Barn Find: 1947 Whizzer-Monark Motorbike
Beginning before World War II but really taking off during the war as personal vehicle production slowed down and stopped in most cases, Whizzer made motors for bicycles, and most of us have heard of them and maybe even seen one in person or ridden one. This 1947 Whizzer is on a Monark bike and it’s posted here on craigslist in one of my favorite cities: Paso Robles, California. Here is the original listing, and the seller is asking $2,200.
Whizzer started out in 1939 in Los Angeles, California making the engine and related propulsion systems for customers to install on their own bicycles, known as Whizzer Motor Kits. Breene-Taylor Engineering Corporation made airplane parts, and during WWII, they were one of the very few companies who were allowed to make personal vehicles due to the fact that many war production workers used them to get to and from their defense factory jobs.
Once the war ended, production moved to Pontiac, Michigan and by then the company had changed hands. In 1948, the company introduced a motorbike that was all Whizzer, engine, frame, etc. Previously, their slogan was, “America’s Finest Bicycle Motor”, but after 1948 it was, “America’s Finest Motor Bicycle.” This example looks like a very nice weekend project and I’d just get everything working perfectly and ride it as it looks now. This Whizzer engine is mounted on a 1947 Monark bicycle and the seller says that they’ve never been apart in 76 years.
It would be nice to see this machine fully restored, now that I think about it. They’re beautiful bikes and are said to “whiz” up to 40 mph, just the thing for WWII factory workers to ride to work and back in sunny southern California. They were made from 1939 to 1965 and then came back again in an improved retro version from 1998 to 2009 before going away again, but they’re supposed to still be making parts. This example appears to have 1948 features, such as the chrome belt/clutch shield, and gas tank with this logo.
The engine in the immediate post-war bikes was a Model H, a four-stroke single with around 2.5 horsepower. This one isn’t currently running, but the seller has another complete engine and both turn over and have good compression, so that’s a good sign. This bike has new tires, a new chain, new belts, a rebuilt carb, the original 1947 owner’s manual, and more. Have any of you owned or ridden a Whizzer or Whizzer-powered bicycle?
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Comments
Never seen one live but they look pretty cool!
Remember seeing an occasional Whizzer powered bike in the late 40s and 50s. Would have been great for my paper route
My brother and I had one when I was about 12. Never could get it to run right so moved on to a BSA 125.
Wheeeeeee, go ahead and laugh, but before this electric foolishness, these, that evolved into mopeds, were a hot item. I got a chuckle, “factory workers rode them to work”, it’s true. Today, everyone has a car, but then, many people still rode the bus, and for a small investment, folks already had a bike, it changed how they got around. Remember, pay was like .40 cents an hour, and cars were a ways off for most. Besides, we were a population of city folks mostly, and didn’t venture far. I’ve seen these reproduced with a more modern motor, and to me, make a lot more sense than an electric one, if I could ride one, that is.
I prefer pedaling my own bike or riding one of my Milwaukee-made big bikes, but electric bikes are doing a great job of getting people out of their single occupant cars. They do not seem foolish at all, but it does kind of bug me when I’m pedaling up our hill and get passed by a woman hauling two kids while barely breaking a sweat.
These gas powered bikes have always had a slight appeal to me, but if you’re burning gas anyway, you may as well ride a motorcycle and keep up with the cars on the road, while having a lot more fun than the ‘cagers’.
Looks like a 2 stroke to me!
My boss had one at the Yamaha shop I worked at 55 years ago in East Ridge TN
Ha, Ha, Ha!
Looks can be deceiving. While it may initially look like a 2 stroke, if you look carefully at the fins around the cylinder, they are not continuous and you can make out where valve stems would extend down a camshaft that would be in the crankcase.
Never heard of a whizzer bicycle. But familiar with the one out behind the barn.
I cut my mechanical teeth with Whizzers at age 12. Now at 79 I’d love to have another one. My happiest days were spent on them.
I could deliver my paper route in 20 minutes on one of these, until the crankshaft broke!
You could buy a Whizzer on a 24 inch or 26 inch Schwinn bike frame with larger wheel spokes. I had a 26 inch one – fast on level ground, but a 24 inch was faster on hills. Mine had auxiliary generator for lights that ran off flywheel. I cut school last day of 9th grade to hitch-hike to next town, draw savings from S & L ($95), and bought it in good used condition. Mother had a fit and tried to make me take it back, but I wouldn’t tell her where I bought it! Rode that thing all summer and until I got driver’s license. Decided to sell a year later, but it wouldn’t run – so I pulled it with my newly acquired ’40 Ford Opera Coupe and got engine so hot that it threw the rod thru bottom of crank case. That was the end of it – sold to neighbor for $10. Years later tried to buy it back, but could not locate it. I’d give my left one if I could!
pee wee Herman special
Sometime in the mid to late 50’s a boy in my school had one. I was very fascinated with it, but he wouldn’t let anyone ride it. It was a real whizzer, and he would speed around the school grounds on it and the rural country roads where we lived. Very cool bikes. Later I had a 3 speed Schwinn racing bike and I would sometimes catch hold of my older brothers 50cc Honda while he pulled me along at about 35 mph, scared the daylights out of me as I was afraid the front wheel would come out of the forks and send me flying down the road. There was no curve at the bottom of the forks on that bike.
God Bless America
I had one of these while underaged in high school. A Whizzer kit on a plain old bike. Used to pedal like crazy and then engage something. Occasionally it would start and run. Started me on a lifetime of motorcycles. This is a great deal. If it was closer to Chicago I’d buy it.
Like Fred I had one as youngster. Actually I had two. Great way to learn how to repair engines. My last ride was no a gravel lane when the front wheel came off and the handle bar took a piece out of my belly. Would love to ride one again
The novelty of having one of these is so appealing. A friend’s uncle was a motorcycle dealer in the Intermountain region in northern Washington. When he sold out in the 60s he left a huge box of manuals and parts catalogs to my friend. He didn’t really want much to do with them so he gave them to me. There was a Whizzer operator’s and spare parts manual in that mass of books. I’d heard of a Whizzer at that time but that was as close to seeing one as I’d ever been. The real thing showed up at the local swap meet a few years back. If I’d had the means I’d have been tempted to take that on. At least I would be able to satisfy a curiosity that I’ve had for over 50 years…
My Grandfather’s ’47 Whizzer was my first real set of wheels, after my Hercules 3 speed English bike. At 13 our family was visiting the grandparents in Mosinee Wisconsin – middle of nowhee – and I found Grandpa’s bike in the garage, painted yellow, as it had been used by my uncle when he was in the air force at Chicago O’hare field. I talked a bluestreak to convince my folks to let me load it on our train back to Salt Lake City. in ’57. I rode that bike near every day all over the Salt Lake valley – my escape mechanizm – and used it to get to HS until I made enough in a local bike shop one summer to buy my first motorcycle, a used Zundapp twostroke 200 cc machine. But I still nave Gramps’ Whizzer in my barn – now not far from Pontiac Mich, where it was built – along with the original factory manual claiming the bike delivered 109 miles per gallon, and I believe it did – when gas was 19 cents/gallon.
whizzers were a thing of dreams in middle and early hi skol. We discussed them but never saw one back then… rumors~
Scan ahead 60 yrs, never saw them ona bike I’d wanna use. Today we have substantial modern road bikes:
https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/best-endurance-road-bikes/
On one like that? may B.
I seem to remember going to the Whizzer museum in Fresno, CA, in the mid-1990’s. Can’t find anything on line. Am I deluded? (distinct possibility)