It may not be a bucket list bike to most but I have been wanting a "Real" Toad for some time. About two weeks ago, I picked up a Vulture roller from Market Place that had been repainted orange. I was almost satisfied due to not being purple and the lack of fenders, it was pretty much a Toad. Finding a 4" wheel bike that hasn't been molested is a pretty tough task and I had been pondering shortening the kickstand on one of my 6" wheel frames. I just couldn't bring myself to alter a nice frame, to me, I would be no better than those whom I gripe about chopping up vintage iron. Most have seen a Vulture in it's factory purple and I have always known the Toad to offered in "Wart Green" but never seen an original paint bike to know what "Wart Green" looked like. It doesn't help that all the advertisements for the Toad were in black and white!. I've always assumed that "Wart Green" was the sublime that is still popular to this day, turns out it is. One thing I didn't know for a fact was they also offered them in an OSHA safety yellow color too. I saw one in the media section here a few years back that had been posted in 2010 and assumed it was repainted, although they said it was original.
The yellow wasn't your standard "Canary" yellow and until yesterday I thought it must have been repainted. Attached is the picture of the yellow one from 2010 and the one I picked up today. At first glance, it looks like the same bike as both have paint scratches in the same areas except the 2010 bike has a little less paint near the rear axle strap than mine. I believe it to be a 71 as the 70 models were the ones advertised as "Wart Green" and most of the 72 and up bikes have the stick on serial number tag whereas 69, 70, 71 had a riveted tag. My bike looks like a lighter shade of yellow in the picture but once out of direct sunlight it looks darker like the first bike. I've already started mocking up my 71 Tecumseh H30 that will be going on it once freshened up. For now I'll probably throw a clone on it so I can have some fun while the engine is getting refreshed.
The yellow wasn't your standard "Canary" yellow and until yesterday I thought it must have been repainted. Attached is the picture of the yellow one from 2010 and the one I picked up today. At first glance, it looks like the same bike as both have paint scratches in the same areas except the 2010 bike has a little less paint near the rear axle strap than mine. I believe it to be a 71 as the 70 models were the ones advertised as "Wart Green" and most of the 72 and up bikes have the stick on serial number tag whereas 69, 70, 71 had a riveted tag. My bike looks like a lighter shade of yellow in the picture but once out of direct sunlight it looks darker like the first bike. I've already started mocking up my 71 Tecumseh H30 that will be going on it once freshened up. For now I'll probably throw a clone on it so I can have some fun while the engine is getting refreshed.