MICKEY THOMPSON’S BRIGGS & STRATTON MICKEY-BIKE TO BE SOLD: $10,000 Will Get You A Chain-Driven, 5 HP, Single-Cylinder, Briggs & Stratton, Taco-Like Bike; This Is Classic

The page from the RM Auctions catalog.

The name Mickey Thompson has been associated with performance since the 1950s, when the well-known promoter was managing Lions Drag Strip in Southern California and setting records at Bonneville. However, Thompson’s M/T Equipment Company became an actual part of many enthusiasts’ personal racing program as Thompson created high-quality aftermarket parts and pieces.

The Mickey-Bike is offered at “No Reserve.”

One little known part of that was the Mickey-Bike. Mini-bikes entered the American subculture in the early 1960s. Used by hot rodders and racers as private runabouts, they were built on a diminutive but durable frame and used a small, single cylinder engine for power. As always, Thompson hoped to do it better, and introduced his own line of these original pocket rockets in the latter part of the decade. It is believed that M/T’s five-horsepower versions were all constructed by a subcontractor named Jim Dugan Enterprises (JDE) in Long Beach; they featured a chain-driven Briggs & Stratton engine in a tube-constructed chassis, ape-hanger type handle bars, and a special cast Mickey-Bike plate and serial number. When Thompson got out of this line of business to pursue yet another new project, the tooling was sold to the King O’Lawn company of South Gate, which eventually marketed a line of mini-bikes under legendary car owner C.J. Agajanian’s name.

Bonanza and Taco anyone?

This Mickey Thompson’s Mickey-Bike will be sold at RM Auctions at the Peterson Automotive Museum on September 26.