and finally, the solex2005-06-09 7:00 p.m.
so last friday, i bought a canary yellow 2003 solex S3800 for $850.
first, some quick history. i always thought the solex was a cool moped ever since i was in middle school and i would obsessively check out this outdated book on mopeds from the canton public library. it had all the "latest" models, with specs and pricing. the solex stood out with it's unique look and quirks like front wheel drive. a few years later i would go up north with a friend named chris gentry. he had a solex that he got for free that he knew nothing about. we rode it all day long, it was a real blast. a couple years later i would find out that he gave the solex to our friend brad, and when it broke down, brad picked it up over his head, slammed it on the ground and threw it away. balls! i had to have one, and this is out it plays out:
searching the web a few years ago, i came across the site for a place in utah that was the official u.s. distributor for the bike which was recently back in production. the sight excited me, but soon went out of mind until recently.
while browsing eBay for parts for my cady, i came across a solex and decided to bid. i was way out bid, but i decided there was no way that i would complete the summer without owning a solex.
i went back to the utah website and found the information for a place called solex of michigan. the web site was down, but i called the phone number on a whim, but it worked. a retired state cop who talks a lot got into the business after buying a solex at a flea market. he opened a few stores up north which he recently closed. his name is larry beals.
we talked a few times over the week and i debated if i wanted a new solex, a demo model, or a way old one. i decided i would wait until i saw the bikes in person.
my dad and i hopped in mom's subaru for the 3+ hour drive to east tawas at 8 in the morning. we arrived at the house of larry beals/ solex of michigan a little after noon (we had to eat on the way). in addition to his 8 solex bikes (4 his, 4 for sale) he has an el camino, an old cadillac, a 33 chevy, and a rusted carcass of a 33 ford that was sold to a guy from germany on eBay for $300.
as a man, larry has gold chains, a fine collection of chest hair, a fanny pack, two garages, and a budweiser trucker hat with a pheasant feather in it. his wife left him nine months ago, i have no idea why. the bike i bought used to be hers. i also took a black 66 solex for a test drive, but i just had to get the newer one. while road testing the one that would become mine, a pheasant ran along side the road with me for a while, neat!
after the purchase larry took me to his neighbor lloyd's house. lloyd was a cool old guy in overalls with a blue solex deluxe and an old buggy with a snowmobile engine on it. on the way back to his house, larry told me this joke: "where do bees keep their stingers at night? ...in their honeys!"
the drive home took forever and i unloaded the bike and fired it up as soon as i got home.
about half way down my street, i hit a bump and the headlamp fell out, shattering the bulb. i called up ol' larry and he sent me a new bulb for free. what a guy.
other than that, the only issues have been a funny idle due to running out of gas, and the airfilter/etc.. box rattling loose. no major problems, which is expected since the thing has been produced for 50 or 60 years.
on a ride today, i was at an intersection in my parent's neighborhood (where the solex still is) and i heard someone calling "hey! hey!" i couldn't see anyone, but soon a guy came off his porch with a budweiser in one hand and a baby in the other and we beckoned me over. he told me he had many mopeds and mini bikes as a kid and the solex was his favorite. it was pretty cool.
other cool news is that i have been contacted by the ann arbor chapter of the moped army and hope to meet up with them soon.
i am going to sell the cady, but i will do some more (free) work on it first. including pouring motor oil into the cylinder to help seat the rings and give one last attempt at setting the timing.
-nate
p.s. on my parents' cable system, upn detroit, home of the simpsons reruns, is totally "f'd in the a." the characters' voices are nearly inaudible, but all background sounds like music and canned laughter are loud and clear as can be. now i see why they pay so much less for cable.
went - going - is now
|
|
