What model is this ?

#21
Thank you smallbore. That is very good information you provided! I, and I am sure many others, will be following your venture closely to get your big-wheeled Roper tagged and registered. I am in California as well (CA DMV) and I am very envious of our OldMiniBikes members in some other states who have a relatively easy process to register a bike for street-legal status. In Arizona, for example, you can practically get a LAWN MOWER registered, as compared to California. O.K., that is a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea...
Michael
 

Smallbore

Active Member
#22
A bike with no name

Well I think we have now determined that there is no model name for the street legal Sears / Roper. I received my Sears catalog a few days ago (Fall & Winter 1971 issue) and it shows my bike. Now that I have a catalog that states "licensable for street use" I can take it along with my other paperwork down to DMV and get this bike registered and plated.

 
#23
How cool it is to see your bike in the Sears catalog! Those were both Sears top-of-the-line models. That was a relatively hefty price tag for a mini bike at that time, which most likely contributed to the reason we do not see too many "Big Wheel Roper" survivors as not that many were sold compared to the cheaper bikes.
Michael
 
#24
OK we know this is a Sears bike, but what is the name of the model ? This was the only street legal mini Sears ever sold. It has battery, headlight, tail light, brake light , horn, and mirror.... All the stuff DMV wants to see with the exception of turn signals, but they were not mandatory in California till 1973 forward, and this bikes was made in 1971. This bike has 10" wheels so its about the size of a Honda CT70.
In the 1969 Sears catalog there were bikes with silly model names like RUNABOUT, SPYDER, DROVER, PUNCHER, and the SUPER-2. So what the heck did they call this bike ?
:confused: I have a feeling Markus will know... :smile:


I just picked up a bike just like this one. Was wondering where i could find more info on it?
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#26
Old post but this pertains to the subject…. Customer dropped this engine off to be rebuilt, it is the prototype/example engine that Tecumseh setup for Roper/craftsman/sears for the 4hp version of these bikes.

IMG_4987.jpeg

The owners grandfather was associated with Sears Corprate, I think he said advertising/marketing . Somehow he got the first 2 bikes off the assembly line for his grandkids.

these particular engines were pretty unique, since they used a battery to comply with certain laws for street use, they had a charging system which is different than a lighting system setup. Not something commonly used on the small frames at the time because those were really only used for electric start. All the lights horn etc ran off the battery and the engine charged the battery. This was also at the transition point for Tecumseh to offer Taylor spark arrestor headers for the first time other little changes.

While the 3amp DC charging system is rare to see (researching found only 4 model numbers of the HS40 got them in the books) this one is in fact the “EXE” numbered tag to back up its history. These tags were put on engines that were not intended to be out on the market they were for manufacturers to use to setup the machine they were making or use as examples etc..

IMG_4988.jpeg

I went down to the archives;) and did a deep search to do some cross referencing and was able to find thanks to a list of craftsman mini bike specific built engines I have that this would become a 143.617092, which in Tecumseh numbers was a 55333C
IMG_4996.jpeg


so with all that and and his grandfathers connection to sears….I would not doubt that the bikes you see in the original adds are the ones they got as kids!!!!!

reposting the photo from above but this IS thanks to @Smallbore for finding/buying catalogs till he found the match to the bike he bought many years ago
1706880803882.jpeg
 
#27
Old post but this pertains to the subject…. Customer dropped this engine off to be rebuilt, it is the prototype/example engine that Tecumseh setup for Roper/craftsman/sears for the 4hp version of these bikes.

View attachment 310951

The owners grandfather was associated with Sears Corprate, I think he said advertising/marketing . Somehow he got the first 2 bikes off the assembly line for his grandkids.

these particular engines were pretty unique, since they used a battery to comply with certain laws for street use, they had a charging system which is different than a lighting system setup. Not something commonly used on the small frames at the time because those were really only used for electric start. All the lights horn etc ran off the battery and the engine charged the battery. This was also at the transition point for Tecumseh to offer Taylor spark arrestor headers for the first time other little changes.

While the 3amp DC charging system is rare to see (researching found only 4 model numbers of the HS40 got them in the books) this one is in fact the “EXE” numbered tag to back up its history. These tags were put on engines that were not intended to be out on the market they were for manufacturers to use to setup the machine they were making or use as examples etc..

View attachment 310952

I went down to the archives;) and did a deep search to do some cross referencing and was able to find thanks to a list of craftsman mini bike specific built engines I have that this would become a 143.617092, which in Tecumseh numbers was a 55333C
View attachment 310961


so with all that and and his grandfathers connection to sears….I would not doubt that the bikes you see in the original adds are the ones they got as kids!!!!!

reposting the photo from above but this IS thanks to @Smallbore for finding/buying catalogs till he found the match to the bike he bought many years ago
View attachment 310953
Had that same motor on trail tamer I sold last summer…bad ass motor…
 
#29
Old post but this pertains to the subject…. Customer dropped this engine off to be rebuilt, it is the prototype/example engine that Tecumseh setup for Roper/craftsman/sears for the 4hp version of these bikes.



The owners grandfather was associated with Sears Corprate, I think he said advertising/marketing . Somehow he got the first 2 bikes off the assembly line for his grandkids.








so with all that and and his grandfathers connection to sears….I would not doubt that the bikes you see in the original adds are the ones they got as kids!!!!!
There seemed to be a lot of that going on back then. Years ago I had lunch with Buddy Baker, he showed me a Rupp brochure for the 1975 Roadster II that had a few young children in different outdoor locations. (Fishing, riding etc)The kids were him and his sister, (and I think his brother, or the photographers kid I can't remember now). He told me all about the shoot, and how they got to keep the bikes after. He still has the bike to this day! I asked him to sign a copy for me and he looked at me like I was crazy, which I get a lot:)
I live near the Fox plant, and after talking with former employees I've been told of engineers bringing bikes home to have their kids test (trash) out in the field pre-production. Think GM Proving Ground but in farm fields. They were also allowed to keep them, which in part explains why when some bikes pop up that are different than what the catalog shows.


Back on topic of the Roper bikes, a friend of mine has a NOS yellow street legal version in his collection. The bike is an absolute time capsule, looks just like Skipps bike but un-touched, brand new. I don't think I've ever seen an EXE tag on a Tec engine before, but it's something I'll keep my eye out for.
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#31
. I don't think I've ever seen an EXE tag on a Tec engine before, but it's something I'll keep my eye out for.
I have been on the lookout for for one of the EXE tags for a 1970 small frame H or HS for a special project, not the end of the world if don't find it, but it would pretty neat to have it tagged that way given the nature of the what the engine will be used for.....when the owner of his engine walked this in my shop I thought "score" just what I have been after and I will swap him for another 1970 HS40 tag. Then he told me the story of the bike he is redoing, he had no idea about the tag or what it meant but I knew that tag needs to stay with that motor and bike. One thing interesting about this EXE tag since it was specifically Craftsman, it is not marked for what designation it is. Others I have seen over the years have the Tec designation of what it is (H25 H30 HS40 etc...) but this one could literally be put on anything, but now I know that if its not marked for certain series of engine it was for Craftsman most likely.
 
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