OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Rare Finds & Donations An interesting repair job!!!

Here's an engine that came to me recently, a friend at work is getting me to fix it up for his bike!

It's a 1966 49cc Solex pushbike engine, that mounts to the front of the handle bars.

A very unique set up, french I believe.







The last pic is not the actual bike or engine in question, but I'm pretty sure it's the same model!

Love it!Id kill to get my hands on that little beastie.Looks very complete Ty,Can I rebuild it?hmmmm can I can I??? slobber drool...lols

The Solex propulsion system used a centrifugal clutch, and a roller on the front tyre. The operator pumped the pedals a couple of times to get moving, then opened the throttle. I can recall them being modestly popular in Amsterdam in 1971, but only with middle-aged women. The men, and especially the boys, were into mopeds that were really disguised 4 speed motorcycles. (The rules required less than 50 cc, and having pedals that could drive the bike along. Mopeds did not require registration or a driver's licence in Europe.) The Solex was not sold as a power unit, only as a complete moped as far as I know. It was a very heavy machine compared with a push-bike. It also had a wide, flat-tread front tyre. I don't think it will be very successful on a push-bike - I put a 75 cc Tor with a roller drive on an ordinary bike's front tyre when I was at school, and it ate both the roller and the front tyre in a few miles. Also, you could see the front forks deflect when you opened the throttle.

In this case the owner is lucky enough to also have the bike, here's a picture as it was when i picked up the engine!

For me this is going to be an interesting repair job, as I have not worked on an engine like this before!

The carburetor is particularly interesting, and I have all the technical data on this one too, so this is going to be fun!

Hope he's got the front wheel, and I notice the rubber roller looks like it's past its use-by date.

I've never seen one dismantled, I gather the large black part opposite the engine is the centrifugal clutch, so there will be concentric shafts (well, a shaft and a tube) with the roller on the outside of the outer tube.

If it has been stored with unfriendly fuel in it, the fuel system could be a wasteland.

He has all the parts thankfully!

The contact wheel is not rubber, and it's actually in good nick! The black part up the end is the fuel tank, and the little pump is visible in the last two pics above.

The clutch is under the flywheel and magneto, here is a diagram from the manual:

I gather the clutch would not be easy to service, then. I seem to remember the occasional degenerate making it move off from stationary by using the clutch, which probably had maintenance-intensive effects. Note the square-topped tyre, which is very unbicycle-like (makes it awkward to go around corners) but was probably essential mechanically. I wonder if that long shaft from the engine to the flywheel was subject to resonant torsional oscillation problems - my guess would be yes, unless it was at least 3/4" diameter.

And the less said about the cantilevered crankshaft the better. That kind of thing wasn't at all respectable back then (standards have deteriorated since). Plus the engine has no cooling fins on the cylinder head, which is the place you need them most. Overall, it could well be a French design, as you say.

Hi Ty, what a great little project....lots of bicycle mopeds here in Wagga...never seen one like that though....
Mmm...French design...Aha!! a Simpson (as John Cleese would say! )