Seat bolts through the frame was never done on any Ruttman...EVER! People can't just keep re-writing history as they go. I have had every year Ruttman and every model made (minus the mystery trike)...and they all had seat brackets. And no..if I knew it was his I would't have commented. But the truth is the truth....:hammer: And those are nice bikes joem..and worth a pretty penny do to the quality.:thumbsup:
Wow... How DARE I challenge your opinion!! Terribly sorry...except allow me to show you why I questioned it so you can set me straight.
First, I have no idea how long you've been into this hobby or how you've accumulated all your knowledge on the subject. If you are Troy Ruttman himself or so heavily associated with the original company that you really are the absolute authority, then fine. Otherwise, how can you claim to know how every one of these bikes left the assembly line? Most minibikes were such a basicly designed, poorly documented products, with mid-year changes, test variations, mismatched options, etc, that knowing every single variation is near impossible, even if you've owned one of every year/model that they made. Have you owned every single one made? Were you the QC guy there and examined every piece off the line?!?! I've spoken to the guys at Allied Leisure on this trend with Lil Indians and to this day, they still find genuine variations from Lil Indian that they haven't seen. That includes an early Lil Indian with seat holes through the frame, just like this.THEY OWN THE COMPANY AND THEY STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. BETTER YET, THEY ARE WILLING TO ADMIT IT.
Secondly, I looked at the Ruttmans in the pics section and low and behold, look closely at the upper frame tubes on this lovely Ruttman Washer in there:
I do believe I see the chrome or zinc head of a bolt poking down from under the tube, or it sure looks like it. I thought they may be the same bike, but the grips are different. Its easier to see if you go to the full sized version. It's at least looks enough like it and both bikes look nice enough, that who knows? Maybe its just a common hack job done on these, but why do a nice resto everywhere else but hack the frame on the seat? Just seams odd to me.
I may be wrong, but I think its worth asking the question. Its kind of unfair to bash some guys auction and call it a hack job and go off on me as a "History Re-Writer for merely posing the question. This kind of stuff is why I meet guys that love mini's but won't join this site, because they don't want to deal with the bashing, or they get it right after they join.
The greatest fool is the man that believes he knows everything.