OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. Midget Bits

Evening All, I recently got my hands on a 1951 English made Villiers 98cc Midget complete with very decent compression and a ridiculously heavy solid brass flywheel.
Just wanted to know if anyone could point me in the direction of a suitable fuel tank and exhaust for the little fella? Especially a tank, as the plastic Tecumseh number that came with it is spoiling the mood a little.

Many Thanks,

Craig

Mark can you post a picture of the motor please so that we might be able to give you the correct advice.

+1 for pics, at my fathers place we have a very similar sounding 98cc villiers mounted on a 50's malvern star motorbike.

Joe, if you are talking about the same grey Malvern Star monsters that I used to see so commonly in the 1950s, they were mopeds, not motorbikes. You had to pedal them up to speed before you engaged the clutch. On most hills you had to declutch and pedal. Because they were monstrously heavy and only had one pedal ratio, getting them up hills was a pretty unpleasant process. They generally had a second-hand price of zero by the early 1960s. Mopeds never really worked out in Australia, because unlike Europe and the US, here they required annual registration as a motorcycle, and a full motorcycle driver's license - which was completely separate from a car driver's licence: extra driving test, extra annual fee etc, but if one was suspended, the other was also.

Nope, this is black, it is not a moped, has a 3sp gearbox hung off the back of the motor, has a kick start and was road registered until the mid 70's then my grandfather stopped using it. I will see if I can find a pic of her in the next few weeks, it has just finished undergoing a full resto.

Here is something very similar, almost the same as what dad has. main differences are the stickers.

Nice bike there Joe, and it does bring back some memories.
Malvern Star was perhaps the biggest manuf. of push bikes
and motor bikes in Melb., in the 1930-60 period.
The model you have pic there was known as an Auto Bike,
and were available in various colors with red most common.
They were based on British bikes of the period, such as
Raleigh, BSA etc., and most invariably used Villiers motors.

Their heyday was the 1940s and 50s, and by the 60s no one
wanted them. They were literally thrown out.

Does anyone remember the Velo-Solex?
Motor about 50cc, mounted above front wheel driving
a friction roller direct to the tire.
No need for a chain or gearbox, but the tire wore out in no time.

Ajay,

I have one in my workshop and it is fitted with a Tanaka engine. I will try to get a picture of it up on the forum in a couple of days.

Here is the exhaust-less Midget in question.

Cheers,

Craig

Mark_x11,

Below is the muffler that you require the part number is C6723. It would be hard to locate one.

Hi Mark_x11, The first thing I would do is post the missing items you want in the "Items Wanted" topic; you never know, someone may have one sitting in the shed, and lots of people come and browse the forum.
Best of luck and good hunting!!