Fifty years in the past, a bike was launched that grew to become many individuals’s first bike and stays beloved by them to at the present time. Bikesure takes a have a look at the Yamaha F1S-E and its enduring affect on bike tradition.

The yr 1973 was filled with glam rock and ABBA, who had made their debut on the earlier yr’s Eurovision, dominated the pop charts. It was the yr the Wombles first debuted on TV and the primary time Roger Moore starred as James Bond. And for the bike-mad youngsters of Britain it was the yr Yamaha launched the F1S-E, a moped that shortly grew to become an everyday sight on the roads because of its beauty and nippy tempo.

Why a moped grew to become the must-have bike for the nation’s 16-year-olds is rooted within the bike tradition that had grown up within the 50s and 60s. Bikes had been an inexpensive type of transport for younger individuals, however the youthful urge to push the boundaries noticed a few of them take dangers on the roads with extreme speeds. 

This noticed the ‘ton-up boys’ and later ‘the rockers’ change into one thing of a people satan within the UK. It was one of many elements behind the federal government bringing in a brand new regulation in 1971 limiting 16-year-olds to solely driving mopeds with an engine capability no greater than 50cc. On the time, the moped’s picture was of a easy machine, not rather more than a bicycle with a small engine strapped to it, definitely nothing that would spur its customers to dangerously excessive speeds. Drawback solved, thought the federal government.

Yamaha redesigned the FS1 for the UK   

So it was that Yamaha took a motorbike that they had been designing, down tuned it from 5 to 4 speeds, slapped a few pedals on it and unleashed it on the British roads in 1973. The FS1-E was the variant of the FS1 designed particularly for the UK, and whereas it completely complied with the letter of the regulation it was nonetheless a machine that would get you near 60mph.

With its distinctive seems, glossy design and, in fact, its capacity to eat up the miles, the FS1-E – or the ‘Fizzy’ because it was dubbed by its devotees – grew to become probably the most needed bikes for youngsters, commuters and anybody searching for an inexpensive and dependable type of transport. 

It offered round 7,500 items in its first yr alone. Initially solely out there in sweet gold, a vivid orange that was completely in line with the style of the time, it was joined in its second yr by equally groovy 70s colors like baja brown, competitors yellow, popsicle purple and cosmic blue. By 1976 solely Baja Brown remained, which you possibly can most likely waffle on about at nice size as a sign of the modifications that occurred in vogue within the UK throughout that point.

In 1977 the federal government lastly realised they wanted to provide the legal guidelines about 16-year-olds one other go, and decreed that whereas they may now experience mopeds with out pedals, any 50cc bike needed to be restricted to a most pace of 31mph.

The 1977 fashions added a brand new auto-lube oil pump amongst different engineering and aesthetic tweaks together with a brand new color, which fittingly sufficient for the yr when Star Wars made its first look was known as area blue. Nonetheless, even the introduction of classic burgundy in 1978 couldn’t maintain again the march of progress. Whereas over 30,000 items had been offered within the UK within the earlier yr, the brand new legal guidelines meant the ‘Fizzy’s’ pace wasn’t the promoting level it as soon as was, with round 13,000 items offered. 

When Yamaha lastly stopped manufacturing of the FS1-E in 1982 – the identical yr ABBA broke up, with a delightful sense of historic symmetry – over 200,000 items had been offered, and it had cemented its place in British bike tradition. Its glossy design remembers the café racer look developed within the 60s, and the continued reputation of this type of motorcycle right now is due in no small half to the ‘Fizzy’.

Moreover, the simplicity of the engine and mechanics made it the best platform for consumer customisation and modification, in addition to offering a era of riders with an introduction to repairing their very own bike to maintain it operating.

And hold it operating they did. Whereas lots of these younger bikers moved on from their ‘Fizzies’, fairly a number of house owners stored their first bike or rebought one later as nostalgia for it, and their out there revenue, grew. The relative ease of discovering spare elements gave it a protracted afterlife, which was given an extension when, in 1988, Yamaha as soon as once more began promoting FS1-Es. Legend has it that this was all the way down to the corporate re-ordering too many spare elements.

That stated, because the ‘Fizzy’ reaches its half century, the availability of those spare elements is starting to dry up and the inevitable march of time implies that the price of these basic bikes goes up, too. Should you’re seeking to recapture your youth you need to anticipate to half firm with a number of thousand kilos for the bike itself, even earlier than you think about any substitute elements you’d have to get it again into working situation. 

Fortunately the FS1-E house owners membership is filled with individuals sharing their information and expertise of restoring the bike, and there are many fashions on sale when you really feel like reliving the glory years when mopeds dominated the roads.

Excellent insurance coverage on your motorcycle

You probably have a Yamaha that stands out from the group, you’ll be searching for stand out insurance coverage too, so it’s good to know the staff at Bikesure may help discover bike cowl that meets your exact circumstances and wishes. For a swift no obligation quote name 0330 123 1028 or organize a callback at a time that’s extra handy for you.