Engineering:Doodle Bug scooter
The Doodle Bug was a motor scooter built from 1946 to 1948[1] by the Beam Manufacturing Company[2] of Webster City, Iowa, US.[1] They were sold through the Gambles store chain to compete against Cushman scooters being sold under the Allstate brand by Sears.[2] Gambles sold the Doodle Bug under the "Hiawatha" name.[3]
Doodle Bugs were powered by 1½ hp engines from Briggs & Stratton or Clinton.[1][2] The Doodle Bug Standard Model B was the only Doodle Bug series powered by Clinton engines; one thousand or less of these were built, all during the first production run of ten thousand scooters. All other Doodle Bug scooters, including the Standard Model A that was produced alongside the Model B during the first production run, used variants of the Briggs & Stratton NP engine. Four production runs of ten thousand scooters each were built.[1]
An annual reunion of Doodle Bug owners and restorers is held in Webster City.[4][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc. - Original Doodle Bug". Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc.. Newberg, Oregon, USA. 7 September 2005. http://doodlebugsyrmw.com/products.htm. "There were 40,000 Doodle Bugs manufactured from the spring of 1946 through the fall of 1948 by Beam Mfg. of Webster City, Iowa."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wilson, Hugo (1995). "The Directory of Motorcycles". The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 270. ISBN 0-7513-0206-6. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo00wils_1.
- ↑ "Briggs NP Antique Scooter Engine". http://sites.google.com/site/briggsnpscooterengine/. "The Doodle Bug scooters were manufactured by the Beam Manufacturing Company of Webster City, Iowa from 1946-1948 and were sold by Gambles under the name "Hiawatha""
- ↑ Dar Danielson; Pat Powers (September 14, 2012). "Webster City celebrates Doodlebugs". Des Moines, Iowa, US: Radio Iowa. http://www.radioiowa.com/2012/09/14/webster-city-celebrates-doodlebugs/. "It’s the 26th annual convention of people from across the U.S. who fix up and ride the Doodlebug brand of motor scooter."
- ↑ Jim Krajewski (September 14, 2012). "Annual Doodle Bug event returns to W.C.". Messenger News (Fort Dodge, IA US). http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/551064/Annual-Doodle-Bug-event-returns-to-W-C-.html?nav=5010. "The familiar sputtering of Doodle Bug scooters filled the air at The Executive Inn in Webster City as a caravan of riders pulled in to celebrate the 26th annual Doodle Bug reunion."
External links
- Doodle Bug Scooter basic description with good pic
- Doodle Bug Club of America based in Webster City, Iowa
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