1947-48 Mo-Ped.

1947-48 Mo-Ped.

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This unit was, as my father would call it “A five minute wonder.” It could be fitted to your existing bicycle with the minimum amount of effort. It was found to have several drawbacks. Two major faults were as follows:

1.The tyre life was drastically reduced, and to get replacement tyres was quite difficult as manufacturers were still on a material quota problem.

2. In wet weather the curved metal drive wheel would slip on the tyre surface and provide little or no traction at all.

One good thing was that you did not require a driving license or a tax disc and plates. As I said earlier it soon disappeared off the market. Owen Hildreth in Market Street, Maidenhead carried them for a while. Also Halford’s, in Queen Street, Maidenhead, use to carry them for a short while.

Petrol was hard to find as well, so I know that some people would run them on a mixture of Ronsonol lighter fluid and thin lubricating oil. An 8oz bottle could be bought for the grand price of 1/6 (one shilling and six pence). Bill Church use to stock this item in his Ironmongers shop on Station Approach for the wealthier members of the village to run their Atco motor lawnmowers on.