this VèloSolex 3800 Moped was given to me last summer from a subscriber that found this machine in the back of a damp garage, in part one we were able to get the engine to run, now lets see about getting the rest to work.
Happy Easter to you. I enjoy your videos very much. I was wondering what model your lift is? I'd like to get one like it for working on golf carts and such
That is so awesome. These types of memories are precious, especially if it with some she truly loved and cared about. John here, from the back-roads of Northeastern Tennessee.
@@robinredman5192 When I pulled it out of that garage I knew I would never work on it but I thought it would be great for a Mustie1 rehab. I was right!
A 3800 Solex !? Yesterday afternoon I took mine - 1968 - for a drive ! It is the two-wheeled equivalent of the Citroën 2CV. Less is more. A concentrate of simplicity and intelligence. The first “VéloSolex prototype” rolled in December 1940. The first VéloSoleX was marketed in 1946. Since then, seven million copies have been sold in France and abroad. Thank you Mustie !
Nothing gets this guy down. His attitude is fantastic. When it goes pear shaped, he just laughs it off. A lovely guy with positive attitude. 👍👍👍👍👍👍😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
hi guys ! hi mustie ! i'm a french crazy fan of there solex moped ! and i can tell you it's soo fun to drive ! just little tips ! it's have a centrifugal cluche so if you stop in idle and you let the engin on the tire it will not burn it ! you just pull the engin up went you want to park it or ride like a regular bicycle ! went you have a stop, just pull the front brake ....have a great ride !
....and you can't use a "regular" bicycle tire. I learned the hard way. As soon as I dropped the engine on it, the engine chewed through the tire like a high speed Dremel tool, just before it busted the inner tube. lol
In 62 or 63 while in the Military I was in Cannes France and saw a young beauty driving a bike like that and must’ve locked it in my memory because as soon as I saw that bike I remembered that moment in time 😊
a Velo Solex 3800s was my first touch to engines i fixed it up in my teens and was playing with it for weeks. musti you get the startup wrong. you are supposted to cycle it normal up to speed, then pull decompression, drop the engine and let go the decompression... there you go, for at least half an hour until the 1.25Ltr of fuel are gone. if you "plan" on stopping, you idle the engine. pull it up into the hook and decompress it... emergency braking is just pull both levers and use the rearbrake, it stops quiet good engine operation was never ment to be used in the city, ist made for long range strait. you have to keep in mind that this thing is a poor mans transportation from an area where the war has left not much to work with ;)
Back in the mid-70s, I had a friend who was really deep into modifying the many 2-stroke motorcycles of the day. Moving the ports, polishing them, bigger bores and carbs. You name ... they went fast. He was given a Puch moped in trade for...whatever...and had no interest in it. I got to fooling with it and had to pull the piston because of stuck rings. He helped with the rings and went down the rabbit hole. We fiddled with it, and it kept getting faster. One day I decided to ride up the road by his house to stretch it out. About 2 miles round trip. The speedo went to 40mph. It was pegged. I wanted to let him see how fast it was, so I stayed in the gas past his house. US Route 41, the main north/south road in southwest Florida, was about 200 yards down. About 150 yards, the brakes faded completely out, and I zipped across at about 20mph. Now, 41 was busy between Fort Myers and Naples. It was also pretty cool, which meant winter and snowbirds (northerners going south for the winter) rushing to get as far south as possible. I'm lucky to be alive. The speed limit was still 60-65mph so how I found a gap through is a miracle. We parked that thing, and I never rode it again. How did we ever survive our childhoods? LOL! Cheers Terry
Throttle reversal makes sense. For long cruises around those Gallic lanes, with a string of onions around the neck, you can let go of the handle bar throttle so you can smoke a Gaulloise or Camel cigarette, using the left hand for gentle braking via the rear wheel, and when do need to brake to a complete stop it slows the throttle to idle too. Makes perfect sense.
Darren, I have been thinking of you off and on all week. My prayers are with you and hope all is well. God bless you sir. John here, from the back-roads of Northeastern Tennessee.
Hi Mustie. That wire with the tang goes underneath the copper part on the headlight cover. I've got a S2200 and a S3800 both go out for a ride just about three to five times a month. Being Easter Sunday my brother in law and me went for a ride after lunch for a couple of hours. They are an absolute fun time to be on out and about. Hello from Portugal.
A 1967 dime. Back then I was a boy of 9 nine years.Yes, I remember seeing those Solex mopeds in Europe where we lived for a year in the 1960s. I remember thinking, "Why did they put the engine on the front wheel? Everyone knows they're supposed to be driven by the rear wheel!" Now, I think that moped just exudes French eccentricity like a Citroen 2CV. You did an excellent job of getting it running and it was a great video to watch. Merci beaucoup!
My dad had 3 of these all in your condition, he never knew it but I fixed one to run and drive while he was out of town, I was 15 at the time. I am now 45 lol, you sure brought back some very fun memories!!! They are not very fast, they are heavy and they do not jump well!!!!
Lol, sat here watching Mustie1 's latest offering and me and my wife are arguing like two feral cats about this French product. Me a Brit and her French. The only thing we can agree on, is when she says "It's France Francine". Glad to see ya back Mustie.
Welcome to the Solix club! I had one back in the 90's. It was given to me as it didn't run. I had fun with it, as did my daughters. They were upset when I sold it. It was one of my many projects back then. I mostly restored old snowmobiles back then.
As soon as I saw the one footrest I thought that it's not unusual on the continent to have a girl-child sit side saddle on the rear of motorbikes so one rest was all they needed. Plus the grab handle, of course. Loving your work and looking forward to more small-engine vids.
Solex made a few motorised bicycles all using the same engine, the throttle is designed to go backwards to stop cramp in your hand by holding the lever in. Later models incorporated the front brake into the throttle lever plus the decompression valve all in one. You are lucky in the USA that ou can ride one of these completely free of charge, here in the UK it is a motorised bicycle (moped) hence you need to pay road tax have it, insured and pass a MOT test,(ministry of transport, Road safety check)
it probably varies by state but here you need to register(cheap sticker) it and have a permit(14-15yr old i think ) or drivers license(16+). Likely get away without it as long as you dont attract attention to yourself.
thankfully the MOT on a solex is quite lenient, many solex's will be MOT and tax exempt being over 40 years old. the insurance on a historic moped like that is going to be pretty cheap.
Thanks for another good one Mr. Mustie! That's quite a ride ya got there! Great job on getting this thing going! Always a great start to Sunday morning! Glad you're back - I think we all missed ya last week!
It’s even got the “big” motor they also made a 2800 eg 28cc 🤘 There were millions of them made, I think I had 5 or 7 of them ❤ simple and a joy to ride in a city, the motor just runs and runs
Helo Mustie & Brian Happy Easter. I rode a buddies solex back in the day. Unfortunately the engine pretty much finished so keeping it running the real challenge. You get used to the front brake / throttle very quickly. Just squeeze normally to stop and let go to start. As you mentioned there not speed deamons just meant for cheep transportation and help with steeper hills. There a lot of fun for kids and practical as a touring bike if your not in a hurry. Think of it as a 1940's prelude to the EBike.
Hi guy. Really good to see a French bicycle solex on your work table. I'm French and I follow your channel whenever possible. I love it when you work on a VW engine, I have one in my 1600 i trike. A great pleasure to see you in your garage. THANKS.
Love seeing you bring a neglected machine back to proper stature, they can't thank you, but if they could, I'm sure they would 🙂 Looks like there was a tang that held the spade connection of that one wire on that housing.
oh today is the day if you live in New Jersey (south at least) to go out on the vintage moped.. it's going to be 62 and sunny, rain all the rest of the week. What a joy!!
23:15 - I like how the throttle lever is reversed like that. On a long trip your hand wouldn't get tired like cruise control. If you have to stop more than a moment turn off the moped. I love this thing!
I got the year of the dime correct. I guessed "67 because that was my first trip to France where there were thousands of Solex bikes whizzing around. This brought lots of great memories back. You did a great job saving this one Darren.
These are/were pretty popular in the Netherlands, there are solex clubs holding annual races on them in period correct clothing (long leather jackets etc) Just very basic engineering on a normal bicycle which holds out for a pretty long time. I wasn't too fond of them because they were too slow for me when I was around 15 or 16 years old in the 80's. I had a couple of Puch mopeds which were solid and very easy to work on and being modified. Thanks for sharing bringing this back to useable condition
Hi D. Holes and balls. Priceless!!!! Great video as always! That’s a really cool moped/bike. Love seeing you fix old things and breathe new life into them!! Thanks again for bringing us along for the ride!!
In the mid 50s i purchased a German made Zundapp two gear 49cc moped when i was a teen. It had a top speed of 35/40 mph and was a great means of transport for a young man in New Zealand. There was another model a friend owned at the time called a Puch also German made, Jim loved it. Bob.(83) Veteran.
Welcome back. Neat bike. I guess the reverse throttle makes sense if you think of it like a bicycle instead of a motorcycle. Someone who's used to a bike would pull the brakes to stop -- wouldn't want to add throttle to the engine in that case.
That dime could be made of Silver? Could be worth a gallon of gas. They way it should be. You inspired me to fix my bike that has been sitting for months.
I used to have one of these back in my youth and I had a lot of fun when I moved to a brand new apartment building, so the garage was empty and I enjoyed it a lot. I was not allowed to ride it on the street. It brings me a good memory. thanks
I had a solex motor bike when I was 10 or 11 had a blast riding it all over the neighborhood that was 50 years ago but I'll never forget that awesome bike
Blimey that brings back memories once in France as a teen. No helmet, open unused country road between villages of an evening.. they’re great little things, you done good with it mr M👍😀
Awesome content as always and it's always cool as you work on and bring back these old bikes...has to take you back to your childhood for sure. Appreciate you sharing your amazing project with us 😎👨🔧🛠️🇺🇸😇
