Solex 3800 Road Test
SOLEX 3800 ROAD TEST
Cycle World Road Test
"The Slowest, Cheapest, Blackest, Front-Wheel Drive Two-Wheeler In The History of Mankind."
WANT TO STRIKE a blow against a mad and ever-changing world? Want to fight pollution? Want to leave first and get there last? Want to save money? Want to have fun? If Guinness Book of World Records were to list the slowest, cheapest, blackest, frontwheel drive two-wheeler in the history of mankind it would be no contest—Solex.
Solex? It’s the two-wheeled equivalent to the Citroen 2CV. That means it’s not only French—but it is fun to ride! And because the French did the designing you better believe it’s the most ridiculous looking thing on the road. Which it is. Until you get used to it. And if you’ve spent any time in France you’re used to them. No choice. Millions of ’em pft-pft-pfting along infesting every village at breakneck, flatout speeds of 19 mph! And they’re all painted black.
But also being French and weird you can have full confidence they’re ingeniously engineered and well constructed. They are.
To begin with, the Solex is hardly much more than a bicycle that’s beefed-up and has this thyroid, popeye thingie perched over the front wheel called an engine. That’s about it. But ah, such an engine and such a beefed-up bike, the likes of which you’ve never seen before. So let us sail into it and live.
The engine, clutch and drive train along with mag, gasoline tank and carburetor, are all packed together in one little unit so neatly you begin to wonder if the engineers had a hand in the Apollo Project. The one-cylinder, 49cc, two-stroke engine is fired by an integral magneto housed in plastic on the left hand side. This same mag naturally lights the lights (yeller in France), the front of which is mounted directly ahead of the cylinder. Besides sparking the spark plug, the mag also cools the cylinder by pumping out air from enclosed vanes through a little duct! (You can sit there all day engine revved and no overheating.) The wiring from the mag is extremely sanitary; about six inches of high tension lead exposed, and about two inches of taillight wire that peeps out before snuggling back inside the bike frame and making its way to the rear. Nice.
Now the dreamy fuel system. The 1.5-quart—quart!-gasoline tank is hung on the right hand side of the engine. It is of the same symmetrical size and shape as the mag bag, which gives it all a keenly balanced look. Running from the tank is a teeny 1/8 in. fuel line, all enclosed, that attaches itself to a fuel pump on the front side of the crankcase. How does the fuel pump work? Gears? Electricity? Guess again. Crankcase pressure! What? Oui! There’s this miniscule little hole drilled in the front of the crankcase. On the outer side there’s this delicate little enclosed diaphragm that goes feep, weep with every engine rev and pumps gas!
Wait! There’s more. From the fuel pump the gasoline travels up another little line to this dog whistle thingie called a carburetor. On one side of it is a plastic tube attached to the gasoline tank. This tube acts both as an air inlet for the tank and a scavenger for splashing gasoline. The tank is full. Say, you hit a bump. Splash. No spill. What happens is the gas runs up the tube and into an ajoining tube-like aperture on the carb. In this aperture there’s a filter. The filter, 1) slows the splashing gasoline, thus preventing it from spouting out the small opening at aperture top, and 2) filters the juggled gasoline, much of which runs down the aperture to an adjoining line from the fuel pump (thus bypassing it) and into the carb’s jet for engine use! In other words, the system uses kinetic energy in part for pumping gasoline—in addition to the bulk being pumped by crankcase pressure!
The throttle design is just as clever. It regulates gas flow and operates the front brake in one movement. The cable which runs down from the throttle lever on the right hand handlebar wraps itself around this metal ring directly behind the carburetor before descending and hooking itself to the front brake pads. The metal ring is attached to a rotor valve inside the carb which regulates mixture flow. Thus, the one motion of releasing the throttle also releases the front brake whenever you take off, and does the reverse when you wish to stop. Complicated? It boggles the mind: one movement to go or i stop. The centrifugal clutch does the rest.
And the drive system? A ceramic wheel that spins the front tire by friction. Forget gears. The whole popeye engine unit is hinged to the frame and can be raised or lowered by this lever that sticks up alongside the cylinder fins. This means if you wish to cool it and use the “auxiliary drive system” (feet, pedals and chain to the rear wheel much like a bicycle) you pull the lever back and hook it on this little latch and pedal. If that gets tiresome, unhook the engine, squeeze the compression release and, pft-pft, you’re off, engine powered at a mildly subsonic 19 mph. Or, if you’re late and want to make up time, you may employ both engine and ADS (two-wheel drive, guys!) and increase your velocity to a mind shattering 23 mph!
And how many miles per gallon do you get by using only the engine? 176 mpg! And if you use only the ADS, wow!
For those of you who’ve not swooned over those figures, we’d like to describe the Solex suspension system. In a word, there is none. Unless you use your knees. OK, there is a single spring under the rider’s seat. But it’s a heavy jumper and if you’re anything less than 225 lb., like us, it’s not going to do you much good on cobblestone roads, let along Saddleback and the like, so knees close together, with feet on the friendly little platform below if you want to beat the bumps.
Of course you can always avoid them on a Solex, considering your top speed. Then, too, you have tremendous maneuverability on a Solex considering its 170-degree steering radius. This means you can crank the bars in either direction far enough to scrub the rear tire, handy for pulling U-turns on sidewalks if you don’t feel like carrying the damn thing.
Anyway, still with the bumps, if you can’t avoid them the Solex does have brakes, a bicycle rim jobbie up front and a 3.5-in. drum in the rear. Neither nor both will pull off granny’s wig, but considering the Solex’s 62.5 lb. and the beast’s overall top speed, plus your own mighty grip, it’s possible to wheel to a whoa-bill without too many unfortunate incidents. They work.
So do the Gaulouise bags (optional) that you can hang on either side of the rear carrying rack. These genuine, imitation leather carrying pouches are just perfect for carrying 12 full cartons of Gaulouise cigarettes. (Have they got something going here?) But you’d better forget carrying anything breakable or fragile, like a nice bottle of Chateau Neuf de Pape, or even a six-pack. Remember, no suspension. (We were almost permanently maimed by a flying cork.)
Other than that, if we were going to get nit-picky, we can’t really recommend the kickstand. It’s too narrow. All you have to do is forget yourself when parking by not getting the machine on the upright and there she goes! And if she’s alongside a bunch of other Solexes you’re going to see the Domino Theory in action like you’ve never seen before! All of Southeast Asis over in one large crunch of glinting metal and spinning wheels! So care is needed when parking.
Care is also needed, or say, experience is needed, if you want to make any headway in the wet going uphill. You’re going to have to pedal anyway on hills, even in the dry, to get any forward motion. But when the roads get a mite damp that little ceramic wheel that does all the work up front starts slipping. And badly so. The thing to do then is lean forward when pedaling and push the engine down hard with that lever thingie. By so doing you, 1) increase the friction between rotor and tire, 2) look like you know what you’re doing, 3) improve body aerodynamics, and 4) possibly make headway uphill.
So, other than those few lovable faults the Solex is truly a wonderful machine. They’ve been building the same model for years now (nobody at the factory knows how many), which means they’ve had time to develop details and goodies to the enth degree. Quality of construction is right up there, too. Everything fits. The chrome is extraordinary, the paint job superb. The bicycle ring-a-ling bell on the handlebars rings as clear and true as if it had been made in Annecy, France, home of the American Liberty Bell. Various details like the tire pump (which fits neatly under the rear carrying rack), or the sturdy chain guard, or the engine’s cylindrical muffler, or the heavy duty fenders, or even the mud guard behind the front wheel—all standard equipment items—are built as if they’re supposed to last forever. (What happens if you wear out an engine? Pop by your friendly Solex dealer whenever you have a spare 20 minutes and he’ll stick in an exchange.)
So quality, efficiency and dependability along with service (providing you’re living in the right place) you have with Solex. (French students ride them painlessly to Afghanistan, New Guinea and the like with clocklike regularity.) Needless to say you also have economy. And you can have no small amount of pride in knowing your 50cc engine isn’t doing all that much to pollute the environment, something to think about there.
Last but maybe most important of all, a Solex is fun to ride! First off, you know you’re riding the slowest enginepowered street machine in the world. Every other 50cc motorbike in existence is going to whomp you in a race. (You’d even have trouble beating a fast kid on foot!) So there’s no competition in this respect. But if you want to challenge a grunty automobile in rush hour traffic, you have him beat hands down. While it’s all hung up in traffic you’ve already weaved your way clear across town and can be sitting in the drive-in talking trash with the carhops before it gets there! Second, no parking problems, even less than a real motorcycle, as you can use sidewalks. Third, with a 19 mph machine you’re going to see a lot of the world you’ve never seen before. You’re forced into it. You’ll see trees right in town! You’ll notice parks. You’ll even observe people—who walk! Wise motorcyclists understand. But with 19 mph it’s just that much more fun.
Riding impressions? You get the fire going by first unhooking the engine to let it ride on the front tire. You flip the prime lever on “start,” squeeze the compression release, and start pedaling. You release the compression and keep on working the feet. Nothing seemingly happens. Pedal, pedal. That gets tiresome so you stop pedaling. You hear this faint pft-pft. You don’t slow down. Hah! You flip the prime lever to “run” position. The machine keeps moving. You place your feet on the footrest. Cars thunder past. You enjoy the scenery. Red light. You weave your way past an endless line of waiting automobiles, squeeze brake levers, stop at the signal. Light changes. You release levers. Pft, pft. You enjoy scenery. Cars thunder past. Etc. And you’re still enjoying the scenery.
All of which leads us to conclude if you want to strike a blow against a mad and ever-changing world, fight pollution, leave first and get there last and have fun while doing it, maybe riding a Solex is a good solution. Depending where your head is at, you might even get there first!
SOLEX 3800 ROAD TEST
$128
