Another two stroke, but this time a relatively simple reed valve single. The motor is quite a tough little unit, but the rest of the bike is very cheap and nasty.
Fifty quid equates to one of the first bikes ('74 to '75); while the engine may still be running you're going to need to visit Halfords for a couple of wire brushes to deal with the RUST. The running gear of this bike rather reminds me of the old Tiger Cubs, which had such cheap and nasty frames it made me want to throw up in disgust with the added ingredient that with computer aided design you can pare things down even further.
What really grates is that the bike tries to look like a sportster when it has suspension components little better than a Honda C90... twelve years' wear leaves the bike with the precision of a Raleigh Runabout with a flat front tyre, and this is rather disturbing because the motor still knocks out enough power to rush the bike along between sixty and seventy.
That reed valve motor is often good for 35000 miles - good going for a two stroke, so it may be worth picking up an old wreck that still runs.
A rather loud tingling noise indicates either small or big ends on the way out, the pistons can nip up in the bore if the thing's ridden flat out for a couple of hundred miles - but the engine's easy to work on and there are quite a few littering up the floor space at the breakers. Worth looking at.
Bill Fowler
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