Little Gen mini with side car - help needed

[Good Vibrations]

Hello All,
I'm new to the site and to mini bikes. I have vintage Enduro bikes but haven't owned a mini bike since I was a kid in the 60's.
I picked up this mini bike today at a farmers yard sale. I'm not sure what it is, but I just loved the looks of it, and have never seen one with a sidecar like this.
I'm hoping the experts here can tell me more about it.
The engine seems to be operational but I didn't want to try to start it until it replace some things like, gas, oil, plug, filter
I paid $125 for it so I'm hoping that was a decent price.

Is this an original brand of mini bike?

Any idea of the year?

Rare or common?

Where would the throttle have been?
It just has hand grips.

It looks like someone had painted or repainted the red at some point because I can see some overspray.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug in NC

 

[markus]

Nice find, that is a glenco "Lil Gen". Peterson bros, they made Gator boat trailers, also sold them as gator gadabouts in the early 1960's. the foot rest operated the throttle and brake

 

[Good Vibrations]

Nice find, that is a glenco "Lil Gen". Peterson bros, they made Gator boat trailers, also sold them as gator gadabouts in the early 1960's. the foot rest operated the throttle and brake

OMG, so cool. Thank you for that info.
It mentions "Indiana factory" in the ad. I'm from Indiana so maybe it was meant to be. Lol.
Thanks Markus.

 

[panchothedog]

Your hoping that was a decent price ? I would say that for $125 you made out several times over. Great buy on a neat bike.

 

[Good Vibrations]

Your hoping that was a decent price ? I would say that for $125 you made out several times over. Great buy on a neat bike.

Awesome! Thats great to hear. He had it as $145, but I got it for $125. This guy had som much cool old stuff for sale. Lots of antiques, restores tractors, Coke & gas signs, etc... I was on my way back from picking up my 75 Yamaha 175 and spotted his sale.
Thanks for the input. My wife will be happy. LOL.

 

[Tom S.]

...I picked up this mini bike today at a farmers yard sale...

What a wonderful find! Welcome. This is a great site.

 

[Good Vibrations]

What a wonderful find! Welcome. This is a great site.

Thanks Tom.
Now where do you all recommend buying parts from for this vintage beast?
Throttle cable, clutch, repro engine decals, etc.

 

[Lizardking]

Nice find and welcome !

Try Hent.com at the top of the page for clutches, chains and throttle/brake parts.

 

[mrbiggsMN]

Welcome welcome , happy to have you on board of the mini express.. I don't know where you going with this , but that's sure is a cool little bike

 

[Brooklyn Bob]

Welcome to the minibike madness!

 

[Good Vibrations]

Hoping to find someone that can school my on what parts specifically I would need to order. Throttle cable, centrifugal clutch, band brakes, etc .
I would love to stay original with the mini as far as engine, but I'm wondering if it would be better to get a more modern one with more HP?

Also, I'm starting to think that this may well be the original paint on this beast?
I saw overspray on the engine coil and rear sprocket, but I remember back in those days paint jobs weren't exactly precise even on the cars of that era.
The reason I'm thinking that is the original paint is, I would guess that those are the original labels still on the Briggs. According to one of the ads I saw, the 2.5hp was one of the options for the bike.
What do you think?

 

[Havasu Dave]

Plenty of help available for minibike specific parts like clutch, cable etc. Ask @Hent.com for starters. One of the challenges would be to deal with the Briggs governor system in a throttle application. Brake is easy, and you can even re-line your original band with some McMaster material.

As far as the paint, it certainly looks original. I've seen some folks here do wonders with old paint. I've had good luck using a cutting compound from 3M with a rag- a powered foam wheel (as is used on cars for "color sanding") would dig into the frame. Old school naval jelly on the rust bits after cleaning with vinegar and a brush, etc. Preservation is a labor of love, but as some of my friends here are known for saying, "it's only original once." You have found a very nice piece of history. Nothing says it couldn't have been a Briggs on there originally. Some folks here are real good with serial numbers on Briggs and may be able to tell you what genre/year. Obviously there are some examples of Clinton-equipped machines.

Here are two photos on OldMiniBikes. If you want to edit the title of your post to something more descriptive of what you have, let me know and I'll gladly do it. And welcome to OldMiniBikes. Dave

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/is-this-the-real-dumb-and-dumber-motorcycle.121315/

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/glenco-little-gen-mk4.121338/

 

[Good Vibrations]

Plenty of help available for minibike specific parts like clutch, cable etc. Ask @Hent.com for starters. One of the challenges would be to deal with the Briggs governor system in a throttle application. Brake is easy, and you can even re-line your original band with some McMaster material.

As far as the paint, it certainly looks original. I've seen some folks here do wonders with old paint. I've had good luck using a cutting compound from 3M with a rag- a powered foam wheel (as is used on cars for "color sanding") would dig into the frame. Old school naval jelly on the rust bits after cleaning with vinegar and a brush, etc. Preservation is a labor of love, but as some of my friends here are known for saying, "it's only original once." You have found a very nice piece of history. Nothing says it couldn't have been a Briggs on there originally. Some folks here are real good with serial numbers on Briggs and may be able to tell you what genre/year. Obviously there are some examples of Clinton-equipped machines.

Here are two photos on OldMiniBikes. If you want to edit the title of your post to something more descriptive of what you have, let me know and I'll gladly do it. And welcome to OldMiniBikes. Dave

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/is-this-the-real-dumb-and-dumber-motorcycle.121315/

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/glenco-little-gen-mk4.121338/

Dave,
Great info. Thank you so much.
I sent you a PM to change the post title.
I reached out to Hent today on their website.
Also have a local guy that is very handy with these small motors going to look it over next week.
I'm pretty good with detail work but am no mechanics. I will try to bring that paint back. Hopefully someone produces these vintage Briggs labels for the engine.
I am loving this site!!! Great people and active responses too.

 

[Good Vibrations]

Plenty of help available for minibike specific parts like clutch, cable etc. Ask @Hent.com for starters. One of the challenges would be to deal with the Briggs governor system in a throttle application. Brake is easy, and you can even re-line your original band with some McMaster material.

As far as the paint, it certainly looks original. I've seen some folks here do wonders with old paint. I've had good luck using a cutting compound from 3M with a rag- a powered foam wheel (as is used on cars for "color sanding") would dig into the frame. Old school naval jelly on the rust bits after cleaning with vinegar and a brush, etc. Preservation is a labor of love, but as some of my friends here are known for saying, "it's only original once." You have found a very nice piece of history. Nothing says it couldn't have been a Briggs on there originally. Some folks here are real good with serial numbers on Briggs and may be able to tell you what genre/year. Obviously there are some examples of Clinton-equipped machines.

Here are two photos on OldMiniBikes. If you want to edit the title of your post to something more descriptive of what you have, let me know and I'll gladly do it. And welcome to OldMiniBikes. Dave

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/is-this-the-real-dumb-and-dumber-motorcycle.121315/

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/glenco-little-gen-mk4.121338/

Dave,
I found that Glenco ad you posted interesting. I googled 'Glen H. Clemens company" and his obituary came up.
RIP Glen and thanks for continuing our fun today.

Plenty of help available for minibike specific parts like clutch, cable etc. Ask @Hent.com for starters. One of the challenges would be to deal with the Briggs governor system in a throttle application. Brake is easy, and you can even re-line your original band with some McMaster material.

As far as the paint, it certainly looks original. I've seen some folks here do wonders with old paint. I've had good luck using a cutting compound from 3M with a rag- a powered foam wheel (as is used on cars for "color sanding") would dig into the frame. Old school naval jelly on the rust bits after cleaning with vinegar and a brush, etc. Preservation is a labor of love, but as some of my friends here are known for saying, "it's only original once." You have found a very nice piece of history. Nothing says it couldn't have been a Briggs on there originally. Some folks here are real good with serial numbers on Briggs and may be able to tell you what genre/year. Obviously there are some examples of Clinton-equipped machines.

Here are two photos on OldMiniBikes. If you want to edit the title of your post to something more descriptive of what you have, let me know and I'll gladly do it. And welcome to OldMiniBikes. Dave

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/is-this-the-real-dumb-and-dumber-motorcycle.121315/

https://oldminibikes.com/forum/index.php?media/glenco-little-gen-mk4.121338/

Dave,
I was intrigued by that Glenco ad you posted. I saw they were from Fort Wayne, Ind which is a little south from my hometown in Indiana. I looked up the name Glen H. Clemens in fort Wayne and found out he passed away in 2008.

RIP Mr. Clemens and thanks for all the fun you brought us.

https://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Glen-Howard-Clemens-84482013

 

[Dick DeBuse]

1961

 

[Good Vibrations]

1961

That is fantastic Dick. I believe that's the earliest ad I've seen. I wonder when the Little Gen originally came out?
Way cool.
Thanks for posting that!

 

[Dick DeBuse]

Glenco was a vendor of aftermarket mower parts, similar to Stens or Rotary. Early Manco ads listed the Little
Gen scooter. Here is a 1969 page.

 

[Good Vibrations]

Glenco was a vendor of aftermarket mower parts, similar to Stens or Rotary. Early Manco ads listed the Little
Gen scooter. Here is a 1969 page.

Thamks again Dick. I appreciate all the info. Fort Wayne was very close to my hometown in Indiana.
My tires and tubes had 1967 date codes and the engine was 1968. Those were the care free days of my childhood.

 

[golden pinto]

awesome find, a piece of history.

 

[Good Vibrations]

awesome find, a piece of history.

Thank you. I couldn't pass it up. It was calling to me. Trying to keep it original as possible.