San Francisco Goggo Roller Pilot

[Roller54]

Hallo Roller Freunde!

Pardon my use of English, but unfortunately I don't understand German. I'm located in San Francisco, California and a long-time dream of mine was fulfilled last week when a Goggo roller came to live in my garage! My Goggo is a 1954 150 Standard, a nice unrestored example that came from Holland. If the story of this Goggo is true then it has not been run since the early 1960s, but I put some fuel in the tank and it fired right up! Seems to run pretty well, too!!

Now I need a Goggo friend who speaks English to help me sort out a few technical questions, tell me where to locate parts and services, etc.

Looking forward to making your acquaintance!

Regards-Harley Welch

PS -- I tried to send a photo of my Goggo, but I can't figure out how to insert a photo into this post.

[GoggoGarfield]

Hello Roller54,

nice to know that there is a Goggoroller at the Pacific!
We will gladly assist you and eagerly await further details from you. Nice history (import to the U.S. via Holland). What's the original color? What's the actual condition?

This site: http://www.alte-roller.de/ (thanks Thomas for this excellent page) you will find more detailed infomation (technical, pix, spare parts providers, etc.) for (but not only) the Goggoroller. Somewhere there you will find the album with models from different owners in varios countries - mine included

Meanwhile, thanks to Helmut you will be able to mark your location at: http://www.frappr.com/zuendapproller

Should you need further information - go ahead - here we are!!!
regards,
Marc

[Roller54]

Hello Marc,

Thanks for your reply. I am well aware of Thomas' great site, it is mainly responsible for fueling the desire to have a Goggo of my own these past few years. Unfortunately my ignorance of the German language prevents me from enjoying maximum benefit from the information presented there. I'm almost motivated to take German lessons just so I can know more about my Goggo.

More info about my scooter: it is complete, original and unrestored. The color is medium/light blue. The paint could have been more well preserved, but the condition far too good to warrant a repaint in my opinion. Afterall, they're only original once! I will conserve the original finish as well as I can until it HAS to be repainted. This Goggo was imported from Holland to Long Beach, California by a good friend of mine. He has decided to move to Poland so he sold the scooter to me! There is an Amsterdam dealer's tag on the front fender of the Goggo between the Glas emblem and the license plate.

The story I was given on the history of this scoot: the original purchaser used the Goggo for a honeymoon trip from Holland to Vienna. There are still many decals plastered about the scooter from the various towns and villages they visited along the way. A schoolboy neighbor kid was a great admirer of the Goggo and would mooch rides whenever possible. The Goggo eventually fell into disuse by the original owner and when the neighbor kid was about 16 or 17 years of age the Goggo was given to him. Needless to say the kid was beside himself with excitement, but when he brought the Goggo home his father said: "What the hell is this? You need a scooter like you need another hole in your head!" And the Goggo was summarily chained and locked to a post in the barn. I don't know the exact year this occured, but either late 1950s or early '60s. Fast forward 40-some years and the father has died, the son inherits the farm and there is the Goggo still chained up in the barn! The son is now pushing 60 years of age, has never pursued scootering or motorcycling and feels that he does not need to begin now. The scooter is sold to my friend from Long Beach who imports it to the USA, but never even starts it before selling it to me.

Sadly, when the Goggo was being moved from the port to my friend's shop in the back of a pickup truck the seat flew off and was run over by a following vehicle. I was able to straighten the seat pan and I delivered the remains of the seat to a very talented local upholsterer who will be able to salvage the surviving original parts of the seat cover and will make a good match for the new panel he will need to make.

The Goggo came into my possession about 2 weeks ago, but I was not able to get it into my shop and inspect it until about a week ago. It showed a good, strong spark at the plug and I think the engine must have been freshly serviced before the scooter was laid up because there was no carbon on the piston crown, just polished alloy. I squirted a little fuel down the carb mouth, gave it a kick and much to my astonishment the engine immediatley fired up and ran until the small amount of fuel was cousumed! With this encouraging sign I gave the scooter a more thorough inspection and serviced a few items which I felt needed attention. Then I mixed up a batch of proper 2-stroke fuel, filled the tank and tried to start her for real. I was overjoyed when the engine started with little effort and would idle sweetly after a few tweeks to the mixture and speed screws. A little air for the tires and I was off on a triumphant victory lap around the block!

I have since taken the Goggo on the short journey from my shop to my house and back here in San Francisco, about 6 miles round trip. I am looking forward to getting the repaired seat back and putting some new tires on the rims, then I can begin to ride the Goggo in ernest!

I have tried to insert a photo of my scoot in this post, but I don't know if it will work. If not you can follow the link below to see a photo of my Goggo.

Regards-Harley

http://home.earthlink.net/~rudgeman/

[GoggoGarfield]

Cool story!

Mine was also locked away in a barn, but I never was able to find our anything about the previous owner. Somewhen in the 1990's a guy wanted to restore it, but gave up - thats how ift came into my possession: totally dismantled but more or less complete.

Is the history of the white Heinkel as interesting?
Regards,
Marc

[Roller54]

Is the history of the white Heinkel as interesting?

Not quite, but I understand that one of the previous owners (a friend of mine) rode the Heinkel from SF to Colorado and back several years ago.

I got the Heinkel about 5 or 6 years ago and I didn't even know I wanted it at the time. Another friend of mine, cousin to the fellow who made the Colorado trip, came by my shop on the scooter one day. Out of the blue he proposed to trade the Heinkel to me in exchange for a '63 Puch Allstate 250, a '57 Zundapp Saber & a '57 TWN Cornet 250 that I had lurking in a corner. Now I'm not much of a horse-trader, but none of my machines were in running condition and I believe only the Puch had documents. A running, documented & currently road registered Heinkel in exchange for my three non-running piles of junk was looking pretty tempting. I was reluctant to part with the TWN because this is an extremely rare machine in the USA and, like my new Goggo, the TWN was in very well conserved original condition for a machine of its age. I convinced my friend to let me have the Heinkel for only the Puch and the Zundapp, but ended up giving him the TWN anyway when he sweetened the deal with some cash!! I was a little sad to part with my entire German 2-stroke motorcycle collection, but I was comforted as I rode the Heinkel and remembered that the TWN and Zundapp were given to me for FREE(!) and I bought the Puch so cheap that is was ALMOST free!! ;o)

Regards-HW

[alte-roller.de]

Hi Roller54, hi GoggoGarfield!

That's really a nice stroy about your Goggo, Roller54!
How about publishing it on the alte-roller.de? English articles are welcome, too!

I'm always searching for people sending info and stories, and I'm also searching for some translators, GoggoGarfield!
(my english is moderate ...)

So, simply create an account and start writing ...
... or give me a note (and some more photos), so that I can publish it!

Best Regards and keep me up-to-date!
Thomas
www.alte-roller.de