Legendary Solex mopeds - irresistibly charming gems

Shortly after the company was founded, Marcel Mennesson was already working on a revolutionary two-wheeler - more precisely, the drive technology was the innovation. The power of the 2-stroke engine was not transmitted to the wheels of the vehicle by chain or V-belt transmission. On the bicycle with an auxiliary motor, which Marcel Mennesson was working on and for which he applied for his first patent in 1917, power was transmitted by means of a friction roller that acted directly on the casing of the two-wheeler. The first prototype with a friction roller drive was not built until 1941, but this bicycle with an auxiliary motor was an instant hit. Of course, it was not the charming appearance that convinced contemporaries at the time, but the technical advantages of this drive concept over conventional chain drives. Following optimisations to the first prototype, series production began in 1946 after the end of the Second World War. It was the start of an unprecedented success story. From 1948, the car manufacturer Hispano-Suiza produced the mopeds under licence in Switzerland. From this point onwards, more and more of these striking two-wheelers were also on the roads in this country. Over eight million of these Solex mopeds were sold worldwide in the following decades. Although the moped has not been built since 1988, it still has a large fan base today.

Of course, speed isn't everything - looks and charm are also important. The Solex mopeds offer plenty of the latter. They score points anyway with their attractive, or at least very striking, appearance. The positioning of the engine directly above the front wheel alone ensures this. This unusual position was due to the friction roller drive, but also meant that the exhaust fumes from the engine on the front wheel were not discharged to the rear. A circumstance that made the Solex bikes a favourite official vehicle of clerical dignitaries until the 1970s. Their cloak-like robes were not soiled by chain grease and exhaust fumes when travelling on Solex mopeds. A circumstance that earned the Vélosolex mopeds the nickname ‘Christian persecutors’ or ‘Maria-Hilf-Motor’. The special exhaust routing, which unfortunately means that you often feel the exhaust fumes and waste heat from the engine on your nose when touring on these mopeds, also earned the moped the nickname ‘nose warmer moped’.

The robust and uncomplicated design, in particular the simplification brought about by the friction roller drive, is certainly one of the main reasons for the worldwide success of this moped. As the mopeds in the standard version have a very low weight of around 28 kilos, fuel consumption is also very low. The mopeds consume just 1.4 litres per 100 kilometres. The drive also proved to be relatively low-maintenance. Apart from the problems that a slipping friction roller can cause when the road is wet or the front tyre is worn, the friction roller drive works very reliably - then as now. This reliability, combined with the unbeatably low price - the last Vélosolex mopeds were around half the price of those from other manufacturers - were certainly further reasons for the ground-breaking success of this moped model.