Amelie – 40V Motobecane moped
Much progress this weekend on my moped restoration project – I have now got the headlight, tail light and brake lights all working. The indicators light up, but they don’t flash. I suspect that either the globes are draining too much power, being 12 volt – and the moped uses a six volt system, or the flasher unit is broken – which could be a big problem since I don’t know of any six volt systems being run today! The only other thing not working is the horn – it still makes no sound. Not that it made much more than a dull ‘quack’ sound when it did work, but I’ll need to fix it somehow if I’m ever to get it registered.
The bike runs well and I got it up to 45kph on level bitumen today. There is a little weepage around the exhaust and around the head and base gaskets – so I may need to replace those when the time comes for a complete strip down to do the cosmetic side of the restoration.
I’m in two minds about the restoration – whether to try to get it up to showroom/museum condition or to allow the bike to show its age, while keeping it fully functional. You will have seen from my earlier photos that the bike already looks fairly good considering its length of time in storage. The key thing is to arrest any further rust, and to get the thing as mechanically sound as possible.
Motobecane 40V
If I aim for museum quality I will certainly need to replace the rear wheel – the rim was badly dented/torn by the previous owner – back in the early 1970s – and it had been hammered fairly straight (so there was never an issue of tyres being compromised) but the scars are there. At least any barriers will be over the little things – the bike is essentially complete 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
Comment by Arran
Hi;
The reason that your turn signals won’t flash isn’t just the voltage but also the current draw. A 10w 6 volt bulb draws twice as much current as a 10w 12 volt bulb to begin with. So if you have a 12 volt bulb running at 6 volts it is also drawing half the current that it was rated for at 12 volts which is why your flasher won’t work.
I myself would eliminate the turn signals altogether and use hand signals as they detract from the bike. In most places if the bike was built before they required turn signals it is “grandfathered” under the law and you don’t require them. If you must keep them what I would recommend is that you look for a flasher for a Volkswagon Beatle as well as some six volt bulbs of the appropriate wattage or go to a motorcycle shop.
By the way I also have a Motobecane 40V, it’s from 1970, and it’s orange.
Best Regards
Arran
Posted on October 10, 2006 at 12:48 pm