This is what started it all for me. From age 10 thru 27, my family owned a pretty large Western Auto store in Tell City, Indiana. In 74 IIRC, my dad took on the Chaparral line of motorcycles. I don't know what possessed him to do that, but I was thrilled to say the least. When they arrived at the store, I was in northern Missouri at my grandparents farm. I agonized about being on the farm while the bikes were 500 miles away!
I think wholesale on the T100 I bought was about $400. It topped out at about 35 and was a blast to ride. There was a "track" that a few kids kinda created in a large open area in town and that's where I spent most of my free time away from school and working at the store after school and on weekends. Someone has a 71 T100 for sale in Bagdad, Kentucky for $895 on craigslist. I thought about going to look if only to take some pics and have one of me sitting on it. Seems like the graphics are different on the 71 than what mine was. Just can't remember that part. I'm posting a bit of info someone posted on oldminibikes.com if anyone is interested.
From oldminibikes.com
Chaparral was a company based in Colorado. They were in business from about 1968 though 1974 or so. They were primarily known for their snowmobiles, but did make a few minicycles in the early 70's.
A friend of mine had an 80 cc Chaparral back in the 1972 - 1973 time frame and I rode it many times. At that time, Chaparral called the bike the "Bullet" and it was available with either a Fuji 80 cc two-stroke engine with manual clutch and 4 speed tranny....or the same basic bike with a 172 cc four-stroke Tecumseh engine and torque-convertor. The 80 cc bike model was either an ST80 (dual purpose style, with lights and speedo) or a T80 (same bike, stripped down for off road use). The Tecumseh-powered version was called a T172 (no lights or speedo). I have never seen the 100 cc version, but would guess that it also uses a 100cc Fuji two-stroke engine with manual clutch and either a 4 or 5 speed tranny.
It gets kind of complicated....and I may not be exactly right about this next statement........but from what I remember - Fuji is a large company that made engines.....and there is a link somehow to Hodaka....Hodaka supposedly supplied engines for Yamaguchi motorcycles....Yamaguchi motorcycles were imported into the US by PABATCO beginning in approximately 1961, but Yamaguchi went under in 1963.....and PABATCO decided to continue with their own bikes.....powered by engines sourced by Hodaka.....and ultimately named their bikes Hodaka....thus the reason for the marked similarity between Hodaka and Fuji engines. Fuji is still in business and makes the Subaru automobile and also the Subaru small engines used for power equipment and power sports applications.
So, long story short......the Chapparal bikes were from an American-based snowmobile maufacturer......using Fuji engines.
They have always been one of my favorite bikes. They look great and the engines are simple, dependable and easy to work on. If you need engine parts, you may wish to contact Paul Stannard at Strictly Hodaka (they have a website). He can most likely help you and he runs a top-shelf operation.
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