Newest Swap Meet Score! RUTTMAN Chrome Roller (I think?) More Info Needed!

MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#1
#1
I scored this chrome frame minibike roller at the Canby, Oregon swap meet on Sunday (05 October). I was vending and got there super early, like 5:45 and saw it right away-that chrome sure caught my eye! I was thinking it looked Lil'Indian-esque but didn't know for sure so I tried posting in the "What Is It?" section right after I bought it (like 20 minutes later) but my Tapatalk app thingy wouldn't do a new thread for some reason. :sad: Anyways, a fellow user here saw me post the picture on Instagram and gave me a heads up that it was likely a Ruttman. I tried to hide it behind my booth but people were trying to buy it from me all day, lol.

Anyways, from my research here the last couple of days leads me to believe it is 1968 or older Ruttman "washer" frame? I read that fascinating Lil'Indian history with the Ruttman tie in so that's why I was thinking it looked like a Lil'Indian....kinda neat that I am starting to recognize frames styles. :thumbsup: You folks here are edub3cating me good! :laugh:



This roller looks to be in pretty good shape, the chrome is quite good and I believe it might have the original white steel wheels but not sure as the front is 5" and the rear 6"? Also, some jack@$$ cut the seat mount and rear fender mounts off and drilled four holes into the top of the frame. :doah: There are no brakes currently and some '80s looking motorcycle controls on the bars. The frame and bars look nice and straight though, so this one should restore pretty good.



I would like to hear any additional info on these Ruttmans and if there are any markings to be found anywhere or a way to solidly date it past "1968 or older"? Also, I could REALLY use some pictures of bare frames and complete Ruttmans so I know how to fab up the seat bracket and how the brakes are set up on these? thanks OldMiniBikes! :thumbsup:
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#3
#3
buckeye said:
Nice girl. Wondered where you been.
Cheeseball will know.:thumbsup:
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I have been busy working on cars all summer, since our shops are too full for them (minibikes, small engines, pinball machines, arcade games, etc. etc.) and we have to do the work outside, lol. Restored a 1989 VW Jetta GLi 16V for sale and did a bunch of upgrades and mods on my 1973 GMC Vandura. :thumbsup:

We are all going shooting up in the mountains tomorrow on one of our last sunny days here in rainy Orygun-the rains start in a few days and won't let up for like the next 8 months or so :eek: At least then I get to spend more time out in the shop on minibike projects though. :biggrin:
 
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MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#5
#5
cheezy1 said:



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wOw! very purdy.....sure wish mine didn't have the seat mount and rear fender hacked off (WHY do folks do nonsense like that??? probably kids I guess but wow, makes it a pain....)

What kind of brakes is yours running? can't tell with the smaller pictures............
 
cheezy1

cheezy1

#6
#6
68 or older..should have 5'' Taco wheels...with a 72 tooth solid sprocket. Normally had Tec motors...but some had Briggs. The brake was a standard clutch brake..but the cover was slightly larger than normal. Here is a pic of one I just sold this summer with the original chrome package for the motor.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#8
#8
Kewl Cheezy! thanks so much for the pictures....helps me figure out what is missing. That all chrome bike is way cool.....a mini "silver machine"! Any way to get bigger versions of those pictures though? I was just rooting around in your photo gallery and all I see are those same small ones?

Also, I saw a mention somewhere that there were basic white steelies for rims too though, was that only on later years? I do have some extra Taco rims though, fortunately, if that is what this is supposed to have.......
 
cheezy1

cheezy1

#9
#9
MoTo-BunnY said:
Kewl Cheezy! thanks so much for the pictures....helps me figure out what is missing. That all chrome bike is way cool.....a mini "silver machine"! Any way to get bigger versions of those pictures though? I was just rooting around in your photo gallery and all I see are those same small ones?

Also, I saw a mention somewhere that there were basic white steelies for rims too though, was that only on later years? I do have some extra Taco rims though, fortunately, if that is what this is supposed to have.......
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Your welcome. I seen a couple of the older ones before with the 4'' steel wheels. But to be honest....they looked original..but I am not sure if they were or not. Dean knows more of the specifics about the chrome ones. Yours should have a number on the top of the engine plate on the clutch side in the back. The lower number is suppose to mean it is older. And those pics were from a couple of them I had....so I can send you the original pics and you can enlarge them if you want.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#14
#14
CarPlayLB said:
Damn you! I am the self appointed chrome guy here...why can't I find one of those?

Good score Bunny! I am jealous!
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lol....thanks so much (I think? :wink: ) It was all luck-I didn't even know what it was (other than I thought it kinda looked like a Lil'Indian) but I saw that old school, deep deep chrome and knew I had to have it. Not like I could ever afford to chrome anything at today's post-EPA chrome crackdown prices! :eek:

I dig that it was made in Michigan too (like me!) I wonder what the story is behind it making out here? The seller didn't know anything about it, from the looks of the other things he was selling, he might have gotten it from scrapping metal. :freakout:
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#16
#16
thanks to the Cheezy1, I just found this (after a bit of scrubbing off grime):



Not sure if this is "low" or not-can this pinpoint the exact year then?

I also counted 72 teeth on the sprocket and it looks original to the wheel although the assembly has some jenky looking spaces (cut at a bad angle). You can definitely see some "mechanically challenged" modifications done to this poor thing, such as the aforementioned hacking off of brackets and drilling the frame. :sad: Good thing it looks like they gave up before too much damage was done!

OH, another Ruttman newbie question I almost forgot....what is this model called? I see the later ones had cute names like the "toad" and stuff and that the earlier models were just numbers or something....what model number is this then?
 
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cheezy1

cheezy1

#17
#17
GT 250
That is a lower number....so probably closer to a 66-67. I would love to hear the story about the travels of that bike and how it made its way out there.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#18
#18
cheezy1 said:
GT 250
That is a lower number....so probably closer to a 66-67. I would love to hear the story about the travels of that bike and how it made its way out there.
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Wow, very kewl, never would have guessed it was that old as it still looks pretty good (even after the previous owner(s) abuse) ....thanks again Cheez! I really appreciate it-I love the story and background as much as the bikes themselves. :thumbsup:

So were all the older Ruttmans chrome or was that a deluxe option or something?
 
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