That is true. And shortly after, Carter Brothers burned to the ground for the second time and did not rise from the ashes. Sadly there are no parts for the bike except for the common stuff. The clutch covers never seemed to survive. I have a few parts from when I bought the bike in 1999 but when they are gone...well...that's it.
They were nice bikes. Brutally powerful and unbelievably fast. It handles excellent and it fits an adult great. It's a tremendously well built bike and the powder coat is indestructible. I really never understood the animosity.
Doc
Well............Those saddlebags look great.
As far as the animosity, It probably starts with the blatant dis-respecting of Harley Davidson. I am not a Harley guy but millions are, so that is a big problem.
Please don't take these observations personally, but you did ask, so here goes.
The decals which are too large in some spots like the on-off decal that's like 5 times too large. Then the funky almost stencil like cuts on the rear side panels which are too flat. What are the cuts on the tail supposed to be, reflectors?
Always confused me what they were trying to do there.
Everything looks too squared off to me, no curvy flow. The bike almost seems like multiple designers worked on their piece and then at the end they all got bolted/welded together.
Some Manco's seemed the same way, like the freaky frame on the Big Cat thing. Or on my Manco 573, the front of the frame and the back are 2 different animals. And it also suffered from wacky factory decals.
On the positive side, the Carter Shortster has neat looking wheels, the handle bars look right for a cruiser, the seat is nice and I know those shocks are good as Surplus Center had them a few years back and I scored 2 sets, good quality.
The length is good for an adult as you said and everyone who has owned them said they are nice ride and powerful.
I would own one but would have no mercy on the decals and probably would cut some stuff out to suit me, but I respect you for keeping your's original as they are indeed only original once.
The burning of the factory in the same time frame of the lawsuit always bothered me too as they put good honest working Americans out of a job by not rebuilding, but that is business sometimes I guess.
Thanks,
Keith
hmy:
