When I was 13 years old I walked 2 miles to a friends house

Apr 15

When I was 13 years old I walked 2 miles to a friends house after dinner. It was summer and light until at least 9:00. I bought a complete Rupp Roadster for 25 dollars and pushed it home. Made it just before dark.

It did not run and in retrospect it was not very old at the time. Maybe 5 or 6 years from new. So I saw this one on Facebook marketplace and it brought back memories. Then I saw the price and couldn't believe it. $1,100.00!!!!!

Didn't take a lot to get mine running and hauled around on the public roads of 1970s suburbia for a few months before I flipped it for 100 bucks. Quite the profit at the time.

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Apr 15, 2026

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Replies (12)

· Apr 15

This is a good article on the Rupp Roadsters.

https://ridermagazine.com/2025/07/02/rupp-minibikes-renewal/

· Apr 15

Those are very cool. In small town Indiana, circa 1975, the Honda CT70 was the stallion of choice among the young rebels. We lived north of town in a subdivision surrounded by farmland. we abused those and used them in every way imaginable.

Childhood with a small frame "something" with a cumbustion engine......Freedom at age 12.

· Apr 15

@JohnBloom John, had a biddy with a Honda 50CC mini bike. 4 speeds I think? Maybe 2.5 or 3 HP. It was a blast. Even in Massachusetts suburbs in the 1970s you could ride on the side streets and the cops would lleave you alone.

· Apr 15

@alsancle

we had those mini trail 50s too. There was no police out in our subdivision so we rode all this stuff on the roads as well as the farmland. At age 13, my friend got a Honda CB 100. A single cylinder road bike with a sweeping chrome muffler, you would’ve thought we had a full-blown Harley. Sounded great and we were out on that thing all over the country roads, cruising years before we had drivers license.

· Apr 15

@JohnBloom The Rupp was the closest thing I was gonna get to a motorcyle. My parents were hard against those. Plenty of snowmobiles, go karts, minibikes and eventually cars, but no go on the motorcycle.

· Apr 15

This is very similar to mine. Very simple. No suspension. I think a 3.5 HP engine? I'm thinking Briggs and Stratton. The Rupp Roadster was for the rich kids!

· Apr 15

We sold Rupp products back in the 70's at our motorcycle dealership. We sold Rupp mini bikes, trailers, go carts, and other assorted stuff. Hodaka, Ossa, Vespa, and Kawasaki. The good old days.

· Apr 16

Great topic! I have been eyeing this one for the grand kids on eBay. 600 bucks but it has full suspension and a running engine.

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· Apr 16

@rjones I was perusing ebay and I was shocked at how expensive the vintage bikes were.

· Apr 17

A friend snapped this last weekend from the annual Stafford Springs CT swap put on by Ty-Rods. I went to a ton of these meets back in the day. $2,500.

· Apr 17

@SteveMackCT that’s the one to have Steve (early 70’s) 70-73. They’ve gotten crazy price wise. I saw one that sold for $7000. 20 years ago you could pick them up everywhere for 500 dollars. A lot of people swap out and put a lifan engine in them (Chinese). If you had to choose a picture to represent your early childhood, fifth or sixth grade boy, a CT70 would be on my short list
I bought a 70 blue one years ago when my boys were young (9 and 11) and they didn’t have the same love for it that we did as kids.

· May 23

Here is a really nice one for sale on Facebook for 2500 bucks in NJ.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/842927275044597

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