Old school Briggs & Stratton mystery trike

[Motorious]

Thinking about buying this for my 16 year-old nephew so he can ride with me:http://reno.craigslist.org/mcy/2610527220.html

What a bargain, eh ($50 OBO)?!

Can anyone identify the make & model?

[Nubbinz]

There's a lot of extra space in the frame, it could have been a Honda 110 frame that had a Briggs thrown in. At 50 bucks i wouldn't question it, id buy a pack of jb weld fix the gas tank and run it into the ground. You cant get a running trike for 50 bucks, let alone one that doesn't need new rings or has a bearing tick and you ask yourself every time you ride it if its going to explode.

[Motorious]

Well I went ahead and bought it today. Plastics are intact, but pretty faded, brittle, and decrepit as one would expect, but it's fairly complete, and even came with lot's of spare parts, including another motor. Without further adieu, here she is in all her tatty glory:

132176132177

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/Briggstrike2.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/Briggstrike1.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/Brigggstrike3.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/Briggstrike6.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/BigBriggsmotor.jpg

As you can see, it's not a converted Honda ATC, and it's not a homemade jobber either, must be one of the many obscure trikes made by those small homegrown manufacturers during the 70's and 80's; the ATC90 tank the seller had on it in the craigslist pics was misleading; it doesn't belong on the bike, and in fact there are no mounts for it on the top tube (although it does looks pretty good there). Don't know why the seller thought it needed another guess tank, the 5 horse B & S has it's own tank mounted directly under the carb (it's itty bitty though).

As promised, the 21"x12"x8" Carlisle knobbies are good, apparently original, and judging from the (lack of) wear, this little beast was used very little. Just been neglected for a very long time. The motor looks in good shape, and fired over with 1 pull after I shot some starter fluid into the carb. The air filter has been removed, but I found one painted white that might fit the carb in one of the parts boxes. The guy threw in a larger complete B & S motor as well: over the phone he told me he thought it was a 12 HP, but it looks to be more of an 8 HP to me, and so far I haven't been able to locate any identification as to it's size yet. It does seem to have good compression though, and I suspect it should be able to fit into the frame without much effort.

The frame looks pretty sturdy, and it appears to be a simple, well designed 'lil bugger. Centrifugal clutch drives a chain to the huge sprocket on a solid rear axle. No suspension, and classic, no-frills band brakes on both sides of the wheels slows it down (no front brake). It rolls fine, the steering bearings seem ok, and it is super light (feels to be about half the weight of my 200X). The white button behind the neck is the kill switch. And how about that awesome phony silencer not even hooked up to the exhaust sitting behind the muffler?!?:crazy:

All this old school goodness for only 50 bones. How could I resist? :naughty:

The guy was really cool, said he had a YT175 (Trimoto) that he used to ride at Sand Mountain, and he even helped to load everything up for me.

I bought this for my 16 year-old nephew, hoping he'll get bit by the trike bug too, and maybe a nice little project for the both of us to work on. I let him ride my 200X a couple weeks ago, and he was scared witless (I think the 2nd gear donuts in the dirt I did to demonstrate the awesome power of the all mighty three-wheeler might have had something to do with it) ;). He kept stalling it with poor clutch and throttle work, so after numerous attempts as night was falling I decided to push him in neutral until he was moving fast enough to dump the clutch without stalling it. After putting around a bit I could tell he was digging it, but the clutch and shifting was too much for him. So I figure this 'lil Briggstrike is perfect for him: alls he gots to do is to gun it and go, and he can fully concentrate on his riding technique. Plus, it's a light, low-geared, machine w/a mellow motor that won't allow him to get into too much trouble.

Can anybody identify this thing for me? Would be cool to know exactly what I've got here.

Oh yeah, just for kicks I put the rear fenders on my 200X, and it was almost an exact fit (interesting). The overall size of the 2 machines must be close.

[booblinker]

Manco maybe?

[FastZ28]

In this thread a guy has one like it, they called it a Manco Quester.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php?121915-Picked-up-a-Briggs-powered-trike-today...-what-is-it

[Motorious]

Hmmm...that's it alright...that one on youtube has a Kawi motor with what looks like a
comet type torque converter set-up though. :confused: Wonder if mine came stock with the centrifugal clutch? Didn't expect it to be a Manco, the ones I'm familiar with look like these:http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php?97787-got-my-manco-going%21sweet%21

Thanks for that linky FastZ28.

Not a whole lot of technical info on the web available for this thing unfortunately. If anybody has any info regarding the stock set-up for this thing I'd appreciate it alot. Thanks.

[Degoragon]

Its the Bird Engineering three Wheeler, the front half had a plastic piece, kinda resembled a kawi klt. The Fenders are wrong for any manco, all manco trikes have a rise In the rear fender behind the seat, like they planned to build a toolbox there but didn't. Plus, the front fender is different from the mancos. Incidentially, the factory motor was a Kawasaki 8 hp unit of 340cc, with a comet torque-a-verter setup.

Here's some birds below.

[Jd110]

Its the Bird Engineering three Wheeler, the front half had a plastic piece, kinda resembled a kawi klt. The Fenders are wrong for any manco, all manco trikes have a rise In the rear fender behind the seat, like they planned to build a toolbox there but didn't. Plus, the front fender is different from the mancos. Incidentially, the factory motor was a Kawasaki 8 hp unit of 340cc, with a comet torque-a-verter setup.

Here's some birds below.Are you referring to Dr. Forrest Bird- the inventor?

[barnett468]

'
It is also the Ford Motocraft Edition . It's quite rare . I hope you got the top fiberglass piece with it.

Look for any id tag on he frame . It may have a plate riveted to it under the seat or rear glass area that says PHOENIX ENGINEERING NE for Nebraska.


http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/photopost/data/500/DSC041521.JPG

[barnett468]

The engine in your truck is slightly different than the engine in the bike above but it does have the front mounted style gas tank and may be the original engine . The one that is currently in it definitely is not.

If it was mine and I were to restore it, I would take a zillion photos of first then restore it back to original . There is a guy on the site that makes decals and he may be able to remake the originals, which imo is where a lot of the novelty and value is in that bike.

[barnett468]

Here's a video of a mint original one . It has a Kawasaki engine which looks original to the bike, and since it was made in Nebraska and Kawasaki had a plant in Nebraska it seems reasonable to believe it is the original engine . The engine is also identical to the engine in the Motorcraft bike with the exception of the clutch cover which is removable.

It is possible that some had a Briggs engine and they switched to a Kawi engine at a later date, so imo, your Briggs in your truck may still be original to it . Even if it is not, it still has the front mounted tank which is more correct so it would look more correct in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLl6WMoc9Wo

[barnett468]

CORRECTION

The clutch cover in the video is identical to the one on the MOTORCRAFT bike except the one in the video has a decal on the side on the round part.

[barnett468]

From 4:35 onward in this video, you can see the original continuously variable belt drive belt drive which would have been on your bike also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5_2veQs3pI

[Tecate250]

I think i found one here in Nova Scotia Canada. I thought it was a pink klt 250 but im starting to think its one of these.

[danbur55]

Gotta love the off brand stuff and bringing back a 5 year old thread

[barnett468]

Gotta love the off brand stuff and bringing back a 5 year old thread

LOL, I didn't catch that, but hey, at least it proves that if one waits long enough on here, their question will eventually get answered.

[sweetip2000]

Man that is awesome. I bet it is a real hoot to ride. If the fenders are plastic or even fiberglass you can bring back most of the original finish with a good rubdown of kerosene. If its a briggs or tecumsch motor it will run forever.....

You might want to check this website for a reference: http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/forum.php
I am wondering if that was sold in Caldors. That was the big box store of the 1970's

[danbur55]

LOL, I didn't catch that, but hey, at least it proves that if one waits long enough on here, their question will eventually get answered.

its all good just adds more info when us crazy ones try to find history on the odd ones thanks