BlacktopMagazine's FORD, F-100 PICKUP , 1953, on StreetFire.net

Engine

Chromed and polished engine compartment shows the pride in this powerful 302 with polished Edelbrock intake manifold and 4bbl Edelbrock carb kept cool with a new polished alluminum radiator.

Suspension Mods

All this connected to a C-4 tranny driving power to a 9inch Ford rear-end. Turning big 295/50/15 BF Goodrich Radial TA's in the back and 265/50/15's in the front. Smooth riding Volare front clip, Power boosted front disc, rear drum brakes

Electronics

Fully upholstered in tone-on-tone blue tweed. Power windows, power steering, tilt column with Grant Wheel. Original gauge cluster with autogage 12v oil pressure, temp and volt meter. AM/FM/CD player, cool blue interior underdash lights.

Wheels

All this connected to a C-4 tranny driving power to a 9inch Ford rear-end. Turning big 295/50/15 BF Goodrich Radial TA's in the back and 265/50/15's in the front.

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Problem Child

Make: FORD
Model: F-100 PICKUP
Year: 1953
Color: White
Power:
Added: January 02, 2009

By: BlacktopMagazine

Member Since: July 28, 2008

This is one fine truck! Show winner, California truck. Down in the weeds and with big fat meats. Straight no-rust body.

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The AMF | Harley-Davidson Aeromacci Rapido is a 125cc 2-stroke monster with a bore of 2.21 and almost equal stroke of 1.97. 7.65:1 compression ratio. Multi-plate wet clutch gripping a 4-speed gearbox which spin either a trail or street sprocket. The tires are 3x19 up front and a knobby 3.5x18 in the rear. With a 48” wheelbase this 211.5 pound fun-machine has a ground clearance of 6.3 inches. Just enough to clear those prairie dogs.

Rapido is known as a throw-away bike and you’ll find parts on a variety of customs. Here you see a chrome tank on a Detroit Bros. special construction.

I bought this bike at Cyclepath Cycle where Eric had recently picked it up basically to put it out there and see if it would sell. I’m that lucky sap. It was at the shop for about two weeks and had a couple of bites with an ad on Craigs List. I was sold when Eric started it with one kick. A trail of blue smoke and a rang-a-lang sound. Another hot point for me – having bagger in the garage, is that it had a tour pack on it’s back. New transportation to work. I can only imagine crop dusting of blue smoke down Magnolia on my way to work as Art Director at Classic Industries in Huntington Beach.

Later I learned of the history of the bike:

While most of Southern California was in a drunken, coke-infested nightclub haze in the 70's and 80's there was one family that took off on the weekends to hit the sand at Rosarita Beach two hours south on Hwy 5 and into Baja California. A small beach town lined with RV and Mobile Home Parks. It is an oasis along the Mexican Riviera. And, sitting across the back bumper of the Winnebago the 72 Rapido hitched along to ensure some great family fun.

The air was filled with a salty warm breeze that enhanced the smells of fire-roasted fresh lobster and margaritas. Fueled on Mezcal and Coronas the Rapido allowed a moment of exhilaration to each member of the family as they took turns runnin up and down the beach.

A decade of fun and the kids that were 7 and 9 are now old enough to use the Rapido to get in a bit of trouble. Out on a run the two boys found a small hut in the middle of the Coastal Desert. In the house was a huge hydroponic cultivation of Mexican Red-Hair. Just as they realized what was in front of them they heard the RANG-RING-RING of a two-stroke motor coming in the distance. They grabbed armfuls of the buds piled on a table in the corner and ran out the door. Quickly they ripped open the tour pak on the back of the Rapido and dumped their armfulls of smelly, sticky buds. Slammed shut and with a short kick to the starter the Rapido fires up. In a cloud of dust and blue smoke they leave the shack with the bandidos closing in fast behind.

The rear tire digs into a compact patch of desert dirt and just as Jake grips the throttle the bike launches up a berm and down into a small canyon with a maze of trails through thick manzanilla plants. With a quick thought Jake cuts the motor and rolls the bike behind a stand of the prickly bush and hide quietly as they hear the bandidos scatter around the maze. They hear the bikes rip back to the shack apparently giving up the chase. Moe makes a quick survey of the canyon to see if there are any guards left behind before they kick the bike and head back to base camp.

The Rapido got them out of trouble as fast as they could get into it. And back at the base camp the rest of the family commented on their ghost-white faces and scrubby jeans. The boys quickly came up with a story that they accidentally ran over a skunk which explained the smelly bike.

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