Below:KenPowell
enjoyskeepingthe
flameburningfor
BSA’sUnloved.Right:Frametube
carriedfuel.Thefact
it wasdeliberately
designedfor
stiffnessandits
larger-sectiontyres
gaveit anedge.What wasit?
From 1976, NVTdesigned, organised,assembledand
paintedthis 50cc moped from all-Italian components
and the only British-source dcomponentwas theLucas
tail-lightassembly. Despite therange’ssloganbeing
“rid etheflag”, the partswere source d“on theBologna
ring road”byex-Velocette manBertieGoodman.The
moped waspartoft he strugglingcompany’seffortto
broaden itsrangeand thuskeep governmentmoney
comingin. NVTbossDennisPoorehad asset-stripped
Carbodies,who made theFX4blackcabs, from the
BSAGroup.Poore sawamarket opportunity in the
thousands of traineecabbies doing‘the knowledge’
around thestreets ofLondon on mopeds.
TheEasy-Rider (‘Eazy-Rider’ini ts manuals,perhaps
to dodge title issueswith the movie and theUS
magazine )had a49.6cctwo-strok eMorini Franco
engine (not to be confused with Moto Morini).Therest
of thecycle hadbeendeliberately designedtoout-do
the Puch Maxi and Mobylett eopposition.
AccordingtoGreeves andNorton manMikeJackson,
NVT’sBob Triggdrewupthe uniqueframe asstiffer,
and specified thickersection 2.25x17intyres for the
Radaellirims.Thedeep-dishedfuel-bearing frame
featuredaplugatthe back to let the airvent as you
werefillingupwithpetrol.Jacksontookpartina
multi-moped trac ktestwith Triggand acouple of
seasonedriders,and HE confirmed that in braking,
handlingand cornering, the NVToutdid its competitors.
First assembledatShenstone,the home of therotary
Nortons,the game changed in mid-1978 when NVT
went into receivership.FromApril 1979 the models
were badged BSA(NVTstill ownedthe name), and
puttogetherat Garrett’sGreen or Tile Hill, Coventry.
NVT’sBill Colquhounhadset up an exportdealwith
asnowmobilemanufact urer ,and with the mopeds
badged ‘Scorpion’,therewas talk of 1000amonthto be
exportedtoNorth America.What went wrong?
Themopedboom, broughtonbythe 1972/73 Arab oil
crisis,was peteringout by thelate1970s .Poore’s hopes
for thecabbie connectionwere neverrealis ed,partly
because the traineeswere independentofCarbodies,
whowere not keen anyway.TraditionalNorton dealers
would takeone ortwo on sufferance,but th eEasy-Riders
were not asuccess, though theylingeredand used up
spare components for morethan10years.1979NVTER2Easy-Rider