Within the early Nineteen Seventies, Bob Gaudette needed the identical factor many people needed: a minibike. “It appeared like endlessly,” he recalled, “however once I was 11 years outdated, I lastly satisfied my dad to let me purchase a 1970 Rupp Scrambler {that a} child down the road was promoting for $80. It was an unimaginable thrill to experience a motorbike, and now I had one.”
For the subsequent three years, Bob lived to experience his Rupp minibike by his hometown of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. “I had extra enjoyable driving trails with my mates on that Scrambler than most something I’ve executed my entire life,” he mentioned confidently. “Rupps had been fairly fast within the day and just about bulletproof. I do know mine by no means let me down.”
As an grownup, Bob grew to get pleasure from bigger motor autos, notably first-generation Chevrolet Camaros, however ultimately the Rupp bug returned. “Again within the late ’90s, the web was changing into a factor, and I received my first laptop.” Bob began browsing the ’web, found webpages and message boards, and joined the Rupp minibikes neighborhood. “I got here throughout a used Scrambler on the market in New York. It was a wreck, however I made a decision to purchase it and repair it up. Once I received it operating, I let the neighbor’s child experience it across the yard. His face lit up like a Christmas tree! He beloved that minibike a lot that I ended up giving it to him.”
It was Bob’s first try at a restoration (he referred to as it “amateurish”), and it ignited a want to revive these more and more uncommon minibikes correctly. “I all the time beloved the model. I nonetheless do.”
Rupp Industries of Mansfield, Ohio, began making minibikes in 1960. Firm founder Mickey Rupp was a critical motoring fanatic (he completed sixth within the 1965 Indianapolis 500), and his enterprise made a wide-ranging lineup of minibikes, ATVs, go-karts, and snowmobiles. Rupp Industries grew and flourished, using 850 folks in 1971, however after a few down years, Mickey Rupp was going through chapter. In 1973 he bought his curiosity within the firm, and by 1978 it went out of enterprise for good. (Rupp died in 2023 on the age of 87.)
The early-Nineteen Seventies classic Rupp minibikes Bob prefers had a 4-hp, 4-stroke Tecumseh motor, like my dad’s lawnmower of that period. Pace was managed by a twist-grip throttle (to make the motor run sooner or slower) and a torque converter (an computerized, speed- and load-sensing, 2-speed transmission). Entrance and rear drum brakes had been actuated by hand levers. The Roadster mannequin may very well be titled and ridden on the road the place that was authorized. It got here with a headlight/excessive beam and brake/taillight. Turnsignals weren’t required on the time. Path-focused fashions, such because the Scrambler and Enduro, got here with chunkier tires and no lights.
The Black Widow, arguably the rarest Rupp minibike, was a factory-prepared racer with a high-performance Dell’Orto carburetor from Italy, a straight pipe, and a disabled governor. “You may wind the motors proper into the Twilight Zone,” Bob laughed, “and lots of riders did simply that.” Not surprisingly, neither Rupp nor Tecumseh supplied any guarantee for the Black Widow.
So what’s concerned in restoring these 50-year-old minibikes to like-new situation? Bob begins by in search of a fairly intact survivor, which could be tough to seek out. “Quite a lot of these minibikes had been left outdoors, and the seat pans bubbled and rusted. But when you’ll find a strong body and tank, and a rear fender since nobody is making these anymore, you possibly can normally discover the remaining components both used or as restoration components.”
Bob sends the motors to a Tecumseh specialist and the edges to a chrome plating specialist. He rebuilds the carburetors, makes mechanical repairs, and does paint work and sprucing. “I do lots of sprucing,” he admitted. “Some folks exchange the rear shocks with one thing new, however I favor to rebuild the heart and have the unique coil springs re-chromed. I need the whole lot to look and work the best way it did when it left the Rupp manufacturing facility. What I can restore myself must be good. No matter I can’t make good, I exchange with used or replica components which can be devoted to the model.”
Bob sweats the small print, right down to utilizing right fasteners and inserting the suitable stickers in the suitable locations. “Quite a lot of these particulars you possibly can decide by outdated footage, adverts, brochures, and vendor data,” he defined. “Generally you need to be a detective. I believe the toughest a part of a restoration is placing all of it collectively with out chipping or scratching something. It’s fairly easy, nevertheless it takes lots of endurance. Thankfully, I’m extra affected person that I was.”
Combining that endurance with a dedication to do each job proper, Bob has change into one of many high Rupp restorers wherever. In 2015, one in all his ’71 Black Widows was the Rupp Nationwide Construct-Off Winner. On the Mecum public sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2022, a purchaser paid $8,800 for one in all his ’70 Roadsters. “On the time, it was a brand new world document for the yr and mannequin,” Bob mentioned. “And the bike on public sale proper after mine, a Hellbound Metal Hellion chopper with an S&S motor and customized billet wheels, bought for lower than my little 4-hp minibike.”
Rupp minibikes have gotten more durable to seek out, and their values hold climbing. In July 2023, Bob took two Rupps he’d restored, a ’71 Enduro and a ’70 Roadster, to public sale at Mecum in Harrisburg. One purchaser paid $9,350 for the ’71 Enduro, setting one other world document. However the ’70 Roadster, a one-year-only mannequin with 10-inch wheels and metallic darkish blue paint, did even higher: The winner paid $16,500.
“That’s some huge cash for a 50-year-old minibike with a 4-hp motor, however these Rupps are rolling artwork and a part of nice reminiscences for lots of fellows, me included,” Bob mentioned. “Once I promote vehicles and motorbikes at public sale, I supply them with no reserve. In my expertise, they promote for what they’re value. However generally you get a pair guys battling with their bids till one in all them lastly involves his senses.”
What occurs to a Rupp minibike with a world-class restoration that sells for 5 figures? “The customer might be somebody loads like me who sees having one in basically new situation as a approach to relive the fun of getting one as a child,” Bob determined. “It’s unlikely being given to a child to experience off-road, though that may very well be cool in a approach. I believe it should spend most of its time displayed inside somebody’s good storage.”
At present Bob has components to revive a ’70 Roadster and a ’71 Enduro, plus an unique, 99% intact ’71 Black Widow. “I do know some folks would need to hold a survivor as-is, however I favor them like new. We’ll see. A full restoration includes about 120 hours, nevertheless it’s a passion for me and I don’t actually think about the time spent restoring a minibike to be cash into the bike. I really like them and it may be laborious to allow them to go, however I can all the time make one other.”
