Friday 21 February 2014

Mobylette Manual for Routine Maintenance

Mobylette Manual for Routine Maintenance


Continuing on my theme of reading through the Mobylette Haynes Manual I have now reached the section on Routine Maintenance for Mobylette Mopeds

This section is broken up into:-

Weekly or every 200 miles

Tyre Pressures
Chain adjustments

Monthly or every 600 miles

Spark plug gap
Nipple greasing
Removal, cleaning and lubricating the final drive chain
Relay box lubricant (where appropriate)

Six Month or every 3000 miles

2 pages of further useful tips on maintenance, including decarbonising the engine, bearings, breaker gaps and much more

Yearly or every 6000 miles

Further recommendations referring to later sections on how to remove the engine and decarbonise the cylinder head, barrel and piston.


Thursday 20 February 2014

1953 Bicycle gets Parking Ticket!

Bicycle fined £60 for being parked in wrong bay



Imagine my surprise when I went to sell this bike only to find in among the paperwork a fine for £60 by the council for the bike being parked in the wrong bay. The machine is a 1953 raleigh bicycle fitted with a powerpak engine so I guess is technically a motorised vehicle

The penalty notice was issued in 2008 and not paid. I have now also found a further letter from the Council that no payment is due and that the case is closed as they accepted the owners explanation. I would have really liked to have seen the letter the owner at the time wrote to the council.

Who knows maybe the Traffic Warden was either exceptionally vigilant, just having a bad day, or issued the ticket as a prank?

If you like this story pass it on so others can be careful where you park your bicycle, auto cycle, or moped!

This bike is now for sale. Please click here to follow the link

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Mobylette Moped Model Identification using the Haynes Manual

How to Identify the Mobylette Moped Models


The Mobylette Haynes Manual 'for years 1965 on' in the Introduction has a section with pictures and a list of Mobylette models supplied to the UK. In this section the following models are named:-
  • Commuter
  • Commuter de luxe
  • Cady
  • Majorette
  • Majormatic
  • Major Minor
  • Mono 50
  • Duamatic
  • Duamatic de luxe
  • Luxamatic
  • Mastermatic
  • Sports 50 MKII
  • Sports Speciale
  • Moby X
The list also includes models and engine types. This is not extensive as the book covers more models and is particularly useful for working on engines on the Raleigh Mopeds such as the RM5 Supermatic, RM6 Runabout, RM7 Wisp, RM8 Automatic, RM9 Ultramatic, RM11 Tourist and RM12 Super 50.

There is a small section on ordering spares many of which you can still get today from www.classicmopedspares.com You can also download spare parts manuals which will also help in identifying your model of mobylette and what you need before submitting a request through part hunter should the item not be listed on the website http://www.classicmopedspares.com/index.php?route=information/contact

Following this is as section with some images and advice on where to locate the Frame and Engine Numbers on your Mobylette Manual.

Next information to follow is Routine Maintenance!

Tuesday 18 February 2014

Mobylette Moped Manual by Haynes is it any good?

Mobylette Haynes Manual is it any good?


Old or New the Mobylette Haynes Workshop Manuals are packed full of information:-


The Haynes Mobylette Manual is a very good source of information. Haynes have been making manuals for years and have a good reputation and this Mobylette Manual is no exception of what to expect when you need a guide to help work on your Mobylette, Motobecane or Raleigh Moped.

I cannot for obvious reasons copy parts of the manual, but I will try to explain some of the sections in my blog over the next few days, weeks perhaps even years!

The Manuals starts with a very comprehensive page 'About this manual', Acknowledgements, and an 'Introduction':-

About this Manual
The manual explains that unless mentioned and therefore considered essential special service tools have not been used. The six chapters are divided into sections. The manual is laid out in a logical sequence with easy cross reference and pictures include captions making it easy to identify.

Acknowledgements
This is where the manuals really proves its worth in the amount of research that went into originally producing it. Thanks go to Motobecane S.A for permission to reproduce many of the illustrations and for technical information. Today this information would be completely lost if it wasn't for Haynes. 
Thanks also went to Motor Imports Co Ltd in Croydon who at the time supplied machines featured in the manual and to the Service Manager who provided much valuable advice and technical assistance
Further acknowledgements got to Brian Horsfall who gave considerable assistance with the dismantling and assembly of machines and devised the ingenious methods of overcoming the lack of service tools. Today many service tools are unavailable so this information is invaluable. 
The photography and text were professionally edited and the Avon rubber company supplied technical details on Tyre Fitting

Introduction
There is a detailed introduction about the origins of the moped after the pre-war era with facts about how the Mobylette Mopeds were available from the 1950's and Motobecane exported 14 different models to the UK. 

So is it any good? YES not half!
The small amount of detail on the front page should hopefully let you know how good this book really is. Mobylette Spare Parts Lists are very useful for identifying the parts the Mobylette Haynes Workshop Manual is a good guide for how to work on them.
The starting page about the manual and acknowledgements show how much research has gone into producing the manual and what to expect. It is packed full of information and if you are working on a Mobylette a very handy book.

The Haynes Mobylette Manual is like going back to the factory and the service dealerships and picking their brains and taking the best bits to work on the bikes. It just makes working on a Mobylette so much easier. I personally am all for an easy life!

For Moped Manuals including this one:-

You can buy a new manual by clicking here



For Moped Parts for many different models you can then find what you need here:-





Thursday 13 February 2014

Classic Moped Spares is Open after flooding

Open after Flooding in the area

The website www.classicmopedspares.com and ebay store classic-moped-spares are back running and orders are going out. The flooding in Somerset caused some temporary problems with the road networks (affecting deliveries) which hopefully has now been resolved. 

The recent flooding has caused chaos throughout the UK and there may still be some delays with delivering orders due to the challenges faced by the road and rail networks. The Royal Mail Postal service and couriers such as Hermes out there are doing a wonderful job considering the challenges they are facing.

More high winds and bad weather is predicted with a months worth of rain expected to fall in the next few days according to the BBC. Please do keep safe

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Old Classic Mopeds and Motorbikes strong sales start to 2014 at Classic Moped Spares

Bikes selling well at Classic Moped Spares


Despite the recent floods demand for mopeds and motorbikes is strong with plenty of inquiries for classic vehicles.

Recent sales this week include:-
  • 1980's Honda Express has sold to a private overseas collector before the chance to advertise it
  • 1980's Honda C70 to a private collector who is also looking for a Honda C50 and C70
  • 1950's Le Velocette to a private collector and others looking for similar
Just advertised:-

2 restored mopeds have just been advertised. These were lovely restored and both are on sorn so documents available and are genuinely for sale:-
  • 1980's Honda Melody. Nice little machine stripped, rebuilt and restored. Click here to view

  • 1980's Suzuki FR 50. A rare machine I have not seen many of these and certainly not in this condition. I would buy it myself, but probably wouldn't let go of it! This model has had an Mot and has very low mileage. A very good investment opportunity. Click here to view

To sell a bike:-

If you want to sell your bike just contact me at classicmopedspares@hotmail.co.uk

Wednesday 5 February 2014

Flooding causing temporary closure at Classic Moped Spares

Flooding in Somerset is causing temporary closure

Apologies to everyone at the moment friends, customers and suppliers alike. The flooding in Somerset has caused many delays to many businesses and we have been relatively unaffected until now. Due to the recent extreme conditions a number of trees have fallen in the area and the flood water has been impassable from different directions. This has meant delays in getting orders out and responding to inquires. 

There was also an accident causing gridlock around the Somerset M5 Motorway Taunton junction earlier today just to add to the flooding problems.

More information about the flooding can be obtained by clicking the BBC website 

I am sure many businesses in Somerset and the UK are affected by these extreme conditions and hopefully things will improve so that normal service will resume shortly. I hope you will all keep safe and your spirits up during this time!