1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

The Photo Album is a place for "Shop Shots" as well as pictures and descriptions of projects that we are working on. Show off your Shops, Machines, and your Projects!

Moderator: Harold_V

Post Reply
Patio
Posts: 1369
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: Centralia Wa

1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by Patio »

Bikes are like trains, it is good to have machines to maintain them.
This is a new to me 1959 Cushman Super Eagle scooter. It is street legal. Literature says 100mpg and 50mph. :)
I have always like these and a friend was selling his, for a good price, and here it is.
20210628_213503.jpg
20210628_213516.jpg
The difference with this one is it runs and is already licensed in Wa. I fixed the tail and brake light, got insurance and have been riding around town with it. I am enjoying myself. :)
Like all used things you inherit the OP problems.
I have new tires coming for it, a horn, couple of gas gaskets and the service manual. A lot of parts are available it also.
I know much of nothing about them, but am leaning fast.
Magneto electrics, no battery, so everything is AC. :o
I would like to mount a bike to the front of our Dodge dually, with the truck camper. We would like to do some traveling, in retirement (which is 30+ days out now) and this would give us street legal travel around town and camp grounds. I have a Honda CT 70 that was in the plan first, but will take much more work than this one to get road legal. So the Cushman may win the day.
It is an American made product. Cushman made the motor too. It is called a Husky and is 8hp.
I will post more pictures and updates as I go.
Live for the moment!
Prepare for tomorrow!
Forgive the past!
User avatar
Steggy
Posts: 1976
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: JB Pritzker’s Hellhole
Contact:

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by Steggy »

The Cushmans are not complicated machines, which is what made them so appealing when they were in production. I would have been a freshman in high school when your scooter was built. Around that time, it seemed everybody and his monkey was riding one. :D

I saw one several years ago in which the original one-lunger engine was replaced with a 23 HP Briggs V-twin. I had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, the V-twin runs much more smoothly than the OEM engine and of course, is substantially more powerful. On the other hand, I hate to see a vintage machine modified that way. That said, if one came my way, I'd likely get busy and give 'er an engine swap. :shock:
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
User avatar
liveaboard
Posts: 1971
Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: southern Portugal
Contact:

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by liveaboard »

Great looking thing, I've never seen one of those before.
No rear suspension?

I had a couple of campers with motorbike mounted.
Cargo capacity was vital I found, because packing up and moving the living space to go shopping was a drag.
We wild camped at a couple of beaches for months, and I even brought our water on the motorcycle using saddlebags I made to carry 8 gallon jerry cans.
User avatar
Steggy
Posts: 1976
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: JB Pritzker’s Hellhole
Contact:

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by Steggy »

liveaboard wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 1:51 amGreat looking thing, I've never seen one of those before.

There was a big craze for them in the late 1950s to early 1960s.

No rear suspension?

Nope, and that was not unusual. So-called hard-tail Harleys had no rear suspension as well. It was up to the big springs supporting the seat—and the rider's tush—to deal with the bumps. :D
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
shootnride
Posts: 298
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by shootnride »

That Cushman brings back some great memories for me. My first engine driven machine was a brand new Cushman Trailster. My Dad bought it for me when I was about 12 or 13 years old. That was the beginning of a lifelong love for motorcycling which I still enjoy at 74.

Ted
Some people raise the IQ of the room when they enter.........others when they leave.
User avatar
Harold_V
Posts: 20231
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by Harold_V »

Heh! When I was a kid, a buddy gave me a Doodle Bug, minus the engine. I found a 3 horse gas engine that fit. Didn't have the centrifugal clutch, so I used a small pulley.

Not familiar with the Doodle Bug? Here's a few images: https://www.bing.com/search?q=image+of+ ... 3a7eb2e1a0

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
RONALD
Posts: 754
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2003 7:27 am

Re: 1959 Cushman Super Eagle followed me home.

Post by RONALD »

Back in ancient times, when I was about to graduate from grammar school, I tried to convince my parents to buy me a Cushman so I could avoid the bus trip of about four miles to my new high school.

The model I wanted looked like the one I just found on the internet, it was $300, a lot of money in those days, but my parents came up with a $50 downpayment.

Sorry to say, after more consideration, the remaining $250 (No sales tax in those days) was too big a barrier.

I suspect it was for the best, as a high school Freshman with a Red Cushman, I probably would have paid little attention to my class work.

There also was a bicycle store on Grand Ave in nearby Elmwood Park, we lived in Chicago, where they sold Schwinn Whizzer's for $158.

My parents did not like the looks of the Whizzer.

I ended up riding my old Montgomery Ward red bicycle for four years (in good weather) of high school; never got to even have an auto until I bought a rather used 1949 Kaiser in 1953 for $300, it was a tank!


Evan David.jpg
Evan David.jpg (27.01 KiB) Viewed 9582 times
Schwinn_Whizzer_1947 _web03_fbe4aac764689daa95aecb759a984a17.jpg
Post Reply