Engine in...

Popped the engine in today. Two bolts and we're away. Unfortunately I lost the new drive belt so I still can't turn the thing over. Anyway, I've bought some new outer cables for all the controls and it's freshened up the bike no end. I could only fit the pedal on one side as I need a new cotter pin and these are quite hard to come by as bycycles don't use them now.

Assembly begins...

Now the fun bit.....a sunny day, kids with the Grandparents. Time to rebuild.

Fork progress

Take a look at the pictures. I have replaced the lower seals with a pair of thick o-rings. The bodgesd conduit has been replaced by a split bush made fromo stainless steel. The conical end seats in the cast mobylette screw on bushes. This allows me to adjust the tightness of the bushes around the fork shaft.

Up and down..Not side to side!

Here everyone gets down to painting. Before long the bike has doubled in weight due to the sheer thickness of coats. After about ten minutes bordem sets in with the smaller helpers. HB asked if we could just dip it into a large tank of paint.

All scrubbed up!

Cleaned up and ready to go. It's not a perfect job but it was never going to be. The parts have been lightly rubbed down and will be painted with 'copper' Hammerite.  Why Hamerite? well it reacts with rust, nuetralising it and it's very hard wearing. I love painting by hand and I'm looking forward to getting on with it. 

Magneto magic

Managed to get the magneto off.  Another lovely touch with these machines is the coil placed opposite the lighting coil. It makes the whole engine a complete unit even when its removed from the frame. Love it.

Measuring up

OK Millie the bores 0.875" in diameter. Got that?

Forks

Just stripped the forks down. I had no idea the kind of suspension which is available. The forks were seized solid but after some oiling I can see the suspension has reasonable travel and is quite responsive. However the internals are well worn and I'll need to make several special bushes incorporating seals to bring the forks into good repair.

And now a word from our sponsor....

An insight into the origins of the name 'Motobecane' (The name of the company which manufactured the Mobylette)

Motobecane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. "Motobecane " is a compound word made up of two colloquialisms stuck together. “ Moto" is a slang word for motorcycle; "becane" is slang for "bike."

              So there you go.

whats in an exhaust

Ok so its an exhaust. So what. But just look at this lovely peice of work. It's what makes the Moby such a great thing to work on. It's only about six inches long and sits so snugly under the engine that you would hardly notice it. And yet its a work of art. Fine sheet metal work with a handy panel for filling with muffler stuff. I can't wait to hear the tune it makes.

Clean boy clean.....

Now there all at it. My son has taken it upon himself to tend to the finer details of the rear wheel.

Well not really, it's just a photo opportunity, but 'H' will be taking part in the engine re-furbish later on.

And then there were two....

Two days in a row, thats got to be a record. The girls are hard at work cleaning the frame ready to be sanded down. Theres very little rust to contend with. It makes me wonder what the history of the bike is. I know its a UK import. You will see the engine shows the bike is an 'AV'. If it were a'UV' it would indicate a machine deemed for the French market. 

All hands on deck!

You know , you can't better the help of your children. The heavy handedness, the concentration span of a goldfish, the complete lack of any attention to detail. It's a great reminder that we can take things perhaps too seriously. My youngest helped me today and stuck at it all afternoon. I just had to let her down gently that we would not be riding it today....

It's all in the colour , says Pierre

After looking at the Moped Army web site I emailed the guy below who was kind enough to reply to me with this information....Thanks Pierre. (The link takes you to the online Mobylette hand  book).

Hi Paul

To tell you the date of manufacture for your AV44, I need the engine number. Your picture is big enough, but I am not sure for the first number. Is it a 3 or a 5 ? I don't think it's a 6. Could you try and clean the rivet with a old toothbrush or something at the left of the engine number plate ?

On the second picture, it seems the main color is "Crème" (cream), and it help to think the first number is a 3: the AV44 was "cream" till to 1964, and dark grey after.

If the first number is a 3, your AV44 was produce at the beginning of 1963.

If the first number is a 5, it was produce mid 1966 but the color must be dark grey.

I hope it can help you. If you need something else, send me an other mail.

Here is a link for the part list:

http://www.bibliotobec.org/gallery/index.php?/category/192

Regards

Pierre

Strip!

Started stripping down Moby. I can't believe what good shape the bikes in.

I needed an extractor for removing the fly wheel and magneto housing and found one on Ebay for sixteen quid. A look inside after the removal of the flywheel indicates the machine is going to be as good on the inside as it is out.

Carb dating...

Further to finding the date on the engine badge, I have found from the net that engines were up to two years old before they were installed. A more acurate way of identifying the date of manufacture is the carburretor. On this I have found the date 04/62 so it looks like the machine was built in '62. The make of carb is a Gurtner and heres a picture of the assembly.

When were you born...

OK so the first thing is to acertain what the Moped is....I know its's a Mobylette, but what type? What model? My initial questions are answered when I looked at the engine. On the Cylinder head is a badge showing its an AV 44 made in 1960 in October, also you can see the cc of the engine.

Before the storm

Take a look at the bike as it was before I pulled it apart.