Doodle Bug scooter

The Doodle Bug was a motor scooter built from 1946 to 1948^[1] by the Beam Manufacturing Company^[2] of Webster City, Iowa.^[1] They were sold through the Gambles store chain to compete against Cushman scooters being sold under the Allstate brand by Sears.^[2] Gambles sold the Doodle Bug under the "Hiawatha" name.^[3]

Doodle Bugs were powered by 1½ hp engines from Briggs & Stratton or Clinton.^[1][2] 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.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc. - Original Doodle Bug" Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc. Newberg, Oregon, USA 07/09/05 http://doodlebugsyrmw.com/products.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-24 "There were 40,000 Doodle Bugs manufactured from the spring of 1946 through the fall of 1948 by Beam Mfg. of Webster City, Iowa." 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Wilson, Hugo (1995). "The Directory of Motorcycles" (in UK English). The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 270. ISBN 0 7513 0206 6. 
3. ^ "Briggs NP Antique Scooter Engine" http://sites.google.com/site/briggsnpscooterengine/. Retrieved 2010-10-24 "The Doodle Bug scooters were manufactured by the Beam Manufacturing Company of Webster City, Iowa from 1946-1948 and were sold by Gambles under the name "Hiawatha""