Since seeing many petrol (2-stroke) powered push bikes in Belgium earlier this year I am becoming increasingly interested in getting one of these small engines for my bike.
You would think that Belgium, being the home of the EU, would have strict regulations regarding them, however it seems to encourage them, as does Australia.
I have not been able to find out if the UKs complex road rules and regs allow these to be used on cycle paths / roads and if they are, where can I get one?
John R
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A friend of mine has a 1963 Velosolex, they're still made and info is here: www.velosolex.co.uk/
Gareth
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I have not been able to find out if the UKs complex road rules and regs allow these to be used on cycle paths / roads
Absolutely definitely not. In many European countries anything under 50cc doesn't have to be registered and rules are very lax. In the UK this is effectively classed as a motorbike so you'll need lighting, crash helmet etc etc and you certainly will end up on the wrong side of the law using it anywhere other than a road. Simply not worth it I'd imagine.
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Dan is right, my friend's Velosolex has a number plate and everything!
Gareth
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Thanks for the answers, £850+ seems a bit dear. If I was spending that amount I'd get a proper motorcycle (I have a full licence)
May be we should campaign for a change in the law to allow use of them, bring us into line with those pesky free thinking EU Europeans types...
Did I just say that???, but I've always been told that Blighty was way ahead and better than Europe...
Note to self :- stop now b4 u get 2 political.
John R
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I was thinking along the lines of these www.moped.com.au/Sachs.htm
John R
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It's been done long ago. Cyclemaster c. 1952-4.
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IIRC G. Cyclemaster was state of the art with engine actually built into the wheel. Earlier version the name I cannot remember was mounted on top of the wheel with rubber roller onto tyre providing the drive. V. economical tho used to get about 200mpg.
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Sir Clive Sinclair may have what you need for not much more than £100
Visit:www.sinclair-research.co.uk/pages/zeta2.htm
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Phil I believe it was the Trojan Mini-Motor you had in mind.
Gnenerally attached to a dark green Raleigh with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub! Much beloved of accountants, local government clerks and that nice Mr Fotherington at the National Provincial Bank. IIRC you pedalled the thing up to a fair speed then used a handlebar lever to engage the rollers with the tyre. This tended to be a fairly sudden affair for which you had to be ready.
The Cyclemaster was about 30 cc I think and was quite reliable but needed some pedal assistance up hills. The BSA Winged Wheel was another variant. I think there was a story about a couple who toured Britain on a camping holiday on a tandem with one of those things on it.
Anyway it's all been done before as us cognoscenti know well.
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My last sentence contained a redundant tautology. Apologies.
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"redundant tautology"
Us were impressed :-)
WRT electric bikes, what if you use a petrol-driven generator to supply the current?
I'm not sure I would trust anything made by Clive Sinclair - I'm sure the batteries would have run down by the time you needed it for the return journey.
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Illegitimi non carborundum!
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I bought one of his calculators and that went wrong in the first week I had it. He missed his true métier, making Mad Professor type machines for episodes of Dr. Who.
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My 48Kb Spectrum computer worked fine for 18 months before I part-exed it for an Toshiba MSX (Ahhh, happy days!)
John R
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Growler
Yes, 32 cc to be precise. My father had the 'proper' moped version called a 'Cyclemate' with the same engine in the 'normal' position. He later swapped it for a 50cc Zundapp Combinette - two speeds and more power - wow! I've got a full motorbike licence having passed my test on that!
Regards
John S
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