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old gitane moped 
PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:22 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
found a pic of a really cool old gitane moped . i thought it was cool. this is the best of both worlds . half bike half moto and blue to boot.would love to have this baby in the collection.








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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:01 pm Reply with quote
poufthecascadeur
Joined: 30 Apr 2009
Posts: 87
Location: toulon,france
my son has one gitane testi like this one ,it's marvellous 50cm3 moped in france we called it "tasse":

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gitane sprint,nation,interclub,s.olympic,renault loisir,(bianchi record 748,legnano olympic record,follis,wolhauser,meral,peugeot px10,ps10,prn10,phr50,uo8,mercier 300,mercier service course,urago nervex&competition,motoconfort super champion)
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:00 am Reply with quote
lofter
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 1162
sweet
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Mopeds and such... 
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:34 am Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
The picture of the Gitane Testi brought back memories of the 1960s in Japan, a time when I was younger, dumber and fearless!

Me on my bike at Myajima, Japan in 1964


Here's a more recent photo that I found online, taken from about the same spot.



Several of my friends had 50cc Suzuki Sport-50 and Tohatsu "Runpet Sport" motorcycles. They were very popular in Japan at the time. While not mopeds, they only lacked pedals from being one.

Tohasu Runpet Sport


These were tiny motorcycles


Suzuki Sport-50



One day a few of us got the brilliant idea of attaching ropes to the backs of these tiny motorcycles and having them tow us behind on our bikes.

We took a number of rides into the countryside but didn't hook up until we got out of town. The speed limit in Japan at the time was 60 kmh but I remember being towed at over 80 kmh several times. At that speed the bicycle tires were buzzing!

The ropes that we used were stretchy 3/8" nylon about 50'-75' long. We quickly learned that we had to grip the rope near the stem to keep from torquing the bars, also to let go of the rope when loosing control. Embarassed

At the time the roads in Japan were in terrible condition plus they were only about a lane and a half wide by US standards. Full sized trucks and buses took up 2/3rd of the road width. On several occasions I almost ran head long into a bus or truck coming around a corner.

The biggest problem that we encountered was being tossed around like water skiing. When we went around a bend in the road it was like playing "crack the whip"! Shocked

Somehow we escaped making the Darwin Awards... Laughing

Sorry Lofter and Pouf for hijacking the thread... Wink

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Chas.
SF Bay Area, CA USA
==============
1984 Criterium
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF
1984 TdF x 2 Bikes
1970 SC
1971 SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:42 am Reply with quote
poufthecascadeur
Joined: 30 Apr 2009
Posts: 87
Location: toulon,france
Very Happy

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gitane sprint,nation,interclub,s.olympic,renault loisir,(bianchi record 748,legnano olympic record,follis,wolhauser,meral,peugeot px10,ps10,prn10,phr50,uo8,mercier 300,mercier service course,urago nervex&competition,motoconfort super champion)
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old gitane moped 
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