Rat Rod or buff it out?

Droydx

Droydx

Member
#1
#1
I just got this one up and running. It was a friend of mine's, who passed away. The guy didn't believe in check ups, or doctors, and it caught up with him. Anyway, it has a low hour Briggs 5hp and a nice Comet TQ set up. I didn't like the stock briggs carb/gas tank set up, so I replaced that with a Tec Clone carb and one of those Ebay sourced manifolds. It runs strong now...strong enough to make me a little scared on the flats! I do like the CT 70 rear 10" with the General wide wall 6" front wheels...it looks good as is, I think. That said, there's a lot of corrosion, some surface rust, from the bike sittling outside for 10+ years.

I've got like 5 other bikes to work on...should I buff this one out further, or just leave it as is? Anyone have any idea what the frame originally was? My pal added the outrigger bars and footpegs when he put it together.

Andy
 

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SimpleTom

SimpleTom

#2
#2
The bike is a Bug Engineering Super Flea from around 1962. Nice bike. I guess if it were mine I would try to restore it to original.



Here is an original.


 
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CarPlayLB

CarPlayLB

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
The AA7 motors were 7 or 8 cubic inches, so they were at least 114 cc's. Same crank, just different sized bore. Whopping 2-2.5hp !
 
Twid

Twid

Active Member
#11
#11
What ever you don't call it a rat rod aka snitch rod. Snitch rods are unsafe junk yard crap thrown together to sell to suckers on C-list. That said rat is a term for bbc and the sbc is the mouse motor which the elephant motor aka mopar big block's are afraid of. It comes from 70's drag strip slang! It's a cool mini, ride it till the wheels fall off!
 
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H

Havasu Dave

Moderator
#13
#13
Yep, a rare one, although a lot of the parts are missing. I hope you kept the Conti stuff you pulled off. I'd get rid of the modern crap, preserve the frame, and either sell it to a collector, or collect parts and restore it.
 
Hounddog

Hounddog

Well-Known Member
#16
#16
Yes that is a Trail Flea or Trail Scout. The original continental engine is 175cc I believe. The bike came with a disk brake on the jack shaft too!
 
Hounddog

Hounddog

Well-Known Member
#19
#19
SimpleTom said:
Not a Trail Scout. The Trail Scout had steel wheels. That's an original Hands wheel on the front.
Click to expand...



Yes it is a Trail Flea with the Hands wheels. The picture you have with the Red Trail Flea and the Continental engine actually says 175cc. I have one of those engines with that sticker. They are great little motors, but very hard to find parts for.....
 
Droydx

Droydx

Member
#20
#20
Lots of great information! Thanks so much, y'all, this is a great forum, and I have a lot to learn, even though I have been playing with these machines for a long time. For now, I'm in a position where I have too much stuff, and not enough time to deal with it properly, so I will probably keep it running as is, but now knowing that it has value for it's history. Dang, it may be 53 years old!?

Andy
 
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