Litestar #4
Ken & Sylvia Weger own the 1982 Scranton, Iowa built Litestar, which they bought from Luke Chaplin in the fall of 2004. It is white in color and has a #4 painted on the frame which was a control number of Scranton Mfg. This rare autocycle is located today in the Weger Micro/Mini Collection at Crystal Lake, Illinois.
The Litestar is:
1LSECGBES000102, dated 11/13/83 as a 1984 model.
The original invoice for the vehicle lists it as "PREPRODUCTION", and a Litestar purchase agreement listing four engine choices and accessories.
Maybe they used "PREPRODUCTION" for all Scranton Litestars.
Litestar #4
Below.....The dash board consists of the original motorcycle instruments mounted on a fiberglass panel (black wrinkle finish) with the heater outlets on the sides. There are small stub "handlebars" above the steering to mount the original motorcycle control switches.
There is an AM-FM cassette radio. The headlight low beams are wired to a toggle switch under the dash so that they can be on or off but the high beams are seperate and always on when engine runnning.
The front tire is a 145SR13 and the rear is a 145SR15. The brake calipers are the "aircraft" style used on some of the other "Scranton" Litestars.
The small outriggers are used with the five inch tires.
Since you cannot put it in gear to park with the Hondamatic, it is equipped with a drag racing hold-off valve on the front brake line to "park".
The windshield and canopy are plexiglass (lexan?), and the rear "tailcone" seems to have some slight differences from the production version. There is no windshield wiper.
The canopy slides are Accuride commercial drawer glides and there is a hand operated piece of metal with hand filed teeth which comes up and presses against the bottom of the canopy to keep it from sliding (virtually useless).
There is no lock on the vehicle other than the ignition.
The vehicle is white gelcoat, no paint. Steering is a very fast 1/2 turn lock to lock, a mere quarter turn in each direction.
The vehicle was originally sold to Coates Litestar in Corydon, Iowa. One of the two brothers (Bob or Mike) came to Maryland area with the vehicle and traded it to a local auto detailing shop in exchange for some detail work. Luke Chaplin found out about it and purchased it with the trailer that they built for hauling it around to shows. When he got it, it still had the dealers ads painted on it, which is how he traced it's history.
The second Certificate of Origin, is dated 3 days later, appears more "official" and is made out to Litestar of Iowa, Inc. Notice that "Tomorrow Corporation" is very prominant on this one. Invoice numbers on #1 and #2 match.
Notice also the Maryland Heights address for the Corp on #1 and #2. This is the one that Chaplin turned in for the title.
Chris Coates told Chaplin that he specifically asked Bede for one of the prototype units.
They received two, at the time he still had the other one and lives in Corydon, Iowa. His brother Mike is the one who moved east and traded away this one.
On the Purchase agreement, notice the four engine choices and the accessory list! And the Chesterfield, MO address. Chris sent this to me and says that it was the one for his Litestar. Notice the 1-83 form date at the bottom and the light weight listed! The information that was checked off was:
Litestar 750
Deluxe Interior
Safety Glass Windshield
Windshield Wiper
Heater
Reverse Gear
Air Conditioner
Radio AM/FM Stereo
Heavy Duty Alternator
The total price was $8277.00, and the deposit was $827.
Below are copies of the Certificate of Origin for both the Litestar. For those unfamiliar with these, they are like a "birth certificate" issued by the factory and usually turned in by the dealer to the state to obtain a title.
These show the factory serial numbers and the "Model Year" for the vehicle, along with the "release date" from the factory, company name, official signatures, etc.
