Looking for help to identity bike
- Thread starter Joemac1966
- Start date
Hello and welcome! Cool little bike! Looks like a Manco/Sears (Puddle Jumper?). I'll call out a few experts.
@markus @SimpleTom @capguncowboy
@markus @SimpleTom @capguncowboy
Yes it is a Manco made bike, Sears was selling them as well. they were sold under the Streaker and Yellow Jacket names right around 1978-1980 timeframe. Your engine may be the orginal as it fits the style of that era, so looking at the numbers stamped across the top may help I believe they were H30 engines. They had them with fixed bars and bolt ons can rember which came first, this was a 1979 that was pretty bad shape and not worth actually trying to redo as it was left outside to die one week after they bought it brand new, so I just decided to have some fun with some clear coat and what was left of of the crusty old girl, once I got the engine redone and working again.
Thanks, markus. I have seen that style called Puddle Jumper on here, but have also seen the larger suspension bike called that. The frame looks similar to what I think of as a Streaker but different due to the swiss cheese plates under the seat and at the axle, plus the axle being outboard rather than inboard and the tubing part of the frame being shorter f/r due to those plate extensions. So is this design earlier than the inboard axle Streaker?
Yea the puddle jumper name people have put on both bikes that got the plates....I haven't seen anywhere (in literature or even a decal on a bike) that they were actually called that though. I have a theory that some get-R-dun got some dial up service to his single wide trailer back in the day and posted a picture of his bike and said Check out my little "Puddle jumper" and it stuck
Maybe someday someone will prove me wrong with some substantial evidence, never say never-but so far its just been a "seen it written on the internet so it must be true" info only. I can verify both the streaker and Puddle jumper names were used though, If I can find the old manco lists you can find the names there as well as saved photos I have of original decals on these bikes.Heres the streaker one on my old bike, a Yellow jacket decaling went in the same spot on the chainguard ( I have a photo saved of an original on file if someone really needs to see it) :
This style bike shown in this thread is the first manco bike I have seen with the "streaker" name, and I kinda think that the Yellow jacket name may have been a company that Manco bought out or supplied bikes and karts to as they had karts under that name as well, and these were not typical of Manco design. by 1982 it made a change to pretty much what is typical known as the streaker, but had a long scrub brake rod on the right rather tan the later style with with foot pedal/linkage that you see on the later ones. they varied between steel one piece and 2 piece mag wheels as well here and there as well, but I havent nailed the years down on those.
Top left price list shows the date, bottom right bike shows the streaker.
Heres the same bikes only sold by sears at the same time with a cleaner shot:
you can see they were very different from even the later model ones mid/late eighties and up those went outboard/under the frame for the rear axle, with the multi pice brake pedal assembly, reconfigured engine plate, etc.. that style knda stuck til the ind in the 2000's but they got some really hidious plastics that ziptied to the frame and forks.
My 1991/92 Kart work catalog shows the same as this 1996 one that Dick Debuse posted up here in the media section:
Yes it is a Manco made bike, Sears was selling them as well. they were sold under the Streaker and Yellow Jacket names right around 1978-1980 timeframe. Your engine may be the orginal as it fits the style of that era, so looking at the numbers stamped across the top may help I believe they were H30 engines. They had them with fixed bars and bolt ons can rember which came first, this was a 1979 that was pretty bad shape and not worth actually trying to redo as it was left outside to die one week after they bought it brand new, so I just decided to have some fun with some clear coat and what was left of of the crusty old girl, once I got the engine redone and working again.
Yes it is a Manco made bike, Sears was selling them as well. they were sold under the Streaker and Yellow Jacket names right around 1978-1980 timeframe. Your engine may be the orginal as it fits the style of that era, so looking at the numbers stamped across the top may help I believe they were H30 engines. They had them with fixed bars and bolt ons can rember which came first, this was a 1979 that was pretty bad shape and not worth actually trying to redo as it was left outside to die one week after they bought it brand new, so I just decided to have some fun with some clear coat and what was left of of the crusty old girl, once I got the engine redone and working again.
