I Bought a Paratrooper Bike hasn't Run in 40+ Years 

Will I make it home on this Indian Papoose? my track record is 3/3. comment below

This brought back some memories. In 1972 my Dad rescued a 1949 Brockhouse Corgi from an acquaintance who was going to scrap it. It ran well and a 10-year-old me was very happy with my own motorcycle to ride in the grounds of my dad's blacksmith's workshop. Mine was the "luxury" version with a 2-speed gearbox. The Corgi was happy until 1976 when the engine bearings wore out. My dad managed to find replacements quite easily and I joined the motorcycle club at high school where I rebuilt it under instruction from someone who knew what they were doing. The rebuild was successful. A while after this I sold the Corgi to a friend of my dad's and he completed the restoration by refitting the lights and generally tidying the bike up. The last I heard, the Corgi was still running on my engine rebuild and being taken to shows and exhibitions. I look forward to your journey home.

Thank you for calling him on that short-shake! I can't stand it when someone grabs my fingers and acts like it's a handshake

The British Army used the 'Welbike' that was a similar deal. I had the pleasure of chatting to an old guy 20 years ago and I noticed a bike calendar on his kitchen wall. We got talking bikes and, long story short, he showed me the contents of his garage. A 1930s Sunbeam, an Ariel Square Four, a BSA Gold Star and... ... a Welbike! Longer story even shorter, he let me have a ride on it! Brings back memories!

The Wellbike was the first thing I rode as a kid, my father was part of a military preservation society in the 1980’s in the south east of England, we used to play with things like the DUKW. I have a 1939 military BSA C11 I’m restoring slowly, it was also designed as a parachute bike but was too heavy, another reason the well-bike was used instead. Love the channel!!!

This is my favorite bike you've ever had. Just edges out the ROKON. That thing is really cool, WWII history is great.

That 1940's moment of riding this is exactly why people love older cars, bikes, etc. It's a great feeling especially after putting in restore work.

6 hours riding on that thing!, and I thought I was crazy trying to ride a 1970's 100cc two stroke farm bike (Kawasaki KV100) 2 1/2 hours home when I was in my early teens. Broke down 1/2 hour into the ride, had to call my dad to come get me with a trailer, he was mighty pissed and didn't speak to me for the whole trip home.

The dawning realization throughout this video made it especially fun, "Hey he found a Welbike! Wait its an Indian? Oh its an Indian branded Welbike." Despite my interest in military motorcycles I honestly didn't know Indian had done that.

I love it when you ride crazy stuff home. Not only is it some of your best content but it reminds me of when I was younger and could do crazy stuff on a whim.

I love watching these old dead bikes come back to life. No better sound then an engine turning over when it hasnt been running in a while.

My first motorcycle, at the age of 5 in 1965. My Dad bought 2 British Army surplus Corgis and fixed them up for my big brother and me. We'd have a blast racing each other around a local field at weekends. Set us both up as avid bike fans for life. Watching you having fun on your little Papoose has brought back many great memories, thank you Shaun.

Kind of a cool coincidence, the Marlin Papoose is a 22 rifle that also can be broken down to be easily transported. Would go well with this Papoose!

That’s really cool, in a goofy looking “Dumb and Dumber” kind of way.

Sean: take a wiff, make a memory. LOL I love Sean's humor so much. My only complaint is they don't upload enough videos for my selfishness.... but I'm grateful for what they do upload. Love you guys. Really been going through a rough time since losing my mom and bikes and beards always makes my day. Always. I can't wait till I can afford my first bike.

That's about as cool a little bike as I've ever seen. The "WOW" factor is off the chart!

Watching grown men rip around the parking lot laughing in the pouring rain was hilarious ,it made me smile,cant wait for part 2 the long ride home.

Such a fantastic video brother. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you guys breath some new life into this old gem.

A little tip with pre mix 2 strokes, always give them a good shake if they have been standing overnight or longer! The oil and petrol seperate with the oil sinking to the bottom so nearly neat oil is sucked into the carb and engins first, this oils the plug up! Give it a shake to re mix the petroil mix before turning the petcock on.

Your enthusiasm for life is boundless. You videos are my moment of mental time out during a busy day. Thanks Guys.

A friend sold a British Wellbike paratrooper minibike that her father had probably duflebagged into the US after WWII. It was in pretty rough shape, but somebody was thrilled to get it.

Those little mini bikes would be handy if you were having trouble with Communications you could use those to run messages between the companies are out the individual units you know Communications back then weren't what they are today where everybody's online talks to everybody else

Papoose is the perfect name for it. Imagine parachuting behind enemy lines and you and your mates have these. Need to make a movie, Papoose Troopers. Cool bike.

I love it when you find those rare bikes!! Stay safe.

What a great little bike with amazing history. Can’t wait for the ride home video!

As soon as I saw the thumbnail, my first reaction "not sure what it is, but I want it"

Greetings from the UK. Friend of mine in the 1960s whose dad was a former Army Major - worked after WW2 assessing bomb damage in London for insurance purposes. He found 3 of these Corgi (UK naming as you rightly said) and my friend got it going and his dad took us to a disused Army barracks for us to have a go with it around a deserted perimeter track. It was a pig to start. It had one gear and a dog-tooth clutch. 98cc Villiers engine. It was very much more exciting than a moped or motorized bicycle. I was hooked on motorcycle riding after that for ever. It was a bit of fun and ideal for riding under age before being old enough to have a bike license. Private property was the only legal place to ride it under such circumstances. Thanks for a great video.

Its a Corgi scooter with a Excelsior Spryt Autocycle engine and went into production in 1947. Most were initially exported to North America branded as the "Indian Papoose" and not sold in the UK until early 1948, with some 27,050 being manufactured. The single-speed two-stroke engine was too slow, however, and even despite the high post war demand for transport, lack of power and reliability problems meant it was discontinued in October 1954

When I was real little, back in the late 60s, my Dad brought me home some kind of tiny little minibike/scooter thing. It was front wheel drive, a tiny engine was mounted on the front forks. It seperated into three parts. The front fork/handlebars/wheel assembly had a spring loaded latch to mount to the body. The seat(a metal ring with no padding, don't know if it ever had any) and footpegs slid into a slot on the main body. Been wondering what it was or if was something homemade.

Back in the late 1960s, a friend of mine had a Tote-Goat that was indestructible. What a kick that thing was. And the cops never gave us grief for taking it on the street as long as we let them take it for a spin. That sucker had some major torque. Back when teens and cops had a decent rapport. I miss those times.

That is way cool! sweet to see something like that back on the road running

Been putting out some great content. This has become one of my favorite channels.

Another brilliant video. Thank you. I remember these bikes back in the 1960's here in the uk. It was the start of what was then called schoolboy scrambling and a lot of lads used them as race bikes. They were plentiful and very cheap in those days.

Sean: I found an old bike that we're going to buy and get running for a new video! Craig: You mean I'm going to have to get running....

That sharing an old memory thing is pretty awesome! God Bless

My 90 yrs old mom’s bike… back in the day.., really you made her day. When we were kids she had a Cushman three wheel scooter. She rode sun or blowing snow the Cushman… she’d do tunnel runs under the railroad viaducts at +70 mph!

No way! I live right near there. Any chance you're still around?

I had a WW2 one of those back in the 1970's as a teenager. The tires were dry rotted so the first thing I did was upgrade to some new larger knobby tires, The later the motor was replac3d with a Honda 60 engine. It was considered to be worth much back then. I bought it from a neighbor for $30 bucks.

I like the multiple flat spots on the tires haha! I love when you two do these quests!

That is awesome that you rescued the bike from just sitting around. Great to keep history alive. God is good.

I totally want one of these, it’s said to say they really don’t make ‘em like they used to , unbelievable that it fired up lol good stuff

As a proud, retired, Paratrooper and wounded combat veteran, I adore that little bike. Godspeed and Blessings for You and Yours. Thank You so much for your content. And amazing genuine positivity. Prayers Up for You to be able 5o continue, and spread the Perfect Word.

Rode one as as kid- guy brought one home from the service- small very easy to drive and fits tough tight spaces

Great find! Old Brit geezer here. I had an Excelsior 2stroke about 55 years ago, ( the bike was already old then, probably 1950 ish). I don’t remember much about it now, but the big similarities I can spot are the engine note and the fact that it was definitely raining a lot of the time! Haha!

Nice bike but thats a post war Brockhouse Corgi made in Southport UK , similar to the military parachute Excelsior Welbike of WW11 , but those are very rare to find even here in the UK. you did some good research . i have a corgi .

The moment Sean turned his head as leaving the shop … priceless

Another great video guys, and very cool bike. Wishing you luck on the journey home 🤞.

Man that is a cool bike! Thanks for sharing this experience

"Papoose" is where the term "Baby on board" comes from. Thanks for sharing another cool bike and good luck!

I love the history behind this. This has to be the beta for the modern motor scooter.

HI, some INFO I found for you that might surprise you = Corgi scooter A Corgi scooter and a CLE Canister, displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford (2010) Many of the later models never saw action and were disposed of at the end of the war, mostly exported to the U.S. where they were sold by a New York department store.[3] The lack of a front brake meant that they could not legally be used on the road, however, so most were bought by farmers for off road use. The originator John Dolphin developed his ideas further and set up the Corgi Motorcycle Co Ltd. of which he was Managing Director,[4] and had them produced as the Corgi by Brockhouse Engineering (Southport) Ltd., who had been manufacturing military trailers during the war. The Corgi scooter was powered by an Excelsior Spryt Autocycle engine and went into production in 1947. Most were initially exported to North America branded as the "Indian Papoose" and not sold in the UK until early 1948, with some 27,050 being manufactured. The single-speed two-stroke engine was too slow, however, and even despite the high post war demand for transport, lack of power and reliability problems meant it was discontinued in October 1954.[3] Corgi scooters were sometimes painted a military green but were not much used by the British armed forces. A few were used by the Royal Navy. The concept continued to be developed by other manufacturers, however, and led to the folding Honda Monkey bike of the 1960s.[7]

Amazing. In your opening shot I saw the the very first motorcycle (scooter) I ever rode on as a passenger when I was 41/2 years old, That orange Cushman made me a motorcyclist. My Dad got me a military Cushman when I was six but I was to small to kick thru that under seat kick starter. That surplus Cushman cost my dad 15 bucks complete in its military surplus shipping container. My Air Force uncle gave me a military English Welbike complete in the round para container. Mine had the fuel tank low in front of engine so it had to be pressurized with a few pumps to run. I rode that little bike to school starting in the second grade until one day in the middle of my fifth grade year the principal saw me arriving at the bicycle rack and told me I wasn’t allowed to ride it on the school grounds. In 1959 we didn’t give school officials any lip! Love all your adventures. Psalm 119:105

Why haven't we seen these in the movies? I think I've watched every war movie ever made, but I've never seen these. They can make an entire movie based on these.

Sean you remind me of the original US Mailman saying neither rain nor sleet nor even snow will stop the (Bearded man on his bike) !! As usual love the quote! You have the finest copilot by your side. You have gone back to your roots! I don’t know of too many motorcycle riders who didn’t start on a mini bike!!! Have a blessed day brother!!!!

Good luck Sean!!You guys are Awesome!!

These guys need way more views. Great videos I always learn something new.

Sean, would you be interested in buying a whole collection of 40's Indians?

Craig's German?!?!? Explains why he's such a good mechanic

Love it. Like a kid. Pure joy.

The original pocket bike....sooooo cool!!!! Love it!!!! I'd want to take that entire garages content home!!!!!

Sean, I bet you make it so long as the engine stays cool its a 2 stroke heat is the 2 stroke killer keep her oil and gas mix heavy on the oil she will run 4 ever spare plugs bring many and if you think u have to many throw a couple extra anyways

WW II Paratrooper: "Let's get on our Papoose motorcycles and sneak up on those German sentries."

I love everything about this! Little bikes have so much personality. 🥰😉

That my friend, is incredible. Hoping to see that headlight and little tail light be put to use too!

Can imagine riding that thing with full combat pack .

Thanks for the content brother. I know a lot of us appreciate it.

You 2 are so great together. Gotta get the dream team back together

I wrote a book about excelsior the company. Because I had several excelsior motorcycles including talisman twins. Sadly not anymore.

As someone that lives in the nanny state that is the UK I find it hilarious that Sean can just get on something like this and ride it on the public roads 😂 there are an unimaginable number of hoops we have to jump through in this country

I could feel the passion when they got it to crank the first time and it warmed my heart when he said here smell make a memory. Love it

Love this trip down memory lane, Back in the mid 1970 I learned to ride on a Corgi at the Vintage Car Club here in New Zealand, I was 7 or 8, you couldn't keep me off it till I hit a pot hole and snapped the carburettor off it. Dad fix it and I never sore it again.

My Grandpa was a US ww2 paratrooper. I can almost picture him making fun of the British paratroopers riding a papoose. But deep down... I know he was wishing he had a papoose of his own.

Oh hell yes! These things are epic. Check out the training films for them - troopers loaded up, bombing around fields on these little rippers. Keep up the good stuff!

"Oh, THAT'S Craig's name..."😂 That little bike is rad! Are you gonna restore it, or are you gonna make a café racer out of it?🤔 Thanks, guys; another fun episode!✌️❤️🇨🇦🙂

Awesome thx for sharing that super rare bike with us🤠✌️

My family is from Crossens, NW UK and I still live here, round the corner from the original Brockhouse Engineering site which has since been demolished to build houses. Another company was also on that site - Phillips, who made valves for TV and amplifiers in the 60's - they supplied VOX and the Beatles used and promoted VOX in their early career.

Brockhouse produced a civilian version of the Welbike with the Excelsior Spryte engine, sold as Corgi or Indian Papoose. The 2 stroke was also industrialised by Brockhouse for use in their 2 wheels Hoemate. Brockhouse did the same with the 4 stroke used in the Indian Brave, which was another British style motorcycle Brockhouse tried to sell with an American brand name.

Take a whiff, make a memory! LOL I love it! You guys always have great content. I loved the big wheel bikes too, I grew up riding a pw80 big wheel and it was a blast. God bless

Craig spoke straight science the whole episode. Absolute wizard

Great bike. Good luck on the ride home. Thanks for the video stay safe and God be with u and family.

Super cool. Love the Excelsior name, somebody should bring that back!

So the bike is cool and all. Fricking spectacular really. But I can’t seem to focus on that after seeing a handshake re-do for a “short shake”. I never knew that could be a thing. I hate when one of the participants clamps down too soon, and the other guy gets the finger pinch thing. All this time I could have called for a do-over. And as demonstrated, it can be done without making it awkward. This changes everything. Cheers sir!

Two Stroke Engine. I have heard of these but never seen one running. Runs like a swiss clock. Well Done.

In the early 1950s my Dad was a Royal Navy pilot, flying Fairey Gannets (worth looking up, very interesting aircraft). He had the British version of this bike, the Corgi. When the carrier was going into a foreign port, my Dad would fly off and land ashore to organise for the carrier's arrival. He would strap the Corgi into the Gannet's bomb bay, and use it to get around ashore, in a full dress naval uniform! Would have been a strange sight.

A couple of lads having a silly adventure on a dodgy old bike. Perfect!

Love the casual 45-70 with hunting scope hanging on the wall.

Really awesome, learned something new. Thank you!

Love your videos man I look forward to when I get a notification of a new video

I just found your channel while looking up videos on rebuilding my 83 Honda Shadow. Watched a few videos and saw you were in Pa and realized your shop is only about 4 hours away.

Awesome episode! Great stuff guys. Thx

Thanks for always sharing the word in a positive way that will reach hard to get people

Anyone else notice that awesome scoped BFR on the wall next to his desk ? This guy is definitely cool.

Great video guys 👌 and I can't wait for your jolly ride home 😆

This is going to be awesome! Looking forward to the next Papoose video

That is the coolest bike I have ever seen! I would totally have keep one in the trunk of my car and still have room for stuff. In the 80s they had a bike in Japan called the motocompo same concept as the papoose. I wish someone would make a modern version of one of those

Sean and Craig, I cannot thank you enough for the pure joy and smiles you bring me every time you post a video of one of your adventures. I don't have the resources or room to locate and buy such unique and rare bikes, most of which I have never heard of, but you two help me experience the awe and fun of finding and resurrecting these rare pieces of motorcycle history. The fact that you guys are so cool, and meet so many really nice folks along the way, just makes the whole wholesome experience that much better. thanks guys.

Just came across a auction listing in Scotland. Identical bike listed as a Brockhouse Corgi MK II 98cc. The listing says that it’s civilian version of the Welbike developed by the Frythe design and research establishment of the Special Operations Executive at Welwyn in Hertfordshire England.

These bikes wer made mainly for the logistics operatives of the regiments to use in the event that radios could not be used in areas where the germans had radio finder equipped Van's or trucks

Looking forward to the restoration series for this

I was just looking for one of these on eBay like last year how crazy haha I love these bikes! Excited to see it on the channel