Scooter Guy Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Want to buy: Doodle Bug scooter itemsSeeking advertisements, brochures, service manuals, parts manuals, etc. pertaining to Doodle Bug Scooters. PM with details and I will respond as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 What year is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Guy Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) They were built 1946-1948 by the Beam Manufacturing Company in Webster City, Iowa and were sold nationwide through the stores and catalogs of Gambles Hardware (as Hiawathas) and Western Auto (as Western Flyers). I would guess that quite a few folks here owned one or knew someone that did when they were growing up. The scooter pictured is a mid-production model, so I'd place it at '47-'48. The production runs didn't correspond directly to any given year, just 4 production runs of 10,000 scooters during that time frame, so except for the very early ones and the very late ones, it is almost impossible to pinpoint which year it is. All of them were red. Engines were 1 1/2 hp Briggs & Stratton NP engines with kickstarters (as pictured), but 750-1,000 Doodle Bugs were built with 1 1/2 hp kickstart Clinton engines while the Briggs engines were out of stock. Early models used fluid drive clutches and had a single hand control that operated the brakes and throttle depending on if you were squeezing it or not. The fluid drives slipped quite a bit and would overheat if the scooter was idled long, so they switched to a "V-Plex" centrifugal clutch shortly thereafter. Edited January 26, 2011 by Scooter Guy (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I was just thinking that early copies of the "Popular Mechanics" from those years may have a story or ads about that scooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Guy Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 I was just thinking that early copies of the "Popular Mechanics" from those years may have a story or ads about that scooter.Yep. I always dig through them when I come across a group from that time frame. So far I haven't spotted anything other than ads for lots of other scooters, go-karts, etc. I do have some Western Auto and Gambles catalogs with the scooters, but that's about it for original ads I have. I have photocopies of lots of stuff that I know is out there but haven't found yet. I was hopeful that someone here might have something they'd be willing to part with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CarAdMan Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 I found this ad with phone #s. 800-770-5638 and after 6:00 507-374-6603 MN. Ask for George. Hope it helps. - Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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