A History Lesson

I went to an air show and a scooter rally broke out.

I went to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museam's WWII Weekend at the Reading Airport yesterday. It's more than just an air show. It's a celebration of the WWII era. And there were a lot of vehicles there from that time, including scooters.

The ones that caught my attention most were the Cushman 53's. There were at least three of them there, all in about the same condition. These were apparently used by the Airbourne, Ordinance Department.

They seem to be operated strictly with pedals, as there were 3. There was a metal tag that listed their specs:

Vehicle weight: 255 lbs.

Maximum Payload: 250 lbs.

Gross Weight: 505 lbs.

Maximum Speed: 40 mph

Gasoline Octane Rating: 68 to 80

SAE 10 Oil below 32 degrees F

SAE 30 Oil above 32 degrees F

Publications Parts List: SNL-G-683

Operators and Maintenance Manual: TM-9-876

Man, they look like fun. With those fat tires and long wheel base, I bet they ride smooth. Look at the springs under the seat. Unfortunately, I didn't see one running.

They had trailer hitches and this one was towing a gun. Wouldn't you like to have that in traffic?

The other scooter well represented was this Villiers Junior. It may not look comfortable, but after marching in combat boots I bet it looked pretty good. This fellow was riding this around, but it looked like he was having trouble keeping it running.

Here is a second one. In the background, you can see a folding pike and the Cushman trailer.

Lastly, is this boxy thing. In the background are some Whizzer bikes.

The Other Classic Scooter

When you think about classic scooters, chances are that the Vespa springs to mind. That is probably why some modern scooters, including the Honda Metropolitan are styled after Vespa. But the Yamaha C3 brings to mind another classic scooter company: Cushman

Today I went to a swap meet at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. It was mostly Harley and chopper parts. But there were a few classic scooters, including this red one from 1947. Cushman scooters were used famously by meter maids in New York and by the Army in World War II.

The styling cues that make this stand out from Vespas are the lack of a leg shield, a headlight that turns with the front fork, and the oversized, blocky rear bodywork. The seat is more like a stool than a saddle.