what is this??

[rovlie]

Hello every one!

I joint the forum a year ago but here I am with (for me) an unknown mini bike..

By the way I'm Ronald van Vlierberghe and I live in the Netherlands.
I have two mini bikes.. a 1977 Honda XL50 (smaller brother of the XL75,sold only in Belgium,Germany and Austria) and the unknown mini bike..

This mini bike came from a friend of my father and he told me that this bike was army green (originally) and he also did not know the manufacturer and type or back ground..

He had bought this bike in Belgium in the early 80´s for his kids. The extra mountings you see on the frame is home made and was used in the past for a side car (I don´t have the sidecar)

The engine is a craftsman but I can`t find a type or model..
I also can not find any frame number..

Who knows this little machine? It looks like a Bonanza but if you look good you see some difference..

Thanks in advance!

Regards, Ronald van Vlierberghe

 

[roccosbike]

sears runabout. by Bird.

 

[roccosbike]

That Tecumseh should have a tag on the front of the blower housing...on it should be some numbers...post them up.

 

[trailhopper]

Sears runnabout. by Bird.

Spot on rocco. :thumbsup: Man I would love to have that chainguard.

 

[rovlie]

Thanks for the fast replies!
I will look for any tags, stickers or something of this sort..
If I find a tag with numbers I will post them tonight.

All parts are painted (with the brush) years ago so original stickers are gone..

Regards, Ronald

 

[rovlie]

I found a tag under the paint..
I cleaned it and this what it said: Craftsman model: 143 611082 serial: 23065

I saw that Sears and Bird are two differend manufactures, what is the difference between the two marks and from what
years are these bikes?
Is mine a Sears or a Bird and how can I know this for sure??

Regards, Ronald

 

[KustomKartKid]

That's a 3 1/2 HP Tecumseh sold under the Sears/Craftsman name.....probably the original motor to that bike....nice old mini !!

 

[rovlie]

Thanks!

Who can tell me more about my Sears Runabout?
Like further engine specs, year of manufacturing, how it looks original (photos..) and where I can find parts if I need them?

I'm a Honda fan but this Sears is very very rare in Europe and I want to restore him in the future, looks nice next to my Honda XL50..

Thanks in advance!!

Ronald

 

[KustomKartKid]

 

[rovlie]

Thanks to all for the replies!!

Now I know what bike it is and I can look further for parts suppliers...

Regards, Ronald

 

[Mean Dean]

Motor is a 1972. Hope this helps on the year.

 

[RobertC]

.....I saw that Sears and Bird are two differend manufactures, what is the difference between the two marks and from what years are these bikes?
Is mine a Sears or a Bird and how can I know this for sure??

Regards, Ronald

Hello Ronald,

Weclome to the site.

Just a little context about Sears and Bird.

Bird manufactured this minibike for Sears. Sears was the retail store that sold the bike..sometimes known as Sears and Roebuck. Anyway, Sears had agreements with major manufacturers to make products for Sears with a Sears brand label on it.

As it turns out, Bird was the manufacturer of the frame, and they put tecumseh motors on many (if not all of them.)

Sears had them put 'Sears' stickers on the bike, then sounds like they did the same with the motor by putting 'Craftsman' (which is a Sears brand) on the tecumseh motor.

So that's how your Sear's mini bike can also be referred to as a 'bird' mini bike.

JC Penney retailer had similar arangement with Cat (I believe).

Out of curiosity, anybody on board know how many different companies made mini bike's for sears ?

Also curious who were the other major retailers who did similar, and who made their bike's...Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, etc.

Have a good one !

 

[KustomKartKid]

.............out of curiosity, anybody on board know how many different companies made mini bike's for sears ?

I have a RUPP Continental sold by Sears which I bought from the original owner. It has no RUPP badging or branding on it...even the back of the seat was left blank. It had a Sears decal on the shroud but her knucklehead brother spray painted the motor to "make it look better" :doah:.... I could still faintly see it....

The owner, a woman now about my age, said she and her father went to the local Sears and Roebuck in Tennessee where she lived every weekend where she pestered him to buy it for her...

1st picture is her holding the bike when I bought it..

2nd pic is what it looks like after I cleaned it up...

 

[buckeye]

Gerry that is one of my favorite bikes.:thumbsup: Next to Ffffffoooxxxes, of course.

 

[markus]

Sears: Rupp, manco, cushman, puch, Bird, their own company Roper, I'm sure there is a bunch more. Not always the case but a fair amount of the time there were some distinct differences between a store branded bike and the actual bike sold by the manufacturer. One thing I always wondered about was, were companies like bird actually building the "complete" bike or were they supplying sears with certain parts and sears was making their own bikes?
Just like many of the frames the motors were made by an outside company (tecumseh) but technically they are sears/craftsman motors.

 

[rovlie]

Thanks again for the answers!

In what colors were they originally? (Sears and Bird)
Mine was army green when my fathers friend bought him and he painted him in this blue color.. (30 years ago)


And what model seat is original for this model (1972 Sears runabout) ? I saw different models on the same frames..

Regards, Ronald