Kustom Kart Shop

[wildman]

Great story KK. I don’t remember any dedicated kart/minibike shops where I grew up in DE, but I used to always pester my dad to take me to Hi-Point Garage on Concord Pike in Wilmington. As I remember it, this shop was primarily a lawn mower repair shop, but kept a large inventory of Bonanzas, Rupps and others that I can’t recall. I was 13 in 1969 and my dad bought me a new Bonanza that year for something like $220 (major league gift in those days). The Bonanza and the shop are long gone and I think that the shop’s property is part of a hotel parking lot now. :sad:

 

[buckeye]

Not that my vote matters but, I vote to make this thread a sticky.
Should be manditory reading prior to being able to post.
This is exactly the kind of thing thAt got many of us hooked.
Back in his day, all the old shops were like his. Good guys who just wanted to pass along the passion.
This is one of the very best threads ever on OldMiniBikes.:thumbsup:

 

[Beal]

Very awesome story! :thumbsup:

 

[slywilliez]

Great story KK, i need more lol. Post more pictures or another interview. lol. Great story but you also did a great job narrating it. Thanks

 

[cheezy1]

Thats an awesome story and pics.. I remember when I was a lil kid and goin to those kind of stores and even when Monkey Wards and Sears had all the minis on shelfs. I thought to myself..one day I will own them all.:laugh:

 

[Resto]

KK,

Here's the Kustom Kart "coupon" you and I were discussing !

.

 

[KustomKartKid]

Hahaha...I'm going to print that, cut it out, and see if he'll still honor it :lol:

 

[Bikerscum]

Thanks for the memories

Reminds me of my trips to Virginia Kart & Cycle when I was a kid in the late
60's. A magical place. H&H Triumph was another.

Ran downstairs Christmas morning and...... no mini. Sulked around for a while, the ol' man told me to go heat up some water for coffee. Turned the corner into the kitchen & heard angels sing. :smile:

Funny the things you remember like it was yesterday.

:drinkup:

 

[logman]

Wow

Great story. Fantastic memories. It probably me back to 1969 when I was a broom boy at a cycle shop called Cycles INC in Madison WI. I think I spent more time on the demonstrator Bonanza in the back field than sweeping up the floor of the shop.The shop pictures reminded me of a time gone by.
I Developed a love for the bikes back then.
I found this site a couple of months ago and thanks to you all,I have 4 restorations going on( thanks for the parts too).
We are all a bit older (greyer), but still have that childlike Awe for these bikes. Thanks for taking us back to our roots, and to beautiful bygone era.
Ride ON and on.
Logman aka Mike:thumbsup:

 

[boatguy]

Great story Gerry and I agree you missed your calling. Just read it through for the second time to make sure I didn't miss anything. Thanks for posting this and maybe you and the owner of Kustom Kart Shop could be the guests of honour at Windber in 2013. I am sure if necessary some donations could be made to make this happen--can you imagine the stories he could tell and the fun seeing so many mini bikes in one place again--just a thought--thanks.

 

[manchester1]

Great story Gerry and I agree you missed your calling. Just read it through for the second time to make sure I didn't miss anything. Thanks for posting this and maybe you and the owner of Kustom Kart Shop could be the guests of honour at Windber in 2013. I am sure if necessary some donations could be made to make this happen--can you imagine the stories he could tell and the fun seeing so many mini bikes in one place again--just a thought--thanks.

Gerry, you need to tell him all about Windber and get his butt there. He will be amazed:laugh::thumbsup:

 

[chainsaw]

Great post, thanks for taking time to share and please show the kart pics. My kustom kart was laymeyers kart shop, (sure I spelled that wrong) in Tulsa Ok. in the early 70's. My step dad took me there to by my first kart frame, wish I had pics or remembered what frame it was. It was a small shop but had duel and single engine karts hung from the walls and I was hooked for life. They had a track that you could see from the side of the building that ran around behind it so you couldnt see the whole track. I actualy had dreams of what I thought the track would look like. We moved to Tx. and years later I went back and paid the dollar a day they charged to use the track with my Margay pro x , it was alot smaller then in my dreams. The shop is now a lawnmower shop (at least it was 5 years ago ) the track is still there but broken up and overgrown with weeds. That was my childhood memory and like was said before, computer -video games are keeping kids inside. Its all they know so I guess its ok for them ,I just think its kind of sad that all our memories are soon to be gone.
I know this is the mini bike section not the more then two wheels sections, I just thought it fit here.

 

[Stangrcr1]

Windber to far for me. Dang East coasters.

Dad wouldn't let me have motorized toys. I went BMX racing wishing I had a motor there instead.

So here I am 30 years later living what I wish I had had then.

Awesome! Thanks for the memories.

 

[quiklids]

That's so cool...a dream for us kids raised in the sticks:thumbsup:

 

[Jeff Clark]

Gerry,

Thats a great read, to alot of us as adults are here for memories past what we each choose to do with our time here is just that! Nothing better than to share some memories and give a helping hand around here. To me you will always be KKK Thanks for the share!! Jeff

 

[Scottessey]

Great story, Gerry! Thanks for sharing. Did the neon glow look a little like this?

 

[Andrewp]

Too cool Scott :thumbsup: nice job

 

[turftech 1]

Great write up, great thread! Brought back memories of trekking to the minibike shop that was 5 or 6 miles north of my home growing up. Always worth the bike ride, though the shop wasn't nearly so cool, or big as Rich's, and we hardly ever bought anything.

 

[Mark G]

Great story Gerry:thumbsup:

That place is too cool, there is a small minibike shop in Buffalo that I like to frequent whenever I go back there....Bunny's motor Sports. No neon sign though.....

I noticed a pattern, you must be very convincing to get all this cool old stuff, from that Bonanza with the dual motors, that tricked out Trail Blazer, this cool neon sign, and who knows what else:thumbsup:. remind me NOT to let you over to my place, you'd probably clear out my whole shed:laugh:

 

[KustomKartKid]

When I ran into Rich Ludwig at the track, after not seeing him for nearly 40 years…and started talking about the old store and mentioned the sign it never crossed my mind that the sign possibly still existed. I couldn’t be sure it ever really existed….maybe I had just dreamed it up. Remember…I was talking about something I (thought) I had seen 4 decades ago!! Chances are anyway it would have been lost to time like the rest of the store.

I was just so amazed to see him again that I started rambling on and on about the old store and how much it meant to me as a kid. I have one of those quirky memories where I can remember in vivid detail, the most obscure moments in my life…yet I can’t remember what I had for breakfast today, most of my life is a blur. But seeing that sign and that store for the first time with my dad in 1972 is one of those moments.

If I (or anybody else) had walked into his house…seen that sign hanging on the wall and said “Oh I remember that sign….I’d love to have that do you want to sell it?” …I can guarantee that the answer would have been “no!”.

I think he just realized how much that sign must have meant to me…that I would still be conjuring up memories of it all these years later.
I know that sign meant a lot to him…that’s why he hung onto it all this time. I think he feels good knowing it is in a place where it is appreciated beyond words.