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Since I finished my wooden Shipp’s Clipper, I like it so much that I decided to build one in all metal. Steel body & frame, aluminum side panels, fiberglass front fender. It is just slightly upgraded mechanically. It has a 3 hp Harbor Freight OHV engine, direct drive with a centrifical clutch.  This one has bearings in the fork instead of bushings & it has 5” wheels instead of 4”, & I’ll be darned if this one doesn’t go a solid 35 mph.  I would like to say I am selling plans & blueprints to build Shipp Clipper’s for $10.00 bucks, free shipping. You may put my phone number in here if you care to.

Frank Bird, Hemet CA (951) 658-9386

I have been sitting on an original set of plans for a Shipps Clipper motor scooter since 1985. I bought them from a fella in the VVMC for $15 bucks. I have always wanted to built this machine & I don't know why it took me so long. The plans called for a wooden body but with my skill set, I thought steel & aluminum would be better. I completed this project in 5 weeks using red oak for the chassis, channel iron for the forks & I made a mold for a fiberglass front fender.  It is powered by a 25 year old NOS 2.5 hp Briggs & Stratton. It has a jackshaft & a 2 - 1 reduction. I used the reduction because I wanted to use it as a pit bike for my wife Marilyn & I to use at the larger car shows like the LA Roadster show & The Pomona Swap Meet. I am 71 years old now & it is just too far to walk around these shows.  I was a pin-striper & sign painter back in the day & I have always loved the old Gilmore gasoline graphics. So I wanted to make this look like an old Gilmore Gas Station parts chaser.  The machine weighs 85 lbs. & goes 20 mph top speed. I use a slip belt & a left peddle for the clutch.  The right pedal is a band brake. I set the throttle up to turn in reverse like an old 1937 Cushman. The scooter has a high degree of finish. I tried to make it look "not homemade".  Frank Bird, Hemet, CA

Pictures of another Shipps Clipper. I gave my friend, John  Todhunter, a set of those Shipps Clipper plans & he built his in just a few weeks to run around our local airport here in Hemet CA. He did a very nice job & what he did that I like a lot he built his dead bang according to the plans including the original type of one-pedal clutch brake system as drawn in the plans. He even made his with the plan’s style wood body.  His goes around 25 mph & is very reliable

Frank Bird

My 70s Dune Cycle

I wanted to show you this Mickey Thompson dragster. its a novelty toy and its just really cool. It will do wheelies down the street! I picked it up in Denver Colorado last year, I drove from Los Angeles just to pick it up in person because there are very few of them and did not want to trust a shipper. Its powered with a Tecumseh 3 1/2 hp engine, it hasn't been ridden since the eighties. The last owner said it was used by Burger King and they had named it the "Whopper Hopper"  it since has been painted yellow (done when he bought it in the eighties) I was wondering if you would put it in the novelties section and ask if anyone remembers it back in the sixties or seventies in the Denver area used by Burger King? James Chutuk, Newhall, CA

1954 Meyer Handicap  3 wheel cyclemotor,  German made. Powered by a JLO 2 cycle 98 CC 2 speed wet clutch engine 2 1/2 HP. The large handle on the left is the engine  lever start.  Engine runs well & has a lighting coil  for the stop lights. Horn & headlight are battery powered which is located under the seat. This was once owned by a well known politician from one of the southern states & was used on the St  Simons Island where he vacationed. The  owners name remains private from the estate until that  estate is settled. The Meyer company is still  business today  & manufactures wheel chairs & another medical devices. By Dave Bagne