Within the early Seventies, Bob Gaudette wished the identical factor many people wished: a minibike. “It appeared like without end,” he recalled, “however after I was 11 years previous, 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 unbelievable thrill to trip a bike, and now I had one.”
For the following three years, Bob lived to trip his Rupp minibike by his hometown of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. “I had extra enjoyable using trails with my buddies on that Scrambler than most something I’ve completed my complete life,” he stated confidently. “Rupps had been moderately 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 automobiles, notably first-generation Chevrolet Camaros, however finally the Rupp bug returned. “Again within the late ’90s, the web was turning into a factor, and I acquired 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 acquired it operating, I let the neighbor’s child trip it across the yard. His face lit up like a Christmas tree! He liked 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 at all times liked 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 dealing with chapter. In 1973 he offered 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-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 quicker or slower) and a torque converter (an automated, speed- and load-sensing, 2-speed transmission). Entrance and rear drum brakes had been actuated by hand levers. The Roadster mannequin could possibly 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 could possibly wind the motors proper into the Twilight Zone,” Bob laughed, “and quite a lot of riders did simply that.” Not surprisingly, neither Rupp nor Tecumseh provided any guarantee for the Black Widow.
So what’s concerned in restoring these 50-year-old minibikes to like-new situation? Bob begins by on the lookout for a fairly intact survivor, which will be troublesome to seek out. “Quite a lot of these minibikes had been left exterior, and the seat pans bubbled and rusted. But when yow will discover a strong body and a great tank, and a rear fender since nobody is making these anymore, you’ll be able to 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 quite a lot of sprucing,” he admitted. “Some folks substitute the rear shocks with one thing new, however I choose to rebuild the center and have the unique coil springs re-chromed. I need all the things to look and work the way in which it did when it left the Rupp manufacturing facility. What I can restore myself must be excellent. No matter I can’t make excellent, I substitute with used or replica components which can be devoted to the model.”
Bob sweats the small print, right down to utilizing appropriate fasteners and putting the suitable stickers in the suitable locations. “Quite a lot of these particulars you’ll be able to decide by previous footage, advertisements, brochures, and supplier data,” he defined. “Typically you must 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, however it takes quite a lot of endurance. Happily, I’m extra affected person that I was.”
Combining that endurance with a dedication to do each job proper, Bob has turn into one of many prime Rupp restorers anyplace. In 2015, considered one of 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 considered one of his ’70 Roadsters. “On the time, it was a brand new world report for the yr and mannequin,” Bob stated. “And the bike on public sale proper after mine, a Hellbound Metal Hellion chopper with an S&S motor and customized billet wheels, offered 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 report. 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 men, me included,” Bob stated. “Once I promote vehicles and motorbikes at public sale, I provide 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 considered one of them lastly involves his senses.”
What occurs to a Rupp minibike with a world-class restoration that sells for 5 figures? “The client might be somebody quite a bit like me who sees having one in primarily new situation as a method to relive the fun of getting one as a child,” Bob determined. “It’s unlikely being given to a child to trip off-road, though that could possibly be cool in a method. I believe it’ll spend most of its time displayed inside somebody’s good storage.”
At the moment 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 wish to hold a survivor as-is, however I choose them like new. We’ll see. A full restoration includes about 120 hours, however it’s a passion for me and I don’t actually take into account the time spent restoring a minibike to be cash into the bike. I really like them and it may be onerous to allow them to go, however I can at all times make one other.”
