he does a motor for a customer today they bring it to him at the track…he brings it home and works it…and then brings it back to the track. His home is his home….not a “kart shop” with guys hanging around like the old days…. and I respect that.

I was honored to receive the invite….but in the back of my mind I thought it would probably never happen. Some months later during the karting off-season I got a call and it was Richie, inviting me down to his home for a visit. As I drove down I think I was as excited as I was that day my father drove me over to the old store back in the 70’s......

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[KustomKartKid]

His garage still holds many artifacts of the past ....tubing benders, frame jigs…even the same Bridgeport milling machine that stood in the old shop (purchased at the time from a vocational school auction for $100). I wondered out loud about how many pistons that thing had machined…how many heads flycut….how many mini bike parts drilled, reamed and otherwise repaired. You see Richie Ludwig is unique in that he was doing all this stuff back then…and is still doing it today….and he never stopped in between! For over 50 years this has been his business and his livelihood. Racers still seek him out just as they always have …a true testament to his knowledge, talent and abiltity to keep up with the latest techology.

Above the garage is a loft that holds even more memories….Dealer signs, catalogs, posters and parts….he is in his element up there sitting in front of the “shipping area” which he saved from the old shop. It’s a worn out 8 ft. Masonite bench with a wooden back wall composed of dozens of pigeon- hole cubbies. He explains that during the “heyday” he used to ship mini bikes, karts and parts not just all over the U.S. but to numerous countries all over the world! Each “cubby hole” held orders from a designated state or country….this along with a row of filing cabinets “ was my early computer system” he chuckles.

On subsequent visits I would bring my son along….just so he could get a rare glimpse into the past. He’s heard me say on many occasion how I wish I could go back there (Kustom Kart) just once and take him with me to show him how cool it was. On one such visit Richie was rooting around through the piles of stuff and came across an old faded envelope…inside were the original negatives and proofs a professional photographer had taken of the old shop….jackpot!!!

Hidden from view and forgotten for decades…these are the photos you are viewing here in this thread. In the interest of time and space I am posting just a sample which highlights the mini-bike area of the shop. Someday I will attempt to devote another thread showing the kart history of the shop…a daunting task to say the least. It will even include the sale of 6 “Kustom” Margay karts sold by Richie to Elvis Presley for his personal use at Graceland.

Richie Ludwig and my son Eric checking out our barn find ’67 Margay New Breed


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[KustomKartKid]

And finally I have a special treat to add.

I have so much fun listening to Rich talk about the “good old days” I thought the other members on here might also enjoy hearing one of his stories.. On our last visit he graciously agreed to let me “interview” him while my son recorded him on his I-Phone.

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be there back in the day…then pull up a chair. You’re going to hear from a guy who was right in the middle of it all….

Many thanks to Rich Ludwig for befriending me and allowing me to share his personal mementos and rememberances with my fellow OldMiniBikes members. Until now the video and the old store photos have never been seen by anyone else nor have they been posted on any other forum. An OldMiniBikes exclusive!!!

For me, it’s been the next best thing to having a real time machine and has allowed me to revisit those childhood days that I so often long for.

Hope you all enjoy this thread as much as I have putting it together.


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[catfishman]

great story! thanks for sharing

 

[KustomKartKid]

Oh yeah….almost forgot the sign …….




On my first visit to his home Richie answered the front door and invited me in through the living room…there it was, leaning up against the couch.......the original Kustom Kart neon sign that hung in the front widow of the shop back in the 60’s and 70’s. Even without the electron particles flowing, the dim gray tubes covered in dust brought back a rush of memories for me. It was exactly as I had remembered it…..even though I had not seen it in over 40 years. (He still had not discovered the old shop photos at this point). It's a masterful example of glass tube bending and 60’s styling….it looked frighteningly fragile with its long glass rod supports wired behind the ovals with small pieces of cork and friction tape acting as cushions. I thanked him for hauling it down from the loft to show me …then begged him to put it away “before something happens to it”.

He said “you know…this would make a hell of a Christmas present for your son….hanging in his room.”

Well needless to say I was floored. Imagine having the opportunity to own such a treasured part of your childhood….something you had only seen in your dreams since the 70’s. Before long we had come to an agreement ….one which included a solemn promise that my son and I would keep and protect it forever.

Here is the sign as it hangs proudly today in my son’s room. Above it, mounted to the original board, are the original transformers and a mechanical toggling device which alternates the current between the two ovals and their scripts. It makes this neat clicking sound as it toggles back and forth….and the neon gives off a loud buzz. The whole room feels like it's full of electricity, it makes your hair stand up. You can even adjust the interval time by moving a little metal lever on the Sign-atrol. This entire board with the three 12,000 volt transformers (one for each color) must weigh close to 50 lbs…... I had to lag it into the wall studs.

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Kind of cool to watch the neon glow wash across my kid’s face and think that it's the same neon glow that washed down across my face as my father watched... all those years ago.


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[minibikin']

Wow. The story wouldn't be so great without your write up Gerry. I love seeing the Ruttmans and Cheeftas peeking out in the photos. So cool. Thanks for taking the time to share!

 

[Andrewp]

Very cool. Enjoyed every bit of that story.:thumbsup:

 

[delray]

awesome story gerry.....:thumbsup: really like listing what rich had to say back in the day.

 

[bayareaburrito]

Gerry
I could close my eyes and see the neon sign..Fantastic story and more importantly what a nice person and friend Richie Ludwig.. The pictures say it all there where shops exactly like Kuston kart all across the country...Makes me wish they would have never went away.
Thank you and Richie Ludwig so much for shareing this with us.:thumbsup:

 

[iwillSMOKEyou]

that is bad ass! i live by a go kart shop ... kinda similar story but i aint no lil kid!!!!! :laugh: we need more of these places.. for mini bikes!!!

 

[buckeye]

Another great story from you Gerry but, better than ever.
Took me back to my youth hanging out at the local cycle shop sweeping floors just so I could sneak a sit on one of the mini bikes I would never own.
Thank you for sharing in such great detail.:thumbsup:

 

[Casey Davis]

The Kustom Kart Kid...

Thanks for sharing. I wasn't born until the eighties, but have always wished I was around in those days. Great story.