4'' Wheeled Stellar

[JohnnyTillotson]

Picked up this lil Stellar last week. This is the oddest one and potentially the most interesting Stellar ive gotten. For $50 its the cheapest too!

The wheels are 4'' General. Yet they look original to the bike. The sprocket lines up nice with the caliper bracket. Anyone know if Stellar used them? Cleaning up nicely.

The forks n bars were easily the thing i notice were not Stellar. Especially cuz of the spring under the fork tube. At least i thought so. I didnt mind cuz i have them to put on and was happy to finally put them to use, but then i did some searching. They match closely to the Red Baron.

I noticed under the "25" on the forkplate there is a raised rectangle. Thinking it was a decal i started stripping paint off. It turns out its a raised bit of sheet metal with this transfer or painted-on design. Ive seen this before and id swear it was on someone else's Stellar. A red or maroon one. Anyone ever see this?

The scub brake i doubt is true to the bike. Bolts welded to the frame? But it stays until im 100% sure.

Looks like a nice small Stellar all in all. I'll paint it blue and trash this horrid Kawasaki for a glorious period correct Tecumseh.

Developing....

 

[trinik7597]

If they are the correct 4" wheels it will say limtco on the hub .... most all original tires on the stellars were generals all the true 4" wheel frames I have had or seen had the different type of foot pegs where one acts as a kick stand and the forks are more than likely original i have a couple that have a spring under the neck tube

 

[SimpleTom]

Correct me if I am wrong but the back wheel appears to be bigger than 4 inch?

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

If they are the correct 4" wheels it will say limtco on the hub .... most all original tires on the stellars were generals all the true 4" wheel frames I have had or seen had the different type of foot pegs where one acts as a kick stand and the forks are more than likely original i have a couple that have a spring under the neck tube

I have yet to come across one of those fancy footpeg brakes. I have seen in the catalog 4 in wheeled bikes with the rebar footpegs though. Not sure Stellar was a company that employed many people looking to adhere strictly to the plan. For instance I have a set of handle bars with a 7/8 pipe jammed into a 1 in pipe for the smaller throttle. Ive come across posts of at least two others who have this too.

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

Correct me if I am wrong but the back wheel appears to be bigger than 4 inch?

I wheeled the bike in backwards and have been working on the front only. Had to call the thread something and Silver Crusty Stellar lost out. Haha. Could be bigger. I'll see on the way out this morning. I did see the tire has Trelleborg on it. So I dont think its a Gerneral tire like the front.

 

[markus]

If they are the correct 4" wheels it will say limtco on the hub .... most all original tires on the stellars were generals all the true 4" wheel frames I have had or seen had the different type of foot pegs where one acts as a kick stand and the forks are more than likely original i have a couple that have a spring under the neck tube

they may have had at one time some 3 piece wheels utilizing the limtco hubs, but they did use those General made 2 piece 4" wheel/tire combos as well which has been documented on this site in some of the rebuilds.

Johnny I think you need to gently soften up that decal on the forkplate, yes I said decal you might find some answers to what it was. The silkscreening that stellar used was pretty tough, so you may still be able to make out at least part of whatever they may have silked onto the plate, I'm with Tom that's a bigger wheel hanging out in the back, Good luck with it

 

[benelli 65]

My 2 stroke Stellar has the original General 4" tires on it. I have a Stellar brochure that says they come with General's. I will post a picture of brochure when I get home.

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

My 2 stroke Stellar has the original General 4" tires on it. I have a Stellar brochure that says they come with General's. I will post a picture of brochure when I get home.

Yes and I saw Zeeman's bike which is just like yours and his was General as well. Thanks for verifying!

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

they may have had at one time some 3 piece wheels utilizing the limtco hubs, but they did use those General made 2 piece 4" wheel/tire combos as well which has been documented on this site in some of the rebuilds.

Johnny I think you need to gently soften up that decal on the forkplate, yes I said decal you might find some answers to what it was. The silkscreening that stellar used was pretty tough, so you may still be able to make out at least part of whatever they may have silked onto the plate, I'm with Tom that's a bigger wheel hanging out in the back, Good luck with it

I hear where you are coming from, I just swear I saw this decal and it was on a Stellar SOMEWHERE. Maybe I saw it on Instagram or Pintrest... Thought it was here though. Because of the flat seat, I'm starting to think it was a mail order Stellar that you would build yourself. Has anyone ever gotten a list of what these mail order kits came with? Wheels, seat and possible decals? I've seen the ad but its usually a tiny picture of a frame and pile of parts.

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

Rear is indeed 6 '' and is this make, whatever the hell that is... Is this General too? The tire is Trelleborg and i see they make wheels too so maybe thats it.

Forks n bars are a match for the extra set i have. Id guess they are from a Red Baron with that red under where the forkplate was. Note 7/8 pipe wedged in 1'' for throttle. Stellar ingenuity!

Continued to strip away at the forkplate last night. I do see some white lettering perhaps. Against a black background. That would suggest a Black Beauty forkplate. Id swear i see a horse coming out above the right corner of the decal, but i dont know.

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

Almost done stripping this thing. Bringing it down to bare metal.

Still going lightly around this decal. I notice this green holds on to whatever was written under it in white more than the surrounding areas. Does anyone recognize what this might say? Looks to me like "YES" haha. Was this,Ed McMahon's minibike?

 

[JohnnyTillotson]

Finally decided to see whats under that decal.

Looks to me that it was meant to go there like I had a feeling.

Anyway started to keep striping away at the black.

Looks like either a number or a letter. Right over the Stellar green primer that ive seen on a few of mine. So it had to come from Stellar like that. Ive never seen anything like that in any ads. Can anyone make out what that is?

Primed the frame today

 

[Outlaw Ace]

Has the added scrub brake like mine does, definitely an added feature given the disc/sprocket caliper mount like mine also has. I'm rat biking mine, no more restos or even close to one for me. Time for me to start building freak bikes like my Hero Yellowhand did with such class and flair.