อยากได้ sidecar ใครมีเบาะแส แจ้งด้วยครับ
Harley-Davidson, like many other motorcycle companies in the 1960’s, came out with motor scooters and mopeds for the US market that was ripe for this civilized form of transportation in the quickly growing suburbs. The Harley Topper scooters as they were named, were made for only 5 years, beginning in 1960. Today, these scooters are very collectible and often restored.
The Topper scooters featured a 165cc 2-stroke engine and a variable rate automatic transmission they cleverly named as “Scootaway Drive”. Automatic transmissions were, and still are, popular on scooters since most scooter riders are not used to riding typical motorcycles. Gas mileage was advertised as “up to 100 miles per gallon”.
Kick-starting the Topper scooters would probably have been too crude for the suburbs, so the Topper engine had a simple pull-start recoil system. It was started the same basic way that their target maket was used to starting their lawn mowers, so it was a fairly acceptable method.
Funny as it may seem today, you could actually get the Topper scooters from Harley-Davidson dealers with a sidecar added on. The sidecar option was advertised by Harley in their Topper ads as “swell for commuting, errands and outings”. Also, they explained “This handy combination will hold golf clubs, fishing or hunting gear, or any fun equipment.”
If you happen to have a Topper scooter with an original sidecar, and it is in very good condition, then you have yourself a valuable little investment there. These are selling in the neighborhood of $12,000 in restored condition.
But the sidecar was not the only side option. You could also get a side-mounted utility box that mounted in place of the actual sidecar shell. Harley-Davidson advertised the side utility box option for the Topper as something a small business could use for transporting “200 pounds of payload”. Storage space for the Topper utility box was advertised as more than 5 cubic feet cargo space and was suggested “for all types of industry, delivery, courier, messenger and service work”. Topper scooters fitted with a utility box sidecar probably would have been a great way to deliver newspapers too!