We grew up with lawn mowers, go carts and mini bikes. My dad took a stingray bicycle frame and mounted a motor on a board with a belt drive and foot operated idler clutch pulley. We started off with small motors, but quickly grew tired of the slow speeds of about 20 miles per hour. We graduated to a 4 HP that was quite a bit heavier and too big to fit under the seat. The larger motor had to hang off to the side. The farther it stuck out, the more out of balance the little bike was. We had to compensate by leaning the other way. Now the bike went about 40 MPH. I imagine the neighbors thought it kind of comical and stupid to see us coming down the road at about a 30deg angle, sometimes barefoot, certainly with shorts on. The tires we had were from a reel type mower that had slip on tires. These tires were made to go about 1 mile per hour. When we would crank it up to full speed, the rubber tires would grow to about 1.5 times the diameter and sometimes slip off the wheel, making our ride quite slippery.
One time I was going full speed down Pioneer Drive headed home in front of Danny King’s house when not only the tires fell off but I lost the entire front wheel. Needless to say, going full speed with only front forks to ride on did not make for a pleasant sudden stop. I dragged myself home and thought I better clean up before anyone saw me. I was rinsing off in the tub when mom came in. I was pretty bloody, but the tub filled with a few inches of water did not help make it look less deadly. My mother (Pearl) about lost it. It took several weeks for all the scabs to stop hurting, then it was back to rebuilding the mini bike again.
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