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It was the summer of 73 between 6th and 7th grade.
I bought this bike brand new with money that I earned
from my paper route. The dealer worked out of his house
and didn’t have much for inventory. My mother wasn’t too
wild about the idea of me getting a motorcycle, but I was
buying it with my own money, so she didn’t try to stop me.
Chapparell was one of the many small snowmobile companies that
existed before they all consolidated into the handful of
manufacturers that exist today. As a side business, they tried
to make what was referred to then as minicycles. This was an
important distinction because most small displacement bikes
didn’t, at that time, really have the look of a big motorcycle.
If you’ve ever seen an early 70s Honda CT70, you’ll know how
dorky the little trail bikes looked back then (I realize I may
feel the full wrath of some obscure CT70 club, but those are the
kind of gutsy, controversial calls you have to make to attract
attention).
I learned to ride with this bike. It fit me well and I had a good
time with it. The only problem was that after the company went
out of business, it was kind of hard to get parts for. I can’t
remember quite why I sold it, but I think it was a combination
of the parts availability and wanting a bigger bike. I sold it
to my Dad’s cousin who lived on a farm. I heard later that his
kids rode it for several years. They must have improvised for parts.
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