I know someone whose first bike was an Ariel Arrow. I was following him one day and he turned off onto the M4 so I followed. He ran out of fuel. I asked "Why did you turn onto the motorway?" "Don't they have service stations every few miles?" Er...no. While we were putting fuel in his tank via the rubber boot method (his) - fortunately he had some two stroke oil - the police arrived and I expected trouble. But they were extremely nice and saw us safely back on the road. I insisted on going in front - very wisely as he laid down enough smoke to conceal a WW2 battlecruiser. The 1960s were in some ways a great time.
Great story! I recall the rozzers actually being quite helpful to bikers back in the day. Not if they caught you speeding, of course, but generally they’d be on your side if you were in a spot of bother. I remember a couple of occasions when they backed me up against car drivers who had ploughed into me, who were arguing it was my fault. Nowadays you’d be lucky to get anyone to attend if you were knocked off your bike. 👍🏍️
@@3Phils In those days a lot of police had bikes. I was once stopped somewhere in East Anglia when a police car arrived in front of me. What was I doing? He came over and asked "Where do you get spares for your Velo?" "Geoff Dodkin, East Sheen." "Thanks, mate" and he was off.
My first bike was a Suzuki TS 125 m reg 1974, i bought it of my brother at the age of 14,. He helped me learn to ride down the back lanes and on a disused WW2 Airfield, happy days 🙂 Cheers Jason
Happy days indeed! We had an airfield near us too, but there were RAF Phantoms taking off and landing at the time, so it would have been a bit tricky to practice our bike skills on. 🤣 Thanks for sharing. 😊👍🏍️
1970 Kawasaki G3TR. Bought it brand new at Korcan Kawaski in Vancouver British Columbia. Great little street/trail bike, a ton of fun. 90cc two cycle rotary valve. 5 speed oil injection. Really miss it. Never been without at least one running bike since.
My Dad took part of his commission ( real Estate) 1953 MG and a 1968 Bultaco 125. I was ten and my Brother 12. O ya he was always hogging the bike but many times I got home first and was able to push the bike to a small hill on the property to start the wild beast. See no brakes that worked well but a Jake brake. What a wild ride with so much power for a 80 pound kid
My first bike was a 1979 CZ 250-471.4 Deluxe, in 1980. It had 4,500 miles on the clock, when I bought it (cash) from Ken Blake's ETNA Motorcycles dealership. I still own the bike and it now has clocked up just over 80,000 miles. Its toured the west coast of France, in 1991. Its been all over England and Wales. A few of issues with 1970's CZ's is that the gearbox driven speedometer is calibrated to be accurate at 30 MPH, so it over reads the actual speed below 30 MPH and under reads actual speed, with an alarming -10% error, above 30 MPH. This means that an indicated 60 MPH is actually 65-66 MPH. The other issue is the headlight beam. It spreads the light so wide that it doesn't really illuminate anything more than 200 yards ahead, on country lanes. With a Lucas bulb installed, as was what was in my bike when I bought it, the headlight was next to useless. This changed, after I installed a non-Lucas headlight bulb, which meant that the headlight was bright enough to light up the cat's eyes in the road (something the Lucas bulb wasn't able to do!!). Another issues is the lack of a much needed 5 speed gearbox, as it is very easy to redline the bike it 4th (top) gear. The CZ 250-471.4 Deluxe was the slower (76 MPH top speed) version of the faster CZ 250-471.3 Sport (85 MPH top speed). However, it could manage 76 miles per gallon, due to a more restrictive air intake silencer system and a smaller main jet. I removed all this crap on mine, installed a K&N filter and a bigger main jet. I also changed the 15 tooth gearbox sprocket to a 17 tooth item, because most owners, in the know, did this to solve the over revving in 4th gear issue and allowed a much better cruising speed. On the plus side, two neutrals in the gearbox, one between 1st & 2nd gear, with the other between 3rd & 4th gear (the latter for coasting down long hills whilst idling the engine). Self lubricating secondary drive chain via a gearbox total loss system. The semi-automatic foot clutch action, when changing gear or waiting at the lights or when the clutch cable breaks on a Sunday ride out, miles from home. The extensive high quality tool kit. The simplicity, sturdiness and ease of servicing & repairs.
Brilliant clip! Biker for 57+yrs, my first was a Solex motor, welded on my push step, aged 10. No brakes, sitting on the plank between the 12"front and rear wheel of you go. Stopping only by pulling the sparkplug wire...untill i did it uncarefully, i thought my armpit exploded! Today still on my Velo MMS, enjoying my prewar ones and still restoring them. Once infected with the petrol bug... my den is my weapon to get very old with my bikes as liberators! Great channel!
Thank you for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it! 😊 The things we used to do to get out and about on two wheels, eh? And as long as we’ve got bikes in our sheds, we’ll keep on going! 👍🏍️
First motorcycle was a Honda mini trial 50(with a 90cc jug and head). First street bike was a Kawasaki KZ.400. I was 13 and had to hide it in the woods. Mom did not play around.😂
Glad to hear you got away with it! I started at 14 on the Mobylette, riding it around our suburban back garden and up the alley by the side of the house. My dad, who was a keen gardener, wasn’t too happy, and our neighbour went beserk!
Ha!...... there you go again 1/3 Phil 🤗 Outdoing yourself. My Bridgestone 90 NEVER looked that good. But around that time, they also had a sweet looking 350 twin....I lusted after. (didn't we always lust after what we couldnt afford?) After my trials and tribulations with that POS 90, I swore I would never own a 2 Stroke again. And I have kept my promise. Although.....I did 'babysit' a friends Kawi Mach 4 750 for a few months whilst he was away on deployment. so that doesnt count. 🤞 Thank you for another outstanding video, and especially the effort!
I saw those 350 Bridgestone twins when I was researching the video, they did look sweet! The one in the Kaplan video I used a clip of does look lovely, but if you zoom in you can see it’s had a not-too-great paint job, it’s gone a bit orange peel. 🍊Thanks as always for the kind words and hope all’s well across the pond! 🏍️👍🇺🇸
With 49 motorbikes and 26 50cc and scooters I fall in the group that's being riding a long time. My rarest must be the Jawa 90cc scrambler followed by a JLO (can't remember model), NSU Fox 90 and a 50cc Moto Guzzi. Great review and maybe you and Banditmanuk present a list of past bikes.
Thank you! And thank you for contributing to the video. 😊 I’m nowhere near you when it comes to totting up my past bikes, my lifetime tally is currently a paltry 20. I’d love to sit down with Banditmanuk and compare notes, I think we’d have a rare old time!
I bought a used Steen for about 280.00 in 1972.Hadaka Ace 100 motor and leading link forks.That bike ripped!It never had any major problems other than breaking the frame,forks and swingarm 13 different times.I believe the Steens were built in S. California along side the Taco minibikes.Best of times for this lifelong motorcycle addict.Thanks for the video.
That’s another make I was unaware of, so thank you for introducing me to Steen! 😊 I’ll do a bit of research. Sounds as if their welding skills weren’t quite up to snuff. 😱 Glad you enjoyed the video. 👍🏍️
Yes, thank you for contributing! 😊 Henry Cole has been on my mind since your video of Allen Millyard at the NMC. I often get mistaken for him… which is annoying! For Henry Cole, I mean. 🤣
Ah, the Purple People Eater, as we used to call those! Yes, I’m going to fire up one of the bikes and take a wobble over to the Dover museum. I can’t believe I never heard of it before.
I remember they weren’t exactly rocket ships! The doctor’s son at my school had one, perhaps his Dad knew something about speed v seriousness of injuries?!
YZ 80E , it was a demon....The first time hitting power band, what a rush😀 The second rush was being chased by authorities down the local rivers and creeks 😁 Good Times🥲
1975 Motobecane X7s in 1979. Called the cheese machine because of the front to back yellow side panels. Had 10” cast wheels & chopper style handlebars. Still got one now, great fun.
My first motorised transport was a Raleigh RM6 Runabout.... pretty much a rebadged Moblylette. Bought for £25 from a guy at school in 1975, it took me to school, work and out with mates for just over twelve months and was still going strong when sold. It was replaced with a ten year old 250 Royal Enfield Crusader, tarted up to look like a GT Continental, but without the bother of that five speed gearbox.
To be fair on my first bike, the Mobylette, it had seen quite a lot of action in its long life. Also it had been used as something to practice wrenching on by my mates, who were a year or two older than me, after they graduated from lawnmowers and before they moved on to Lambrettas.
I grew up on a farm in Australia and our first bike was a home made minibike that my uncle made. It was powered by a 2 stroke Victa lawn mower engine. No gearbox, just a direct chain drive from the crank to the rear wheel. Needless to say that safety wasn't at the forefront of our thinking. 😉
I envy blokes who grew up on farms in Australia, all I had was a small back garden in a shabby seaside town on the south coast of England. 😢 We also mucked around with lawnmower engines to begin with, but never put one in a bike. I must say, though, that while I was editing the video together it did occur to me that the Mobylette sounded very like the Atco lawnmowers we used to have!
Haha. Had a Honda MT50, which lasted about three months, before getting another Honda MT50. Hours of fun pulling apart and putting back together, rarely any better than it had started 😂 Another lad at school had the much less often seen Honda MB50, which was essentially the same thing made to look a bit more like a sports bike, than a trials bike. Fantastic times 😀
Im proud to be a Norman, i even worked on them in my yoof so it shows how old i am. My first ride was a BSA sunbeam scooter of 250cc calibre which didnt last long ( what do you expect for a fiver) but graduated on to a lovely Honda cd175 grey elephant in 1968.
I got my first motorcycle at age 10. It was a ratty 100cc Bultaco dirt bike. I lived out in the country on a farm and had a place to ride it. The local farm mechanic helped me learn how to work on it. My first street legal motorbike was a brand new Peugeot 103 50cc pedal moped at age 16 in 1975, followed by a 1972 Suzuki GT380 about a year later. My first new motorcycle was a 1980 Suzuki GS450L at age 21. I have since owned over 40 bikes, including Harleys, large Japanese cruisers, and Goldwings. Also had a few dual sports and scooters in the mix.
10 is pretty young to start. How brilliant to have some acreage to hone your riding skills on! 👍 My story is pretty similar. A lifetime of adventures and fun on two wheels, nothing can beat it! 👍🏍️
My first bike back in Nov.76 was a Benelli 250 2c. I still remember getting it in South Australia and having to visit my mate's grandmother's Italian boyfriend so he could decipher the manual for me.
In 1968 I bought a BSA 250 cc that had been part exchanged by someone against a new bike and the dealer just wanted rid sold to me for £10 it cost me the price of a new battery and a few ball bearings to get it through the MOT .So on turning 16 a few months later I hit the road at a cost £8 insurance for a leaner rider .Whilst £20 pounds was a lot of money and the paper round paid 18 shillings it was money well saved
Back in the day, in the uk , you could ride anything up to 250cc on a provisional licence . My first bike was a Kawasaki KH250 , bought new in ‘78 . Great little bike. Happy days.
I didn't see the earlier episode but my first bike in the early 1960's was a Moto Beta 48cc motorcycle. It cost $110 US dollars. Came in a crate and Dad had to assemble it. The Magnet Marvel plug that came with it was defective and it wouldn't start. We put an AC Delco plug [we had laying around from a car] in it and it ran fine.
Italian electrics, eh? There hasn’t actually been an earlier episode, I merely put out a text post and asked for contributions. That said, I’ve had so many more contributions in the comments to this video, I am going to have to make a Part Two! 👍🏍️
Fantic TI which lunched its motor on every ride, then a Puch VZ 50 sport which I owned twice, several Vespas and lambrettas when I turned 17 passed my test on Jawa CZ 250 twin, then went bananas for 48 years with a myriad of bikes including my favourites Buells and Ducatis, loved every minute of it downsized to a Re classic 350 and my old Vespa PX 😂
Not dissimilar to my own history, I’ve certainly dallied with Lambrettas and always wanted a Duke or a Buell, but have ended up with a slightly different V twin, an Indian FTR. But currently searching for something a bit more laid back, like a Honda Cub! 🤣 This Friday’s video is all about my motorcycling history, available from 1200GMT. 😊👍🏍️
The first motorised bicycle I ever rode was a Raleigh Runabout in the woods. Owned by my father who explained to me how a centrifugal clutch works back when fathers did that sort of thing. First road bike I owned was a restricted Yamaha DT 50 MX which after accelerating to 30mph left me in a world of disappointment. But hey, I was on the road L plates an’ all!
I had a couple of different Mobylettes. One of which I managed to make run backwards. Had one stall out in the Dartford tunnel. Wet electrics, on the driest part of the journey. Who knew? Then a brand new YB100. (1976?) Finally a Honda 400 four.
I would have liked my Mobylette to have gone on a bit longer tbh. I also graduated to a 400/4, had two in succession in fact, I liked them so much, via a Lambretta GP200 and a CB250. Happy days! 👍🏍️
@@3Phils I cannot remember what happened to either of mine. I also had 2 400-fours, both got wrecked. Somewhere in there I had a CB200, then a CX500, and after spending a few months in Canada, when I came back had a couple of CB250RS, company bikes, which meant they lived a very hard life, including a trip across France fully loaded at 85-90mph. Turns out if you don't check things EVERY fill up, at that speed, you can run out of oil. "Why is the dipstick dry? Why is smoke coming out?"
France seems like a long haul for a 250. Maybe not, I remember doing a camping trip from the far east of Kent to the far west of Cornwall on my CB250 and not thinking anything of it.
I worked for a Suzuki dealer starting in 1967 and we operated a fleet of B100, 118cc singles that had oil injection at the time. We also sold many, they were easy to ride and very tractable.
I’m looking for something a bit lighter for nipping around town. Those 125s would be perfect but as you say, they’re going to have been messed about with.
Oh mate, mine was a step through Mobylette like yours, in beige 😂 Dad got it for a fiver in 1972, and it came with petrol vouchers (think it was the Yom Kippur war), issued with all vehicles - but never required. I rode that round the lawn to 77 when I was 16, and then had an AP50. Mmmmuch prettier than a Fizzy in my opinion. Moved house 3 years ago, and found my book of petrol vouchers. Honest, I was chuffed to bits 🤓🤪
My Moby was blue! And I also rode it around the garden for two years until I was 16! Surprised I was allowed to do that, Dad was a keen gardener. 🏡🤣 I was such a mindless supporter of the failing British motorcycle industry back then that I then patriotically and stupidly bought the NVT Easy Rider, instead of one of the much better and more popular Japanese 50cc machines. What an idiot! And I’ve been doing it ever since! 😂
@ Mate, honestly, I remember me and Dad walking home with my Mobylette from the shop where it had been declared scrap. 4 miles from Scunthorpe to our village. It had a pull up, push down petcock on top of the tank behind the seat, and when we got down our tiny country lanes, I got it going and “shot off”. Dad panicked, and I can still hear him shouting “Pauuuuulll…….stoppppppp” which I did. He was also a keen gardener, and my circuit was round the house, lawn and garden. I wore the grass out completely. I think we replaced the engine once, but I had so much fun on that Mobylette. I have been trying to find one like mine - but they are so rare. I also only have Japs now, plus two Ducatis. Honda man to the core TBH. Love the channel mate. Like you said - we are all the same age, give a year or two. Great memories, but what happens when we’re gone ?. Motorbikes are dying out. Breaks my heart really. Honestly, I know a guy who sends his kids out to play as a punishment 😳. I used to hide when my Mum came to call me in for supper 🤣🤣
It sounds as if we had pretty similar experiences! I’ve suddenly become all nostalgic for my Mobylette too. My mates, who were into bikes a year or two before me because they were a year or two older (we’re all there in that black and white photo in the video), had used the Mobylette as a bit of a test bed for their nascent fettling skills over the previous couple of years, so it wasn’t in the best of conditions when it was passed down to me. I know what you mean about the bike scene dying on its arse, youngsters these days barely seem interested in learning to drive, let alone learning to ride a bike. One of my mates, called Phil of course, has a beautiful collection of British bikes which he’s owned from new and tended to for almost 50 years. He literally lies awake at night wondering what’s going to happen to them, and who’s going to look after them, when he’s gone! Anyway, nice chatting and thank you for the kind words about the channel. 😊🏍️
@ Brothers from different Mothers, for sure, all of us. Cheers Phil. I just need to check you’re not a certain Phil Priest ☺️. Phil was my lifelong neighbour and friend, one year younger than me, and that particular “Phil” had BOTH the Moby and the AP50 from me - before I moved on to my super quick 250 Superdream in “Candy Tanza Night Blue”. I read that in MCN as a 16 year old when it first came out and will never forget the feeling, or the smell of that bike, from wanting, to owning it. It was £780, brand new. Still got a photo of it, and also, fancy one (400 version) again 😉👍. Ride safe brother
No, I’m not a certain Phil Priest, sorry, but my mate’s Super Dream was in that Candy Blue too! If this video has brought a few folk together who have had similar life experiences with motorcycles, I’m glad. 😊 Happy riding!
Hopefully your brother’s Mobylette lasted longer than mine! I’m currently toying with the notion of getting a CB50 as it would be an easy ride for an old codger like me to get around town on. Sort of ‘back to the future’! 👍🏍️
@@3Phils he only kept a couple of years until he went into the RAF at 18. We sold it on to a BL worker as a tidied-up runner. As for my CB50J (the new wave of 30mph, pedal-free learner mopeds) the best i can say is that it looked like a proper motorbike, and had 4 gears. Flat out at 30 between Oxford & Abingdon for college was a bit of a drag. I traded it a year later for a CB125T2, which i kept for 3 years before trading up again for a Superdream 250 Deluxe (important bit the deluxe part ;o) which i kept for 10 years until i sold it to a mate for almost the same price i paid for it.
Those Norman Nippys were quite popular back in the day, and a Lambretta was a common choice for a second bike where I lived. Unusual for a Honda to blow up!
@@3Phils Yes Hondas that i have owned since the 65 sports have been very reliable with great build quality. As a 16 year old, i knew nothing about bike engines but the 65 sports changed all that lol.
My parents forbade a moped (both having had bikes) but went halves with me on a second-hand CG125 on a T plate in 1980. It never missed a beat (up & down the M4 from Reading to Swansea) and taught me all about maintenance. Only thing that ever went wrong with it was that it inhaled it's choke flap - the little spring loaded trapdoor, the spring and the top of the hole it covered went straight through the cylinder with no discernible ill effects and got replaced with a plain ally plate with two 1/4 " holes. Some toad nicked the kickstart (it would bump easily). The speedo would read accurately to 60 mph and then whizz 'round to the stop so top speed was either 90mph or 'unknown' and it went most places with the throttle pinned and sipped petrol. Oil changes were done religiously at 1200 miles and the filter every second change. It was still running like a slightly rattly clock when I sold it with 72K showing. It got replaced with a mutant CD/CB175 with CB200 gear ratios and CD175 sloper mudguards built on the dole as one of Maggie's millions and then a CB250K4.
My parents were happy(ish) with me having a moped in1975. Just not a sports moped because they believed the media at the time and thought they all did 70 and I would be killed!
@@Nooziterp1 Hmm. My own parents' thought was that mopeds weren't quick enough to keep up with traffic and therefore if I had a 'ped I was more likely to get taken out by a car or truck. That included sports 'peds. Getting trained on an RAC course was part of the deal and Dad took me to an area of not-public ground to teach me basic riding skills on the 125 even before I got let out on the road. In those days you could get a provisional licence, jump on a 250 (next year it became a 125 under 12 HP) and apart from motorways, the world was your lobster for 2 years on leper plates.
@Nooziterp1 Yes, there was an anti-motorcycle media frenzy in the 1970s, I remember it well. My parents were the same! Hmm, maybe I’ll make a video on that in the near future. 🤔
@@anemone104 Your parents' attitude was down to them both having had bikes themselves. So they actually knew what they were talking about, unlike the general public who had nothing to go on except the alarmist, 'motorbikes are killing our youth' media.
My first bike was a '60s BSA (Biggest Sh💩t Available) Bantam that never ran. My first bike that ran (barely) was a totally thrashed Honda 50cc pressed frame street bike. It looked identical to the Honda at the end of this video when the credits were coming up. No Kickstarter so it had to be pushed, No kill switch so it had to be stalled to stop it. A mix and match collection of gears in the gearbox which resulted in huge gaps when shifting gears. It was fun as hell though..
My first bike that actually ran and I enjoyed sticks in my memory too. That would be the Lambretta GP200, although I used to get endless stick for riding a scooter! 👍🏍️
Suzuki Ap50, which was written off for me by a lunatic in an Austin 1100 pulling out , some searching round found a new Garelli tiger cross unrestricted as a replacement.
Not my first but most interesting, I had a 1966 Kawasaki F1, 175. Piston port single, 4 speed rotary shift, dyno start, pressed steel frame, red fuel tank with 4 Japanese letters on it. I don't think they where called Kawasakis when first imported into the US.
YEAH!!! Fizzys!!! I remember them way back when I bought my first motorbike...a red 65 (I think) Honda Super 90. $75 it was all there. Proceeded to break almost every spoke on the rear wheel from trail riding it I assume. Re-spoked it myself at 12 Y/O. Didn't have a clue what I was doing but figured it out I guess. The wheel actually ran pretty true even without any kind of truing stand just put the wheel back on the bike and cranked on the spokes I thought needed the cranking. It's not rocket science. And Fizzys...they were great just suckin' on them got all the fruity foam in your mouth like Alka Seltzer tablets. Wonder why they stopped making them??? Hey I'm still here 60 years later could have been that bad....
If you had a 1974 ty80 Yamaha I'm going to have one up for sale adult ridden as a pit bike Yamaha road race team no child is ever rode this one it's a survivor
Yeah, we loved our 2 strokes for that too, we used to joke that the cops would never be able to take our numbers as they’d never be able to see them! 🏍️💨😂👍
I know someone whose first bike was an Ariel Arrow. I was following him one day and he turned off onto the M4 so I followed. He ran out of fuel. I asked "Why did you turn onto the motorway?" "Don't they have service stations every few miles?" Er...no.
While we were putting fuel in his tank via the rubber boot method (his) - fortunately he had some two stroke oil - the police arrived and I expected trouble. But they were extremely nice and saw us safely back on the road. I insisted on going in front - very wisely as he laid down enough smoke to conceal a WW2 battlecruiser. The 1960s were in some ways a great time.
Great story! I recall the rozzers actually being quite helpful to bikers back in the day. Not if they caught you speeding, of course, but generally they’d be on your side if you were in a spot of bother. I remember a couple of occasions when they backed me up against car drivers who had ploughed into me, who were arguing it was my fault. Nowadays you’d be lucky to get anyone to attend if you were knocked off your bike. 👍🏍️
@@3Phils In those days a lot of police had bikes. I was once stopped somewhere in East Anglia when a police car arrived in front of me. What was I doing? He came over and asked "Where do you get spares for your Velo?"
"Geoff Dodkin, East Sheen."
"Thanks, mate" and he was off.
Ha!
My first bike was a Suzuki TS 125 m reg 1974, i bought it of my brother at the age of 14,. He helped me learn to ride down the back lanes and on a disused WW2 Airfield, happy days 🙂
Cheers Jason
Happy days indeed! We had an airfield near us too, but there were RAF Phantoms taking off and landing at the time, so it would have been a bit tricky to practice our bike skills on. 🤣 Thanks for sharing. 😊👍🏍️
1970 Kawasaki G3TR. Bought it brand new at Korcan Kawaski in Vancouver British Columbia. Great little street/trail bike, a ton of fun. 90cc two cycle rotary valve. 5 speed oil injection. Really miss it. Never been without at least one running bike since.
Nice bike! Glad to hear you’ve been on two wheels ever since. 🏍️😊
1965 Honda S65. Bought on my 17th birthday, April 18, 1967. Haven't been without at least one motorcycle since that day
Me neither. I couldn’t contemplate life without a motorcycle! 👍🏍️
My Dad took part of his commission ( real Estate) 1953 MG and a 1968 Bultaco 125. I was ten and my Brother 12. O ya he was always hogging the bike but many times I got home first and was able to push the bike to a small hill on the property to start the wild beast. See no brakes that worked well but a Jake brake. What a wild ride with so much power for a 80 pound kid
My first bike was a 1979 CZ 250-471.4 Deluxe, in 1980. It had 4,500 miles on the clock, when I bought it (cash) from Ken Blake's ETNA Motorcycles dealership. I still own the bike and it now has clocked up just over 80,000 miles. Its toured the west coast of France, in 1991. Its been all over England and Wales.
A few of issues with 1970's CZ's is that the gearbox driven speedometer is calibrated to be accurate at 30 MPH, so it over reads the actual speed below 30 MPH and under reads actual speed, with an alarming -10% error, above 30 MPH. This means that an indicated 60 MPH is actually 65-66 MPH. The other issue is the headlight beam. It spreads the light so wide that it doesn't really illuminate anything more than 200 yards ahead, on country lanes. With a Lucas bulb installed, as was what was in my bike when I bought it, the headlight was next to useless. This changed, after I installed a non-Lucas headlight bulb, which meant that the headlight was bright enough to light up the cat's eyes in the road (something the Lucas bulb wasn't able to do!!). Another issues is the lack of a much needed 5 speed gearbox, as it is very easy to redline the bike it 4th (top) gear.
The CZ 250-471.4 Deluxe was the slower (76 MPH top speed) version of the faster CZ 250-471.3 Sport (85 MPH top speed). However, it could manage 76 miles per gallon, due to a more restrictive air intake silencer system and a smaller main jet. I removed all this crap on mine, installed a K&N filter and a bigger main jet. I also changed the 15 tooth gearbox sprocket to a 17 tooth item, because most owners, in the know, did this to solve the over revving in 4th gear issue and allowed a much better cruising speed.
On the plus side, two neutrals in the gearbox, one between 1st & 2nd gear, with the other between 3rd & 4th gear (the latter for coasting down long hills whilst idling the engine). Self lubricating secondary drive chain via a gearbox total loss system. The semi-automatic foot clutch action, when changing gear or waiting at the lights or when the clutch cable breaks on a Sunday ride out, miles from home. The extensive high quality tool kit. The simplicity, sturdiness and ease of servicing & repairs.
Brilliant clip! Biker for 57+yrs, my first was a Solex motor, welded on my push step, aged 10. No brakes, sitting on the plank between the 12"front and rear wheel of you go. Stopping only by pulling the sparkplug wire...untill i did it uncarefully, i thought my armpit exploded! Today still on my Velo MMS, enjoying my prewar ones and still restoring them. Once infected with the petrol bug... my den is my weapon to get very old with my bikes as liberators! Great channel!
Thank you for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it! 😊 The things we used to do to get out and about on two wheels, eh? And as long as we’ve got bikes in our sheds, we’ll keep on going! 👍🏍️
1975 Honda XLS 125 … I wish I still had it.
First motorcycle was a Honda mini trial 50(with a 90cc jug and head). First street bike was a Kawasaki KZ.400. I was 13 and had to hide it in the woods. Mom did not play around.😂
Glad to hear you got away with it! I started at 14 on the Mobylette, riding it around our suburban back garden and up the alley by the side of the house. My dad, who was a keen gardener, wasn’t too happy, and our neighbour went beserk!
my wife told me i couldnt have a street bike,to dangerous she said,so i said is a dirtbike ok? she said yes,1991, i bought a cr500....lol.....
Ha!...... there you go again 1/3 Phil 🤗
Outdoing yourself.
My Bridgestone 90 NEVER looked that good.
But around that time, they also had a sweet looking 350 twin....I lusted after. (didn't we always lust after what we couldnt afford?)
After my trials and tribulations with that POS 90, I swore I would never own a 2 Stroke again. And I have kept my promise.
Although.....I did 'babysit' a friends Kawi Mach 4 750 for a few months whilst he was away on deployment. so that doesnt count. 🤞
Thank you for another outstanding video, and especially the effort!
I saw those 350 Bridgestone twins when I was researching the video, they did look sweet! The one in the Kaplan video I used a clip of does look lovely, but if you zoom in you can see it’s had a not-too-great paint job, it’s gone a bit orange peel. 🍊Thanks as always for the kind words and hope all’s well across the pond! 🏍️👍🇺🇸
With 49 motorbikes and 26 50cc and scooters I fall in the group that's being riding a long time. My rarest must be the Jawa 90cc scrambler followed by a JLO (can't remember model), NSU Fox 90 and a 50cc Moto Guzzi. Great review and maybe you and Banditmanuk present a list of past bikes.
Thank you! And thank you for contributing to the video. 😊 I’m nowhere near you when it comes to totting up my past bikes, my lifetime tally is currently a paltry 20. I’d love to sit down with Banditmanuk and compare notes, I think we’d have a rare old time!
I bought a used Steen for about 280.00 in 1972.Hadaka Ace 100 motor and leading link forks.That bike ripped!It never had any major problems other than breaking the frame,forks and swingarm 13 different times.I believe the Steens were built in S. California along side the Taco minibikes.Best of times for this lifelong motorcycle addict.Thanks for the video.
That’s another make I was unaware of, so thank you for introducing me to Steen! 😊 I’ll do a bit of research. Sounds as if their welding skills weren’t quite up to snuff. 😱 Glad you enjoyed the video. 👍🏍️
Excellent and entertaining as ever. I especially like the honourable Henry Cole mention 😂 I even featured in the end credits. Thank you.
Yes, thank you for contributing! 😊 Henry Cole has been on my mind since your video of Allen Millyard at the NMC. I often get mistaken for him… which is annoying! For Henry Cole, I mean. 🤣
And your list Richard ? Maybe that's a video worth.
My first bike was a Puch Maxi s in purple, a look around the Kent transport museum sounds like a good idea.
Ah, the Purple People Eater, as we used to call those! Yes, I’m going to fire up one of the bikes and take a wobble over to the Dover museum. I can’t believe I never heard of it before.
My Maxi was purple too! Made in 1972 and I had it in 1975. Great little bike. Took me everywhere - slowly!
I remember they weren’t exactly rocket ships! The doctor’s son at my school had one, perhaps his Dad knew something about speed v seriousness of injuries?!
My first bike was a 60cc Bridgestone. I had it for about a year and when i sold it, it was still running.
YZ 80E , it was a demon....The first time hitting power band, what a rush😀
The second rush was being chased by authorities down the local rivers and creeks 😁
Good Times🥲
Yep, you never forget that first time! And I’ve only ever been chased in a car! 👍🏍️
1975 Motobecane X7s in 1979. Called the cheese machine because of the front to back yellow side panels. Had 10” cast wheels & chopper style handlebars.
Still got one now, great fun.
I vaguely remember those. I had to watch this excellent video to remind myself! ua-cam.com/video/2irsXyu5XLI/v-deo.htmlsi=pmTIjeuRFBosa6So
My first motorised transport was a Raleigh RM6 Runabout.... pretty much a rebadged Moblylette. Bought for £25 from a guy at school in 1975, it took me to school, work and out with mates for just over twelve months and was still going strong when sold. It was replaced with a ten year old 250 Royal Enfield Crusader, tarted up to look like a GT Continental, but without the bother of that five speed gearbox.
To be fair on my first bike, the Mobylette, it had seen quite a lot of action in its long life. Also it had been used as something to practice wrenching on by my mates, who were a year or two older than me, after they graduated from lawnmowers and before they moved on to Lambrettas.
Fantastic 🙂
Thank you! 😊 And thanks for your contribution! 😀👍🏍️
@@3Phils My pleasure 🙂
I grew up on a farm in Australia and our first bike was a home made minibike that my uncle made. It was powered by a 2 stroke Victa lawn mower engine. No gearbox, just a direct chain drive from the crank to the rear wheel. Needless to say that safety wasn't at the forefront of our thinking. 😉
I envy blokes who grew up on farms in Australia, all I had was a small back garden in a shabby seaside town on the south coast of England. 😢 We also mucked around with lawnmower engines to begin with, but never put one in a bike. I must say, though, that while I was editing the video together it did occur to me that the Mobylette sounded very like the Atco lawnmowers we used to have!
A 1966 Suzuki 150 S32, or Olympian in some places. S great little bike.
Haha. Had a Honda MT50, which lasted about three months, before getting another Honda MT50. Hours of fun pulling apart and putting back together, rarely any better than it had started 😂 Another lad at school had the much less often seen Honda MB50, which was essentially the same thing made to look a bit more like a sports bike, than a trials bike. Fantastic times 😀
Yep, no-one can forget their first ride, or their mates’ first rides! 👍🏍️
Im proud to be a Norman, i even worked on them in my yoof so it shows how old i am. My first ride was a BSA sunbeam scooter of 250cc calibre which didnt last long ( what do you expect for a fiver) but graduated on to a lovely Honda cd175 grey elephant in 1968.
Ah, the CD175! Not the most attractive, but probably extremely reliable! Are you really related to the Norman motorcycle firm? 👍🏍️
1974 rupp mini bike blue in color,rode the wheels of that puupy in the late 70s
Mine was a mobylette too followed by a fs1e
I got my first motorcycle at age 10. It was a ratty 100cc Bultaco dirt bike. I lived out in the country on a farm and had a place to ride it. The local farm mechanic helped me learn how to work on it. My first street legal motorbike was a brand new Peugeot 103 50cc pedal moped at age 16 in 1975, followed by a 1972 Suzuki GT380 about a year later. My first new motorcycle was a 1980 Suzuki GS450L at age 21. I have since owned over 40 bikes, including Harleys, large Japanese cruisers, and Goldwings. Also had a few dual sports and scooters in the mix.
10 is pretty young to start. How brilliant to have some acreage to hone your riding skills on! 👍 My story is pretty similar. A lifetime of adventures and fun on two wheels, nothing can beat it! 👍🏍️
First moped - Solex. First motorcycle - BSA B31.
My first bike back in Nov.76 was a Benelli 250 2c. I still remember getting it in South Australia and having to visit my mate's grandmother's Italian boyfriend so he could decipher the manual for me.
Ha! Was that the inline four Benelli? If so, I’d have happily visited my mate’s grandmother’s Italian boyfriend every day for the chance to own one!
@@3Phils I think the 250 2c was a two stroke twin without oil injection, the jewel like 250/4 was the Quatro like its big brothers.
You’re right… again! My mistake. 😊
In 1968 I bought a BSA 250 cc that had been part exchanged by someone against a new bike and the dealer just wanted rid sold to me for £10 it cost me the price of a new battery and a few ball bearings to get it through the MOT .So on turning 16 a few months later I hit the road at a cost £8 insurance for a leaner rider .Whilst £20 pounds was a lot of money and the paper round paid 18 shillings it was money well saved
yamaha dt50 that my Dad put a 65 kit on ,happy days.
Happy days indeed! 😊👍🏍️
Back in the day, in the uk , you could ride anything up to 250cc on a provisional licence . My first bike was a Kawasaki KH250 , bought new in ‘78 . Great little bike. Happy days.
Nice ride! I was still tooling around on my Lambretta GP200 in 1978. Happy days indeed!
I didn't see the earlier episode but my first bike in the early 1960's was a Moto Beta 48cc motorcycle. It cost $110 US dollars. Came in a crate and Dad had to assemble it. The Magnet Marvel plug that came with it was defective and it wouldn't start. We put an AC Delco plug [we had laying around from a car] in it and it ran fine.
Italian electrics, eh? There hasn’t actually been an earlier episode, I merely put out a text post and asked for contributions. That said, I’ve had so many more contributions in the comments to this video, I am going to have to make a Part Two! 👍🏍️
Spring '89. Yamaha XS1100!!
Wow! You started BIG! 🏍️👍
Fantic TI which lunched its motor on every ride, then a Puch VZ 50 sport which I owned twice, several Vespas and lambrettas when I turned 17 passed my test on Jawa CZ 250 twin, then went bananas for 48 years with a myriad of bikes including my favourites Buells and Ducatis, loved every minute of it downsized to a Re classic 350 and my old Vespa PX 😂
Not dissimilar to my own history, I’ve certainly dallied with Lambrettas and always wanted a Duke or a Buell, but have ended up with a slightly different V twin, an Indian FTR. But currently searching for something a bit more laid back, like a Honda Cub! 🤣 This Friday’s video is all about my motorcycling history, available from 1200GMT. 😊👍🏍️
My first motorcycle bought in 1963 for £2.10shillings that I saved from my paper round was a 1955 98cc James Comet. 😊
Yes, I saved up for my first bike from my 55p an hour holiday job, a few years after that. Thanks for the comment. 😊👍🏍️
Class 😅
My first was a 1957 BSA M21 600cc with a double adult sidecar in the 1980s
The first motorised bicycle I ever rode was a Raleigh Runabout in the woods.
Owned by my father who explained to me how a centrifugal clutch works back when fathers did that sort of thing.
First road bike I owned was a restricted Yamaha DT 50 MX which after accelerating to 30mph left me in a world of disappointment.
But hey, I was on the road L plates an’ all!
Absolutely! Being on the road on two wheels was - still is - the greatest feeling!
Good job brother
Thank you! 👍🏍️
I had a couple of different Mobylettes. One of which I managed to make run backwards. Had one stall out in the Dartford tunnel. Wet electrics, on the driest part of the journey. Who knew? Then a brand new YB100. (1976?) Finally a Honda 400 four.
I would have liked my Mobylette to have gone on a bit longer tbh. I also graduated to a 400/4, had two in succession in fact, I liked them so much, via a Lambretta GP200 and a CB250. Happy days! 👍🏍️
@@3Phils I cannot remember what happened to either of mine. I also had 2 400-fours, both got wrecked. Somewhere in there I had a CB200, then a CX500, and after spending a few months in Canada, when I came back had a couple of CB250RS, company bikes, which meant they lived a very hard life, including a trip across France fully loaded at 85-90mph. Turns out if you don't check things EVERY fill up, at that speed, you can run out of oil. "Why is the dipstick dry? Why is smoke coming out?"
France seems like a long haul for a 250. Maybe not, I remember doing a camping trip from the far east of Kent to the far west of Cornwall on my CB250 and not thinking anything of it.
In 1972 a Suzuki 80cc K10P. Suzuki's first bike with oil injection I believe, there was a K10 premix before it.
I worked for a Suzuki dealer starting in 1967 and we operated a fleet of B100, 118cc singles that had oil injection at the time. We also sold many, they were easy to ride and very tractable.
My first bike was a TS 125 Suzuki, bright orange and good for about 65mph, best bike ever.
I've always thought orange is one of the best colours for a bike!
CG125. I'd very much like one now too but loads of old ones have been messed with far too much. Cheers.
I’m looking for something a bit lighter for nipping around town. Those 125s would be perfect but as you say, they’re going to have been messed about with.
Oh mate, mine was a step through Mobylette like yours, in beige 😂 Dad got it for a fiver in 1972, and it came with petrol vouchers (think it was the Yom Kippur war), issued with all vehicles - but never required. I rode that round the lawn to 77 when I was 16, and then had an AP50. Mmmmuch prettier than a Fizzy in my opinion. Moved house 3 years ago, and found my book of petrol vouchers. Honest, I was chuffed to bits 🤓🤪
My Moby was blue! And I also rode it around the garden for two years until I was 16! Surprised I was allowed to do that, Dad was a keen gardener. 🏡🤣 I was such a mindless supporter of the failing British motorcycle industry back then that I then patriotically and stupidly bought the NVT Easy Rider, instead of one of the much better and more popular Japanese 50cc machines. What an idiot! And I’ve been doing it ever since! 😂
@ Mate, honestly, I remember me and Dad walking home with my Mobylette from the shop where it had been declared scrap. 4 miles from Scunthorpe to our village. It had a pull up, push down petcock on top of the tank behind the seat, and when we got down our tiny country lanes, I got it going and “shot off”. Dad panicked, and I can still hear him shouting “Pauuuuulll…….stoppppppp” which I did. He was also a keen gardener, and my circuit was round the house, lawn and garden. I wore the grass out completely. I think we replaced the engine once, but I had so much fun on that Mobylette. I have been trying to find one like mine - but they are so rare. I also only have Japs now, plus two Ducatis. Honda man to the core TBH. Love the channel mate. Like you said - we are all the same age, give a year or two. Great memories, but what happens when we’re gone ?. Motorbikes are dying out. Breaks my heart really. Honestly, I know a guy who sends his kids out to play as a punishment 😳. I used to hide when my Mum came to call me in for supper 🤣🤣
It sounds as if we had pretty similar experiences! I’ve suddenly become all nostalgic for my Mobylette too. My mates, who were into bikes a year or two before me because they were a year or two older (we’re all there in that black and white photo in the video), had used the Mobylette as a bit of a test bed for their nascent fettling skills over the previous couple of years, so it wasn’t in the best of conditions when it was passed down to me. I know what you mean about the bike scene dying on its arse, youngsters these days barely seem interested in learning to drive, let alone learning to ride a bike. One of my mates, called Phil of course, has a beautiful collection of British bikes which he’s owned from new and tended to for almost 50 years. He literally lies awake at night wondering what’s going to happen to them, and who’s going to look after them, when he’s gone! Anyway, nice chatting and thank you for the kind words about the channel. 😊🏍️
@ Brothers from different Mothers, for sure, all of us. Cheers Phil. I just need to check you’re not a certain Phil Priest ☺️. Phil was my lifelong neighbour and friend, one year younger than me, and that particular “Phil” had BOTH the Moby and the AP50 from me - before I moved on to my super quick 250 Superdream in “Candy Tanza Night Blue”. I read that in MCN as a 16 year old when it first came out and will never forget the feeling, or the smell of that bike, from wanting, to owning it. It was £780, brand new. Still got a photo of it, and also, fancy one (400 version) again 😉👍. Ride safe brother
No, I’m not a certain Phil Priest, sorry, but my mate’s Super Dream was in that Candy Blue too! If this video has brought a few folk together who have had similar life experiences with motorcycles, I’m glad. 😊 Happy riding!
my older brother had a s/h Mobylette at 16, and i had a new Honda CB50J on tick when i turned 16.
Hopefully your brother’s Mobylette lasted longer than mine! I’m currently toying with the notion of getting a CB50 as it would be an easy ride for an old codger like me to get around town on. Sort of ‘back to the future’! 👍🏍️
@@3Phils he only kept a couple of years until he went into the RAF at 18. We sold it on to a BL worker as a tidied-up runner.
As for my CB50J (the new wave of 30mph, pedal-free learner mopeds) the best i can say is that it looked like a proper motorbike, and had 4 gears. Flat out at 30 between Oxford & Abingdon for college was a bit of a drag. I traded it a year later for a CB125T2, which i kept for 3 years before trading up again for a Superdream 250 Deluxe (important bit the deluxe part ;o) which i kept for 10 years until i sold it to a mate for almost the same price i paid for it.
I had a mate with a Honda 250N, I was rather jealous. It wasn’t ‘deluxe’ though!
When I was in school in the 70s there were lads with CZ and MZ 250s
We had just the one MZ at my school, if memory serves. I think probably because our location was mostly served by Honda and Suzuki dealers.
My first bike in 1963 aged 16 a bsa c11 250 . The 250 learner limit came in the year before
My dad had a Norman Nippy before he bought his Lambretta , my first bike was a Honda 65 sports which blew up after a month .
Those Norman Nippys were quite popular back in the day, and a Lambretta was a common choice for a second bike where I lived. Unusual for a Honda to blow up!
@@3Phils Yes Hondas that i have owned since the 65 sports have been very reliable with great build quality. As a 16 year old, i knew nothing about bike engines but the 65 sports changed all that lol.
My parents forbade a moped (both having had bikes) but went halves with me on a second-hand CG125 on a T plate in 1980. It never missed a beat (up & down the M4 from Reading to Swansea) and taught me all about maintenance. Only thing that ever went wrong with it was that it inhaled it's choke flap - the little spring loaded trapdoor, the spring and the top of the hole it covered went straight through the cylinder with no discernible ill effects and got replaced with a plain ally plate with two 1/4 " holes. Some toad nicked the kickstart (it would bump easily). The speedo would read accurately to 60 mph and then whizz 'round to the stop so top speed was either 90mph or 'unknown' and it went most places with the throttle pinned and sipped petrol. Oil changes were done religiously at 1200 miles and the filter every second change. It was still running like a slightly rattly clock when I sold it with 72K showing. It got replaced with a mutant CD/CB175 with CB200 gear ratios and CD175 sloper mudguards built on the dole as one of Maggie's millions and then a CB250K4.
My parents were happy(ish) with me having a moped in1975. Just not a sports moped because they believed the media at the time and thought they all did 70 and I would be killed!
@@Nooziterp1 Hmm. My own parents' thought was that mopeds weren't quick enough to keep up with traffic and therefore if I had a 'ped I was more likely to get taken out by a car or truck. That included sports 'peds. Getting trained on an RAC course was part of the deal and Dad took me to an area of not-public ground to teach me basic riding skills on the 125 even before I got let out on the road. In those days you could get a provisional licence, jump on a 250 (next year it became a 125 under 12 HP) and apart from motorways, the world was your lobster for 2 years on leper plates.
@Nooziterp1 Yes, there was an anti-motorcycle media frenzy in the 1970s, I remember it well. My parents were the same! Hmm, maybe I’ll make a video on that in the near future. 🤔
@@anemone104 Your parents' attitude was down to them both having had bikes themselves. So they actually knew what they were talking about, unlike the general public who had nothing to go on except the alarmist, 'motorbikes are killing our youth' media.
@@Nooziterp1 Yep.
My first bike was a '60s BSA (Biggest Sh💩t Available) Bantam that never ran. My first bike that ran (barely) was a totally thrashed Honda 50cc pressed frame street bike. It looked identical to the Honda at the end of this video when the credits were coming up. No Kickstarter so it had to be pushed, No kill switch so it had to be stalled to stop it. A mix and match collection of gears in the gearbox which resulted in huge gaps when shifting gears. It was fun as hell though..
My first bike that actually ran and I enjoyed sticks in my memory too. That would be the Lambretta GP200, although I used to get endless stick for riding a scooter! 👍🏍️
Suzuki Ap50, which was written off for me by a lunatic in an Austin 1100 pulling out , some searching round found a new Garelli tiger cross unrestricted as a replacement.
I liked those AP50s. Buzzy, nippy and quite stylish! And yeah, I’ve been pulled out on a few times over the years. 😡
Nsu quickly PTL 628H, followed by a honda SS50
I had a schoolmate who rode an SS50. We all thought he was a bit strange because he was on a four stroke! 🤣 Thanks for the comment. 😊
I'm 60, got my first bike at age 59. On my Ls ATM, licence booked for 09 January 2025. Bike is Honda CB500X.
Excellent! It’s never too late to start - you’ll have great fun! 😊🏍️👍
Puch Vz 50 with 3 speed bar change gears, a la lambretta.
A puch maxi it lasted about 3 months
Not my first but most interesting, I had a 1966 Kawasaki F1, 175. Piston port single, 4 speed rotary shift, dyno start, pressed steel frame, red fuel tank with 4 Japanese letters on it. I don't think they where called Kawasakis when first imported into the US.
Yamaha TY175 in 1981.
YEAH!!! Fizzys!!! I remember them way back when I bought my first motorbike...a red 65 (I think) Honda Super 90. $75 it was all there. Proceeded to break almost every spoke on the rear wheel from trail riding it I assume. Re-spoked it myself at 12 Y/O. Didn't have a clue what I was doing but figured it out I guess. The wheel actually ran pretty true even without any kind of truing stand just put the wheel back on the bike and cranked on the spokes I thought needed the cranking. It's not rocket science. And Fizzys...they were great just suckin' on them got all the fruity foam in your mouth like Alka Seltzer tablets. Wonder why they stopped making them??? Hey I'm still here 60 years later could have been that bad....
Great story - thank you! I think we all breathed a lot of smoke back then, didn’t seem to do us any harm! 🏍️💨👍
My 1st was nothing exotic, but a Honda CT70 centrifugal 3 speed that I hated the moment a pal got an XR75 & then beat me every single time....
80 yr old 1st bike 65 cb160 last bike 92 907ie duc
Puch m50 in red
SUPER. 90. HONDA. 1967. I WAS IN THE. 9TH GRADE.
Puch MV.
Casal 50cc
FS1E
RD50
Fantic Cab ( the fastest moped ever 7.2 hp)
Yes, we had a bloke at school who had a Fantic. The flash bastard used to get all the girls too! 🤣
@ haha…lol
If you had a 1974 ty80 Yamaha I'm going to have one up for sale adult ridden
as a pit bike Yamaha road race team no child is ever rode this one it's a survivor
100 million Honda C50 Cubs sold? I'll bet half of them went to BL factory workers. :D
Shouldn’t they have been driving Minis?! 🤣
@@3Phils not in Cowley. Lol
I think i must have worked on most of them, we seemed to be selling them faster than they could be made.
Ha! I remember Cowley in the 70s, as a passer-by. Lots of chimneys with steam coming out of them, if memory serves!
@@3Phils all gone now - a business park resides in that space. And BMW Mini owns the old Pressed Steel factory site.
Ariel arrow mobile smoke screen
Yeah, we loved our 2 strokes for that too, we used to joke that the cops would never be able to take our numbers as they’d never be able to see them! 🏍️💨😂👍
First bike was a 1982 Yamaha Vision 550 in 1994... first of thirty-four that followed it. 🫣
Wow! 32! When I counted mine up, I have to say I was a bit disappointed it only came to 20. Must try harder! 😊🏍️