Thailand, and Chiang Mai, is a treasure trove for the serious antique motorbike motorhead, if they are willing to follow some vague leads, sniff out the old stuff. Passing through Chiang Mai in 2017, this beauty was found on the third floor of the big 71 clothing shop:
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It's a basic Whizzer (1939 - 1965) that was a small USA engine "kit" that initially sold for about $55.00 USD. The buyer would assemble it and install it in a bicycle frame. This one threw a low outside curve ball past me - I had to go to the National Motorcycle Museum's antique motorcycle guru guy in Iowa, USA, who told me someone had made the gas tank to look old, like from the early 1900's, and possibly did some creative paint scraping/acid work to give it an older look. It has a USA Nebraska license plate, which could have been on the motorbike, or added.
In 1997 Whizzer made a come back (and died again), but in 1998 sold a kit to install in an old Schwinn-style bicycle frame, an interesting twist in motorbike history. A fellow by the name of Schwinn was manufacturing Excelsior Motorcycles in the 1901-17 era in the USA (Chicago). In 1917 he bought the Henderson motorcycle company (arguably the best USA made motorcycles at the time, faster than the H-Ds and Indians, and a four cylinder first for speed), and moved the Henderson factory to Chicago. The USA Depression knocked him out of the motorcycle business in about March of 1931, when he stopped motorcycle production and said something like, "Fellows, this is the Depression, we can not make money manufacturing motorcycles, so we're going to manufacture bicycles," and thus came Schwinn bicycles.
I'm lucky, and after a long and expensive search some years ago, bought a running Henderson. So when I saw this "kind-of-maybe" Whizzer my radar pinged, knowing where in Chiang Mai I might acquire a Schwinn bicycle. See my Chiang Mai Schwinn below:
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Next step may be to find some creative Thai mechanic to stuff a 125 cc (or smaller) engine in it, and some'Thai" electrical work with metal fabrication. When asked "Why?" my stock reply has been "Because, maybe, I can." There are 1,000's, maybe 1,000,000s of older Honda engines around Thailand.
Dr. G
Chief of the World Adventure Affairs Desk, CITY BIKE Magazine
www.citybike.com