Just registered, needing help finding info on vintage bike manufacturer.

walkergenes

walkergenes

New Member
#1
#1
Hello all. Just registered a few minutes ago. I ran across this site while searching for pics of the exact bike I had as a kid. I have 2 photos I'll be sharing later. I can't for the life of me find a photo of the exact model anywhere online. It was the baddest chopper minibike (for a kid in the 1970s) I've ever seen. It wasn't a custom, it had a manufacturer name plate on the front, though neither picture gives a good view of it. It had a Tecumseh engine. Both picures I have are scanned at high resolution, so they'll have to be copied and downsized before posting. I'm hoping to find more info on the bike here at OldMiniBikes. See ya soon :)
 
45t

45t

Well-Known Member
#7
#7
Welcome to the site. I started out the same when I came here....looking for the mini bike chopper I had as a kid. A member here helped me by selling me one like I had.

There were several companies that made choppers, could yours have been a Cat Duster or Hustler chopper?

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markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
Way cool, that's s General appliance made bike. Look up trail horse. Maybe tagged as a whisper jet. Can't really see the front decal too well. The other one looks like a sensation chopper.
 
walkergenes

walkergenes

New Member
#14
#14
markus said:
Way cool, that's s General appliance made bike. Look up trail horse. Maybe tagged as a whisper jet. Can't really see the front decal too well. The other one looks like a sensation chopper.
Click to expand...
You got the bell ringing with the word "jet". Several times that word popped in my head, beforehand. I did a search for whisper jet, and found this photo of a front decal/plate:

(my 3rd attempt to post with no pic url / keep getting error message too many urls)

That may or may not be the exact decal, but it's very similar. JET is definitely right, same font, in same place, italics. The other photo I have from 1972(ish) is from the other side of the bike, and may have a better view. I'm scanning a bunch of old photos and haven't gotten to it yet, but it was taken the same day. I googled "whisper jet" and found the photo with the decal, then googled "chopper whisper jet" and "chopper trail horse". No exact match yet, but still searching. I found a trail horse ad of a bike w/similar features, but can only post limited picture urls here.

Tremendous thanks for the information, maybe a photo of an identical bike will show up somewhere.
 
walkergenes

walkergenes

New Member
#16
#16
markus said:
Way cool, that's s General appliance made bike. Look up trail horse. Maybe tagged as a whisper jet. Can't really see the front decal too well. The other one looks like a sensation chopper.
Click to expand...
That was my sister's, she got maybe 6 months or a year before I got mine. It was actually faster, and I can't remember exactly, but pretty sure it had a Briggs & Stratton engine. It also had a foot pedal rear brake (slightly visible in the photo, on right side of the bike).

In later years, after they were sold and we left the days of minibikes behind, I never saw mine again, but remember seeing my sister's somewhere around town. It was a painted different color, but it was her bike. That was the last time I saw it. I always assumed her bike was a custom build, because it had no markings. I'll search for sensation mini bike and see what I can find. Thanks again.
 
walkergenes

walkergenes

New Member
#18
#18
markus said:
Way cool, that's s General appliance made bike. Look up trail horse. Maybe tagged as a whisper jet. Can't really see the front decal too well. The other one looks like a sensation chopper.
Click to expand...
I believe you are right, it looks like a Sensation. I found a manufacturer's model diagram. Of course, I can't post it here :(
 
RobertC

RobertC

#19
#19
Yes, it is a Sensation Mike Bike Chopper...I can see the sticker on the clutch guard...is the same shape, and placement, as my Sensation Mike Bike mb-6a had on it's clutch guard.

Those are beautiful mini bikes, both of them....they look huge with y'all on them, with y'all being so young.

Welcome to the OldMiniBikes Gene...!....and by the way, where in NC are you located ?
 
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walkergenes

walkergenes

New Member
#20
#20
RobertC said:
Yes, it is a Sensation Mike Bike Chopper...I can see the sticker on the clutch guard...is the same shape, and placement, as my Sensation Mike Bike mb-6a had on it's clutch guard.

Those are beautiful mini bikes, both of them....they look huge with y'all on them, with y'all being so young.

Welcome to the OldMiniBikes Gene...!....and by the way, where in NC are you located ?
Click to expand...
Hi, RobertC. Thanks, good to be here. Yes, they do look bigger with us on them. I was 6, could barely touch the ground with my feet. It would be interesting to stand beside it today.. I grew to be 6'4". Our yard was too small for chopper mini bikes, so we used to ride them at an old airport runway in Burlington, that was also used by RC clubs as a place to fly RC airplanes. The runway was originally part of the Nike Missile Plant (Google for more info). It was great for racing mini bikes, or just riding. In later years, mobile home dealers took up most of the airport space, and finally they built a Wal-Mart there.

I live in Graham, NC (right beside Burlington).
 
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