Fifty years in the past, a motorbike was launched that turned many individuals’s first bike and stays beloved by them to at the present time. Bikesure takes a take a look at the Yamaha FS1-E and its enduring impression on motorbike tradition.

The 12 months 1973 was stuffed with glam rock and ABBA, who had made their debut on the earlier 12 months’s Eurovision, dominated the pop charts. It was the 12 months 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 12 months Yamaha launched the FS1-E, a moped that shortly turned an everyday sight on the roads due to its attractiveness and nippy tempo.

Why a moped turned 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 folks, 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’ grow to be one thing of a people satan within the UK. It was one of many components behind the federal government bringing in a brand new regulation in 1971 limiting 16-year-olds to solely using mopeds with an engine capability no increased than 50cc. On the time, the moped’s picture was of a easy machine, not far more than a bicycle with a small engine strapped to it, actually 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 motorcycle they’d 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 to be, modern design and, after all, its means to eat up the miles, the FS1-E – or the ‘Fizzy’ because it was dubbed by its devotees – turned one of the crucial needed bikes for youngsters, commuters and anybody in search of an inexpensive and dependable type of transport. 

It offered round 7,500 models in its first 12 months alone. Initially solely out there in sweet gold, a vivid orange that was completely in step with the style of the time, it was joined in its second 12 months by equally groovy 70s colors like baja brown, competitors yellow, popsicle purple and cosmic blue. By 1976 solely Baja Brown remained, which you could possibly most likely waffle on about at nice size as a sign of the adjustments that befell in trend within the UK throughout that point.

In 1977 the federal government lastly realised they wanted to present 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 12 months when Star Wars made its first look was referred to as house blue. Nevertheless, even the introduction of classic burgundy in 1978 couldn’t maintain again the march of progress. Whereas over 30,000 models had been offered within the UK within the earlier 12 months, the brand new legal guidelines meant the ‘Fizzy’s’ pace wasn’t the promoting level it as soon as was, with round 13,000 models offered. 

When Yamaha lastly stopped manufacturing of the FS1-E in 1982 – the identical 12 months ABBA broke up, with a lovely sense of historic symmetry – over 200,000 models had been offered, and it had cemented its place in British motorbike tradition. Its modern design recollects the café racer look developed within the 60s, and the continued reputation of this fashion of motorcycle at this time is due in no small half to the ‘Fizzy’.

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

And maintain it working 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 mentioned, because the ‘Fizzy’ reaches its half century, the provision of those spare elements is starting to dry up and the inevitable march of time signifies that the price of these basic bikes goes up, too. If you happen to’re seeking to recapture your youth it is best to count on to half firm with a number of thousand kilos for the bike itself, even earlier than you consider any substitute elements you’d must get it again into working situation. 

Fortunately the FS1-E house owners membership is filled with folks sharing their information and expertise of restoring the bike, and there are many fashions on sale in the event 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 gang, you’ll be in search of stand out insurance coverage too, so it’s good to know the group at Bikesure can assist discover motorbike 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.