Yamaha FS1E
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49cc Moped, First imported into the UK in 1972. Possibly the most fondly remembered motorcycle of it's time. Certainly the most frequently restored because of that fondness and legendary speed! Legendary because 16 year olds, would boast of speeds in excess of 55 MPH whilst in reality, 45 MPH was the norm. An urban myth to this day.
But what about the competition?
So many people will tell you that the Yamaha FS1E was the fastest and best of the 1970s Sports Mopeds. It turns out that over 200,000 of these little bikes were officially imported into the UK, which is about 4 times that of the humble Suzuki AP50 (which had 5 gears to the fizzies 4 and actually WAS faster), and goodness knows how many more than any of the Garelli models. So, whether the FS1E was actually the best or not is not really going to be answered like this from peoples recollections.
There's far more people who had their first riding experiences aboard a Yamaha FS1E than any of the other Sports Mopeds of the 1970's, so it stands that their voice gets heard the loudest, and the other bikes: SS50, AP50, TigerCross, Record, to name but a few, go largely unmentioned..
