I saw one of these the other day and spoke to the owner. I told him 'My brother had one of these' (So did my brother in law...). If you're my sort of age, your father might have had a BSA Bantam. You, or a sibling, might have had a 'sports moped' - most likely an FS1-E, or one of its Austrian, Japanese or Italian competitors.
1974 Yamaha FS1-E. The colour that year was called 'Popsicle Purple'...
Let's go back to 1971. The UK Government of the day raised the age for riding 'proper' motorcycles from sixteen to seventeen in December of that year. That left aspiring motorcyclists who had yet to reach that age with the prospect of 'Mopeds' - Raleigh Wisps, Puch Maxis, Mobylettes and the like, with pedals and CVT transmissions - really just motorised bicycles. But all the law said was: You're limited to 50cc, no limit on the horsepower, but you have to have pedals.
Detail with folding pedals and kick start.
Over the following year, a number of manufacturers from various countries (which notably excluded Britain) introduced 'sports mopeds' onto the UK market. These were basically lightweight motorcycles (and more powerful than old-school mopeds) with pedals - in the case of the Yamaha, these could be folded to act as footrests and never used - after all, you had a kick starter. You could pedal an FS1-E but you were better off not trying. If you ran out of fuel, it was easier to push it!
49cc, 4.8bhp @7,000rpm. The canister above the engine is the air cleaner. The 'E' in the name stood for 'England', a specific UK-market version with pedals.
The 80mph speedometer is a little optimistic - the FS1-E was good for 45mph - 'fifty downhill with the wind behind you'.
Austrian rival - the Puch VS50, 3.25bhp @ 6,000rpm
Market overview with prices: FS1-E and rivals - June 1973 (Source - 'Drive', the Automobile Association magazine)
In 1977, the maximum speed for mopeds was limited to 30mph, which diminished their appeal somewhat. Surviving machines from the early to mid Seventies are quite sought after...
I’m in the US. I worked for a BSA, Yamaha dealer in the 60’s and 70’s when those were new. Yamaha was not into mopeds at the time. But we had the YG1, it was similar but 80 cc’s and no pedals.
@jackson55 I can see what you mean! The style and general architecture of the YG1 looks a lot like the FS1-E. All Yamaha had to do to cash in on the 'sports moped' thing was to adapt what they were doing already, and make a 50cc machine with 'pedals'. Those were just there to satisfy the quirks of UK legislation. I have a feeling that the people who drafted the law in 1971 had no inkling of what was going to happen...
