sometimes made it throughtheschool gates. It’sa
Puch VZ50 and essentially,even if it lookslike areal
motorcycle, it’sreallyastep-through with theholes
filled. This teenageyello wperil owes much to its
predecessor,the MS50. Belovedby commuters
acr oss Europe, the MS50 ranasimply three-speed,commuter that hadpreviously found favour with the
GPO asaTelegram Boy’sbike.Touches of chrome
lifted thebasi cMS50 profile and the racyseat
addedasmall element of glamour,yet practicality
was stillthere with gaitered forks andarear luggage
rack forasandwichbox or shopping.
The bikeinitiallylooks normal untilyoustudy it
closer and then things beginto get alittle weird. The
gears (there are only three by theway) are selected
via th eleft-hand usingarotary ,throttle-likesystem,
which also carries the clutch. Look for the rear brake
and youmight struggle at first, butfollow thebrake
cable andspot thatita ppearstogointo thegearbox.
In reality thePuchVZ50 betrays its pseudo-bicycle
heritage here byusin ga‘back-pedal’rear brake.Yes,
strange buttrue, if you want maximum retardation
then pull on the lever on theright ba r, then carefully
pedal backwards!
The Puch VZ50 is unreservedly of itstime and
quirkytot he nth degree, but not in badway.If
you’reuptocoping with its period eccentricities and
can adapt to riding whatisr ealisticallyahalfway
house betweenagenuin ecommuterand asports
moped, you’llbesmiling all the way to the bank. In
aworld of £6k+ Fizziesand AP50s,Puch’squirky
VZ50 isarefreshingly inexpensive way of enjoying
Front brake is of the traditional type. economicalmoped fun.IT’S MY BIKE:
Simon Lake
“I’m amemberof
theBuzzi ng Club,
akaThe National
Autocycl eand
CyclemotorClub,so
mopedsand thelike
aremything. Ihad a
Puch VZ50 as my
firstmotorcycl eand
really wanted
another one.Iput
an advert in theclub
magazineand a
grandoldgentin
Hullrepliedthat he
hadone,but was
nowtoo oldtoride.
He’d use thePuch
forclub runs and
that’s exactlywhat I
wanted it foras
well.Heagreed to
sellmethe bike on
theproviso it stayed
within theclub and
wasnot soldon
simply to make a
fast buck. I’ve
stayedtruetohis
wishesand have
sent himpicturesof
wherehis old bike
gets ridden.Best
one so farhas been
to thetop of a
seri es of Welsh
mountains, which
impressed him!
VZ50sare rare
machines nowand
onlysoldfrom
1973-1975. They
rarely come up for
sale:not that I’ll be
selling this one any
time soon.”90 / classic motorcyclemechanics