The Doodle Bug was a
motor scooter
A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, a transmission that shifts without the operator having to operate a clutch lever, a platform for their feet, and with a method of operation that emph ...
built from 1946 to 1948
by the Beam Manufacturing Company
of
Webster City, Iowa
Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,717 at th2023 census It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country', as the Boone River meanders ...
, US.
They were sold through the
Gambles store chain to compete against
Cushman scooters being sold under the
Allstate
The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still pa ...
brand by
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
.
Gambles sold the Doodle Bug under the "Hiawatha" name.
Overview
Doodle Bugs were powered by 1½ hp engines from
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of small engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large faciliti ...
or Clinton.
The Doodle Bug Standard Model B was the only Doodle Bug series powered by Clinton engines; one thousand or less of these were built, all during the first production run of ten thousand scooters. All other Doodle Bug scooters, including the Standard Model A that was produced alongside the Model B during the first production run, used variants of the Briggs & Stratton NP engine. Four production runs of ten thousand scooters each were built.
An annual reunion of Doodle Bug owners and restorers is held in Webster City.
See also
*
PGO Scooters
PGO Scooters is a brand of motor scooter manufactured by Motive Power Industry, a scooter manufacturer founded in Taiwan in 1964.
PGO entered into a technical collaboration with Italy's Piaggio (the manufacturer of the Vespa) that lasted from 1 ...
References
External links
Scooter Rental & RepairDoodle Bug Club of AmericaDoodle Bug Scooter Basic Description
Motor scooters
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