This
chapter concludes Bob’s story Who Saved the Cushman Scooter. I want to thank
Bob for making all this wonderful information available for all to see. Bob is
currently writing a story on his Cushman Husky racing engine that he converted
to water cooling and ran on methanol. This story will appear at this web site
shortly.
Who
Saved The Cushman Scooter
Chapter Eleven
By
Bob Jungbluth
By
the time Ray Gabbard sold his Cushman parts business to Rich and Joan Suski in
1989, the Cushman Club of America was approaching 2000 members. The club
continued to grow under the strong leadership of its first 3 elected Presidents,
Jim Lyne, Randolph Garner, and Jesse Dowler and their elected boards. Cushman
scooters were being restored at a record pace, all because the members now had
sources that they could buy parts from. James Kanak from Texas was selling NOS
parts, as were Paul Covert and Rich and Joan Suski now with Ray Gabbard’s
stock. Whenever a parts problem occurred, the members would step forward to
solve it. We needed Aluminum gas caps for the Eagle scooters and Pete Peterson
and Kenny Jones of Springfield Mo. reproduced them, exact as the original. If
you needed a chain guard they would make one for you. If you needed an Air
Cleaner for your scooter, you could get it from Lou Campo If you had a series 50
Scooter, but no body, Jesse Dowler could make one, You name it, Jesse would make
it. Paul Covert had new steel wheels made, plus many other things to numerous to
write about here.
In
the summer of 1990 we read in our Cushman club magazine that Ray Gabbard had
been appointed District Manager for Dennis Carpenter Cushman. Dennis Carpenter
was well known as a supplier of fine replacement, and NOS parts for auto and
truck restorers. I can't tell you how much the involvement of Dennis Carpenter
in the Cushman parts supply has meant to our Cushman Scooter restorers. His
first catalog came out in 1990, soon to be followed by a # 2 in 1990.
It was like a dream book to many Scooter members. Now at last they could
buy just about anything they needed to restore a Cushman Scooter. Dennis
continued to add to his product line of Cushman parts by purchasing the tooling
that made the original parts from Cushman in Lincoln. Peg McClure, a long time
employee of Cushman was able to help him secure the tooling, as well as other
help he needed from Cushman.
Many
times in the last few years when I mention what some of our parts dealers have
done to help keep the Cushman Scooter alive, I get the answer, "well they
are making money at it". Come
on, get real! Of course they are making money because they have to. Dennis
Carpenter and our other part suppliers are businessmen, they have families that
depend on them and they have employees that depend on them. We are so lucky to
have people that love our hobby so much that they will put their time and money
into making our hobby grow. They certainly did their part in saving the Cushman
scooter.
I
also want to mention the Technical Editors, Carl Redmon, and Al Gullion that
spent hours writing articles to help us understand how to make our Cushman
Scooters run, and how to maintain them in top shape. Also our long serving
Editor of the Cushman Club of America, Robert Cantrell. Bob has supplied us with
a top quality Cushman Club of America magazine for all these many years,
allowing our members a opportunity to display their restored Scooters, as well
as see others efforts with their Cushmans. There are many more people that need
to be mentioned here, but I believe that we now have supplied you with the names
of many that took our Cushman Scooter thru its critical years 1970 to 1990. One
of the most important was the Cushman Motor Works. If they had not sent their
surplus parts to the junk yard at Northwest where Cliff Tompkin, myself, and
others were able to obtain them, Cushman restoration would have been much
harder, if not impossible.
I
have waited to the end of my story to name the #1 person Who Saved The
Cushman Scooter, and that of course is YOU. It is your efforts to restore
and ride your own Cushman and to buy and trade parts with others that has saved
the Cushman Scooter. It could not, or would not have happened with out YOU, and
for this I thank you.
Your
California Cushman friend,
Bob Jungbluth
Ed
Note: Cushman pioneer Paul Covert passed away several years ago and his Cushman
stock was purchased by Bert Barnett at B&B Motor Sports.
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