I worked at Americn Aluminum and Steel for about a year, 1968 - 1969 all engines while I was there were B&S. My 2nd week on the job one of the owners came in to the assembly area and asked "who here speeks english?" They paid min wage $1.35 an hour most everyone in the place spoke only spanash, I don't but growing up in the area I knew enough to get by. When I said I do the owner said good your our new lead-man. I got a rase to $1.65 an hour. Our contract was with JC penny it was the only place I knew of that sold the bikes. I married one of the girls that assembled the wheels, we had 2 kids together before we broke apart with me taking custody of my 2 girls who both love to ride motorcyces even tooay in their 40s. Looking back it was the best job I ever had (and I have had a lot) building and test riding mini bikes all day. Money was tight but things cost a lot less those days, my rent for a furnished apt for me and my wife was $70 a month. One of the owners or busness partners was the race car driver Mario Andretti I am not sure of the connection, when he won Indy 500 in 1969 we had a giant party, we all got a $50 bonus. The owners were all race car and motorcycle guys, some weekends we would pile a bunch of the bikes in the back of a truck and spend the weekend at Willow Springs racetrack riding in the dirt all day and sneeking the bikes onto the track after dark, Reckless and real fun.
I was one of the last to be there when we shut down, It was a real pain most everyone was let go. Me and one other guy were kept on to take inventory, we counted every nut and bolt. I think AA&S lost the JC Penny contract and all the inventory and work in progress was sent to the new builders. I never knew who they were, The mood around the shop was grim and none of the owners taked much about it. They got me my next job for Taco Mini, There was a connection between the two AA&S and Taco but I don't know the details. The bikes sure look the same! Taco was the premium brand and I learnd on the job welding frames. It was one of the worst jobs I had. No riding it was just a frame shop I started just setting up the bent tubes in the jigs and the welder would come along and make the welds then I would remove the welded frame from the jig and set it up with new tubbing. It was some time before they let me weld. I wore a full set of welding lethers and mask but I still came home each day with arc flashed eyes (feels like sand in your eyes) and burns on my body where hot steel got under the lether. You asked for more stories.