What Rupp do I have??

Kappy

New Member
#1
So I picked up my 1st mini bike a few weeks ago and as far as he knew it was all original except for the gas tank. I imagine the orange vinyl tank and seat covers are not original either even though they are old. It does have red paint underneath the blue.
Does anyone know what model and year I have?

Rupp (1).jpg Rupp (2).jpg
 

capguncowboy

Well-Known Member
#3
Now that I look at it some more, there are a lot of things wrong with it. The headlight looks like a Gilson/Arctic Cat headlight. The gas tank is wrong, and the seat cover isn't original -- But if it runs, ride the hell out of it!
 

Kappy

New Member
#4
Ha ha I plan to! Funny you mention the headlight. I did notice most of the Rupps had a square one. I thought maybe this was something that set it apart from the models but guess not. What is the difference between a Roadster and a Roadster 2?
 
#10
Looks like somebodies idea of a custom Rupp. You might be surprised at what's under that vinyl. The Seat should be easy, just unlatch the snaps and see what they left. Hopefully they left the original cover under that custom cover. As for the tank, I don't think it's an original tank under there as it has the red Tecumseh cap which wouldn't fit on a Roadster tank. They had a larger chrome cap. They definitely added the headlight as Roadster 2's had two mounting brackets that mounted with the spring retainer bolts that go through the fork tubes. Looks like they maybe made a custom bracket but I can't tell where it's mounted from the small pictures. But definitely appears to be of the Roadster 2 nature. The chrome rear fender is interesting as I believe they were an accessory. Most had painted rear fenders to match the bike. If you could tell what color the frame had been, you may be able to help figure out which model and year the bike is. Also, if you remove the seat cover, maybe the serial number label is still on the pan. Check that out as well and get back to us.
 

Kappy

New Member
#15
Looks like somebodies idea of a custom Rupp. You might be surprised at what's under that vinyl. The Seat should be easy, just unlatch the snaps and see what they left. Hopefully they left the original cover under that custom cover. As for the tank, I don't think it's an original tank under there as it has the red Tecumseh cap which wouldn't fit on a Roadster tank. They had a larger chrome cap. They definitely added the headlight as Roadster 2's had two mounting brackets that mounted with the spring retainer bolts that go through the fork tubes. Looks like they maybe made a custom bracket but I can't tell where it's mounted from the small pictures. But definitely appears to be of the Roadster 2 nature. The chrome rear fender is interesting as I believe they were an accessory. Most had painted rear fenders to match the bike. If you could tell what color the frame had been, you may be able to help figure out which model and year the bike is. Also, if you remove the seat cover, maybe the serial number label is still on the pan. Check that out as well and get back to us.
I did have the seat off at one point and there is no original cover underneath. I talked to another Rupp guy and he told me that thing really was messed with. You can see in the pics the jack shaft is out because I was in the middle of putting new bearings in. The shaft was changed and was changed to a chain drive instead of belt drive. I'll pull the seat off again and check for the tag.
 
#18
Well at the very least you have a great start to a Rupp. There isn't much that was changed that could be reversed and there are lots of Rupp parts out there. I'll still be watching, hopefully you'll start a project thread and share your progress with us.
 
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