Lil Indian Trike

[EricYates]

Owned it since 1978 when I was a child. I recently have restored it but when I got it it did have a Lil Indian decal on the front handle bar and a tiny decal behind the back seat on the body. So I know it's not custom. Same motor, wheels and seat I added the cushion seat cover. I've searched and searched and can not find one like it. Does anyone know the year and model?

 

[Harleys Papa]

If I had to guess, I would say home made :shrug: While the forks may be Lil Indian the rear wheels look like Rupp rims and Lil Indian would never have used a plastic seat(looks like the seats we had in school) or a seat belt :shrug:

 

[manchester1]

Pretty cool. I think its home made also. You could always call Allied leisure in Michigan and talk to the owners of "Lil" Indian.

 

[OND]

Well its still a vintage ride if you've owned it for almost 40 years.....and I think its very cool bike . :thumbsup: I'm glad you kept it all these years.

 

[capguncowboy]

It wouldn't be unusual to have a different set of forks on your trike than what it originally had. I don't see footpegs on the frame, which means they would have likely been on the forks. Since there are no footpegs on the forks (which do appear to be Lil Indian), I doubt they are original to the trike frame. As previously stated, the wheels are Rupp turbines.

Odds are, it's either home made and used parts from mini bikes, or it's a mash up of parts from a few different bikes/trikes.

 

[OND]

It does have foot pegs on the forks Andrew.....but I'm with you guys I don't think its a Lil Indian made trike.

 

[mrpat]

Forks look like the old Mini Mate mini bike forks. To add mystery to the Lil Indian possibility, allied leisure, Michrina brothers, Mini Mate, Lil Indian are all related. In the mid to late 70's that company was using boxes of old stock stuff to assemble bikes. So there could be parts that don't make sense used too.

Go read their history on the allied leisure Web site

 

[cheezy1]

Might be a mail order plans kit. Like the Ruttman trike you could order the mail order plans and make it yourself. It was just a lay out of dimensions and parts needed. But much like the Ruttman...they were never manufactured.

 

[mrpat]

Even Ruttman allegedly made a trike. And we all know the Lil Indian and Ruttman story. And it has a plastic seat too.

Rupp filed for bankruptcy in 1978, maybe the wheels were bought up and used where they could?

 

[1971_MB1A]

Take a close look at all of the fab work and especially the welds to see if it all appears to be fairly matching/uniform or if some of it looks to be somewhat of a homemade "cobble" job ? That usually will give you a fairly good indication as to being factory built or homemade.

 

[markus]

Lil indian sold a fun kart kit in the later years, it had the plastic seat on it like the Ruttman karts had in the 70's

I would not doubt they maybe offered something like that briefly, That Arco/dialex little trike surfaced recently that was later vintage than the popular mini bike years, Worth a called to allied to see if they remember anything