The fizzy was a classic in its day. There was also the Honda AP50, which was viewed as a more conservative mode of transport, the fizzy was definitely the go-to mean machine for those trying to impress the ladies.

I disagree.      "...if you are really lucky some old git will tell you a story.  "

It was the Suzuki AP50 and the Honda SS50.

The best ones for showing off were the Italian ones that looked like dirt bikes. The Garelli Tiger, The Malaguti, The Gilera and the Testi.

Here's the history.

In about 1973 the UK government said that 16 year olds could no longer ride up to a 250cc motorbike on L Plates but would be restricted to 50cc Mopeds.

Until the Japs came along British bikes of 175cc to 250cc were the asthmatic BSA Bantam, The Triumph Tiger Cub 200cc and some BSA C15 250 which would top out at between 50 and 70 mph.

Then the Japs came along with the Honda 4 strokes that would touch about 80 and the Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki 2 - strokes that would hit 90.

So the government banned 16 year olds from jumping on these rocket ships which were as fast as Brit 350/500's and wrapping themselves round a tree into an early grave or a wheelchair.

So the manufacturers wrung extra horsepower out of 50cc motorbikes.

The Raleigh Wisp and Puch Maxi and Honda C50 of 20/30mph got outshone by the Yamaha FS1E/Suzuki AP50/Honda SS50. And the Italians took their Garelli 80cc commuter, sleeved it down to 50cc and made it look like a dirt bike.

These little sports mopeds would do 50/55 mph. The Garelli would touch 60mph and even the 4 stroke Honda would touch 40.

Happy daze!

Did a PW job today and many folk have asked if its better to softwash first then PW the area or the other way round. I did both today on stone coping stones purely by mistake so decided to focus on the result. The ones that were PW first and then softwashed came up alot better than the ones that were softwashed first which makes perfect sense. So if anyone needs to softwash copings, Indian sandstone or steps then its better to PW it first. 😉

I live not far from a very well know biker cafe. It's rammed with bikes and elderly gentlemen everyday of the week. Sometimes just have a ride over and get a sarnie, have a look at a few bikes and if you are really lucky some old git will tell you a story. 

I think you could run any business from abroad these days.

You could probably go on the laptop find an employee and train him via video. All customers can be gained online. There's no real need to physically do anything.

Doesn't sound like much of a retirement though.

Not sure how you deal with a broken core component of their equipment, unless (as suggested by Soupy) you have someone in the UK lined up to fix the problem.

Vin

I think you could run any business from abroad these days.

You could probably go on the laptop find an employee and train him via video. All customers can be gained online. There's no real need to physically do anything.

Doesn't sound like much of a retirement though.