The Coddenham moped run

[Bob Purton]

Fun and frolics at the moped run today. I was delighted to see our very own Barry in attendance on his very tidy Rayleigh runabout this morning. I seemed that the RUMCARS contingent on the run today had not let the side down as we all made it to the pub for lunch which was about 95% around the course but things were not as they seemed were they Barry! I will leave you to tell your amusing story about following the cyclemotor rider!
It gets worse, after a nice pub lunch I returned to the Guzzino for the last three miles of the run back to base and I couldn't get it to start, myself and yet another red runabout had to be rescued by the sweeper van, oh the shame of it! I have since discovered that my points had closed up so an easy fix anyway.  A great ride though never the less!

[Basket case]

RM1 engine stripped today. 2 broken rings and wobbly main bearings but nothing too horrendous. Nice to find an 'oldie' that hasn't been butchered. Mark Daniels has been a great help.

[Basket case]

http://www.mopedland.ukfsn.org/spares.html

[Barry]

Yes a great ride-out Bob.  How many mopeds? more than 50 for sure.
Lovely quiet lanes with nothing but the mud on the road to trouble us.

My Runabouts first ride out since 1980 having passed it's MOT on Thursday.
I knew it was a bit slow but could manage 30mph on the flat.  It did feel a bit 'soft' and not eager to rev.
It soon became evident that it was not happy going up-hill, especially with 16 stones on board.  My first runabout at the age of 16 in 1974 seemed a bit quicker - Had I put on some weight since then?

I soon slipped to the back of the pack, winding along the country roads.  I was keeping up with a cyclemotor but we were loosing the pack.  i lost sight of the last helmet but continued to follow the cyclemotor with confidence until we reached a junction.  Decision time, where did the pack go.  I asked the old gent on the cyclemotor ' which way now'?'.  He replied 'I don't know,  I am on my way home'.  Damn.
With no chance of catching the others, I wandered round some lovely muddy roads back to a route that I knew would take me to the final destination (pedaling with enthusiasm as my machine slowed down on each incline) and met Bob and the others not too long after they had arrived.  Just the odd misfire from time to time to keep my blood pumping round.

My quick snaps do not do the event justice.

Not too bad for a first trip with no prior adjustments to the Runabout.  Points, timing, plug and compression to be sorted I think. (big-bore kit, 25mm carb Expansion chamber -  no, no, no.)

A really great bunch of enthusiasts from all walks of life with such a variety of different machines.   I had to make my way back early but loved every minute of it.
Sorry to hear that the Guzzino caught a cold on this ride Bob, it is a truly wonderful machine.

http://www.icenicam.ukfsn.org/eventsi/131117.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40103650@N04/sets/72157637768767254/

[Bob Purton]

My Guzzino problem turned out to be more complex than closed up points, it still has an intermittent spark, going to try a new condenser next. I just hope it isn't the coil as that could be a problem!

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Bob and Barry

I hear that 4 moped riders robbed the Prada shop in Mayfair and got away with some very expensive handbags. One of them crashed whilst escaping (hit a lamp post). It has been suggested that the Coddenham Run was the cover for a trial run.

Is there something you should be telling us? and what price will they be sold at  to finance you collections?

Chris Thomas

[Rob Dobie]

I think the robbers were on what we oldies called scooters.

Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals (the source of the term, motor + pedal), but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their restricted engine displacement, speed, and/or power output. Mopeds occasionally resemble powered bicycles, but most are now step-through designs (of both kinds, having either large or small wheels) and step-over designs similar to a regular motorcycle. Although mopeds usually have two wheels some low-powered three or four-wheeled vehicles are also classified as mopeds.

[Bob Purton]

Dear Bob and Barry

I hear that 4 moped riders robbed the Prada shop in Mayfair and got away with some very expensive handbags. One of them crashed whilst escaping (hit a lamp post). It has been suggested that the Coddenham Run was the cover for a trial run.

Is there something you should be telling us? and what price will they be sold at  to finance you collections?

Chris Thomas

Not guilty me lud!  I cant speak for Barry but my bike hasn't run since the pub meal last Sunday lunch time! I'm at my wits end trying to figure out why it wont run, I have a spark, I have fuel but no bang! 

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Bob

Barry has gone suspiciously quiet .

Chris Thomas

[Bob Purton]

well now we know what funds his collection.  It also explains why Leslie is never short of nice handbags!

[AndrewG]

Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals (the source of the term, motor + pedal), but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their restricted engine displacement, speed, and/or power output.

And of course then there were those strange hybrids when I was a kid, like the Yamaha Fizzie (FS1E) that had bicycle-type pedals that could be disconnected from each other and locked in a fixed position to make motorcycle-type footrests - very much in the spirit of having an electric reverse ignition circuit and no reverse gear.

[Barry]

Dear Bob

Barry has gone suspiciously quiet .

Chris Thomas

That's because I am still on my way back from Mayfair.  I left the Coddenham run and did the job (great alibi).  Down hill to London so a good 30mph all the way.  All pedals on the way back though!

[Rob Dobie]

All this moped talk has got me going back to my semi-childhood, some say I'm like a kid nowadays!

1961, first moped, new Paloma Paris, on tick aged 16. Mate with a crush on a pretty girl from Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, Kent. I towed him from Polegate, Sussex on his cycle with the Paloma over 80 miles there and back to see her again. Fancied her myself really.

1963. 2nd moped, new NSU Quickly F. Wanted to run it in so rode with a mate from Polegate to my Aunt's place in Southampton. A round trip of over 180 miles in a day via the coast, not much traffic in those days. 

 

[Barry]

Well Rob, If only there was a 'Like' button on the forum (Facebook style).  I would definitely give you a Like.

[Rob Dobie]

Cor! Thank you Barry. Someone likes me!
Just found an old monochrome photo of the Paloma taken on a Brownie box camera in '61-62. It was a bright red colour.