![]() ![]() Powell built its first lightweight motorcycle with this machine-the 1949 P81-using a 393cc engine of its own design and featuring very cool disc wheels and great styling. During World War II, the company concentrated on war work, but resumed scooter and small motorcycle production with its C47, P47 and P49 step-through designs, named to sound like the military designations for aircraft. The Powell’s quit the radio business in 1932, during the Great Depression, to move into scooter production during the first wave of the American scooter boom. They were part of a wave of miniaturization of radios, from large cabinet-style tube radios of the 1920s to gradually smaller radios called “pee-wees,” which were still quite large by today’s standards. was based in Compton, California, and it was founded by Hayward and Channing Powell in 1926 to manufacture battery eliminators and simple table radios. I don't know what happened to it.In the grand American tradition of small motorcycles, this 1949 Powell P81 is among the coolest and most distinctive designs, with design touches that look totally contemporary today. The last thing I heard it was in his garage still not fixed. During 1950 the scooter broke down and I gave it to Uncle Bob who lived in Indiana. Again, no one ever took it without my permission. I rode the scooter to school and parked it on the street. I rode it in the winter and got double pneumonia which nearly took my life at age 15. I shipped the Powell to my new home and used it around Kansas City. I sold the Whizzer Motor Bike to a fellow Daily Standard newspaper delivery boy named Paul Shiverdecker for $100. Missing clutch internals and was missing front wheel. See paperwork from original owner.Nice steel body. Engine model TLC 217-7 Engine serial 94493. MSRP 6,099 2023 Zuma 125 The reimagined, ultramodern, Zuma 125 is a rugged and fuel efficient scooter with big features in a compact package. Description Powell Streamliner Scooter with correct Lauson engine. I had to decide what I was going to do with the two items of transportation that I had. The ultimate Sport Scooter with new Y-Connect smartphone connectivity and a liquidcooled engine that is both fuel efficient and performance proven. (Grandma passed away the following summer.) In September 1949 I moved to Kansas City, Missouri to live with an uncle and aunt. That summer, Grandma became ill and it was difficult for her to be responsible for a 15 year old as well as her husband. If any of you reading this had one of these scooters, let me know in the Comments section at the end of this story. Before Colin Powell made his fateful presentation of the WMD case to the UN in February 2003, it was Mr Libby who tried to persuade the former secretary of state to include controversial reports. It was a useful and capable machine with a side-valve engine of 548cc, with outside flywheel. 1920 The brothers entered the market with a middleweight machine designed for them by an engineer named Edward Alexander Burney. We exchanged stories of our riding memories and I lost contact with him. Powell motorcycles were built by the Powell Brothers of the Cambrian Foundry, Wrexham, in North Wales from 1920 to 1925. He had a 1950 model which looks more like a small motorcycle. I corresponded with a fellow from Northern California by email for a while. I got seven or eight responses and one even sent me the Parts List of this model which included the picture below. Another regret! So a few years ago I wrote to Reminisce Magazine to a feature they call "Can You Give Me A Hand?" and asked if anyone had a picture of the P-48 Powell. ![]()
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