Now I know why the frunk feature was so familiar

[dduelin]

In December 1963 I was still years away from my first ride on a motorized mini bike. 7 years to be exact but that Christmas my parents put under the tree a red Mattel V-Rroom bike whose styling mimicked a motorcycle complete with a toy engine that made noises and a chrome gas tank with a hinged lid. I have recalled elsewhere that this was the best Christmas ever for for my younger self because of getting this bike. I did not recall bike's original frunk feature until a recent thread where 670cc posted a picture of the Mattel V-Rroom bike engine that was also sold separately (batteries not included). I started searching for images of an intact V-Rroom bike and found this one. Looking closely at it I remembered the hinged frunk lid and the storage space within. That white seat was metal with no padding and maybe that's why I prefer to this day a firm seat (Mayer, Sargent, Corbin). The bike stayed with us even after I out grew it and in 1969 the movie Easy Rider inspired the chopper craze. I dug the bike out of our storage shed and took two pieces of steel tubing just larger in diameter than the forks. By hammering one end flat and drilling holes in the smashed part for the front wheel axle I fashioned fork extensions and had my own chopper. I don't have any pictures of my actual bike but I did find this one.

 

[GIGreene]

In December 1963 I was still years away from my first ride on a motorized mini bike. 7 years to be exact but that Christmas my parents put under the tree a red Mattel V-Rroom bike whose styling mimicked a motorcycle complete with a toy engine that made noises and a chrome gas tank with a hinged lid. I have recalled elsewhere that this was the best Christmas ever for for my younger self because of getting this bike. I did not recall bike's original frunk feature until a recent thread where 670cc posted a picture of the Mattel V-Rroom bike engine that was also sold separately (batteries not included). I started searching for images of an intact V-Rroom bike and found this one. Looking closely at it I remembered the hinged frunk lid and the storage space within. That white seat was metal with no padding and maybe that's why I prefer to this day a firm seat (Mayer, Sargent, Corbin). The bike stayed with us even after I out grew it and in 1969 the movie Easy Rider inspired the chopper craze. I dug the bike out of our storage shed and took two pieces of steel tubing just larger in diameter than the forks. By hammering one end flat and drilling holes in the smashed part for the front wheel axle I fashioned fork extensions and had my own chopper. I don't have any pictures of my actual bike but I did find this one.

View attachment 53247

Our next door neighbor was pushing my Dad to get me one of these noise producing devices for my bicycle. I don't know why, but this unrelated fellow thought it would be just what I needed. He asked point blank, standing next to my Dad, if I'd want something like that. I think even as an adolescent, that I wanted something that would do more than just make noise, and I replied "No thanks!" My Dad didn't get a noise generating device for me, but he also didn't get a "go" generating device for me. 25 years later, I bought my first motorcycle and have been trying to make up for lost time ever since.

 

[670cc]

Nice! It’s obviously a two stroke, possibly even with a rotary intake valve, but how it manages to exhaust out the crankcase is something I’ll need to study.

 

[GregC]

man -- that's high cotton! We just used clothes pins to clip playing cards to our spokes to make noise

 

[750dct]

The best we came up with was playing cards in the spokes attached with mom's clothes pins, but advanced to balloons attached to the front forks to sound more like a motorcycle.