Book review- la Mobylette Universelle - National Autocycle and ...

The transmission side has what looks like a tiny manual cable-operated clutch driving a reduction
gear with a sprocket taking power to the rear wheel. However, the US patent granted on 25 October
1966 states the clutch is centrifugal, with a unique free-wheel sprocket on the hub which allows
engine starting via the bicycle pedals but not push-starting, while LPA is still possible. As we were
continuing our investigations a voice called down the passageway “Hello, hello, are you down
there?” and Alex Moulton himself unexpectedly arrived in the cellar!
He was most interested to see us ferreting around in his oubliette though he couldn’t remember
many technical details about the Moped. He did however mention that the main reason it was
never produced was the usual intransigence of bureaucrats who insisted that, despite a tiny model
aircraft engine, it be Type-Approved and registered as a full moped with lights, number-plates, tax,
insurance and all the other
unnecessary impedimenta.
The same forward thinking
which saw off the Go-Ped
as a brilliant, portable form
of economy inner-city
transport for commuters
not so many years ago.
The Moulton Moped was
an early foray into the
realm of powered cycling,
using an adapted standard
Moulton cycle frame. Had
more of a future been seen
for it then a special frame,
probably with improved
brakes, would have been
built and perhaps a more
readily-adapted engine. The
Ohlsson & Rice is a tiny,
light unit but was probably
designed to work within a
limited rev-range suitable
for model aircraft, whereas
a road engine needs a much
wider effective rev-range
and power-band.
France might have been
a good market for the
Moped- realistic regulations
and a national
fondness for quirky, stylish
machinery may have
offered it a better future
than in rule-bound Britain.
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