VeloSolex, a bicycle or a mo-ped?

[Cheesy]

Dunno, it doesn't do either very well. Luckily(?), I own two.

The black one is a 1973 3800. Built for the rest of the world. Runs WOT while riding, has a 'speed reducer' to slow the engine. The gray box under the seat is electronic sorcery to run LED lights from the wildly unpredictable lighting coil.
The yellow one is a 1977 4600 V.3 built for the US market and was originally sold in nearby Aurora, IL. US versions had a motorcycle style throttle, horn, sealed beam head light, brake lights, and a kill switch, aka, The Big Red Button.
I bought both from a guy in Burlington, IL for a hundred each. The 4600 ran okay but needed some TLC. The 3800 was in pretty rough shape.
Both engines are basically the same with carb and lighting coil differences. Engine specs:49cc 2 smoke, 0.8 HP, centrifugal clutch, advertised MPG over 200(I'm not riding one that far to prove or disprove that claim). Top speed:18-19 MPH. 24 if you help.
I first saw these little boogers running around in France while I was participating in Paris-Brest-Paris. Thought they were kind of neat.

I can still get MOST parts in the US from Treatland.tv, 'Your Mo-ped Super Store' and a couple of Solex hobbyists. What I can't get here, I get from contacts in France. I'd like to get them titled and licensed but this is Illannoy and it seems to be a bureaucratic headache of a process.

 

[Centurion]

I've been riding them for years, I use my current 3800 for short trips all the time. It can be pedaled, but it is slow and heavy, but will get you home in a pinch. Very relaxing motoring it, it's quiet and if you don't mind the top speed around 20 MPH on a flat , it will get you where you're going at 60 MPG. I remember when they first started showing up around here in the early 1970's during the gas crisis, my friend's brother bought one to get to work on. They are much more portable than a moped as well, I think mine weighs around 60 lbs.

 

[Cheesy]

Nice looking rig. I never understood the reasoning* for the Rube Goldberg front brake caliper while having a superior, and simpler, drum brake in the rear. 60 lbs sounds about right. At least that's my experience when walking past my 3800 and catching the inverse brake lever in my belt loop and ending up with it on top of me.

*Rhetorical question. I used to work for a French company.

 

[detroitbike]

I fixed these and sold them as a youth in the bike shop down the street.
I believe I still have some of the Original N.O.S. Michelin tires around here somewhere...

 

[speedy]

I've been riding them for years, I use my current 3800 for short trips all the time. It can be pedaled, but it is slow and heavy, but will get you home in a pinch. Very relaxing motoring it, it's quiet and if you don't mind the top speed around 20 MPH on a flat , it will get you where you're going at 60 MPG. I remember when they first started showing up around here in the early 1970's during the gas crisis, my friend's brother bought one to get to work on. They are much more portable than a moped as well, I think mine weighs around 60 lbs.

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To me, there's nothing wrong with cruising at about 15 miles an hour.

 

[Cheesy]

To me, there's nothing wrong with cruising at about 15 miles an hour.

I'd really like to take one of mine on an overnight camping trip of some distance.

 

[Centurion]

These were the e-bike of their day, I seen a lot of them racked to travel trailers at the campgrounds, teenagers riding them to work and on college campuses. I actually find them sometimes more convenient than my e-bikes, no charging and they run great in cold temps. If you have some mechanical abilities and are familiar with ICE engines, they are quite simple.

 

[Fritz Katzenjammer]

These things are a religion unto themselves in France, second only to the 2CV. I had a few friends who had them back in the 70s. I remember them as miserably slow as I could easily run rings around them with my German moped… which was also miserably slow. ( but water cooled! )

But they beat the tar out of waiting for a bus and went forever on a tank of gas. Ah, the joys of youth.