Velo Solex for sale, Melbourne

J

jonf

Active member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
341
Location
north fitzroy, victoria
That's a lovely thing Jon. This being the Nanny State, I assume one needs a motorcycle licence to operate it on the roads?
 
No! You assume wrongly. Not enough horses in there to need rego or licence. I tear around on bike lanes on roads with only the occasional haughty sniff of disapproval from some superior hipster dudes but most cyclists either smile or want to know what it is.
 
jonf said:
No! You assume wrongly. Not enough horses in there to need rego or licence. I tear around on bike lanes on roads with only the occasional haughty sniff of disapproval from some superior hipster dudes but most cyclists either smile or want to know what it is.
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I think you've probably been lucky so far.😉

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Greenpeace said:
I think you've probably been lucky so far.😉

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That rule does not apply to the Velo Solex as it is a Moped (has a motor and pedals). The only legal requirement is that it needs to obviously be road worthy and you must wear a helmet.

There is a fella who lives not far from me that has one, he brings it to the local Classic Cars & Coffee regularly, its not registered and is classed as a bicycle.
 
Greenpeace said:
I think you've probably been lucky so far.😉

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Yeah ... I'd just ride it and ignore all of this. But then again, if rules are stupid ... I tend to ignore them ... I doubt you would be charged by police for riding it as its obviously to even the dumbest person, that thing is a pushbike!
 
DoubleChevron said:
Yeah ... I'd just ride it and ignore all of this. But then again, if rules are stupid ... I tend to ignore them ... I doubt you would be charged by police for riding it as its obviously to even the dumbest person, that thing is a pushbike!
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Oh I would too, but still, the rules are pretty clear.
They're the same up here, if it's a petrol engine, it's a either a moped or motorcycle.
Remember with the E bikes they are not legal if the engine works without you pedalling.
The power unit on this is independent of the pedals.
I would say it is a moped, (under 50cc and top speed of under 50 kph) so would need rego, but only a car licence to operate.
There was one for sale up here recently as well.
Not quite as nice as this one though.
IIRC I put it on the "rare, unusual, weird" thread.🤔
 
I Huloted on mine past a policeman in a park and he just stood there without a clue on how to react. I was expecting him to haul me over but snailed on by. One old dude on a bike who didn't have a helmet went off at me to get off the bike path and we just swapped abuse. As I remember no start without pedalling a solex. Gets the magneto happening. The only real downside to a solex is there is no upside, as in no going up hills under moteur power.
 
COL said:
That rule does not apply to the Velo Solex as it is a Moped (has a motor and pedals). The only legal requirement is that it needs to obviously be road worthy and you must wear a helmet.

There is a fella who lives not far from me that has one, he brings it to the local Classic Cars & Coffee regularly, its not registered and is classed as a bicycle.
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This is off the Frankston Police site.
There is a 200W power limit to avoid registration, motorcycle licence etc in Victoria.
The Velosolex is rated at 580W.
I ride and drive all manner of unregistered things too, (🤫) but that doesn't make it legal.🤷‍♂️

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Greenpeace said:
This is off the Frankston Police site.
There is a 200W power limit to avoid registration, motorcycle licence etc in Victoria.
The Velosolex is rated at 580W.
I ride and drive all manner of unregistered things too, (🤫) but that doesn't make it legal.🤷‍♂️
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Yes that is true. I would of thought the power output would of been less. The Velo Solex down here is not registered.
 
COL said:
Yes that is true. I would of thought the power output would of been less. The Velo Solex down here is not registered.
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I'm sure "back in the day",the Velo would have been fine to bomb around on without a licence and rego.
But with all those 2 stroke Chinese bicycle conversions pouring in, and some unfortunate accidents linked to some of the yahoos that buy them, the powers that be have cracked down on everything with a motor or engine.
 
Greenpeace said:
I'm sure "back in the day",the Velo would have been fine to bomb around on without a licence and rego.
But with all those 2 stroke Chinese bicycle conversions pouring in, and some unfortunate accidents linked to some of the yahoos that buy them, the powers that be have cracked down on everything with a motor or engine.
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Yep the yahoos have spoilt for the rest of us with their 2 stroke whipper snipper motors that put out 102 dB that can be heard from 3 blocks away.
 
Greenpeace said:
This is off the Frankston Police site.
There is a 200W power limit to avoid registration, motorcycle licence etc in Victoria.
The Velosolex is rated at 580W.
I ride and drive all manner of unregistered things too, (🤫) but that doesn't make it legal.🤷‍♂️

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This advice above does seem to be confirmed by the advice on the Vicroads website: "... all safety, registration and driver licence requirements for a motorcycle also apply to a moped."

I do hope that the OP is keeping track of this discussion. It would make rather bad press him getting caught by plod ...

Ian
 
In Victoria a Velo Solex is considered a moped and the motor assists pedalling, and they do not have to be registered.

I have used them for about 15 years and there has been a formal (written) Police or Court opinion has been given given in the past. A motorised bicycle is not a moped because the motor is started separately.( I think the Frankston police site is discussing a different variation of powered bike). A Velo Solex can only be started by pedalling.

I will try and find a copy of the opinion and post it. Ted
 
hawk said:
In Victoria a Velo Solex is considered a moped and the motor assists pedalling, and they do not have to be registered.

I have used them for about 15 years and there has been a formal (written) Police or Court opinion has been given given in the past. A motorised bicycle is not a moped because the motor is started separately.( I think the Frankston police site is discussing a different variation of powered bike). A Velo Solex can only be started by pedalling.

I will try and find a copy of the opinion and post it. Ted
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Pretty well all of those Chinese 2 stroke bicycle kits are pedal start only as well.
Most states have newer rules due to these Chinese bikes as well as the E bikes.
I would be making sure any exemption is still currently applicable to the Velosolex.

 
Ebikes are the way to go these days. Aways get a torque sensing one so you have full control of your speed and they feel quite natural to ride. Almost no noise, plenty of power up hills, no direct pollution or CO2 emissions. I've been riding one for years and no issues, you just have to know you have a good quality battery with a good BMS so you don't overcharge them.

Cheers, Ken
 
Agreed Ken,
Mine is an illegal ( 750 watt ) conversion. It lacks torque sensing so the "motion controlling sender" on a rear wheel spoke is either on or off. Depending on the position of the sender the rear wheel may need to do an entire rotation before it gets electrical assistance, at other times it can be almost instant. Traps for young players. It reminds me of cars in the early 70s where it was possible to OVERdrive the headlight output. The third nose DS of course being the exception. It is possible to overdrive both suspension and brakes on an Ebike.
 
forumnoreason said:
The only real downside to a solex is there is no upside, as in no going up hills under moteur power.
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Although in 1975 I got a job in Corsica selling the newspaper "France-Soir", I took a newly de-coked Solex 3800 on the ferry crossing to Ajaccio.
I have to say the 3800 was well able to manage Corsican hills!
 
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