I'm not sure if this is what you intended but the title, Vintage Motorbikes, hit close to home. This "Hiawatha Doodlebug" was a creation of my father during his time racing midgets in the Southern California dirt track days. The family legend is that he bought it as a rolling frame from a yard sale sometime in the early 60's. It was in sad shape with no engine, seat, floor board, missing most of what was awesome for a Doodlebug. So the story is that he harvested, and thus destroyed, all the usable parts of his new lawn mower to get it running as a pit bike. Being a mechanic and racer he blew up the motor in short time so logically the lawn mower engine was improved and modified to run on Methanol, which was abundant. After he left racing the scooter sat until I was a kid where I rode it all over the dry lakes of the Mojave. And as a pit bike at El Mirage for the SCTA speed trials. After my father passed years ago the doodle bug came to my garage where I still take it out occasionally to feel like a kid again. Here are some photos over the years.
My father in 1963. You can see the doodlebug in the back with new red paint.
This is what it would of looked like new in the 1940s.
Here is what it looks like in the recent years. Still pretty much the same as in the 60's, just more rusty.
Terrorizing a meet up campground with the smell of Methanol.
Thanks
-Eric