RUMCars Forum
General Category => Unusual Microcar Discussion => Topic started by: Bob Purton on December 11, 2007, 03:34:33 PM
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I know its not a microcar but I'm bored. This is my 1957 motomorini tresette , I restored it three years ago, its an italian lightweight, 175cc four stroke. I may have to sell it if I dont get my balance back. Hope I dont have to because I love it!
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Hi Rob. Thats scooter looks a usefull bit of kit! Love the twin silencers. Although I would never do it I can understand how microcar folk are tempted to graft these great little twist and go motors onto there microcars. What is the moped, a Norman nippy or something?
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Nice stuff. My Brother recently bought a NSU Quickly for his son, needs some tlc but a nice old bike.
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My father commuted from Hornchurch to stepney everyday on a moped for years, he tried them all, Rayliegh runabouts, NSU's, motobeccanes, but I remember him saying that the classiest one he ever had was an Itom , i think it was called an Itom esperior or something simular. I think that in the fifties Italian bikes were streets ahead but were let down by cheap electrics. I fitted electronic ignition to the morini and it was the best money I have ever spent!
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Hi Marcus
Re your post on the RUMCars Forum about your brother's Quickly.
If he needs any parts or advice, the man to contact is:
Roger Worton
56 Crosslands
Stantonbury
Milton Keynes
MK14 6AX
Tel: 01908 314797
email: roger@worton.fsbusiness.co.uk
Roger used to be a general cyclemotor & autocycle spares man
but now concentrates on the Quickly.
Marvellous bikes, I had an S23 a couple of years ago, sold it
to a strange bloke called Witney44. Likes mopeds and microcars.
Very odd...
Regards
Nick D.
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Im sure anyone on here with all the tiddlers(like me)will have been somewhat dismayed and saddened at the black hole which the NACC has sunk itself into,fortunately the sector that was being "abused"if you like has taken heed of a threat by the commitee to reform the east anglian cyclemotor club and have reformed it,and its going from strength to strength.Have a look at the makeshift nacc site for more info,is sad what has happened.
Now added a 1 owner 1955 Ariel VH500 redhunter to my fleet,i will add some pics soon.
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I look forward to the pics Dan, I used to ride ariels in the 1970's but they were strokers , the golden arrow with high compression heads was my favorite. Rob, why have you just changed into a lame duck?
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Motobi Catria 1957 175cc four stroke. My other bike. This was designed by one of the Benelli brothers after he had a row with the family and went off and starter Motobi as a rival to Benelli. Note the famous EGG engine slung low in the frame for great cornering! This arrangment with horizontal barrel and pressed steel frame was said to be what influenced Honda with thier bikes in the sixties. They also made a scooter also called Catria and a three wheeler!
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Re: NACC web site
I agree with Dan that the internecine struggle within the NACC did little to help matters but
we seem to have turned a corner with the launch of the new Club web site.
Check out www.thebuzzingclub.co.uk and you'll see what I mean. New features and updates
are added regularly. Well worth a visit!
Regards
Nick D.
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And following my own advice I looked at the NACC site just now and
discovered that the web site for the Quickly spares man is in fact:
www.nsuquicklyspares.co.uk
Nick D.
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I found this site:
http://www.autocycle.freeserve.co.uk/nacc.html
very helpful in informing me of what went on,as my membership lapsed at the beginning of all the problems.
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I read that link Dan, what a carry on! How can such tiny motors have spawned such big troubles! It makes any squabbles we have hear at RUM pale into insignificance!
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At the risk of inflaming anyone, the taste in bikes here is surprisingly conventional. My (former) Quasar:
(http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k115/angibb/quasar-s.jpg)
There is a nearly-RUMCar link as the engine, gearbox and final drive of the Quasar were Reliant bits. There are some more photos on my Quasar page (http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ff/quasar0.html), and some of a bare Quasar on the Quasar World (http://www.quasarworld.com/index.htm).
The Quasar got me started on 'feet forward' bikes (the intelligent way to design a bike) and that led to a recent project to make a feet forward from a standard Yamaha scooter, the ComforTmax (http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/tmax/tmax00.htm):
(http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/tmax/tmax301.JPG)
Andrew
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You weirdos will probably like this little gem then...
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/groovydubber/puchmaxitrike.jpg)
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you are correct ;D
my Ariel is in for Mot tomorrow,if it passes i will put some pics up!
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Good luck with the Ariel 3 MoT, Dan. I've got the manual and
handbook for it if you'd like a copy.
Love that Puch 3-wheeler, it looks like a very professional job and
reminds me of a Mobylette I saw at a microcar rally which had a
similar conversion so perhaps it was commercially available. If my
scanner is cooperating next time I get my old photos out I'll put
a copy up for you to marvel at.
I contacted the owner of the Mobylette trike recently. He still has
it - albeit in pieces - and doesn't want to sell it yet but I'll keep him
in mind and hopefully one day it will grace the Devonport Collection
of Crap and Classics!
Nick D.
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Sorry, dont like any of em! Its conventonal bikes for me!
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My Ariel is a big,beefy,fire breathing Red Hunter 500 single! would like a 3 though for a bit of fun.
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Lets see some pictures Dan.
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Just for you,im going to go to the shed and get a quick pic!
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Here you go,my Ariel ready for its mot:
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Rodd/HPIM0434.jpg)
And a pic of my 36 Francis Barnett next to my old Scott
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Rodd/HPIM0316.jpg)
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Very nice Dan! I have just been looking at one on ebay. Love the scott as well. Cant say I like the Franny B but its certainly different. Pardon me for noseing around your workshop but is that a model steam engine you have under the canopy driving various miniture machines?
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yes your right,i only bought it a few weeks ago,always wanted one,and wanted something steam to have running in the shed.
Good news,the Ariel passed with flying colours this morning,all i have to do is go to the dvla office and tax it,its been off the road that long that the logbook has not licenced,and i need it to say historic vehicle!
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Well done Dan, we all know what you will be doing now over the hols, thats if you dont mind riding in the cold! I would be interested to know how riding the Ariel compares with your Beeza.
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Compared with a BSA an Ariel is like riding a 2 yr old bike,they are so well made and much better designed,makes a BSA look very tinny and cheap! :)
I am an all weather rider,this came from having no choice for several yrs,including a fun trip to work on a Honda C90 in very deep snow!
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(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/groovydubber/2480.jpg)
Hi Bob,
Beautiful Italian bikes you have there.
May I introduce you to Elvish?
Col
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Hi Col. Handlebars to die for, never seen anything like it! Do you have a photo showing the whole thing? Regards, Bob
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Handlebars are the craziest I've ever come across. Dresch did make a vaguely similar set prewar. They do bounce a bit as you ride; takes getting used to.
Also, you don't need a clutch when revs are low: which is fortunate as the clutch is on the right by the throttle so is just about impossible to use.
I thought you might be interested because it's an Italian Cucciolo engine.
Elvish was a French bicycle manufacturer; in the early fifties they were one of the companies licensed to fit them to their frames by Rocher (who assembled and distributed Cucciolo engines in France).
The thing that particularly interests me about this cyclemotor is that it was built as a rich person's moped. These days, we usually think of mopeds as 2nd best to motorcycles, bought by folks who can't afford a proper m/cycle. But limited-production hand-crafted machines like this cost way more than a m/cycle or scooter.
The integral tank pre-dates the moped styling of 1954/1955 by a year or two.
2-speed gearbox - car-style hand change lever to the right of the tank.
The best bit is the noise it makes ...sounds 'real' if you know what I mean, 'cos it's a 4-stroke.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/groovydubber/elvish.jpg)
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Thats interesting Col. A cross between the balmy and the beautifull, love the finning on the engine casings, so Italian.
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Have a look at ebay usa 120197589304. An immaculate one of these attended the first micromaniacs rally at market rasen racecourse 3 or 4 years ago ,The 'wings' with the stabiliser wheels lift above the ground when the speed roses above about 35 .This one was painted red with roundels like the red arrows.
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Thanks for all the comments on this thread but now its up to page three and its not even about microcars I feel a little guilty for starting it. Lets wind this one up now and start some new microcar topics. Thanks all, Bob
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Oh, come on, Triporteur - don't tease us like this! Let's see
a full shot of Elvish!
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Hope you like full picture. Geoff and I recently completed its mechanical restoration, and now it runs great and I've MOT'd it. it Just got to get it dated and registered. I'll have it up at the Bat and Ball on 24th February for its debut.
I'm sure you'll be there, Nick. But I think it's about time we got Rob out on a run on one of his beauties. Stop messing around with that old Gordon, Rob, and get that bloody Moby finished :) I could pick you up at 9-30 if you want to nip up there together?
I've noticed quite a few forum members list cyclemotors, mopeds and lightweights among the oddities at the bottom of their posts:
So if anyone else reasonably local to us is interested in this VMCC cyclemotor run, it's at the Bat and Ball, Wisborough Green, Sussex, 10-30am start (RH14 0EH in satnav language)
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Are my 175's too big for such an event?
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I wonder how many of us got into 3-wheelers through motorcycles?
My 1st car was a Bond Bug, in 1974, because I only had a m/cycle licence and as a result I could carry passengers in it and we didn't get wet when it rained. Eventually I took my car test in it, and a few years later, after my first child, had to sell it and get a 'real' car as it only had one passenger seat.
I knew a lot of bikers in those days who wouldn't drive a car on principle, but did also own a Reliant 3-wheeler for transporting the family. One pal decided to try 4 wheels and bought a Reliant Rebel, though sold it soon afterwards as it wasn't very well-built.
Do you think there's more affinity between 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers because both were aimed at the economy end of the motoring public?
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Hello Burford! (page 1) sorry for delay, thanks for the spares advice...that's the fellow they bought it from, and the fact that spares are available from him decided the issue.
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Hi Triporteur
Thanks for the heads-up about the Bat & Ball run. I was there a couple of years
ago on my Garelli Velomosquito, since sold on.
Feb 24th this year, I'm already committed (and not before time, some would say!)
to an autojumble in France, just up the coast from Calais in Audruicq, looking for
parts for my Arola and who knows, maybe yet another French moped.
Just love that Elvish, surelythe Cucciolo (Italian for Little Pup) is one of the best cycle
attachments of the period. Marvellous engineering and they don't half fly!
Regards
Nick D.
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I will ask again. Is the Bat and Ball event for autocycles only?
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Nick - Yes it
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Thanks Col. I will leave that one to the Buzz brigade, it sounds like fun though!.
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Someone mentioned that our taste in bikes was a little authadox, how about this one for an oddball, anyone know what it is? Oh pants! The caption gives it away!
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Great looking machine Bob.
A while back there was this Heathkit scooter on ebay, though I can't for the life of me find any info on it, maybe a rarity.http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1947-HEATHKIT-SCOOTER-FOR-RESTORATION-L-K_W0QQitemZ320167506108QQihZ011QQcategoryZ9939QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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What a strange thing Blob. Its very crudely made, I wonder if its a home made one off.
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I guess you're right Bob, I simply love it's naivety.
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I've got a similar scooter, if you want one Blob!
I bought it because it looked very similar to the WW2 Cushman made for American forces in Europe. It has a Briggs and Stratton engine. I got it in France.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/groovydubber/cushman2.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/groovydubber/cushman5.jpg)
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Unfortunatly theres no room in the inn for this one Collin, though had it been a Cushman I'm sure I'd find a space. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cushman-Step-Thru-1948-Scooter_W0QQitemZ190185283119QQihZ009QQcategoryZ6722QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem