I acquired this engine in the mid '80's from a man whose dad worked for the Frisco. The man (whose name I can't remember) said that when he was a kid, his dad brought this engine home from the Frisco. He claimed it was from an old speeder that they scrapped. The engine has a Buda nameplate on it and is about the proper size for a speeder. I know that Buda built speeders, but I have never come across a picture of a single cylinder model. From the timeframe the man described, his dad probably brought it home in the 1920's. One unusual thing about this engine is that it is substantially the same as a 1904 Indian motorcycle engine. The head, cylinder and distinctive cam cover and timing mechanism are identical, but the crankcase has extra "ears" for mounting cast in place that the motorcycle does not have. I know that the early Indian engines were produced by a third party who sold the same engines to many different motorcycle builders, so I suppose it is plausible that they sold the same basic engine to Buda for speeder use. Does anyone have a picture of an early Frisco speeder that has this type of engine? - James http://nfrailroad.com/forumpics/Speeder2.jpg http://nfrailroad.com/forumpics/Speeder1.jpg
OK, after much research (it was a very interesting journey!) I have found out that this engine was used on a Buda Motor Velocipede. They went into production about 1909. Not sure how long they were made, but I know they were still offered in 1921. The engine was supplied by Aurora/Thor, a motorcycle manufacturer who supplied engines for the early Indians. Thor had quite production by 1920, so I don't know what engine was used in the 1921 motor velocipede. So, does anyone have a picture of a motor velocipede in use on the Frisco? I don't know how late Frisco would have ran these, but I'm pretty sure mine would have been scrapped in the mid '20's, maybe the early '30's at the latest. Here is a picture of what I'm looking for in a 1910 advertisement, sorry for the long link: http://books.google.com/books?id=lH...ook_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA Thank you! - James
